So I started intermittent fasting almost two years ago. I’m 5ft 2 and stated at over 64kg I set myself 3 goals. 1 to get under 57kd and stay there. 2 I’d be happy to get to 54kg . And my ultimate goal to get back to 51kg. When I started it was great I got to about 57kg fairly easy but I’ve been consistently 57/56kg for almost a year now. Because I’m not desperately unhappy with my body anymore and most days I feel okay it’s been really hard. I do 5:2 and I’m doing more 800-1000 calories on my fasting days compared to the strict 500-700 I used to. I have a wedding in April and I need to get down to about 51kg but I’m finding motivation hard. I’m still doing at least 2 fast days but any advice on how to stay motivated and get out of this plateau. I feel like my issue is, because I’m not gaining and in staying under a certain weight I find it too easy to excuse having extra calories on fast days. Also would keeping my diet the same, but incorporating more exersize be enough to break me out this funk or am I just kidding myself and I need to be stricter. And is losing 5kg by April achievable on 5:2 or are there other things I should try/incorporate.
This is why pure calorie restriction never works in the long term - you restrict and lose weight for awhile, and then it doesn’t work anymore and you plateau. So you restrict again and lose again, until you plateau again. You can only restrict so many times before you’re starving and demoralized, and then you give up. Or if you actually hit that goal weight while calorie restricting - great! Then what? Are you going to maintain that calorie-restricted diet forever to keep your body weight where it is? Of course not, so here comes the weight again, roaring back. It’s why calorie restriction always fails.Something you could do to lose more weight would be to do 24hr water fasts once a week, or once every couple weeks. If you do one and feel like it’s no biggy (they really aren’t that big a deal, it’s mostly mental imho) then up it to a 48hr water fast once per week. But the key is that you want to be eating plenty of food on your eating days.
At your height, every calorie counts. So that’s where you start. And ‘cheating’ on your fasting days will hold you back.
But if you have a time goal, then going full Keto could work. (I’m not a fan of Keto, but in these circumstances it does have its benefits.)
And add in some cardio or strength training. Won’t hurt anything.