I (29M) am severely overweight coming in at about 320. I tried IF at the beginning of the month, and only had a feeding window from 12pm-7pm making it a good 16/17 hour fast. with about 3 small portion meals in between the time frame with no snacking and no soda, only drinking water and black coffee. Cut to last week on the 15th I finally step on the scale excited to see what I’ve lost cause i felt good, well i was disappointed to see that i only lost a measly 3 pounds. Am I supposed to exercise and count carbs while doing IF? Cause if so, i didnt do that, I was disappointed and dont even want to try it again, i feel lied to about this technique. As a result I have went back to my old eating habits and can feel myself a bit heavier now. But it doesnt matter if this crap didnt even work in the first place.
In my opinion, if you’re doing IF for significant weight loss, you absolutely must track calories at the minimum. I can pack an astonishing large amount of calories into a 6 hour eating window without even thinking about it. Tracking protein, carbs and fat grams will help with fine tuning. I do IF and CICO and have lost about a third of my starting weight. 2 weeks is also a pretty short trial to measure achievement. Keep going.
The average weight loss for a month is only 4-8 pounds with diet changes and exercise.
I would suggest you go into IF with the right mindset being -
1 this is the beginning of a lifestyle change that you can do long term (so pick a feeding window that works for you)
2 this is giving your body a chance to rest
3 you will learn what things make your fasting window harder, and avoid them (some people find sugar, etc make them hungrier and makes it harder to fast, while drinking more water gives them energy and fullness)
4 yes you should be exercising, not to lose weight but for mental health and clarity. Take walks outside if you like fresh air. Dance if you like to dance. Lift weights if you like the success of lifting heavy things. Do something active to show your body appreciation, and to give your brain an endorphin boost.
With these changes, over time you’ll see great growth.
IF is not some torture technique meant for a person to loose 100 pounds in a month.
OP: I lost weight
Also OP: this doesn’t work, I quit
You didn’t get to be 320 pounds overnight, you’re not gonna become some magical fat-melting creature because you tried to undo a lifetime of bad habits in two weeks.
If you want to lose weight and keep it off, you need to make a commitment to change your lifestyle and eat the right amount of food to support your activity level and goals.
Two weeks isn’t even enough time to be a rounding error.
A pound a week is perfectly healthy weight loss, here you’re losing more than that, and upset about it.
To lose weight you need to be in the kcal deficit. IF is one of the tools to achieve it, but you should pair it with tracking your kcal. Get yourself a kitchen scale, download one of the free apps and log everything that goes into your mouth.
My opinion: 8:16 IF doesn’t mean eat all you can/want in 8 hours. It means you have the flexibility to put your meal within that large time-frame.
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It sounds like you need a tighter window, I suggest 4:20. And count your calories for the first month. Also start walking 5000 steps every day and exercising 3 times a week. Let IF be your mental backbone. You don’t need to debate with yourself whether you should eat x, y z or not. Whether something is good for your diet or not. If you only eat your daily meal /caloric intake in your 4 hr window then most people wont be able to overeat and will start to lose weight.
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You need to minimize the time you fuel your body with energy so you maximize the time you body have to deplete its glycogen (carbs) storage. Once you have depleted the glycogen stores then your body switch to burning fat (ketosis) and that’s where you want to be.
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being disapointed, calling IF “crap” - that’s on you and your approach to IF. A bit of a read-up on what IF is, how your body metabolize the energy you consume and set realistic goals would maybe help you for a better approach to IF - and a body transition if that’s what you seek.
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In the spirit of this subreddit: Go again. You can do it! Don’t give up. Don’t be so hard on your self.. etc, etc…
M52. 343 lbs Apr/22245 lbs Oct/22
I started watching these doctors on YouTube. Dr Jason FungDr LustigDr Erik BergDr Pradip Jamnads (amazing)
Only water and unsweet tea no sugary drinks. Very little refined carbohydrates. Whole food only. If it has a barcode and more than 5 ingredients I don’t eat it.Eliminated sugar as much as possible. Ill have a cookie now and then).No sweets basically.Not much fruit and not everyday.No breads and pasta (very little). I use Extreme Wraps instead (lots of fiber) No snacking on snack foods. Intermittent Fasting.(Most days 1 meal, occasionally 2. Rarely 3 meals). avoid seed oils when I can Started walking for 10-20 minutes after each meal (30-60 min each day) and biking more
A1c went from 6 to 5.1. Blood pressure down to normal.My fear was losing a limb to diabetes at some point.
Once I learned about how insulin effects weight it really clicked in my head.
Wife and son also doing this. We shed 160 lbs so far as a family
NSV. Go carts with my son, clothes fit better. 12 inches (from 52-40) off my waist so far. I passed the Waffle House test. Meaning I can fit in a Waffle House booth. Zip lining. A whole new world of things opens with your kids once you lose weight. He is 20 but it’s still fun. Had to fly for work. No seatbelt extender. That was always a source of fear for me, having to ask a flight attendant for an extender. Things between my wife and I are much better if you know what I mean. 😉 No more powder on the thighs before walking. Not being the fattest person in the room. I can finally wear the T Shirts we bought on vacations that even though they said “3x” never fit. Stopped taking antacids months ago. Hope to be off BP medicine this year.
Depending on how much you eat in those portions, and what sort of foods, without exercise it can be hard. I lost 13lbs in about six/seven weeks of 20:4 without exercising (sometimes doing 23:1 fasts due to work). Just stick with it as sometimes it takes awhile to see results especially without exercising. Expecting to lose weight without exercising can be a huge let down
I know everyone is different but I did IF for 2 months and I lost 25 pounds. I did 20/4, I cut out carbonated drinks and junk food, and I reduced my total caloric intake. I didn’t count calories I just ate less. It’s tough There are other ways to lose weight. I know a friend who had gastric sleeve surgery that’s working for him already lost 100 pounds but that cost him 12000ish dollars.
Well I’d have suggested trying to get advice BEFORE giving up and going back to the bad habits that made you obese in the first place, but assuming you genuinely want to do this -
First of all 2 pounds a week is considered a healthy weight loss. And its certainly better than in the other direction.
One of the goals of IF is to reverse insulin resistance. Opinion varies as to the necessity of calorie counting, and we don’t know what you mean by small portion meals. I’d suggest however three is too many times to eat in a 7 hour window.
Make sure your fast is clean - nothing except water, black coffee and certain types of tea.
Eat a light lunch at 12, make sure you get enough protein. Keep carbs low. Don’t eat again (or drink anything except previously mentioned) until your dinner which I guess is about 6 if you close your window at 7.
I would be thrilled to lose three lbs in two weeks, haha.
I would try to budget in some steps, too. Nothing too rigorous. Try to be patient, and maybe track your intake for a day or two so you can see what you’re averaging.
You’re missing the most important thing here.. You say that you were feeling good…that’s what your ultimate aim is! Weight loss is hard, there’s no two ways about it…we’ve been indoctrinated by all the ads that say ’lose weight without hunger’ , ‘easy way to lose weightz’ etc etc. But they are all selling something to make money off us. It is very hard to change the mind set and get rid of the conditioning but reading or listening to Dr Fung is a great way to start and will really help you to understand the mechanics of weight loss through intermittent fasting.
You might also want to drop one of those meals and increase the amounts your eating at the two left. You definitely don’t need to eat every 4 hours…dropping sugar and carbs will make the whole thing a million times easier as the cravings and energy dips won’t be happening. Increase the protein and fat and have 2 larger meals will help. But you are going to feel hungry…if you persist you’ll be able to ignore it quite happily ! Take the advice given here and persist…you can do it!