I’ve spent quite a lot of time researching the issue of “Fasting”, and during my studies, I came across the website and YouTube videos of Dr. Jason Fung M.D. in which he shares his comprehensive views about fasting, as well as related issues.

Here at DietHobby my own one-size-does-not-fit-all position is consistently threaded throughout this entire website; and as Dr. Fung shares his preferences and recommendations about food and ways of eating, he makes it clear that he also holds a one-size-does-not-fit-all philosophy.

In his answer to the question: “Why Can’t I Lose Weight”, Dr. Fung says:

“The answer really lies in the multi-factorial nature of obesity.”

“The key to understanding obesity is that many different things can contribute to the development and the treatment. Consider the analogy of your car not starting. There could be multiple problems. For example, the battery is dead, the car ran out of gas, or the spark plugs are worn out. So, if your problem is that the battery is dead, filling up with gas will not help. Neither will replacing the spark plugs. That seems kind of obvious.

But then, websites proliferate about how changing batteries is the cure for cars that don’t start. It is filled with testimonials of how people changed batteries and their cars effortlessly started. Other people attack the website saying that they changed batteries and nothing happened. Instead, they filled up with gas and the car started, so obviously, the key to starting the car is filling up on gas.

That’s exactly what happens in the sad sack, wacky world of weight loss. When you try to lose weight, people assume that there is only one problem for everybody. If your problem is insulin resistance, then reducing carbs may not be the best strategy (intermittent fasting may work better). If your problem is sleep deprivation/ stress, then increasing fibre is not going to be too good.

Cutting sugar works well for those people whose problem is excessive sugar intake. They write books and websites about how sugar is the devil. Others think that is ridiculous and think that refined grains (wheat) is the real devil since they’ve done well reducing grains. Others think that stress relief is the major problem in weight loss. Others blame calories. They all ridicule each other and fill the internet with testimonials. Worse, they all start bickering about how the real problem is carbs, or sugar, or wheat, or calories, or stress, or sleep deprivation, or fibre, or animal proteins etc.

You must understand that they can all be correct. Obesity is not a single problem. There is no single solution. A low sugar diet works amazingly for some, and not at all for others. Just as replacing the battery will work for some cars amazingly and not at all for others.”

For more of thi...

Today,
I modified the graphics and specifics of my current diet experiment....because I can.  See day-before-yesterday's April 10 blog for the graphics of my previous plan.

The reason for this modification was that when my (Down) Fast day turns into an (Up) Fed day, I need the following day to be a (Down) Fast day.   Otherwise, it seems likely that I'm going to wind up with weeks full of (Up) Fed days. 

At present I'm having too many unsuccessful Fast (Down) days to be able to predict exactly which days will be Fed (Up) days and which days will be Fast (Down) days each week.  So, for a while, it looks like I'll be jumping back and forth between Week 1 & 2 days at random.

See my April 10 blog to see details of my previous plan.

MY CURRENT PLAN:
My UP days are based on my own personal Total Daily Energy Expenditure (TDEE) which is close to 1,000 calories.  Adding 10% brings it up to a total of about 1,100.  My plan calls for 3 weekly UP days.

My DOWN days of about 300 calories are close to ¼ (25%) of my TDEE.  My plan calls for 3 weekly DOWN days.

1,100 plus 300 equals 1,400 divided by 2 equals 700 calories… Therefore a 2 week rotation of this pattern would result in a total Average calorie intake of 700 calories daily.

I have changed my plan to remove the MEDIUM day of about 700 calories from weekly rotation as I have decided to only include it occasionaly.

I am 71 years old, 5'0" tall, and an inactive, reduced obese female (high weight 271 lbs) who has been maintaining a normal BMI for 10+ years, and my individual TDEE of about 1,000 is low, but not “abnormally” low.

For ME, an average daily intake of 700 calories should create a daily deficit of about 300 calories, and … according to the 3,500 calorie rule… result in a weight-loss of about ½ pound per week.

FOR PERSPECTIVE:
To bring my calorie counts into proper perspective...
note that the well-known and frequenlty-used Mifflin formula gives an "AVERAGE" person of my age, size, and activity level, a TDEE of 1150 calories, and a BMR of 985. 

I've been keeping computer records of my calorie intake & weight every day now for about 12 years, and so I know that my own TDEE is about 100 calories or so below the "AVERAGE". 

Here is a picture showing my current diet experiment.  I’m using my own Alternate Day Fasting (ADF) eating plan which is based on Dr. Johnson’s Up Day Down Day Diet (JUDDD); and Dr. Varady’s  Every Other Day (EOD) diet; and Dr. Daugirdas’ QOD diet.

Dr. Fung’s blog, (see DietHobby’s RESOURCES, Links for a link to his blog, Intensive Dietary Management) inspired me to do additional experimentation with Intermittent Fasting.

Previously, I’ve written several articles about Intermittent Fasting diet plans here at DietHobby.  You can do a search of DietHobby for them, or you can go to DietHobby’s BLOG CATEGORIES, Fasting to find them. (Look near the middle of the right hand side of this DietHobby page to find the heading: Blog Categories.)

Much of the fasting research that is quoted by Dr. Fung in his blog and new book, The Obesity Code is from Dr. Varady’s research and experimentation of her Every Other Day diet.

The plan alternates “fasting” days with “eating” days.  Dr. Johnson refers to “fasting” days as “Down” days, and “eating” days as “Up” days.  Dr. Varady refers to “fasting” days as “Fast” days, and “eating” days sometimes as “Fed” days and sometimes as “Feast” days.  Dr, Daygurdas refers to the fasting - eating days as “On” and “Off” days.

During UP or FEAST days, total calories are to be a “normal” amount … ideally they will be no more than 10% above an individual’s Total Daily Energy Expenditure (TDEE). 

During DOWN or FAST days, total calories are to be only about 25% of  an individual’s Total Daily Energy Expenditure (TDEE).

For the mythical average woman whose TDEE is 2,000 calories, an UP day would be from 2,000 (up to 2,200) calories; and a DOWN day would be no higher than 500 calories.  Alternating Up days with Down days results in a 2 week pattern of rotation making a 14 day period in which the average calorie intake would be 1250 calories daily ….then repeat, indefinitely.

MY OWN PLAN:
My UP days are based on my own personal Total Daily Energy Expenditure (TDEE) which is close to 1,000 calories.  Adding 10% brings it up to a total of about 1,100.  My plan calls for 3 weekly UP days.

My DOWN days of about 300 calories are close to ¼ (25%) of my TDEE.  My plan calls for 3 weekly DOWN days.

1,100 plus 300 equals 1,400 divided by 2 equals 700 calories… Therefore a 2 week rotation of this pattern would result in a total Average calorie intake of 700 calories daily.

Each week I am including one MEDIUM day of about 700 calories in order to keep every week’s rotation of individual Up & Down days consistent.

My ADF Plan includes two alt...