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...

Although I don’t intend to give up buying and reading Diet Books, I agree with much of the article below.  I consider myself to have some expertise on the subject, because during the past 60 years I’ve read many hundreds of diet books, and …as part of my Dieting Hobby… I read most ‘major’ diet books as soon as they are published.  I have, in fact, read all of the diet books mentioned in this article, and still own at least ten of them.

Diet books are full of lies.
But they're even worse when doctors write them.
by Julia Belluz on March 2016

One of the perks of being a journalist is that new books cross your desk weeks or months before they’re released.

One of the pitfalls of being a health journalist is that far too many of these books promise to eliminate belly fat forever with their one true secret for weight loss.

Diet books are a multimillion-dollar industry, and it's no surprise, since millions of people struggle with their weight and long for answers about what they can do to slim down. Books can provide valuable tips on healthful patterns of eating. Some are more outlandish than others. But the problem with all of them is what they promise when it comes to weight loss.

No doctor has ever uncovered the solution to permanent weight loss. If someone had found the fix for this immensely vexing and complex problem, we wouldn't be facing an obesity crisis.

But unfortunately, more and more respected doctors, despite their good intentions, are complicit with the publishing industry in confusing science and obscuring hard truths about obesity to sell diet books. It's one thing when actress Gwyneth Paltrow tells people to avoid "nightshade vegetables" on an elimination diet, and quite another when a highly trained and credentialed physician sells a weight loss lie.

Case study: Dr. David Ludwig's Always Hungry.

Recently, a book called "Always Hungry?" landed on my desk. Like dozens of books I've seen before, it makes big promises. The cover of this one said it would help readers "conquer cravings, retrain your fat cells and lose weight permanently." 

But this book wasn't authored by a woo-loving celebrity like Paltrow. The book came from Dr. David Ludwig, an esteemed endocrinologist and researcher affiliated with Harvard Medical School who has run dozens of clinical trials and seen thousands of patients in the 20 years he's practiced medicine. Like many doctor authors, Ludwig wants to share some of what he's learned with people desperate for help.

When I looked more closely at the actual diet he's prescribing for "permanent weight loss," I found that it was based on a pilot study of just 237 people followed for 16 weeks — a blip of time in a dieter's life.
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