So my girlfriend has me trying something called the 5/2 diet or intermittent fasting.
Essentially, I can eat and live the way I normally do for 5 days a week. Then two days a week, I drop to 600 calories for the day. This is supposed to be a quarter of your daily intake, but my regular intake is probably more like 3500-4000 calories a day.
I eat a light breakfast, around 100 calories, then 12 hours before I eat my 500 calorie dinner.
So far, I've done it for two weeks and I can't tell if it's working, but I'm down 6-10 pounds. I was at the doctor and weighed in at 6'2" 210, and then about 213 a few days later on our freight scale at work. Since the two weeks, I weighed in at 204 on the freight scale the other day.
It's hard as fuck and you have to pick you calories wisely. It's been a greek yogurt for breakfast, water and black coffee for the next 12 hours. Then a dinner. Had a filling two, 1/4 pound veggie black bean burgers and a ton of asparagus. I am completely tired and starving these days. So I take one sudafed during the day, for allergies and energy, and a clonazepam at night to take my mind off the starvation.
The nice thing is the days can be completely flexible. I played volleyball for about 2 1/2 hours straight the other day so I ate that day and the next, then did my fast day after that. I also get to eat and live however I want for the 5. Drinking, eating bad food, not really caring. Once I hit target weight, I go to 6/1 for maintenance.
This seems to go against everything I have read and know about diet and the body. I have always read that when you want to start a diet that you should fast for 24 hrs because it shrinks your stomach and makes you want to eat less. The being only 2 days thing makes it easier to follow. I've tried adkins and can't stay living without carbs. I can't imagine eating healthy all the time, but I could live like this for a while.
I'll keep posting the results, but I am still shocked by the idea behind it. Seems to go against everything I know. Girlfriend swears by it though as she was getting back on it. When we met, she was fit as hell. As close to a six pack without being too toned for a chick. She's getting back on it because we've been doing the dinner circuit and I cook for her a lot, she's not gotten fat by any means, but wants to get back to ridiculously toned and she says this is how she did it.
Down 6 in two weeks so far.