@eran – Clearly 170lbs on a 6’0″ adult frame isn’t “too skinny” no matter what chart you might consult. At BMI=23 you’re in the middle of the normal range. Maybe you’re wife is just worried about the looks you’re getting from the other chicks

@Anne – If you’re saying that you’re “cheating” with a little cream in your coffee, it shouldn’t be too much of problem. I n a reply he made to a September 15, 2006 post by Esther Hoff (above), Dr. Mike said Dr. Mary does the same thing while IF’ing. I do kind of agree with him when he suggests folks should “buck up” and drink it black. Personally any food I label as something I can’t live without is one I should strongly consider living without – are you really a slave to a specific substance like *cream*? Oh wait, double standard, I can’t live without black coffee myself

I did want to add one more thing about IF to folks who aren’t already low-carbing it. Before I started low-carbing, I couldn’t imagine skipping a meal. If a meal was even an hour late, I always felt desperately hungry, fatigued, and very cranking. I’m pretty sure now that it was the blood sugar spikes & valleys caused by consuming carbs while being borderline insulin resistant – just like most Americans in middle age. So my strong suggestion for anyone overweight is to try a strict low-carb regimen first, and then consider IF only when you’ve reached normal weight. It’s the only way I could have done it.

Standard disclaimer: I’m not a physician and I’m only sharing personal experience.

Good luck everyone & keep this post alive!

Hi folks – great post, great replies. I read them all, every last one, over the last week or so. Now I have a question about my weight loss during Intermittent Fasting (IF).

I’m a 51 year old male, 5’11”, and this year I used the low carb way of eating to drop from a BMI of 27.5 to 23 over the last several months. My goal is BMI 22, or 158 lbs – basically college weight.

I hit a plateau for several weeks & wasn’t dropping any more weight while continuing to eat induction levels of carbs, so I started IF just a couple of weeks ago. I do two 36-hour fasts (e.g. fast from Mon dinner to Wed breakfast) per week and I’ve completed four of these.

My fast is as honest a fast as I can make it – just coffee (no sugar or cream), iced tea, water, and chicken broth with a little extra pepper on fasting days. I drink a good amount of water (at least 3 liters) because I realize that caffeine is a diuretic.

My records show I’m losing about 2.5lbs during the fast and regaining 1.0 to 1.5lbs after each fast, so during each of these two weeks I’ve been fasting, I’ve lost a little over two pounds a week.

Now of course I don’t subscribe completely to the “3500 calories equals one pound” equation because I know the body plays games with the metabolism when given too many or too few calories. But what I wonder is this – if my typical diet is 2000 to 2500 calories and I’m only skipping one day of feeding, how am I averaging a full pound of real loss with each fast?

I love it but it seems impossible.

[ Update on Dec 29 2011 ]

I’ve completed 14 of these 36-hour fasts and also have been doing shorter fasts where I just skip breakfast and lunch. I’m just a pound or two away from my goal weight now – the fasting has helped me shed over 10 pounds since my plateau in October.

Overall I’m very happy with the results – I may not be losing a full pound from a single day of fasting, but I’m still finding intermittent fasting to be much easier to handle psychologically than trying to use portion control to reduce calorie intake. Although I haven’t really experienced a “euphoria” that some folks report while fasting, I do feel mentally sharper and I certainly get a euphoric kick out of the first meal I use to break my fast!

I’ll continue to use the 24-hour fast (skipping bkfst and lunch only) for maintenance in 2012. Happy New Year to everyone!