The Every-Other-Day Diet: The Diet That Lets You Eat All You Want (Half the Time) and Keep the Weight Off

I have now completed 10 diet days and I'm down 5lb. I started out at 142lb. I am a 48 year old woman and am 5'4". Initially the diet days were very difficult and I was very eager to get to the 2 week mark where Dr. Varady says it gets easier. She was right. Just when I thought I was never going to be able to stick it out, I had my first diet day that was more than just bearable. I no longer dread those days, and I also no longer wake up on feast days deliriously happy because I can eat what I want. This is because it has become routine, which is what I longed for. As someone else mentioned in their review, I was a little taken aback at the notion of the junk food angle, but on reflection, I wonder if that was a tactic to motivate more people to try the diet. I like junk food as much as anyone else, and would usually allow myself to have it every couple of weeks. On diet days I have fantasized about Burger King's chicken strips and fries, but when I wake up on feast days, it's as if the slate has been wiped clean and all cravings were gone. Feast days are not really feast days for me. I eat normally, or even less than that. I do allow myself to have some chocolate on those days, but other than that I probably eat fewer calories than I used to because I'm just not that hungry anymore. Breakfast (egg white omelet with a little cheese and a glass of V8 usually keeps me full until at least 2pm. In fact I could absolutely go longer than that. No mid morning hunger pangs at all. I still don't love diet days, but I can easily tolerate them. I'm hoping to get down to 130lb by spring. I should add that I haven't done any exercise with this diet yet, other than walking my dog a couple of times a day. The winter has been so brutal that the motivation for that hasn't hit me yet, lol. However, when the weather improves I'm looking forward to getting back out to the track.Bottom line, I'm very happy with this diet so far. I really hope I can stay on it long term because it is sensible and knowing I can have something yummy no longer than 24 hours away is a great motivator:)Update.I'm now down to 134lb and happier than ever with this way of dieting. My weight loss hasn't been huge as far as the number on the scale is concerned, but my clothes fit me SO much better. I haven't skipped a diet day yet, nor have I been tempted to cheat in any way. Hopefully this is a permanent way of living for me.Update,I'm now at 130 and still loving this way of dieting. I'm now just doing Monday, Wednesday and Friday, and taking the weekends off. I am finding it pretty much effortless. I think it just clicked with me, but it took many types of diets to get to this point. I hope to get down to 125 by mid July when I go on vacation, at which point I will move on to maintenance. I promised myself when I got to 130 I would start exercising more and I am walking 5 miles a day, 5 days a week. I despise the gym, so walking the dog, doing laps at the track and running up and down the bleachers is it for me.I would urge anyone who tries the EODD, not to give up until they have stuck religiously to at least 3 weeks. It is definitely hard initially, but it definitely gets easier and it is SO worth it. I don't ever have to look at a food that I love and say, "I wish I could have that". I CAN have that - tomorrow:)))UpdateIt's now been a year and a half, and I'm still with it. I've managed to keep my weight at a steady 130, despite taking time off the diet for vacations and other special occasions. I had hoped to get to 125lb, and I know if I put my mind to it, I could, but I've been dieting on Monday, Wednesday and Friday for quite some time, and find I'm very comfortable with that. I'm a size 6-8, and my clothes fit well, and I can't ask for more than that. Recently I spent a week in St. Maarten with my family, and enjoyed delicious food and cocktails every day. I did gain 5lb while I was away, but went straight back to the diet when I returned, and lost it within 10 days. I believe that now I will be able to live this way indefinitely, and that makes me very happy. Such a simple concept, but so very effective.

First of all, I'll review the book. It has plenty of research that explains why this 'diet' works. I discovered Dr. Krista Varady and her studies using the Every Other Day Fast in an interview with Dr. Mercola after receiving one of his email Newsletters. I was fascinated by her results and began the diet that very day. Then I read the reviews of her book here and purchased it. I already knew enough from the interview but this book backs it up very nicely.My history is that I've been on and off of diets most of my life. I last nearly reached my goal weight five years ago when my body finally rebelled. I ate the same foods and exercised the same amount but began to gain weight. After years of reading book after book and eating 'clean', 'Paleo', 'Extra low carb', etc, etc...I stumbled on this and it's working. Where nothing else had worked, I'm losing weight.I was afraid to weigh myself but when I did I realized that I had lost 4 lbs.Fast Days--I feel hunger but it's not anything that I can't handle. I drink tea, drink lots and lots of water and have my 400 calorie meal at noon. I wait to have my 100 calorie snack until later. Dr. Krista suggests using frozen meals such as WW ones. For right now, that suits me since I live alone. I'll usually have something like nonfat Greek Yogurt or a piece of fruit. The main trick is that I promise myself that I can eat tomorrow. Sometimes it's difficult late at night but I just drink water until it passes. I've read that this extreme hunger passes after about two weeks.Feast Days--I've noticed that I'm not hungry when I wake up and usually wait a few hours before breaking my fast. I'm not as interested in eating but I've still got to learn NOT to eat when I'm not hungry. That's more psychological than being hungry.I also saw on Dr. Mercola's site a BBC documentary Horizon: Eat, Fast & Live Longer by Dr. Michael Mosley which goes into the health aspects of fasting. It's a wonderful video and although I will still do the Alternative Day fasting, I was interested in what he's doing. He wrote The Fast Diet with Mimi Spencer and I've already read that. Knowing the good that I'm doing for my body above and beyond losing weight has made it far easier to continue.UPDATE: 6-9-15 I'm so angry with myself for going off of this lifeplan and trying something else which didn't work. Fortunately, I realized quickly that I was happiest on an alternative day fast. Unhappily, I had great difficulty getting back on a fast. I tried and tried and read book after book until, after being away from this lifestyle for more than 8 months, I finally got back to fasting. I'm so happy now.One thing I've learned is that I must, must, must exercise along with dieting. The next thing I learned is that Although Dr. Varady allowed those in her study to use frozen meals and less than healthy food, that's not for me. She was concerned most with compliance of those in the study and I want to stay away from sugars, most grains, fast food, and processed foods. Also, I've found it far easier to fast longer and use a 'window of time' to eat than to just eat 500 calories every other day. The trick has been to make sure that I eat only when hungry in that window and eat only the healthiest foods.I'm still working on the weight I gained after I went off of fasting and began to eat processed foods again. Those foods really are addictive, at least for me. I've lost around 6 lbs. and my clothes are fitting looser. I won't know for a few months just how this is all working for me, weight wise, since it's extremely difficult for me to have the scales move.What's really important for me is to get the health benefits of fasting 16 hours or more and changing my life by changing the food that I eat. And, it all started with this book by Dr. Krista Varady.

When everything is boiled down, my experience is that this diet really does work. But in itself this may not be surprising if you have actually read the book rather than just going by the blurb or what has been written about it in the press. (I'm sure that most of the 1 star reviewers have done that as none of them have picked up on some of the less obvious details and ideas in the book). If I would criticise something, it's the use of the terms 'feast' and 'fast' as they can have counter-productive connotations for anyone who doesn't read the book carefully. 'Feasting' suggests the idea of stuffing yourself with everything that you feel like cramming down your gullet whereas 'fasting' suggests complete abstinance from food. The latter is the most damaging connotation for anyone who doesn't read the book because that is NOT what you do.I could blather on without making the one comment which I think has been the most significant for me .... I have tried many previous diets which have worked in the short term. I've used will power to restrict what I eat. I've counted calories and aimed at a daily intake of between 1300 and 1800 kcals. I've crash dieted and all worked, for a while. All eventually failed because I couldn't sustain them or my willpower. For me the benefit of this 'every other day diet, is that it has altered my daily and regular patterns of eating. Thjs HAS become long-lasting because I have seen the benefits and find that this approach is easy to maintain once it became ingrained.That, in my opinion, is the single most effective and longlasting effect and benefit of this diet - after the initial period of getting used to the pattern, I now find that it has become second nature.BUT - and this is significant 'but' - you do need to read the book because in it there are lots of little hidden details which surprised me (read the part about self-weighing) and about which I was dubious UNTIL I TESTED THEM FOR MYSELF.I will end with these simple comments which - for me at least - sum up why I have found the book so beneficial:1) The books is NOT about true 'feasting' and 'fasting', it's more moderate than that.2) The diet works LONGTERM.3) Written for a British audience, any references to foods or sources (eg: retailers) makes finding items much easier.4) Although written for general readers, it's author naturally assumes a fairly dry academic style - but it IS readable.5) If, at the start, you skip the recipes and meal suggestions, read the core of the book carefully, there are lots of hidden snippets which will surprise you. Then look through meal suggestions.6) The diet is NOT all that radical but it is easy to understand and manage and has a pattern to it which really helps.7) As with all diets (and living in general) exercise is featured but this doesn't mean that you have to walk miles or go to the gym every day.8) Read point (2) again because for me that has been the key to significant and sustained weight-loss.

So I've been doing this diet for about 2 weeks now. I was worried a bit on my first fast day that i'm going to be super hungry and won't be able to do it. But actually it was OK. And i'm the person who is quite anxious about how I'm feeling or blood sugars dropping etc... I have to say that if you eat A LOT on your feast days - you won't lose that much weight and might even gain. I had a couple of feast days with celebrations falling on them (how convenient!) and as I go on the scales everyday, I saw that the weight would shoot up quite a lot after feasts and only drop about by half of the weight gained after fasts... so actually in the end i gained some of the weight back. But i did lose 4 pounds in just one week when my feasts were more or less controlled (I ate between 1600-1800 calories which is plenty of food if you make healthy choices). So if you want to really succeed on this diet, you need to still control somewhat your calories even during feasts. I'd say do not go over 2000 calories. I would consider even that too much for my own body. I noticed that all you need to do is just get that "i'm full now and I've had enough food" feeling on your feast days... but not stuffed. No stuffing yourself or it won't work. It's not a magic bullet... but i find it's the easiest diet I've ever done. I do eat whatever i want on the feast days (in terms on quality of food), but i still count my calories and i'm trying not to go over 1700 calories. but 100 up or down is not a big deal. Also I've noticed that I actually have enough energy even on fasting days and I am naturally wanting to eat healthier and healthier on feast days too.

I tried this diet having given most other diets a try but having hit the menopause it seemed like all rules that worked for me did now not work anymore and having gained just over a stone in weight felt like I had everything to gain and nothing to lose! A friend tried this and had found it very successful, losing a large amount of weight, so I thought I'd give it a go having tried most other things. I am very glad that I did, two weeks in and I have lost 8lbs. I was worried about only consuming 500 calories on diet days as I do a lot gym work and exercise classes. I wasn't sure that I could work out and not eat but I have found that I can and I am feeling much better. Really recommend this diet and like that it is scientifically backed up. As well as only having to 'diet' one day at a time makes it very achievable. Of course you can't binge on non-diet days, you will need to be sensible, but this has worked well for me so give it a go.

I am currently on the EODD and loving it! I've already lost 6kg this month with very little effort! Although some of the data I dont necessarily agree with, I still put into practice the principles and it has worked for me. I have been dieting since I've been a child and to be honest I'm exhausted of fads promising me things I cant/dont want to put into place. With EODD it's just convenient and adapts to my lifestyle. Not every diet/lifestyle change is for everyone but it's certainly a great read!!

This new diet book is going to be my saviour. I have tried more diets than I have had hot dinners. But I know this will work. Why will it work? Because I've been on diets where you eat 500cals every day in liquid form and that worked. And this way I know that if I want an ice cream or a piece of cake or a jacket potato or an apple or pear today I can't have it but tomorrow I can. The upside is although I may want it today when tomorrow comes I probably won't. But just the fact I can have it if I really want it makes you not really want it after all.