Hey, I’m brand new to fasting. Been at it in total about 4 weeks now. Started on OMAD but found around exercise this just wasn’t enough as wasn’t counting calories and was definitely undershooting, this got in the way of me completing exercise as I would just feel tired and lethargic. Around 2 weeks ago I switched to a 20:4 fast with counting calories to allow me to get in a controlled snack before exercising. Thing is that I’m not seeing to much in the way of progress from the last couple of weeks and have only lost about a pound since switching regimen. I also didn’t exercise so much (due to work and family commitments) so not really worried my muscles are retaining water. Is this normal when you make a switch? Is this just one of those times when you should trust the process or am I doing something wrong? Apologies if that his is a dumb or common question I just thought I’d ask people who have been through it.
Stats-
H- 5ft 9 inches
SW- 205
CW- 193
GW- 145
Calories- 1400 per day- I cook on the majority of days and track the weights of absolutely everything to ensure accuracy. If going out for food I’ll have a main if unsure of calories (not always on the menu) and nothing else. Water only during fasting periods and no cheating.
You started 4 weeks ago and you are down 12 pounds. weeks are very short time frames to look at. Exercise is not required to lose weight. It can help increase calorie burn but if all you want to do is drop fat you can do that by just putting yourself in a consistent deficit. But that doesn’t happen in quick or linear ways. So many times you will see an initial change only to level off or hold at periods. This is normal as your water weight can fluctuate fairly substantially day to day or week to week but the fat comes off slow.
So the example would be if you are in a 500 calorie deficit a day which if done perfectly you will see 1 pound of fat a week lost. That can easily be masked by water weight and other changes. People need to be very careful to understand that the number on a scale just is a number and doesn’t show composition. SO if you weigh yourself weekly you could easily have lost 1 pound of fat but be up 3 pounds in water weight, so you looked like you gained. It is much better to think of your weight as a range that it can fluctuate in. For me that is 10 pounds. Staying away from a scale early on or at least not weighting all the time is a good idea too. The goal is to make changes you can sustain for the long term in a consistent way. And long term think months or years instead of weeks or days. The goal isn’t to lose weight. That can be forced if you want in various ways. Your goal is to find the balance so you can continue to do this long term. What most people do is go from one unsustainable way of eating (where they are gaining) to one where they lose but they never find that balance point. For me this is what IF allowed me to find. Now doing this will take time but if you do it correctly it can be life changing.