Count me in! I’m going to try this and see how it goes. My D is getting married at the end of August and I would love to not feel like I’m squeezing into everything I put on. Since I started going through menopause, I can’t seem to keep the pounds from creeping in. So first fast day tomorrow! Wish me luck. I’m worried I may need it.
I have made my own bone broth in a crock pot. Bones, a head of garlic, carrot celery, peppercorns, onion, small amount of vinegar and bay leaves. If you roast the bones in the oven for 45 minutes, it improves the taste. The recipe i followed said Bone broths are typically simmered for a very long period of time (often in excess of 24 hours), with the purpose producing gelatin from collagen-rich joints and to release minerals from bones.
This said, the first batch made, I thought to myself was not too bad. It quickly got to the point where I really did not want to drink it as a broth, the deep meatiness of it was just a bit too strong for my taste. I did use it in soups and such but even that got to be unpalatable for me after a while. When refrigerated and cold, the gelatin is like jello in consistency. I am sure it is very healthy though. 
There are websites you can order it on line, some are more highly rated then others, It can be pricey, especially if you want an organic supplier.
Bone brother is very healthy in terms of minerals. I was at a coop and bought a grass fed bone, boiled with vegetables as above, then chilled and the fat taken off. Very easy,
Had my first fast day yesterday. I didn’t eat until an early dinner at about 5. I had some spinach lasagna, leftover cherry tomato salad, and a nectarine. I’m not certain it was all under 500, but it was certainly less than a regular day, so a good beginning for me.
Drkellyann, PBS focuses on bone broth as critical part of fasting for her 21 simple weight loss.
Yesterday I made the cabbage soup ( fat burning ) recipe, as a palatable substitute for me to try. I like the health benefits.
Here is link to article about health benefits touted about “bone broth”.
I’m looking forward to hearing about your reports, about your fasting experiences ( anyone hypoglycemic be careful )
@SouthJerseyChessMom brings up an important point about knowing your health before you change your eating habits. My internist knows how and what I eat, and my numbers are good.
Bravo @GCmom! (Is there a back patting emoji?) I was surprised at the calorie count of some of the foods I was considering, so in my case I don’t think guesstimating will be wise. I also think waiting til dinner to eat will get me a big headache. But whatever works for you is your right diet.
So far I had my 4 oz. of oj and a Yoplait Greek 100 coconut yogurt, which was quite tasty and made my big fat sweet tooth happy.
You know those days when you have so much to do, you’re running from here to there and can’t fit it all in and then you look at the clock and say “How did it get to be ___ o’clock already?” That’s the perfect day for this diet! (The worst day would be a snow day when the driveway and street don’t get cleared until midnight and you cleaned house and got all the laundry done earlier in the week.)
I haven’t eaten anything yet today…but I can’t stop thinking about food. I have been on the internet searching calorie counts for the last hour…anticipating eating at dinner time!
Typically headaches are caused by dehydration, not lack of food. Make sure you’re getting enough water (and caffeine if that’s how you roll in the morning).
After hearing about this diet from a friend and then reading these posts, I decided to give this a try. I am great at starting diets, but then I lose my will and it all falls apart. I am hopeful that only needing to track my food and deprive myself for no more than one day in a row will help. I had gained about 45 # in about the last five years - so discouraging! What is so frustrating is that I don’t drink soda (diet or otherwise), don’t eat fast food or junk food and pretty much eat “clean”. In the past year I have even drastically cut back on all refined sugars and dairy. I think my biggest issue is portion control and the love of carbs. I also do a lot of my work from home and I often nibble my way through the day. I decided to take Monday and Thursday as my fast days, though I did Tuesday this week because of the holiday. I was pleasantly surprised that it was pretty easy. I ate three meals plus a small snack and kept it to (barely) under 500 calories. I took advice from some and delayed eating breakfast until late - around 11. Then lunch at 2:00 and dinner at 7:30 (normal time for us). It really seemed doable. Today, a regular day, I didn’t think too much about what I ate, but definitely did not binge or go crazy. Tomorrow is fast day number two.
Thanks @MommaJ !
I am also planning on Monday and Thursday being my fast days, although did Tuesday this week. Today I have a retirement party to go to, so it might end up being more than 500 cals. I’ll try not to eat until the party this evening.
Good luck today to any fasters!
I don’t think I could manage 500 calories in a party scenario–that pretty much eliminates any alcohol right off the bat, and what if there are yummy hors d’oeuvres? Maybe wait til Friday? To me, one of the beauties of this diet is the flexibility.
Anyway, I did fine yesterday. Even forgot about my apple until very late in the evening. The one weak moment came when I ate those 7 almonds–I really, really wanted the whole bag! The Progresso Light soup was decent, though the clam chowder had more essence of clam than actual clams…Off to buy some deli turkey or ham for Saturday-60 cals. for 2 oz. I have some lo-carb wraps that are 55 cals. each, so I could make a very nice sandwich with 4 oz. of deli meat for only 175 cals. I’m keeping a list of all my alternatives, so I can easily plan out each fast day ahead of time.
After this week, (I am doing Tues & Friday), I’m going to switch over and join several others here in the Mon-Thurs. plan.
I did pretty well on Tuesday; I find I need to eat all 500 calories just once, because once the stomach juices get flowing and I start eating, I start feeling even more hungry. So my plan is late afternoon, like 3:30-4:00 ish, to eat once. I just keep super busy on the 2 day mornings. On Tuesday this week I did 3 oz of grilled chicken (I think some protein is very important) one whole grapefruit, and a big bowl of mixed berries. Didn’t really count the calories, might well have been a bit over 500, but that doesn’t concern me that much. I do need do start mixing in more green stuff, and fewer fruits, but I love all the summer fruits so that’s a little tough for me.
Wed & today (Thurs). I wasn’t even that hungry, and have done a good job of sticking to very healthy alternatives. I drink a ton of water, but try to drink most of it early in the day, otherwise, I am up all night hitting the bathroom.
I started dieting for real a little under one month ago, after going crazy on a vacation week 
I had lost about 4 pounds but was stuck, and it kept varying. After my fast day, I finally dropped down under the 5 pound mark, so that gave me encouragement to eat better on my 5 days. I think weighing in just twice a week, the mornings after low-cal day, is a good plan (daily weighing gets so frustrating).
I only get on the scale a few times a week. I find it’s not good for my mindset if I’m constantly worried about it.
@MommaJ it was too hard to have today be a fast day. I had planned not to eat until the party in the evening, but I was so hungry at lunch because I had actually had a pretty light day yesterday. So I just decided to have lunch and enjoy the party, and make tomorrow a fast day. I don’t love having Friday as a fast day, but it probably won’t be too difficult since I am not going to bed hungry.
And yes, that is the beauty of this, the fast days are moveable.
What you guys are basically doing is a modified version of the 5 Bite Diet. I recommend the book "Why Weight Around"by Dr. Alwin Lewis. It sounds insane at first, but you should read the book and give it a chance.
The issue with doing one day of fasting or possibly two days of fasting is that you’re going to be hungry. There is something that Dr. Lewis refers to as “hungerstat.” It’s basically your hunger level. It takes three days to regulate your hunger. If you eat the same small amount of food for three days straight (Dr. Lewis recommends 5 bites for lunch and dinner), your body will adjust to being satisfied on that amount. If you do 500 cal, and then 2000 cal and are inconsistent, the 500 cal days are gonna be brutal. It’s essentially stapling your stomach without gastric bypass surgery. After gastric bypass, patients are able to lose weight because of adopting a diet in which they intake smaller volumes of food.
Well, one day is not a fair test, but I certainly wasn’t “brutally” hungry yesterday, and because I kept busy with work and home projects, I was able to ignore any hunger pangs. Even the knowledge that I could eat normally the next morning was enough to enable me to ignore any thoughts of hunger. I spread my calories out over several mini-meals, so my stomach was never entirely empty. And I varied the tastes and textures so I didn’t have any irresistible yearnings. I’ll see how it goes over the next few weeks.
In some ways it’s a fun challenge to plot out how to put together a 500 calorie day that is varied and palatable. It’s a game I can see playing twice a week, as opposed to counting calories or Weight Watchers points day after day. Though it may get old fast–we’ll see. As for weighing myself, I plan on doing it first thing in the morning on Wednesdays. I think there’s too much variation in our weight day to day to step on the scale any more frequently than that.
Not buying the “hungerstat” stuff. The process described by Dr. Lewis sounds an awful lot like what we used to call your stomach “shrinking” over the course of an extended diet. It was hogwash. Miraculously, one’s stomach “expanded” again as soon as the diet ended. Even some gastric bypass patients yoyo after surgery despite the smaller stomach capacity. We are dismally flexible when it comes to food.
@MommaJ Like all attempts at weight loss and dieting, if you go back to your old unhealthy ways, you will gain your weight back. That’s not unique to portion control diets. As someone who followed Dr Alwin’s diet and lost more than 60lbs (and kept it off) I can assure you that the hungerstat stuff is legit. After 3 days, I was no longer hungry after a small portion and was able to still eat the foods that I love. It’s also great that I know exactly how to get back on track if I do see the scale going in the wrong direction.
The NYT recently had an article come out about The Biggest Loser and the struggles some contestants had with their metabolism. Someone commented and said that part of losing weight and keeping it off, is being hungry. That doesn’t have to be the case.
For me personally, I don’t see why I should take 1 year to lose 60lbs when I can do it in less than half that time and keep it off. The quicker you get it off your body, the healthier you will be. If you lack control, you will gain your weight back no matter how long it takes you to lose weight or how you do it.
Of course, our bodies are all different and different things work for different people. But I do encourage people looking for something effective to check out the book I mentioned before, “Why Weight Around.”
I’m trying for Mondays and Fridays–because we drive every week for three hours around dinner time on Fridays, so it’s a good day not to be worried about it…I think. We’ll see. I didn’t make my mind up till Monday night, so today’s my official start, but I sort of did a version by accident on Tuesday because of stuff going on. Unfortunately, I have a lunch date today, so I guess there’s my (carefully planned) 500 calories. Mondays I feel will be a good post-weekend choice.
Good luck to all!
So would some of you be willing to post some meal plans for your 500 calorie days, with amounts or weights or oz., etc., included? That would be very helpful for me! I’m so busy on my work days, it would be logical to try this on those days. But I do so much better with a specific plan.