I am 42m 182 lbs. This summer I was 200lbs. Ironically, I exercise a lot in the summer but after September I don’t exercise much (due to work hours and weather). In about 2 months I’ve lost 18 lbs without really watching what I eat, just doing 16 hours of fasting daily. My blood numbers have also improved.
I am a low carb believer but ironically I do better eating anything and fasting than eating a lot and low carb.
I didn’t believe much in CICO, and I am more inclined to believe it’s the actual fasting that is the difference and not calorie restriction.
Anyway, is this sort of progress normal even without exercise or diet restriction?
I’ve lost considerable amounts of weight. (I would consider 18 lbs to be considerable) twice in my life. The first time I was diagnosed with cancer. The second 22 years later the cancer was back and was stage IV. I don’t want sympathy. My treatment is working very well but what I saw as a positive for me actually wasn’t. Maybe it would be a good thing to see a Doctor and see what they think.
IF works because it restricts your calories without you thinking much about it. You can lose a lot of weight quickly by doing one meal a day because it cuts out snacks, and you tend to get full easily at dinner, especially if you eat low-carb. I lost 15kg in 3 months doing this. On the other hand, check with your doctor for cancer if that doesn’t explain it.
CICO doesn’t work, there are tons of studies showing it doesn’t work, decades of experience shows it doesn’t work. How there are still people who believe in CICO, a process that has a 98% failure rate, is mind-boggling.
Your body does not have a calorimeter, it doesn’t know how many calories you ate nor does it care, it will simply process what you put into it based on the hormone signals in your body. If your hormones are telling your body to store energy (like chronic high insulin) then you are going to store energy as fat. If your hormones are telling your body to burn energy then your body will ramp up your metabolism to match what you are eating.
Fasting works for fat loss. What you describe is perfectly normal, your body will find a new equilibrium, you are getting healthier and that is an awesome thing.
First time it happened to me was when I was diagnosed with tuberculosis. The second time was with intermittent fasting years down the line, but I did clean up my diet also- didnt just hog sugar and pasta in the 8 hour window. Would suggest to visit a doctor for sure.