Been doing 16:8 for a month and lost only 3 pounds. I’m a 5’8” male currently 185lb with goal of 155lb.
Thought I would see faster progress up to this point. My fast has been very consistent with no cheating. My feed period is from 12-8pm with two healthy meals and two snacks(apple with peanut butter, protein bar, etc). I exercise 5 days a week for an hour.
So is 16:8 enough of a change for me to see slightly faster progress? Should I change anything up to see results a little faster? I know losing weight slowly is the best but at this rate it will take me 10 months to lose 30lbs :(
For me, 16:8 2MAD is a diet that maintains my weight almost constant, with a relatively intensive exercise schedule. I eat healthy nutritious food and fill up at each meal, but no calories outside of that. That is by design as I reached my goal wt 2mo ago. Prior to that I lost 60lb in 4mo by adding in a longer fast (3-4 day) every other week. This was all done with my Dr OK. I suppose the results really just boil down to managing calories. I am a firm believer in preparing for a maintain plan after wt loss, for me it is just as actively managed as when I was cutting wt.
Are you counting calories too? Eating healthy can still mean eating too much for your daily intake - try measuring your food or going for lower calorie snacks (peanut butter and protein bar calories can add up fast!) look up volume eating fog snack and meal ideas. good luck!
Your progress is not bad for the first month. I had a similar experience but over the span of 3 months, I have lost a total of 15 pounds. You should listen to Huberman Lab podcast on fasting. It has some really good tips on how to get the most out of fasting period.
What worked for me was 18:6 and low or no starchy carbs on the basis that all the insulin needs to be gone for the lipase(spelling?) to activate . Lipase is what takes the stored fat out of storage and insulin in blood inhibits it. I’ve lost 30lb since end of March.
Not for nothing but when I began fasting I also started at 16:8, saw little progress, then switched to 18:6 with not much more result. I was doing peanut butter as snacks. I have since switched to a 20:4/OMAD situation, where there was less opportunity for snacks and was seeing great results. Until I reintroduced peanut butter. It would be the only difference in my eating, as with or without peanut butter my eating schedule, calories and macros were the same every day. Progress slowed significantly. Took out peanut butter, started seeing good results again. Have no idea why, but peanut butter slows my weight loss.