Fasting to Lose Weight: 24 Hour Cycles
Posted by admin on Sep 8, 2009
In my efforts to use fasting to lose weight I tried the alternate day feeding method whereby I ate nothing for one whole day then ate the next. This method of intermittent fasting is certainly one of the more difficult.
The reason that this fasting cycle came to prominence is because of the positive benefits that were being observed when this feeding to fasting cycle was used on rats in the lab. Rats that were fed on alternate days showed reduced blood sugar, improved insulin sensitivity, increased HDL levels and lived 30-40% longer than rats that could eat ad libitum.
The difficulty with humans that are fasting to lose weight adopting this eating pattern is that we no not have the same sleep patterns as rats. Most rodents feed t
hroughout each 24 hour period, humans however mainly eat only during the waking hours so if we fast for a day we in fact fast for about 34 hours and have an eating window of 14 hours because we need to factor in the time we are asleep.
After trying this fasting schedule I have to admit I was able to cope with it though I did get very hungry in the even and the temptation to eat was very high. As this was the first time I had fasted for a long time I was motivated by the determination to put my own will power and prove to myself I could do it.
With out that motivation I am unsure if I could adhere to this method of fasting to lose weight for very long. For example today is now my eating day so I am really enjoying the fact I can eat, I am just eating healthy balanced meals and a few snacks here and there when I feel like it, but I have yet to decide if I will start a full 24 hour fast tomorrow! Maybe using this method once or twice a week would be sufficient but I obviously may not lose as much weight.
I know that other people using fasting to lose weight do a shorter cycle in which they start and end their fast on alternate days at 4 or 6pm so this is something I may experiment with also.
