I don’t have bipolar to contend with, but I am on antidepressants and it sounds like the same sedentary lifestyle. I have struggled to find a way to lose weight that didn’t send me into a spiral that ended in eating a whole birthday cake moistened with the tears of my failure…
I know someone who has had tremendous success on I.F. so I wanted to give it a shot. All of October last year (2022) I “practiced” fasting, set my intentions, didn’t tell anyone, and once I felt comfortable in the habits I was building, I fully started fasting 16:8 the second week of November. Here I am in February, having lost now 25 pounds, feeling much better, and just slowly plugging along. I am 5’9”, started at 220#, goal weight is 150. I think the thing that helped the most was Dr. Berg on YouTube, and stories in places like this.
My strategy was to try to avoid the all-in wild focus and just work to build and change habits around eating. I have cut out most sugar and carbs, but not fully keto. I am not exercising because I need to do this one step at a time.
Good luck on your journey!!