Is there any reason why my scale weight isn’t dropping? I drink 2L of snake juice a day and I walk one hour daily.
How is it possible to not lose weight while I literally eat absolutely nothing? It’s really discouraging me. Haven’t had a refeed in 7 days. And my refeeds are literally omad, lean meat and some veggies.
Is it possible due to that infamous whoosh effect? That my body is holding water like crazy?
Use that huge brain of yours. You are losing weight. You are retaining water so the scale isnt dropping
Channel all that brain power you have and ask yourself “Is it possible to not eat for 3 days and not lose any fat?”
Body composition is more complicated than what your scale says. You can buy a soft tape measure and measure various parts of your body to see how you change over time, add up all values for a total.
U.S. Navy Method
https://www.bizcalcs.com/body-fat-navy/
How long have you been at this? The longer you’ve been fasting like this, the more likely it is your metabolism has slowed. It’s possible there might be a whoosh effect eventually, but weight loss is complicated, especially for women. From what I’ve gathered by following certain physicians and researchers in the keto world, weight loss isn’t as simple as calories in/ calories out (meaning, it’s not as simple as fasting to drastically cut calories.)
Fasting is great — I do it all the time. And CICO/ fasting works for most people, esp. if you don’t have any metabolic damage. However, the thing that governs weight loss more than anything is hormones.
(An extreme example that illustrates this is Type I diabetes. Look at Type 1 diabetics before they’re diagnosed: they can eat tens of thousands of calories and still drop weight, because they have no insulin to shuttle nutrients into their cells, meaning they can’t store these calories.)
It’s not just insulin, though. Having balanced thyroid hormones is also essential for weight loss. Cutting calories for a long time ends up depressing thyroid hormones, which can be counterproductive for weight loss. Also, because hormones are so vital in weight loss, it can get especially complicated in women, who have monthly fluctuating levels of estrogen, progesterone, etc. Weight loss gets harder when women hit menopause for this very reason.
Don’t get me wrong, though: calorie consumption DOES affect hormones, which is why CICO and fasting work for many people. Slashing your caloric intake through fasting also slashes insulin levels, which is why it’s really effective. However, the timing and the “type” of calories you eat are also critical. Regarding timing: your body produces less insulin overall if you eat during a 4hr vs. a 16 hr window, for instance, which is why OMAD works for many. Regarding nutrient type: fat & protein spark less of an insulin response than surgary carbs, which is why keto works for many.
All this is to say: if your hormones aren’t properly balanced from the outset, you can try like crazy to lose weight by fasting or cutting calories, and your scale will remain stuck at the same number. Fasting will probably lead to weight/ fat loss when you’re actually doing it, but your metabolism will slow down to try to compensate for the lack of energy. And, once you eat again, your body may not want to “let go” of these calories easily.
If you’re interested in this, check out Stephanie Keto Person on Youtube. She’s a carnivore who troubleshoots weight loss problems, esp. in women. I don’t agree w/ everything she says and does, but she gave me an appreciation for the complex role hormones play in weight loss. You could also look at “Carnivore Yogi” on Youtube and Instagram. She was a women who did frequent fasting, and didn’t lose much weight. She talks about this frequently.
If this were me, I’d get a hormone check w/ your doctor. I’d also try eating at maintenance, or even above maintenance, for a week or more — then return to (moderate) fasting or OMAD. (Bodybuilders who are cutting include planned refeeds or cheat days like this for a good reason.) Make sure you’re eating a full day’s worth of calories when you DO eat. Don’t just eat a tiny amount — it could crash your metabolism. You may even want to add more food during these refeeds, like a couple hundred extra calories, so your metabolism acclimates and accelerates. If you’ve been doing this for a long time, you could google “reverse diet” and try it to get your metabolism back on track before returning to fasting. Check out YouTube videos of female bodybuilders and what they do during, and right after, a cut — they often “reverse diet” after a period of restriction. It could give you some helpful clues about what to do next.
Trust the process. I’ve lost 85lbs in 9mo doing mostly omad with scale feed back. I do 48s and 72s here and there but I’ve found a predictable system that works for me. Scale goes down, down, down, then up a little or stays the same, but keeps going down.
2 liters is a lot. If you are tracking your weight loss closely, you should be weighing yourself dey, and 2 liters is far from that. No harm in deinling that much for the fat loss, but you have to account for the fluids when measuring actual weight in that case.