Hi all, I practiced 20:4 IF last year in 2021 and lost 70lbs. I have hit a mental block and at a stand still. Late last year I told someone that I was back at the weight where I was for a long time, most of my high school career. She said that it will be hard to lose past that because your body will stay at a familiar weight….. that statement has checked me out mentally. I have stoped IF and tried other weight loss plans I know don’t work. I tried IF again but now I always feel hungry and break my fast.
Facts: SW 412 CW 342-350 GW 180-200
TIA
You’ve gotta stop thinking and start doing! Your body will respond if you’re eating less calories than you’re burning. Bottom line.
Try WW (formally weight watchers) and see how that goes. It’s a really great program based on eating real food.
Move for 30 minutes everyday. Try to pick things you like doing.
Maybe add on a lesser fasting (like 16:8) later on.
I do believe in set points but you CAN shift it. Besides if you are going to struggle anyway might as well do it at a lower weight.
I recommend trying with a eating curfew that you scale back to 8pm. Then start skipping breakfast. After you are fat adapted again, skip a day of eating. Then don’t eat until you are hungry. Plan your meal to break fast so if you start thinking of food you can tell yourself you already made that decision.
For set point, I read to lose 10-20% of your body weight, then slowly scale back on dieting and up exercise. Try to maintain that weight for 3 months to create a new set point. For you that would mean trying to get to 280, then scale back and up exercise with a goal to stay at 280-290 for a 3 month or so pause. Wouldn’t it be nice to be under 300? Since you have a lot of fat reserves, I bet once you are fat adapted you could do rolling 3 or 4 day fasts if you wanted. It would give you a lot of extra time back in your day!