Varady Krista - The every other day diet : the diet that lets you eat all you want (half the time) and keep off the weight

Diets dont work.

Youve probably read that statement dozens of times, if not hundreds. But even though Diets dont work has become a truism, its not true. The truth is diets dont work when you diet every day. Diets dont work because no one can endure day after day of deprivation, cut off from the foods they love. Diets dont work because no one can follow their complex and artificial rules for weeks and months on end. Diets dont work because theyre unworkable!

But the reasons why traditional diets dont work are the same reasons why the Every-Other-Day Diet does workbecause it does away with daily deprivation and hard-to-follow rules. And you dont have to just take my word for it, because unlike other diets, the Every-Other-Day Diet has years of rigorous scientific research to back up its claims.

As a PhD in nutritional science and an associate professor of nutrition at the University of Illinois, Ive spent the last 10 years conducting weight-loss studies on modified alternate-day fastinga simple and science-proven approach to quick, permanent weight loss and lifelong weight maintenance. Ive distilled that decade of systematic, successful research into a practical plan, which Im presenting for the first time in this book, The Every-Other-Day Diet.

I want to take a moment to also introduce my coauthor, Bill Gottlieb, CHC, the author of 12 other health books that have sold more than two million copies worldwide, a health coach certified by the American Association of Drugless Practitioners, and the former editor in chief of Prevention Magazine Books and Rodale Books.

Bill not only brought his writing skills to The Every-Other-Day Diet; he also brought his skills as a veteran health journalist, working with me to find the latest scientific research, reported throughout the book. This book is infused with Bills passion and professionalism as a health coach dedicated to the wellness of his clients and his readers.

In this introduction, Ill explain the difference between the Every-Other-Day Diet (the EOD Diet, for short) and the other diets out there. Id also like to tell you my own story of losing weight by dieting every other day. Then Ill provide a brief overview of the contents of the book and how to use it for weight-loss success.

So lets get started with a closer look at the crucial differences between every-day dieting and the Every-Other-Day Diet.

Every-day diets are typically about deprivationwhat you cant eat. They tell you what not to do, handing down the dieters equivalent of the Ten Commandments, like

• Thou shalt not eat more than 10% fat.
• Thou shalt not eat more than 40 grams of carbohydrates.
• Thou shalt not eat meat.
• That shalt not eat wheat.
• Thou shalt not eat sugar.
• Thou shalt not covet thy neighbors sugar.

So you try to obey your diets unique set of commands, whether there are 10 or 100 of them. But you end up feeling frustrated. So you sin. You eat bad foods. You feel like a bad person. And then you repent. (Ill never eat doughnuts again!) And then, inevitably, you repeat the whole self-defeating cycle all over again.

Why does this happen? As day follows night, dietary excess always follows dietary deprivation. When a food is forbidden, it becomes tantalizingly tempting, and you crave it. Are you on a low-carb diet? Youre probably craving pizza. On a low-fat, plant-based diet? Youre probably dying for a steak. On a Paleo Diet? Youre probably dreaming about cheese enchiladas. Eventually, you give in to those cravings. Maybe you even binge.

Another reason diets fail: hunger. Hunger is good. Hunger is natural. Hunger is your bodys way of telling you that it needs fuel. The point of hunger is to let you know its time to take in more calories. But weight-loss diets are about calorie restriction. (In spite of all the claims to the contrary by diet gurus who favor high or low quantities of carbs, protein, and/or fat, its always calorie restriction that powers a diets ability to help you shed pounds.) So when you diet, you feel hungry. Maybe even cranky. Maybe even depressed. Nobody can deal with daily hunger and its accompanying emotional stress for long. The Every-Other-Day Diet solves this problem by making sure that you dont feel chronically deprived.

Diets also present you with a complex and daunting set of rules to be obeyedor else. They tell you what you can and cant eat. They tell you how much you can and cant eat. They often tell you when you can and cant eat. All those rules end up ruling your life. And thats no fun. So what if you could drop pounds and still

The Every-Other-Day Diet makes losing weight easy. Theres no long-term deprivation, and theres one simple rule:

Eat 500 calories on the day you diet (Diet Day), and eat anything you want and as much as you want the next day (Feast Day).

, my research shows you lose just as much weight on the EOD Diet as when youre on an every-day diet.

With every-other-day dieting, dietary deprivation never lasts longer than a day, and total dietary freedom is always just a day away. Now, you may be thinking to yourself, Theres no way thats going to work. Im going to eat so much on Feast Day that Ill never lose weight. But the studies Ive conducted show that overeating on Feast Day doesnt happen. On average, people following the Every-Other-Day Diet eat about 110% of their normal caloric needs on Feast Day. And they eat about 25% of their normal caloric intake on Diet Day. Thats an average of nearly one-third fewer calories over two daysand a perfect formula for steady, safe weight loss.

Why dont EOD dieters binge on Feast Day? Because theyre not feeling deprived! When youre on the Every-Other-Day Diet, you know youll be able to eat whatever food you want, and all the food you want, every other day. You dont have to eat like theres no tomorrow because theres a tomorrow right around the corner, and another one soon after that. The Every-Other-Day Diet solves the problem of diet