A diet that only allows you to eat every other day promotes a fast-to-feast mentality, which could lead to higher overall calorie consumption and encourage unhealthy food choices. Even if you manage to keep your calories at a reasonable level on your eating days, any weight-loss success will be hard won and temporary. Talk to your doctor if you're considering a restrictive weight-loss plan -- he can give you healthy weight-loss tips or refer you to a registered dietitian.
Basics
The American Dietetic Association recommends that you evaluate diets based on whether or not you can follow that particular eating plan for the rest of your life. If not, you need to pass. You're better off adopting an eating plan based on balanced daily nutrition that will not only help you reach your weight goal, but also keep the weight off. Crash diets that require you to skip meals or eat every other day may lead to temporary weight loss, but can have a negative effect on your metabolism and health.
Calorie Equation
Going every other day without eating doesn't guarantee weight loss. When you eat every other day, you're likely to take in more calories than normal to compensate for the fast the day before. Weight loss depends on maintaining a negative calorie balance over time. Although you may be able to establish a calorie deficit over the course of a week with this type of eating strategy, it would be difficult to continue this unhealthy pattern over several weeks or a month.
Metabolism
Crash diets have a negative effect on your metabolism, sabotaging your efforts to lose weight. When you go a day without eating, you send a signal to your body that it needs to conserve energy. Your body conserves energy during starvation mode by slowing down your metabolism, meaning that you burn calories at a much slower rate than normal. When you eat the next day, your body's metabolic process gets mixed signals. It's better to maintain a regular eating schedule than to play games with your metabolism, as far as your health and weight is concerned.
Focus on Your Health
Diet tactics that ignore your nutrient and energy needs are ineffective in the long run. Any weight you lose on a crash diet is typically regained as soon as your ability to keep up the restrictive eating habits diminishes. Your body functions best when you treat it well. Rather than resort to fasting every other day, make changes that promote gradual weight loss and good health. Focus on consuming a balanced diet and cutting calories by trimming portion sizes, drinking noncaloric beverages and giving fruits and vegetables a more prominent role in your menus.
References
- American Dietetic Association: Staying Away From Fad Diets
- Weight-Control Information Network: Weight-Loss and Nutrition Myths
- American Institute for Cancer Research; Nutrition Wise; Karen Collins, M.S., R.D.; January 2006
- Mayo Clinic: Metabolism and Weight Loss: How You Burn Calories
- "U.S. News and World Report'; Can Crash Diets Be a Good Way to Lose Weight?; Angela Haupt; August 2010
- Mayo Clinic; Fast Weight Loss: What's Wrong With It?; Donald Hensrud, M.D.
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