I really need some advice. I’ve tried different diets and intermittent fasting but always fall off fairly quickly. However, IF seems more doable for me. Except, I feel like it isn’t working. I’m only on day 13 so obviously I don’t expect much but I thought I would have at least lost 1 lb by now. Prior to IF, I never worked out, ate terribly and often, and never drank water. When I say I didn’t drink water, I mean not a single glass. I have been a huge addict of Pepsi and would drink maybe 5 glasses a day. I mean it’s a lot and I know it’s a problem. I finally decided to print out a 30 day water challenge. I’m on day 13 and have been drinking 64 oz of water a day. At first I would still drink a glass of Pepsi a day. Now I’m on day two of none at all. At the same time, I started IF 16/8. I haven’t necessarily changed what I am eating but I’m obviously eating a lot less. I haven’t been exercising because I didn’t want to overdo it and jump into everything at once.
My main thing is, with the water and IF I thought I would have at least lost a single lb by now. I haven’t changed at all. What should I do? I’ll start exercising but I just feel so disheartened. I don’t even FEEL any better physically.
Hello fellow 35 year old.
No matter how you do it, losing weight boils down to calories out > calories in. Everything else is just a strategy to optimize how you do that. Figure out how many calories per day you need to maintain your weight.
A pound of weight generally boils down to 3500 calories. (Keyword generally for all of the Reddit nutritionists grabbing their pitchforks).
Assuming that you only cut out 5 Pepsi’s per day and changed literally nothing else, you’re right, you should have lost nearly 3.5 pounds by now. (750 calories * 13 days / 3500).
There is a lot of things this could be though.
Did you weigh yourself at the same time, after the same time between meals, wearing the same clothes? That could be part of it.
Have you had less energy for the last 13 days and so moved less? That could be robbing you of calories out.
Only you can know for a fact that you aren’t replacing the Pepsi calories lost with new calories in. It’s easy to do if you aren’t tracking, and it’s easy to do it you’re starting a new eating strategy (a mistake I’ve made myself).
As someone else mentioned, it’s important to try to track. You don’t have to do it for the rest of your life. Do it for a couple of weeks and you will have a much better subconscious gauge of when you are under vs when you are over.
Most importantly - hang in there and keep grinding! You can do it! Getting rid of soda is a healthy decision, weight loss or not.
Hi there! I feel your pain. When I started, I tried 16/8, and the scale didn’t budge for me either, I had to bump it up to 20/4 to start seeing results. This is what helped me, I know every body is different but you could look into a longer window and see whether it works for you too. Don’t give up, I know it can be frustrating at times, but you got this! :)
Have you had any non-scale changes? Do you FEEL better? I’ve just passed the 1 month mark on 15:9 IF and while the scale hasn’t moved a ton, I feel much better. Also, when I started I noticed I was usually dehydrated, drinking a lot more water could be affecting the numbers but if you’re hydrated and taking in less sugary drinks I’d call that a big win no matter what the scale says!
Honestly some of this advice is feeling a little harsh / not productive 😅.
First congrats for realizing you want to make a change. It’s hard and it’s no small feat.
I’ve seen a few ppl say on this sub “the weight didn’t go on quickly, so don’t expect it to come off overnight”. I have been trying to keep this in mind when I have a couple of really good fasting days and don’t see much of a difference in the scale. I only started IF this month but I already feel like it’s a life change I can adopt long term - and long term change is the key to success for weight loss.
I’m only down a couple of lbs. but if I loose a couple of lbs each month, that’s 24 lbs in a year. Would I like to lose more? Yes… but if I do the bare minimum and lose 24 lbs this year, that’s still better than staying the same or even gaining weight. In the past month I’ve already seen major shifts towards healthier behaviors. It’s still early days for you, so I say keep at it - even if you think you’re only doing the bare minimum… at least you’re sticking with it and that’s a big deal.
I, like you, barely drank enough water previously but now I am well on my way to meeting my daily water goals. I am also getting better with portion control and healthier whole food choices. Slow progression is all that is needed and after a few months all that slow progression adds up to major gains. It’s better to start slow and be persistent than to try to be perfect and give up because it’s too big of a change and too quickly to stick to it. I started with 18:6 and have since pretty much switched to 22:2 / OMAD. It wasn’t easy at first but it’s slowly getting easier and I allowed myself the past month to phase towards OMAD. If OMAD starts to feel too hard to keep up, instead of stopping all together - I will just adjust my window to be larger so I don’t feel deprived. Slow and steady wins the race! Keep at it :)
Yes as said previously, in the end it will be cutting calories that does the job. I would not be too disheartened though as slow and steady is the best route. If you are drinking more, you will be carrying that water weight which is better for you and as you start moving more remember muscle weighs more than fat.
There’s lots of great advice in this thread. Here’s a little more to think about.
I do not like the term calories in/calories out. This trope is actually from the processed food industry, blaming you for eating their food. Their food is addictive and makes you sick in many ways. There have also been many experiments showing that it isn’t true.
Generally speaking, your body can only burn carbohydrate in the form of glucose, or fats in the form of triglycerides and ketones. It will almost always revert to burning the glucose first. Anytime you have a meal with carbohydrates, your blood sugar will increase and cause a release of insulin. If your muscles do not need the glucose, it will get stored in the form of fat.
Try cutting out the processed food from your diet. You want to avoid refined sugars, refined carbohydrates like flour and corn, as well as seed oils like vegetable oil, canola oil, and corn oil.
The goal is to keep your blood glucose low at all times. This will make your body fat adapted. Once your body becomes fat adapted, it doesn’t matter if the fat comes from the food you eat or from body fat. You can then implement a strategy of longer fasts, or meal skipping. If your body is fat adapted it will draw from your body fat and you will begin to lose weight without feeling tired or hungry, while maintaining muscle mass.
An additional strategy is to go for a walk shortly after each meal. This will burn glycogen in your muscles, which will be replenished by the food you just ate. This will help to keep you blood sugar and insulin levels low, making your fasts more effective.
You need to start counting calories or following a weight loss plan. I do weight watchers (which is fantastic by the way). There’s no way to lose weight unless your calories you eat are lower than what you burn. Given that you were drinking 5 glasses of Pepsi a day I would imagine your selection of foods to consume is not stellar. While you are indeed consuming less you might not be under what it takes to lose weight.
Also, start moving 30 minutes a day- just walk.
What is your fasting window? Do you have anything except water during that time?What do you eat when you aren’t fasting?Extreme Ex. If you are eating 3000 calories in your eating window, not gonna lose weight. Calculator is helpful to see where you need to be at and can do my fitness pal meal logs even for a week go see where you are at with what you already eat. https://www.calculator.net/calorie-calculator.html
Its so great you cut out pepsi (so bad for you), but you’re 35 yo/women’s body likely needs more fasting time (24-32 hrs) a few times a week to actually switch to weight loss.
16:8 works better for younger people or people without much to lose or for maintenance.
Give it a month or better yet 3 months! Your body is still detoxing. IF isn’t quick weight loss. I hit a month today and still I will not weigh myself. I incorporated short walks (25min). I feel better and more importantly I feel in control now! Keep up the good work!
I’m really impressed that you got over your soda addiction! That’s major! A huge win for you and I’m sure your blood work will look a ton better! It’s good to break things up by wins rather than worrying about the scale. Also you could for sure be gaining muscle and losing fat just by giving your body the hydration it needs to process your food better.
I’m 40/F. It took me two weeks to see any weight loss. And I only lose during the first half of my cycle. The 2nd half I’m stagnant. It’s pretty consistent.. also I have to stick to 1200 calories a day to see 1lb a week loss (when you average) I’m 9lbs down since thanksgiving.
A trick that worked for me was going low-carb for a few days. This is really hard, especially if you have a high sugar intake (which it seems like you had in the past), with all of your water intake coupled, you’re keeping on a good amount of water weight. Losing some of the carbs will help you kickstart the weight loss, as carbs tend to hold water weight.
Try a few days with chicken and eggs and veggies and see what happens. Also there’s a lot of negativity in the comments here. You’re taking a big step and we know it isn’t easy. But this is a big lifestyle change for the better!
I spent years trying to lose weight only to slowly keep gaining. IF has been the only thing that’s worked for me, allowing me to lose about 50 lbs in 2 years. I now eat guilt free again and no longer feeling compelled to order the salad because it’s the more sensible choice.
Eliminating soda is a great start, but be careful not to replace it with other things like more snacking. I was never a big soda drinker, but I do enjoy Le Croix like beverages. I’m wondering if something like that can be a good replacement. Also, there’s new research that shows we all don’t need to be guzzling water all the time. Drink what keeps you hydrated without overdoing it.
Monitoring calories really helps keep things in perspective, helping to determine what does and doesn’t work for you. Because I’m small (5’2”), I personally cannot lose weight with just diet alone unless I’m consistently eating on average under 1,000 calories a day (which would make me very sad). I suggest adding a little more movement to your day. It doesn’t have to be anything fancy or intense. Figure out how many steps you take in a day and gradually increase to something challenging yet achievable. Many people settle somewhere around 7k-15k per day.
Take things slowly and don’t be too hard on yourself when you don’t quite hit your goals. Just move forward (Tomorrow is a new day!), and remember, this all needs to be sustainable. A diet cannot work if it makes you miserable. Good luck!
Your first 11 days did not count because you drank Pepsi and that broke your fasting. Your body was processing sugar.
Now if you do CICO during your eating window and keep clean drinks during your fasting window you’ll see results. Good luck. You can do this!