I list 50lbs in 2021 with intermittent fasting. I was sooo proud. And looked so great.
Then, with changing my diet or eating habits, the weight all flew back on in 2021! I’m still intermittent fasting, but it’s stopped working. My doctor says the fasting slammed my body into self preservation mode, so it’s saved fat way more then before.
Has this happened to anyone else?
Is there Anything I can do about it?
I did lose 40 pounds, after a couple of months dealing with depression and over eating I have regained 37 pounds. It is hard, it is disappointing and you kind of wanna give up, but if you did it once you can do it again.
I lost 100 pounds in the 80s and kept it off for about 10 years, but the world threw some hard curveballs my way and I ate for comfort and put it back on over a period of about 4 years. That was a while ago and I am again hoping to lose, but I don’t have the metabolism, discipline, and active lifestyle that I used too. I’ll keep trying though.
No, I lost around 60lbs 2ish years ago and have kept it off since. I loosely trach calories, but have kept the same IF schedule
I did donate everything that was too big, so if my jeans start getting snug, I just cut for a few weeks again. I haven’t gone +/- more than 5 lbs in a couple years
Once you reach a goal weight you need to work hard to maintain it for while. At least a year. This will hopefully reset your metabolism and made a rebound less likely. Too many reach their goal and just let off the gas pedal.
Calories are still a thing. Keto diet can mess with insulin resistance.
I’m not really one to give advice, two months in and down 15 pounds. But what I’ve liked about IF is that I’m not restricting what I eat, only when. And my appetite from doing that one thing has lessened. So I’m not really looking at it as a quick fix, more of a my engine runs better with these restrictions.
Your body is designed to store weight. Given the opportunity it will pack it back on.
There is no “self preservation mode”, however you can slow your metabolism by not eating enough. I got to my goal weight in 2019 and have kept the weight off for the most part, some yo-yo but never anywhere close to where I was.
So let me get this straight.
>Then, with changing my diet or eating habits, the weight all flew back on in 2021!
You did IF and lost weight.Then you “changed your diet and eating habits” while still doing IF, and gained all the weight back.
And you think it’s the fault of the one thing you didn’t change, not of the ONE THING YOU CHANGED?
Come on.
So yeah, caloric restriction (not IF) can “slow your metabolism” (that’s not actually a thing, but let’s use terms that everybody understands) and when you get off a restrictive diet (in terms of caloric intake), your maintenance calories may be a little lower than they were before for a while. You might gain a few pounds back, but nowhere near 50.
That said, you probably weren’t eating at maintenance before, since you were overweight, and you probably have no idea what your maintenance level actually is. So if you start eating like you did before, when you were 50lbs overweight, well… same cause same results, right? You’ll end up being 50lbs overweight again.
Now, fasting and caloric restriction aren’t the same thing. You can TOTALLY eat TOO MUCH while on IF and gain weight. Just like you can be on a caloric deficit and not on IF. What you need is a new doctor and a good look at what you eat and how much.
Nope, lowered my insulin & glucose with lifestyle & nutrition changes for LIFE. Food cravings gone, & I no longer eat foods that promote obesity & metabolic syndrome. Something most people fail at because they do all the wrong things.
Your doctor is somewhat full of shit, but that was the accepted wisdom in the 80s and 90s, so he’s just parroting the bullshit of that era.
However, there’s some underlying truth there, and the metabolism is a funny mix of complex systems. You’re gonna have to change your muscle mass and add a significant amount to hold that weight off this time. If you’re not adding muscular fitness, it’s really hard to get your metabolism on your side.
I have a theory that after losing weight, it’s important to build some muscles. Not like a pro weight-lifter but you know, have a decent built & strength. This helps with having control on the quantity we consume when there is junk food & sweet stuff in front of us. And also helps to naturally develop taste for foods that are good for the body.
I do IF almost every day. Cardio 5x a week.Recently, I’ve also started to add some exercises (yoga + some from my gym days) 2x a week. And might start going to the gym 3x a week a couple months later after building consistency with Cardio, IF & home exercise.
I have same issue. Kind of an addiction for added sugar. Tracking calories helps with this because you realize that there are some foods which you can eat more quantity of (and these generally have good amount of protein, nutrients, etc.).And for desserts, an example is- 1 pastry has calories equivalent to 30+ boiled egg whites. So, you see the problem here. Chocolate smoothies, donuts, etc. are all basically poison for the body.
I lost 70 pounds 4 years ago though IF. I keeweeeept it off for a year, and a year into the pandemic, I gained 20 of those back. I started weighing myself every day and began to notice when and why I would gain a few pounds. I’ve lost the 20 I gained this year and have kept that, generally off, i believe, by keeping my eye on my scale.
I’ve tried a million diets and always go back. Now I starve all day and then get high and eat like a happy pig for dinner it’s been going great. but each person can find something that works for them. for me I can’t give up any food! I love fat and carbs. I say this to say that the best diets are the ones we can maintain and possibly do for life. “fad” diets and “crash” diets… the problem is in the name itself. It suggests that the diet is temporary. And just like the name, the weight loss is temporary. Find something that suits your lifestyle and consider only diets you imagine you can maintain for life and you can do while still maintaining your happiness!
I am going through the same thing. I was 10lbs from my goal weight and without changing anything I was doing to lose 60lbs I started gaining weight. No matter what I did I couldn’t lose weight. It’s been a year now, still gaining.
I personally never had a weight problem until I experimented with fasting for more than 24 hour periods. Then suddenly I would rapidly gain weight when just eating what I had previously consumed without gaining weight before fasting. Human body sees calorie deficit as a food shortage which is a problem.
I think the key to long-term weight loss is to figure out a program that you can basically maintain for life. If you do something that you plan to “go off” after losing a certain amount of weight, it doesn’t seem to work for the long run.
Hey, can’t say I’ve had the same experience as I’m just beginning my path but it does help me to do a little research to be cautious.
Just want to say I sympathise and I’d absolutely take doctor’s advice over people on here. Your doctor knows much more intimately your health history, conditions and experience that you disclose to them. It also sounds like you’ve done your own independent research of medical studies.
Best of luck, hope you have success in your chosen endeavour.
BTDT when pandemic started. Spouse and I just fell off completely. August 2021 we climbed back on but changed up our patterns. Try 5-2 or whatever is different and really follow it. Spouse hit a plateau couple months back, changed things up and another 5# came off. IF has many possible patterns, you can do this.
Yes. I lost 30lbs on carnivore trying to kick an autoimmune/histamine/increasingly growing food intolerance problem, but my body became severely malnourished due to intestinal issues. I started keto/paleo and IF hoping autophagy would help my body recover and I could get some nutrition. I only do 14:10 and barely reach 1500 calories a day due to intolerances but I’ve somehow gained all the weight back. The only real carbs I can even eat are rice and sweet potatoes and not even a cup of either a day without histamining out. Like, wtf?!
Everyone’s being assholes about it but it’s true even if it doesn’t make sense(but it actually completely makes sense).
I lost 20 and hit a wall with 16:8. I moved to OMAD 20:4 and with the same calories, started losing again - my fat seemed to need more time with low insulin to release energy. I found the salt LMNT drinks allowed me to get from 16:8 to 20:4.
I lost 35 pounds 2 years ago, then I moved across the county 3 months ago and I’ve been slowly gaining. I feel like the stress of moving sent me into a bad spiral. I do still fast but I also like a glass of wine most nights. I think your eating habits are still important, fasting gives you a lot of freedom but you still need some level of normalcy