I was planning on taking a two week fast. On my fast I'm basically only going to have water, tea, chicken or beef broth, sugar free ice pops, and every couple of days have a fat/sugar free yogurt. I also will be jogging two miles everyday. I was wondering how much weight I can lose on this two week fast?
By Aliesha
Add your voice! Click below to answer. ThriftyFun is powered by your wisdom!
I agree with Cyinda. Fasting is a good way to clean out your system, but it's not a good way to lose weight. I've never heard of a gradual fast, but I definitely wouldn't recommend eating nothing but yogurt, broth, and ice pops for two weeks. You would be depriving your body of essential nutrients needed to maintain good health. If you are set on fasting, you could do the gradual fast, but I wouldn't truly fast for more than three days. And if weight loss is your goal, I suggest you look for other ways to achieve it.
How much weight do you want to lose? If you are in reasonable shape, you could try P90X. All of the advanced ranks in my martial arts class were required to do this workout/diet program at the beginning of the year, and I know from experience that it gives you results. It will teach you proper nutrition and good eating habits while improving your strength, stamina, and flexibility.
When you don't eat, your body thinks you are starving and begins to slow down it's metabolism. When you do eat, it stores everything in case there is no more.
My favorite fast, and it's one of the healthiest, (many body builders use it shortly before a competiion) is:
First three days alternate fresh raw fruits and fresh raw vegetables plus fresh fruit and vegetable juices.
Next three days alternate fresh fruit and vegetable juices and no food.
Last three days do the same as the first three days.
You can eat every hour if you want to, and actually the body is more efficient that way because it isn't thinking it's starving and is getting lots of nutrients. Be sure to alternate those fruits and veggies because the stomach uses different acids to digest them. Limit your intake to the amount of food you can cup in one hand (actually, that should become a lifelong habit).
During all nine days drink 8 to 12 glasses of water a day, spread out during the day.
No caffeine and no nicotine (if you do smoke at least try to limit them to just a couple a day)!
You can have a couple cups of non-caffeine tea a day but no coffee including decalf!
Be sure to take your vitamins and don't cheat yourself on sleep ;-)
When the fast is over be careful of what you eat for a few days because you don't want to shock your system. Stay away from fatty foods and too much sugar.
You may not lose a lot of weight on the scale but your body will be cleansed and toxins gone and you will notice you are slimmer because you aren't puffed up from toxins anymore. I lose a dress size each time I fast (of course the size comes back when the body says too many toxins again ;-).
I used to lift weights and still had the energy to lift as usual during a fast so be sure to exercise whether it's weights, aerobics, walking, whatever ;-)
But why do it this way? You won't have energy and you will be starving. Why don't you just set a certain number of calories and just make sure that is what you eat.
I'm sorry to burst your bubble: It's been my experience that fasting may be a great way to detoxify your body, but fasting isn't the best way to loose weight. You're body becomes more efficient at storing calories & it can easily backfire & make loosing weight harder for you in the future! Also, as far as jogging, you shouldn't exercise while fasting because your body needs all of it's energy & when you fast you tend to get dizzy. You need to know WHAT to drink (like fresh veggie juice) & what not to drink (like anything with sugar, or diet pop).
---> If you're going to fast here's what I would recommend:
It's a 2 week GRADUAL fast that my yoga teacher taught us. It's done VERY gradually (by first removing foods one at a time then slowly adding them back in to your diet)
With this fast you are only going without food for 3 days & it's probably the safest fast around:
Day 1= stop eating all meat, (including fish & poultry)
Day 2 = the second day you also stop eating all dairy foods & eggs
Day 3= stop eating beans, lentils, nuts & seeds
Day 4 = the 4th day you also stop eating grains (like oatmeal, wheat & rice) Eat cooked veggies.
Day 5 = cut out all cooked foods from you diet (& eat only uncooked greens, sprouts, veggies & fruit)
Days 6, 7 & 8 =. these are your actual fasting days:
drink lots of FRESH veggie juice, clean water & also drink lots of herbal tea with no honey or sweetener & no fruit juice (the sugar makes you lightheaded)
Start gradually adding foods back in to your diet:
Day 9 = start eating raw fruits & veggies, sprouts & uncooked greens
Day 9 = eat raw fruits & veggies, sprouts & uncooked greens
Day 10 = add cooked veggies greens, back in to your diet
Day 11 = you can start eating grains (like oatmeal, wheat & rice) again
Day 12 = You can start eating beans, lentils, nuts & seeds
Day 13 = you can start eating dairy & eggs again
Day 14 = you can start eating meat again
* Stay away from store-bought popsicles & instead use frozen juice or frozen herb tea. To sweeten your drinks you can use Stevia (ask for it at any health food store) Stay away from diet pop.
* Another effective way to loose weight is to drink a full 16 ounce glass of water before meals with a soluble fiber added. Also watch your portion size! If you eat at a fast food restaurant, you can eat half for lunch then save the other half for dinner!
* To loose weight, you need to take in less calories that you put out... So, eat healthy foods & stay away from sugar & fatty or fried foods. Eat more veggies, salads (with nonfat dressing) & eat fruit for snacks instead of cake & cookies. If you MUST have chips, buy the ones that are baked & not fried. Use plain yogurt in place of mayonnaise. Eat small meals all day long so you won't starve then binge on junk. & watch your portion size! To loose weight & keep it off, you need to change your whole attitude about food & exercise. Oprah has written some healthy & effective weight-loss books, you may want to check them out at the Library.
I agree with everyone else, the starving effect. If you eat yogurt without fat, all the carbs and protein will be broken down and cause a lot of fatty acids that have to be gotten rid of. If you're starving, the body can't detox cause it thinks there may be no more coming in & will hang on to everything, even the bad stuff. I've lost a lot of weight by detoxing with hydrochloric acid for digestive issues. In the past 6 mos I've lost 23.75 lbs. I haven't lost lean, just fat & toxins that had clogged my kidneys, liver, and tissues.
To lose under normal conditions, increase activity, lift weight, move in any way, and consume enough calories to keep your body from thinking you're starving. To maintain lean muscle, which dictates the speed of your metabolism, you must consume protein and fat. If you look at nature, protein never comes without fat, only man has designed protein by itself, it's not healthy.
This sound like a dangerous thing to do. You will be depriving your body of essential nutrients that could cause you major problems.
This is foolish and dangerous. Your body needs protein to surviv and will start to consume is own muscle if you don' get enough. The heart can b affected as it is a muscle. You also risk electrolyte imbalances and could ver easily pass ou while driving or doing something dangerous. It took a while to put excess weight on, it will come off slowly and safely with a sensible eating/diet plan.
In my opinion, fasting to lose weight is not a good option.
Add your voice! Click below to answer. ThriftyFun is powered by your wisdom!
