MY VERDICT for THE 5-DAY DIET: Alternate Fasting & Cheating EXPERIMENT
As a fitness enthusiast, was I able to prove that NOTHING beats *PROPER* DIET AND EXERCISE? Read on...
-To read the FULL ARTICLE with the complete rules, go here: EZINEARTICLES.COM ( by Dr. Becky Gillaspy)
I. THE 5-DAY DIET: ALTERNATE CHEATING AND FASTING SUMMARY
- Day 1 - High-Calorie Day: TOTAL CHEAT DAY Reason: Overeating stimulates fat-burning hormones and you burn fat faster in the upcoming days when calories are restricted.
- Day 2 - Calorie Restriction Day Reason: Maximizes fatloss because body has been primed from yesterday's overeating. You can exercise to maximize weightloss.
- Day 3 - Low-Calorie Day (up to 1,000 calories for WOMEN and mid 1,000 calories for MEN) Reason: Consecutive days of fasting = not healthy. (I must say that if you do more than 1 day of fasting, your metabolism will definitely slow down.)
- Day 4- Increased Carbohydrates Day (40% Carbs, 30% Fat, and 30% Protein) Reason: To protect the metabolism. Actually, the 40-30-30 ratio is commonly followed by the healthy eaters.
- Day 5 - High-Protein and Low-Carbohydrate Day Reason: To prepare for the CHEAT DAY the next day
-To read the FULL ARTICLE with the complete rules, go here: EZINEARTICLES.COM ( by Dr. Becky Gillaspy)
II. THINGS I CONSIDERED
2) FASTING DAY. Yes, I commended it in the PROS section but it's also part of the cons because I believe that you really don't need to do this if you want to lose weight. If you're going to use fasting as your detoxification means, go ahead. But USING THIS DIET as a WEIGHTLOSS MOTIVATOR, especially among the starters, is something I wouldn't really recommend. Why?
- WORKOUT FOREVER FREAK!
- I still worked out everyday except on the 4th Day as I had to do something the whole day. You see, I feel uneasy if I don't work out. It's already part of my daily routine. It's a formed habit from following a healthy way of losing weight. - I'LL EAT WHAT I WANT. PERIOD.
- I don't like depriving myself because the more you deprive yourself, the more you binge. Eat within the normal limits but you should be able to eat what you want.
- PROS:
1)ONLY ONE FASTING DAY COMPARED TO OTHER DIETS. It's true that you need to confuse your body at times because it easily adapts to whatever you do to it. If your body got used to you eating a lot, your body will adjust its burning rate to high to accommodate the intake. (However, proper food choices is still important because if you eat too much processed foods, your hormones get screwed up as these are unnatural to the body, making them get stored as F-A-T.) After letting the body realize that you usually eat a lot, its burning rate will be high that when you suddenly eat less, it will still continue the high rate. For example:
THE BASIC CONCEPT OF CONFUSING THE BODY(which you can do without fasting)
Eats 1,500 calories for around 2 days.vIn 2 days, the body realizes it needs to burn 1,500 calories.vBody starts burning for 1,500 calories.vSuddenly eats 1,000 calories today.vBody is still burning for 1,500 calories while analyzing calorie intake today.(1, 500 calories being burned - 1,000calories eaten = 500 calories REMOVED)vBefore body can analyze that I ate 1,000 calories (it takes at least 2 days for the body to realize it), I start increasing my food intake to go back to 1,500 calories.vBody doesn't get a chance to adjust to the 1,000-calorie intake and still continues to burn for the 1,500-calorie intake.
2) EFFECTIVE. I lost 2 lbs. but I don't know if it will be consistent because I'm going back to my old routine of doing proper diet and exercise.
- CONS:
- 1) UNNECESSARY DIET. I can LOSE 2 lbs. in 1 week without the help of this diet. I'm so used to a fun routine--eating anything I want (around 1,300-1,500 calories a day) with a 30-minute exercise-- and I can lose weight with such acts. I don't need to sacrifice and give up some of my favorite treats. Nuuuuu! Hehe! I lost 47 lbs. with diet and exercise alone. (Click here to read my weightloss sucess entries for tips and motivation in losing weight the healthy way.) However, there are some who are just starting their weightloss process and want some motivation.
- Listen (wuut? haha!), you want to make weightloss fun.
- You have to start off with a very memorable and motivating beginning.
- FASTING after CHEATING might scare you off. Those are extremes!
- BEING MODERATE is more consistent and enjoyable. No deprivation involved. :) Go for the normal zigzagging within the normal calorie intake limits.
- Eat what you want moderately and exercise.
- (It's a cliche but health enthusiasts won't stop saying it because this cliche definitely works.)
2) FASTING DAY. Yes, I commended it in the PROS section but it's also part of the cons because I believe that you really don't need to do this if you want to lose weight. If you're going to use fasting as your detoxification means, go ahead. But USING THIS DIET as a WEIGHTLOSS MOTIVATOR, especially among the starters, is something I wouldn't really recommend. Why?
Sudden deprivation = increased chances of binge eating
Again, you want to ENJOY and be MOTIVATED at the start of your weightloss journey. You don't need to fast (even if it's only for 1 day--especially among those who have a busy life) because I care. ;) Hehe! But seriously. If your willpower is high, okay, go. But despite this, I'm still up for proper diet and exercise because it's for the long run.
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| My favorite CAJUN CHICKEN! :D |
IV. VERDICT
NOTHING BEATS A PROPER DIET AND EXERCISE COMBO.
(It's a fact that most of us just want to brush off because there are many other effective ways of losing weight but read this to know WHY the learnings in this process make this combo a better option.)
1) With proper diet and exercise, you get to form a habit and learn your body's processes more. If you gain, you know what will make your body lose weight based on the experiences you went through in the long-term journey.
2) If you follow this, how long will you be relying on such cycle? Are you going to do that forever? Of course you wouldn't. You want something that you'll get used to and you wouldn't want that something to involve a fasting day especially if you're a busy person. What you need is a normal healthy routine which you get to keep forever--no deprivation involved! You have to learn to adjust to certain circumstances when you're controlling your weight and you only get to know the HOW by being able to study your body's patterns well. Again, you'll learn this if you follow a healthy way of losing weight because you get to do this for a certain period of time--enough to know your body's ways without depriving yourself.
AGAIN:
"Make WEIGHTLOSS FUN.
Start off with a VERY MEMORABLE AND MOTIVATING BEGINNING.
Don't starve yourself.
Eat what you want moderately and exercise (for the sake of your overall health, not only for your weight.)
Try changing the amount of your calorie intake but stay within the daily limit range. AGAIN, don't deprive yourself. I'll discuss further tips in the next posts.
You won't get hungry and you'll be happy with the results because you tend to learn through the process."
- Traveliztera
*** I'm not totally as in uber completely against this diet because it works (I don't know if for too long though because I'm going back to my old routine.) BUT basically, it's just meant for an emergency weightloss like if you need to fit into a gown because of the Oscars or something. Lol. For me, you have to learn in the process and being dependent on this diet will not give you a chance to know your body's patterns and be able to form a healthy habit.
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Due to a request, I will discuss in my future posts the reasons why SHORT-TERM WEIGHTLOSS WAYS result to SHORT-TERM WEIGHTLOSS while LONG-TERM WEIGHTLOSS ACTS result to LONG-TERM WEIGHT CONTROL.
The format of my entry kept on messing up. Sorry if it became so hard to read. :(
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS:
MY GOAL: To prove that diets like this are unnecessary and that nothing beats A HEALTHY COMBO OF DIET AND EXERCISE.
A lot of people are still asking me why I am doing this, so, I'm making a special entry here to answer all the usual questions I am getting from the 5-Day Diet Experiment followers. =)
c) I'm such a guinea pig that again, I would like to prove that NOTHING BEATS THE NORMAL DIET AND EXERCISE PATTERN. (I became a guinea pig for 6 months by tying to lose weight the natural way which I still do until now since it really works. =) This experiment is to prove that diets like this are unnecessary.)
2) Do you even need to diet!? (EHEM. REIGUN's super duper hyped question =p. Oh and I think Em also asked me this. :D Actually, there were a lot of you who asked this but the super UBER reactions came from this awesome two.LOL.)
- No. Haha. But this is an experiment so come onnnn Mr. Darth Vader's Prey and Ms. Michelle Phan's Number One Lulzer. Hehe! I'm going back to my old healthy ways after this because I TRULY MISS THEM. =( I'm excited! Hihi!
3) Is it healthy?
Due to a request, I will discuss in my future posts the reasons why SHORT-TERM WEIGHTLOSS WAYS result to SHORT-TERM WEIGHTLOSS while LONG-TERM WEIGHTLOSS ACTS result to LONG-TERM WEIGHT CONTROL.
The format of my entry kept on messing up. Sorry if it became so hard to read. :(
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS:
MY GOAL: To prove that diets like this are unnecessary and that nothing beats A HEALTHY COMBO OF DIET AND EXERCISE.
A lot of people are still asking me why I am doing this, so, I'm making a special entry here to answer all the usual questions I am getting from the 5-Day Diet Experiment followers. =)
1) You said you're against CRASH/FAD DIETS. You said you have successfully lost a lot of weight in 6 months with a HEALTHY DIET & EXERCISE COMBO alone. WHY do this?
- My friends and I saw this and they wanted to try it out but it's a risky thing since you have a total PIG OUT/CHEAT DAY and they are scared to gain some pounds. They are not yet done with their weightloss process so it would be an extra effort for them if they gain again. I took the challenge for them mainly because:
a) If I gain, I'd still be within the normal weight range.
b) This has a zigzag pattern but at the extremes so I'm curious if this will work (which I doubted) as a jumpstart motivation (which means that you just have to do this once for motivation's sake then go back to the healthy way of losing weight again).
c) I'm such a guinea pig that again, I would like to prove that NOTHING BEATS THE NORMAL DIET AND EXERCISE PATTERN. (I became a guinea pig for 6 months by tying to lose weight the natural way which I still do until now since it really works. =) This experiment is to prove that diets like this are unnecessary.)
2) Do you even need to diet!? (EHEM. REIGUN's super duper hyped question =p. Oh and I think Em also asked me this. :D Actually, there were a lot of you who asked this but the super UBER reactions came from this awesome two.LOL.)
- No. Haha. But this is an experiment so come onnnn Mr. Darth Vader's Prey and Ms. Michelle Phan's Number One Lulzer. Hehe! I'm going back to my old healthy ways after this because I TRULY MISS THEM. =( I'm excited! Hihi!
3) Is it healthy?
- To be honest? Erm. There is a fasting day (that I totally disliked) which follows the ultimate cheating day. It basically goes this way:
DAY 1 -Cheat
DAY 2 - Fast
DAY 3 - Low-Calorie Day (1000 calories for women and 1,500 calories for men)
DAY 4 - BALANCED EATING (normal calorie intake)
DAY 5 - High Protein Day (normal calorie intake)
If you look at it, it's okay except for that fasting day.
Well, I still think that it depends if you can tolerate a fasting day but definitely, you should do the fasting day on a rest day. Some detoxification ways involve fasting so some take it as a healthy thing, but for me, I would definitely say NO to fasting if you're trying to lose weight. Though it may cause weightloss, there are other means to lose weight which do not involve sacrificing your food!!!
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