Hi all, I am 26 F 5’8 and 290lbs. I’ve lost 32 lbs since restarting my weight loss journey back in mid January of this year by CICO and exercising 3-4x a week. I’ve lost 2lbs since starting IF a week ago by doing 16-18:6-8. My eating window starts between 10:00am and ends by 4:30-6:30pm. I really thought fasting would be difficult but I have really started to enjoy it! The only thing is that I’m starting to lax a little on CICO and exercising. I consume close to 1800 cal daily and I usually will do 30-40 min on my elliptical but this week I only did 25-30min. My question is more directed towards people using IF for weight loss. Are you just doing IF or are combining CICO and exercise as well? I’m stressing out trying to commit to all three.
The focus for weight loss is your diet, good sleep, and stress management.
Exercise is supplemental. I believe everyone should do something active as part of their routine, but you can do it just for general health benefits. If it helps you lose weight, then that’s a bonus. But it’s not required.
So do something active you enjoy or at least can put up with. As much as you can. But the focus for you now needed to be diet, sleep, and stress management.
You might find more success if you get one down pat, like for a week or 2. Then layer in the next, and get those two down pay for a couple weeks. Then layer in the third.
Yes, it could take a month or so to get all three running smoothly together … but the time will pass anyway.
Please do a web search on “chronic cardio”. Typical cardio workouts have been shown to poach muscle mass over time.
The time you spend on the elliptical would be better spent on bodyweight training or other muscular strength training. There’s a glorious subReddit on this: r/bodyweightfitness.
Anaerobic short sprints of running or even elliptical training are a possibility, as an adjunct to strength training.
And yes, I do IF and strength training. Dr Jason Fung has YouTube videos on this topic and I’m sure many more IF advocates do, as well.
Friends don’t let friends waste time on chronic cardio!