Doing 3 day intermittent fasting will it effect my period?

[ciciflora]

Hi I binged on Wednesday and Thursday so I was doing a intermittent fasting where I ate 500 or less calories from Friday until Sunday. I just saw that my period should be coming in a day or two will my intermittent fasting make it late or ? Thanks sorry I am new to this

[Dominique]

I can’t comment on the impact on your cycle, but I would say 500 calories or less on three consecutive days would be more like a very low calorie diet than intermittent fasting. Generally speaking intermittent fasting is less recommended for women, precisely because of the hormonal aspect. Your take on IF sounds unecessarily extreme to me.

IF has no magical effect on weight loss: it’s still all about the caloric deficit you are able to create. If you create the same weekly deficit with another approach, you will see the same loss. Consistency/adherence to the diet is what matters most : you need to find an way of eating (less) you can stick to. 

[lov2garden · Accepted solution]

I just started IF this week and am getting great results.  Look for Jason Fung on youtube.  He has the best info on Fasting & how to do it for the best results.  The idea isn't how many calories a day but how many consecutive hours you fast in a given 25 hour period (no calories, just low/no calorie drinks or water) in addition to your sleeping hours.  If you have enough body fat already, it shouldn't affect your period.  If you are average to underweight, fasting is probably not a good idea.

[Dominique]

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@lov2garden wrote:

The idea isn't how many calories a day but how many consecutive hours you fast in a given 25 hour period

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If weight loss is the goal, calories are still what matters, far less so how they are spread throughout the day (or a 25 hour period). If you are eating at a surplus (whether at a daily or weekly level), there’s no way fasting during xx consecutive hours could somehow cancel that surplus and cause you to lose weight. Intermittent fasting will only work for weight loss if it results in a caloric deficit.