Hey Everyone-
Been doing a hybrid of OMAD/6:18/8:16 with occasional 24-40 hr fasts sprinkled in.
Today I was planning to do a 40ish hour one, ending tomorrow at my normal eating window. However, I was also prepping foods for Christmas, and had to cook and test a small piece of beef (1-2 oz tops) to make sure my spice blend ratio I made was good. While I realize the fast was broken at that point, I had just crossed the 24 hr mark.
**My question is** by ending that fast early, or not seeing it through to 40 hrs, did I negate some sort of benefit that comes at 24 hrs and beyond? I know strictly in the CICO sense, this is a nothingburger, but just checking to see if I am missing out on a bigger benefit that will help weightloss overall in the long term.
TIA!
Answer
I know I’ll be corrected where I’m wrong, but I think the only thing that’d truly get lost by cutting it short is the amount of time able to have the body spend doing what it already started doing, for longer.
Answer
I think it depends on whether your primary goal is weight loss or if it’s autophagy. IIRC, research done by Dr. Krista Varady at the University of Illinois showed that the “every other day” diet worked really well for weight loss. She suggests sticking to 500 calories or less on the “down day” (fasting day) and then eating freely on the “up day”.