Recently much information has come out supporting the health benefits of every other day calorie restriction and/or intermittent fasting (that is, skipping eating 2 days a week up to half the days of a week).  Physiologist Brad Pilon (see: http://bradpilon.com/brads-blog for his views) advocates not eating calories for 1 to 2 days a week, while James Johnson, MD, author of the "Alternate Day Diet" (read reviews of his approach at: http://www.amazon.com/Alternate-Day-Diet-M-... ) advocates eating one day at a regular caloric level and the next day at about 20% of the regular caloric level.

From my perspective, restricting eating for a fairly lengthy period of time -- e.g., one day -- reduces hunger, does not leave me weak, is a good way to reduce overall calorie intake, etc. (My weight is much lower than 43 days ago, my blood pressure is now normal, sugar levels are again normal -- I am on medication for the last two conditions.)

However, I am not a physician, nurse, physiologist, etc. Just a psychologist with a weight problem that has been with me since I was very young, and I am aware of my own difficulty in taking one tuna-fish sandwich from a plate with many sandwiches. It's very difficult to fight the marketing of the food industry which wants people to eat as much as they can as often as they can. Still after a day of fasting I have noticed no limitations on my ability to bike quite heavily for half an hour. (I never go more than a day of fasting.)

This approach is not for children, for those with major health problems -- and almost certainly not for those with Diabetes. I very, very strongly suggest with your physician or medical provider before you start fasting for even a day, especially if you have any underlying medical problems.

But frankly, the good news is that going without eating for a day is just not that hard to do for most people once we start to do it.

I posted the following on the Brad Pilon blog site noted above:

*****************************************

Caleb says:

Just finished my third day of temporarily not eating. (Last time I went a day without eating was Friday.) Not very difficult. Time is 8:27 pm. As per Brad’s suggestions in ESE book, I had coffee (without sweetener, milk) and diet soda today (diet coke). On the way home, I was thinking about having low calorie soup, but that strikes me as the camel’s nose under the tent.

Seems to me that building up the “resistance muscles” is good by itself, and that giving in leads more to giving in at future times.

Shakespeare certainly knew a thing or two about shaping up the “resistance muscles” and has Hamlet tell his mother, Gertrude, who feels she must go to her husband’s (King Claudius’s) bed:

**********************

HAMLET
…
Good night: but go not to mine uncle’s bed;
Assume a virtue, if you have it not.
That monster, custom, who all sense doth eat,
Of habits devil, is angel yet in this,
That to the use of actions fair and good
He likewise gives a frock or livery,
That aptly is put on. Refrain to-night,
And that shall lend a kind of easiness
To the next abstinence: the next more easy;
For use almost can change the stamp of nature,
And either [ ] the devil, or throw him out
With wondrous potency.
********************

The first time we try something difficult, we wonder if it’s possible for us to do it, but over time it becomes easier and easier, and often later we are surprised that we were ever even concerned about it.

Something I did last week that was helpful was to keep track of my hunger at different points — and rate it on a scale of one to ten, and then what step I would take to reduce it. Really, not much hunger at all, but simple and effective steps were: drinking plain coffee, drinking diet soda, taking my blood pressure, ignoring it, sometimes patting my declining tummy, etc.

Skipping a day or two of eating a week is a custom that I hope will grow on me, but so far, not a big deal. Much more difficult for me to reach onto a plate of tuna sandwiches and take just one-half, or one sandwich. Keeping the plate entirely out of reach through not eating for a day is a far easier thing than moderating my food-reaching behaviors, and avoiding eating really curtails the temptations I otherwise would feel.

Again, I like your approach very much! Your reasoning in ESE makes a lot of sense to me.

Yours,

Caleb

*************************************

I hope those living in the Portland area interested in this approach will be able to attend the August 30, 6 pm meeting in my office on NE Broadway!

Yours,

Caleb