Want to lose 80lbs this year
Im a 5’8 female and I weigh about 215 lbs. I want to get down to 135 this year so I want the water fast to be a push in the right direction. I’m planning to start my fast January 1st until January 31st, so 30 days. Any tips? I’m really looking forward to giving my body the break and restart.
Rolling 48 and/or 72 hour fasts with maintenance calorie OMAD refeeds between. Likely faster weightloss than these silly multi-week fasts and without any of the risk factors of this silly multi-week fasts. ie. In a 2 month window the best you could likely hope for is a single 30 day fast or 2 14 day fasts because it’d take weeks to recover from one and start another in a 2 month window. Rolling 72’s for those same 2 months would bag you 40 fasted days instead of 30 or 28 days.
These long fasts take a toll. I get bad headache. Can’t sleep well. And that’s after 3 days. Maybe it gets easier - but it affects work performance and my personality.
Definitely recommend starting with a shorter goal. Success builds on success.
Personally I recommend Omad. I lost 50 lbs in 6 months to my goal. I eat a lot healthier because my tastes changed. When only eating once a day, I wanted real food, not chips and a coke. It has given me the tools to maintain for pushing 5 years.
With OMAD you get into a daily eating pattern that becomes dead simple to maintain.
That’s a LOT of weight loss in one year. I’m 5’8 also and have lost 70 pounds so far (started at 243 and now am 173ish) but I did it over a year and a half. I would like to get down to 150 or 145. Not discouraging you from your goals and I love the kickstart idea. But also it’s ok if it takes longer.
A 30-day fast isn’t as difficult as people make it out to be. My first fast went 41 days. Losing 80 lbs in a year isn’t dangerous or “unhealthy” either, as others would warn you. I’m down 80lbs since I began my current fast on October 5th and feel great.
Just monitor your vitals and take your electrolytes to be safe. I recommend a glucose/ketone monitor, blood pressure cuff, O2 sensor, and EKG monitor if you have heart issues. They’re all cheap on Amazon.
Also, don’t worry about “strict” fasting, even though some people here seem to think swallowing our own saliva constitutes failure lol. If you desperately feel the need to eat something, “dirty” fasting is fine. Eat a pickle for 8-10 calories or a slice of turkey for 5-10, or 25 calories of egg whites. Look into the Buchinger fasting method and the Fasting Mimicking Diet. Consuming a few calories in a “dirty” fast is still better/healthier than being obese.
A tip that I found useful is to imagine yourself on January 31st looking back at your own history throughout January. Things always seem easier in hindsight - “man, if I had only kept it up, I’d be <insert weight> by now”. I find it motivating to remind myself of previous failures and how I felt afterward.
Best of luck to ya!
Have a plan for when you end it. I see so many posts from people about to end a 30 day fast with no plan.
The real benefits of fasting come after the fast when you start eating. Read up on nutrition and have a plan for going forward.
I get it. Its the new year and lets get motivated, we all have put on a few pounds over xmas but there is better ways to do this.
Definitely do rolling fasts. Try rolling 72s or 48s.
You could even have a weekly regime of 5 day fast and 2 refeeding
Unless you have cancer or something doing a 30 dayer is not that great of an idea.
You will end up with numerous deficiencies and feel like death even when you decide to eventually eat it will take you quite a few day or weeks to shake the brainfog and weakness
Goodluck with whatever you decide to do! Keep us posted.