Re: Does anyone water fast every other day?

Sorry Anyajb, I didn't reply earlier because 1) I don't know much about eating disorders (I still don't) and 2) I was not clear on what you meant, but now I think I understand.

I had not thought about fasting "helping" people with eating disorders before. However I do like to find out a persons height and weight when they ask about fasting (though I suppose they could lie about this), and their reasons for fasting.

I also get frustrated when people cant make it past a day or two. As a diving instructor I have seen many people bottle out on the surface, when they jump into a typically British rough sea off a boat. Their instinct is to get back into the boat, and then they are afraid of diving, so all their pool training was a wasted effort. However after a few successful dives the first thing people want to do is go under, then it's all smooth and calm. I think it's like that with fasting, once you have done a good few days the hunger disappears and it is an easy ride. And of course when people try to fast when they are doing physical work and are under stress, it is much harder, so it may put them off fasting. That's why I think it's better to try fasting under good conditions, else it may leave a negative impression.

I had thought that fasting can help with some eating disorders, for example bulimia. But if it does, then I think it has to be a self discovery journey, and the person should use a fast to re-educate themselves on correct eating, as I did, and as many others here have reported. It certainly sorted me out, if it was considered that I had an eating disorder.

Regarding anorexia, again I don't know too much, but I can see how it may be bad.

I am sure there will be a lot of different opinion on this, and as I mention I don't know much myself, so I will be interested to see what others say.

One last point, Chrisb1 here thinks that fasting every other day may be beneficial, but of course this applies to people without eating disorders. Calorie restriction diets also extend the lives of mice considerably in lab tests. Tweet