Who does not want to feel better and look slimmer especially in summer time? As holiday seasons approach people as a rule start thinking of losing some weight. One of the ways you consider is skipping or radically restricting their meals. This approach is frequently criticised because of a belief that a person who restricts him/herself will eat more later on and regain the loss. However, the amount of the lost calories is not automatically and completely restored during the next meals. If the fasting process is managed properly, it gives the desired results.
 
The experiments illustrate that the best results are achieved when the variation in food amounts is practised. It implies that if on certain days you intake around 20 – 50 % of your regular calorie needs while eating as usual on the other days you will still be able to lose your weight. As one of the recent empirical studies shows, a group of ten people with surplus weight given 20 % of their normal calorie consumption every other day after eight weeks lost on average 8 % of their body's weight.  
 
Apart from losing weight, restricting or skipping meals might have other advantages. For example, it may protect your organism from diseases. The research presented at the American Heart Association conference in 2007 revealed that the risk of heart diseases is higher if people do not fast. From the medical point of view, it is explained that during the fasting period the metabolism is slowed down (say, for a day), which makes the body's cells more sensitive to glucose and also to insulin. Yet, the links between the amounts of restricted calories and heart deceases have not been studies in-depth with most studies done on rats and roundworms. Nonetheless, the animal studies suggest that a planned regime of calorie-restricted eating might be beneficial for people as well.

The reduced amounts of the food intake produce less free radicals, which are responsible for damaging cells and can lead to diseases. Although eating less calories might be slightly stressful to our cells (especially, if one is not accustomed to fasting) but it is beneficial in the long-term perspective.

So, the essence of fasting techniques is in cutting the total number of calories you consume. This can be done in a number of ways. You might wish to reduce your average daily calorie intake by a certain percentage (based on your own calculation or as per a plan developed for you by a specialist). Alternatively, you might wish to skip a meal or two a week or you might take a day every fortnight entirely without any food or eat a lot less every other day.

Your weight and your health largely depend on your discipline and knowledgeable application of fasting methods.