The Every Other Day Diet, also known as QOD, is a popular diet used for weight loss. It involves alternating normal eating days with low-calorie days. While you don't technically fast on the low-calorie days, you do significantly reduce your calorie consumption. On the low-calorie days, dieters limit their caloric intake to 300 non-protein calories. Since dieters know that a normal eating day is coming soon, they can often avoid feeling deprived and stick to the diet plan.
Tips For You
Determine your daily caloric needs. You can use online calorie calculators to do this. You merely enter your gender, age, height, weight and activity level. The tool will then give you the amount of calories you need daily. This is the amount of calories you will consume on alternate days.
Begin the diet with a low-calorie fast day. On this day, you must eat no more than 300 non-protein calories. These are calories that come from fats or carbohydrates.
Drink lots of water on your low-calorie fast days. Oftentimes, you may feel hungry when you are actually thirsty. Avoid dehydration by sipping water throughout the day. Keep a bottle nearby at all times to keep hunger sensations at bay.
Consume the number of calories you determined to be your daily caloric need on your normal days. Though the exact number will vary depending on your personal specifications, men should generally be eating between 1,800 and 2,400 calories on these days. Women should normally be eating between 1,400 and 1,800 calories on these days.
Alternate low-calorie fasting days with normal calorie consumption days.
Choose healthy, nutritious foods on your normal consumption days. Though you don't have to be terribly strict on your normal days, they are not opportunities to binge on junk food. Instead, opt for well-balanced foods that provide you with vitamins and nutrients.
Take calcium and magnesium supplements daily. You may need to take fiber supplements if you experience constipation on your fasting days. Since you are consuming very few calories on your fasting days, these supplements are necessary to remain balanced.
It's possible to lose weight in two weeks -- cutting bloat, fat and water weight -- without using a juice fast or starvation diet. The key to this weight-loss regimen is to stick to a small group of foods -- all lean proteins, healthy fats and whole grains.
If you want maximum weight-loss, you have to be able to commit to eating a rather boring and routine diet. The trick is to stay strict to avoid cheating and temptation. The low-sodium diet helps banish water weight and bloat. The lean protein revs up the metabolism, allowing for maximum calorie burn. Short bursts of cardio fuel the calorie burn without taxing the body too much.
Things You'll Need
Whole-grain cereal
Almond milk
Natural yogurt, flavored or plain
Honey
Mixed berries -- fresh or frozen blueberries, strawberries, raspberries
Eat either 1 cup of whole-grain cereal with almond milk, 1 cup of yogurt flavored with honey and mixed berries, or an egg-white omelet cooked with chopped spinach and tomato for breakfast.
Step 2:
Consume a low-calorie, high-energy lunch of either 4 oz. of grilled chicken breast with 1 cup of chopped cucumbers and tomatoes, two hard-boiled eggs with celery and carrot sticks, or 4 oz. of lean turkey with carrots and cherry tomatoes.
Step 3:
Eat a balanced dinner, choosing one of the following options: 5 to 8 oz. of grilled flank steak with chopped salad, 6 oz. of grilled chicken with 1 cup of steamed spinach, or 5 oz. of grilled salmon with 1 cup of steamed spinach.
Step 4:
Eat two snacks each day. Snacks can include 1 cup of mixed berries, a 5-oz. serving of sugar-free gelatin, 20 almonds, or 1 cup of avocado sliced and served with lemon and a small pinch of salt.
Exercise Daily in Short Bursts of High-Intensity Cardio
Step 1:
Warm up your body for exercise. Lightly jog in place for one minute. Complete one minute of shoulder circles by swiftly rotating your shoulders in a counterclockwise motion.
Step 2:
Jump rope for five to 10 minutes twice a day.
Step 3:
Run on a treadmill or running path for 20 minutes or complete 20 minutes of a high-intensity workout DVD. Your target heart rate should be above 150 beats per minute.
Step 4:
Cool down with light stretching to help relax muscles and stop buildup of lactic acid in your legs.
Fasting is abstaining from food, and perhaps drink, for a period of time. People fast for religious and cultural reasons, as well as for health and weight loss purposes. Fasting for an extended period of time can be detrimental to health, but short fasts, such as 12-hour fasts, have physical and psychological benefits.
Brain
Short, 12-hour fasts gives the brain a chance to fight the chemical byproducts of stress. When your body creates energy from glucose, mitochondria in the brain release tissue-damaging radicals of oxygen. However, fasting depletes the levels of glucose that require metabolizing. During the interruption of tissue-damaging radicals, the brain is given a chance to recover and recuperate. Short fasts help the mind to re-focus and improve memory and sensory perception.
Water Weight
Twelve-hour fasts help the body to lose weight. Weight loss is not significant, since it is mostly water weight that is expelled from the body. However, excess water and fluids may total as much as 10 pounds on some people. Short fasts trim down the figure by decreasing bloat and swelling without posing any of the health risks that fasts of more than 18 hours do.
Body Fat
Short, half-day fasts do not lower the metabolism, since they are too brief for the body to adjust to burning fewer calories. When undergone intermittently, such as every few days, short fasts help the body to lose excess fat over a period of time. However, weight loss only occurs if overall calorie intake is reduced by fasts. If you over-eat after or before fasts, you will not lose body fat.
Other Chemical Benefits
Twelve-hour fasts lower the body temperature, the blood pressure and the heart rate, which are beneficial side effects to people who suffer from high blood pressure or high heart rate. Twelve-hour fasts also increase HDL, also known as the "good cholesterol" and beta-hyroxyburyrate, a brain-protective chemical. Further, they decrease the brain's sensitivity to excitotoxins, including MSG and sucralose, which increase the appetite.
