I’m thinking of fasting, not intermittent, but water fasting for an extended period of time. I have so many questions. I’ve been reading the wiki so I know to use salt in my water for the electrolytes. Is 60 pounds too much to do with one fast? Will I hurt myself? How will I know if I should eat again or not? Thanks for any responses.
Would need more details to determine the safety and viability of your plan. What is your starting weight and height? What is your biological sex (women have additional precautions regarding menses)? Have you fasted in the past? Do you have any medical conditions (particularly insulin disorders)? How old are you approximately (<18 shouldn’t fast and >65 should consult a physician)? Do you have access to a healthcare provider who can support you in terms of bloodwork/general guidance?
It’s hard to determine exactly how long 60 lbs of weight loss would take you without knowing your starting weight but I can try to estimate it. Assuming a daily expenditure of \~2000 kcal and 3500 kcal/lb of fat then 60*3500/2000 = 105 days. However, anecdotally, many people cite -1 lb/day so we could say the range is between 60 and 105 days of fasting to lose 60 lbs.
If it’s your first fast then you might be better suited to starting with a shorter fast so that you can see how your body handles it. The longest fasting period I’ve seen properly studied was 21 days so maybe break your fasting into 4x 21 days with a week of refeeding in between each fast?
I’ve had a lot of success with rolling 48s (48h fast, then 1 meal, then immediately starting another 48h fast - rinse and repeat). It takes about 2-3 rounds to get used to it, but once you do, you don’t really get hungry on your non-eating day anymore. I believe you can get through those first rounds on motivation alone, and then the habit will do the rest for you and take you successfully down the weight-loss journey.
I have experienced weight-loss during every 48h round, no matter what I ate during my refeeds. I have had healthy and less healthy refeed meals. Sometimes I felt the need to satisfy those cravings, not denying, just delaying them so that I could use that to keep me going. Knowing that at my next refeed I could indulge in whatever I craved when hungry really helped, and many times, by the time I could eat I didn’t crave those foods anymore and would eat healthily instead.
Just be careful with triggers (social stuff, going out etc) because those tripped me a lot and it takes SO much effort to get back to your fasting routine.
I have not experienced any need to supplement with electrolytes during these 48h fasts, but others may have different experiences.
Let me know if there’s anything else I can help with. Good luck, you can do it!
There seems to be a consensus that 2.5 lbs/week is the most you can lose healthily and hope to keep off. Can you lose it faster? Of course you can! Will you regain it pretty quickly afterwards? More likely than not.
Lose 10 lbs a month and in six months you’ll be done with the easy part.
The hard part is keeping it off. Research “set point theory.” the basic idea is that your body has a default weight. If you allow it to creep up over the years and then lose weight, your body will subconsciously try to get you back to that higher weight by making you feel hungry when you don’t need food, slowing down your metabolism, etc…
To reprogram your set point you need to maintain your target weight, plus or minus 2 lbs, for 6 months to a year.
In the immortal words of Alastor Moody “Constant Vigilence!”
>Is 60 pounds too much to do with one fast?
Yes. And it’s also not practical. You could (in theory and under a doctors supervisor) fast for 60 days but you likely wouldn’t lose all 60 lbs and you would regain 1/3 of what you did lose the first week you resumed eating. Extended fasting is great for lots of things but tends to reach a point of diminishing returns for weight loss around day 10-14. I would recommend 72s at most and learn how to eat at maintenance during your eating periods.