Pizza, Hot Dogs, and Fasting – A Recipe for Weight Loss?

In a recent fat loss tip we talked about the use of intermittent fasting as a natural way for your body to burn fat. On a personal note, this strategy has become by far my most effective weight loss strategy I currently practice.

In the article, we covered just a few of the benefits of fasting including the ability to burn fat without restricting your diet to bland salads and dried-out chicken breast. The story is a simple one:

Enjoy your favorite foods without guilt or anxiety and you will lose weight.

Fasting with favorite foods can equal weight loss - just go easy on the whipped cream!

Eye brows were raised, sentences re-read, and conversations ensued. One of our readers, Al, openly questioned the whole concept:

That sounds all well and good, BUT don’t I still need to eat healthy foods to lose weight. It doesn’t make sense that I can eat pizza and hot dogs everyday, input 2 24-hour fasts, and still expect to lose weight? Am i missing something?

Here is my response to Al which I’d like to share with everyone:

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Hi Al,

Thanks for writing.  I’ll do my best to answer your question, if you still have any questions feel free to hit me back with an email anytime.

You’re not alone for having this question and in my opinion it’s one of the biggest cognitive gaps for people trying to lose weight. Too often people equate eating healthy with losing weight, when in fact it’s not that linear of an equation.

Typically people that eat healthy happen to be more conscious of what they eat in general. Healthy eating usually leads to regular exercise and as a result people are more equipped for losing and maintaining their weight.

Let’s not forget to mention that a diet richer in fruits and veggies (fiber) leaves you more satiated and therefore consuming less calories.

However, you do NOT have to eat healthy foods to lose weight. You really don’t!

If you want your body to function ideally, to have regular bowel movements, healthy hair and skin, and the benefits go on and on and on… then YES, ABSOLUTELY please eat healthy foods – that’s why I do.

However, if you want to lose weight, then we are talking about something else entirely.

To lose weight, the #1 rule is to put your body in a caloric deficit every single day.

This means that the amount of calories that you ingest throughout the course of a day should be LESS that the amount of calories our body burns within the same period of time.

eg. Day 1:

* You eat 1800 calories.
* Between life in general and the 400 calories you burned at the gym, your body expended 2400 calories.
* End result: You are in a caloric deficit of 600 hundred calories for that day.

So with that being said, you can eat ice cream, donuts, pizza, steak dinners, mash potatoes, cinnamon hearts and chocolate cake…

BUT!

But, but, but… you still have to make sure that the calories you consume from all of these foods throughout the course of a day still leave you in a caloric deficit.

And keep in mind, if you have a CHEAT day the additional calories you consume will also have an impact on your overall caloric deficit.

So here is a perfect example:

If you go to a coffee shop, and you are trying to decide between the donut and the muffin and you are trying to lose weight, choose the donut.

Sure, you probably shouldn’t have either of these, BUT if you have to have one, 9 times out of 10 the donut will have fewer calories than the muffin.

I hope this helps.

To the future you,
Mike

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It’s through questions and discussions where learning really takes place in my opinion – we should never take anything at face value. A big thanks to our readers for continuing to share and interact here on the site and as always if you have any questions, please do not hesitate.

To learn more about weight loss with intermittent fasting, see our book review of Eat Stop Eat. Author Brad Pilon provides all the science behind the body’s natural ability to burn fat without guilting ourselves about the foods we love.