I was wondering since I am stuck at a certain weight can I try fasting for a week to give my body a jump start. All I would drink is protein drinks, juice watered down and lots of water. Has any one ever tried that?

I had my surgery on feb 3 of this year. I have lost 35lbs since them, but everyone can tell because the see the inches plus the few pounds, but since I work and go to school a lot I don't have time to eat right and the only thing I can do is the liquid, but I don't know if I can go longer than a week. It would be a challenge.

Miko, I would suggest talking to your doctor first

There are great advantages to fasting for short periods of time. I'm not sure how effective it would be to "jump start" Okay, maybe it would jump start some weight loss, but jump starting your metabolism includes extra calories (healthy ones) for a few days. So I don't know.

Here's what I did. I was hovering around the 208 pound mark after losing 15 pounds post-surgery. I picked a high weight (210) and a low weight (207) and maintained that for a while with no fill. If I got to 210, I cut back. I hardly ever saw 207 for more than a day. When I was ready, and my fill was scheduled for a few weeks away, I ate extra, as much as I could, for however many days it took me to get up to 210, then cut back again and stayed cut back. Now I'm at 195.8 and I'm moving down slowly. When I get stuck again, I'll do the same thing. Pick a high and low weight, maintain for a while, eat up, then cut back. It's reminiscent of the Plateau Busters diet, I think. I learned it from Curves. They say do the high weight/low weight for weight loss maintenence when you hit goal. Hmmm. I haven't hit goal yet so I just use it to keep my plateau steady until I'm ready to fight harder. And/or get a fill.

Hope that gives you some ideas.

Fasting in and of itself, defeats the purpose of the band, because the band is designed to keep you full faster when you eat solid foods. But if you think you could last on a liquid diet, it's likely you'll lose some weight, but then the flaw with diets like that is that they don't teach you good eating habits.

So, while you'll probably lose weight, I would recommend doing some extra work to get eating right even while you are busy, as that will help you maintain your weight loss int he future as well, you know?

When I was a teenager I once decided to fast on fruits and veggies for a week, as well as drinking anything except pop (soda). By the time the end of that week came, I was so full of energy and felt so extremely focused as well. It was AMAZING!

Yesterday I felt like I was to fast on fruits and veggies for all but dinner, and so I did. It helped my system feel a bit "lighter" if you will, and it was a nice practice of self control for me too.

I find nothing wrong with fasting (the healthy way) for a short amount of time. Not only does it allow us to exercise our human capacity for self control, it also allows our bodies to heave a sigh of relief from all of the over processed crap that we stuff in them on a daily basis. (Even if you don't eat out, or eat a lot of processed foods - meat, dairy, and eggs contain added chemicals/contaminants that your body can surely do without.)

Good luck to you in whatever you decide. Rememeber to plan ahead and think of what you know your body can tolerate and what you think you'll be able to handle self control wise as well. (Example - It's smarter to allow myself fruits and veggies, than set myself up for failure from the get go. I know my own strengths and weaknesses.)

I would handle a plateau with exercise personally. If you're walking, start to jog. Up your weights at the gym. Do something different a few times, like swimming. Just mix it up.

I firmly believe you need to eat to lose weight. I'm not a believer in ultra low calorie diets or fasting, they only have their place when weight is a life or death issue in the very immediate future - like if you need surgery or something.

Otherwise I dont believe you're doing anything positive towards maintaining your metabolism. To have a healthy metabolism you need muscle and by dieting extremely or fasting you're burning your muscles for energy.

Jachut,

I prescribe to this very same philosphy. Starving is not the answer. I was very reluctant at first to get banded, after reading that some bandsters are only eating 800-1000 calories per day. I believe that this method will only work short term and once the body adapts and goes into the cliche'd "starvation mode", fat is stored. One's metabolism probably slows to a halt. I've discussed with my doctor and I am going to aim for 1600-2000 calories per day. That seems like alot, but I am very active and fortunately have a good muscle make-up. Compared to the 3500-6000 calories per day that I use to consume, this will be a big difference. I am a strong proponent of using weight resistance for overall health. The more muscle one has.....the better the metobolism. There is no doubt in my mind, that I'd weigh over 400lbs. if I didn't workout (both aerobically and weights). I was 280lbs pre-band. My problem was with the amounts of food that I took in!! I'm a believer that the band will help with consumption but I have to to the things necessary to achieve my goals. Exercise has always, and will continue to be my ally in my battle of the bulge.

Ray

8/9/05

280/259/05

Thanks for the advice. I have thought about it for the last few days and decided that it may not be a good choice. I will go for another fill and have a talk with my nutrionist again to see what she says.