[MightySunTzu]

Originally Posted by Milena

Hi hi!
I like fasting, I think it's cool. Beneficial when done occasionally and for positive reasons. I just wanted to respond quickly about not gaining the weight back. I just recently read this book called "The Leptin Diet", and it explains that the hormone leptin which controls appetite is responsible for making you "gain the weight back". Since you body perceived that it was in a state of starvation (ok, as a fellow faster I realize that you weren't starving, but the body still registers a lack of food and therefore it slows down the metabolism) once you decide to stop fasting your body will try to convert all of the food you eat into fat because of the perceived starvation risk. This is purely biological and I doubt there is much you can do to prevent the gaining of fat. So I just wanted to let you know that the body fat percentage goal isn't a great one (at least not from fasting). But I do wish you the best of luck in your fast and I hope it's a fun journey XD

Hey Milena,

I thank you for your positive wishes.

With respect, this part of your quote is quite false:

Originally Posted by Milena

once you decide to stop fasting your body will try to convert all of the food you eat into fat because of the perceived starvation risk. This is purely biological and I doubt there is much you can do to prevent the gaining of fat. So I just wanted to let you know that the body fat percentage goal isn't a great one (at least not from fasting)."

I already fasted (most recently for 10 days, a fast that ended 80 days ago) without a return of the fat i lost, not a single ounce of it. You are right that during the fast the metabolism will slow (and there's nothing i know of that will prevent this)... and you are right that post-fast calories taken in excess of those burned would be stored as fat. But that's true whether a person fasts or not. It's a matter of knowing that the metabolism has slowed (by about 20%) in the fast and of eating accordingly as the metabolism gradually returns to normal over about 6 weeks following the fast. Whether we fasted or not, if we eat only that which we burn, there will be no excess calories to be stored as fat.