Hi, im a 26yo 6.5ft tall male, SW: 288lbs CW: 246lbs
I`ve been doing IF on a 18:6 for a few months and ive been loving it, but i want to speed up my weight loss process. The thing is that on saturdays and sundays, my social life and family life really gets in the way of my IF. So i end up fasting only 5 times a week instead of 7 days.
Should i switch up and go into a 5:2 protocol, eating 25% of my calories 2 times a week, or what would you guys recommend.
The way you eat is generally intended to be a long term thing. If you drop using that style and can’t maintain it, you’ll go back to the weight you were prior.
I wouldn’t generally recommend such an aggressive schedule for most people, nor cutting back your calories by 75%. Both seem like a recipe for disaster.
I’d recommend coming to terms with it taking some time, setting a reasonable calorie deficit, and fasting on a schedule you can maintain forever.
There is no IF police who will hunt you down for not doing 7/7. Actually having a day where you consume more calories have proven a good method to stop your body from going into starvation-mode. So you would still see great results if you do OMAD mon-fri and then let more loose in the weekends
I often do longer fasts during the week (22/2, OMAD or even 36hrs) knowing that I’m not as strict on weekends. I still aim for 16:8 on weekends and most days it’s easy. Once in awhile I just accept that life happens and if I don’t hit 16hrs on that day, that’s okay.