Research

Energy balance

Maintaining intermittent restriction on just 1 day per week is sufficient to sustain the improvements in insulin resistance and body weight achieved during a 3-month intensive IECR phase.

After losing weight with a 2-days-a-week restriction plan, you can switch to just 1 restricted day per week to keep the weight off. On that one day, keep calories and carbs very low. On the other 6 days, eat a balanced, maintenance-level diet. This 'weekend warrior' approach helps maintain your health gains without the burden of daily dieting.

GoodSupportsHIGH confidence
During the weight maintenance phase, 1 d of IECR or IECR + PF per week maintained the reductions in insulin resistance and weight.
Michelle Harvie et al. · British Journal Of Nutrition · 2013

Why this rating

Based on the same RCT, specifically the 4-month data point.

Source

The effect of intermittent energy and carbohydrate restriction<i>v</i>. daily energy restriction on weight loss and metabolic disease risk markers in overweight women

Michelle Harvie et al. · British Journal Of Nutrition · 2013

DOI 10.1017/s0007114513000792

rct · n=115Cited 455×
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DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10

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