For my ~5’4” and shorter ladies who went from the 150s to 130s, how did you do it? I’m struggling. I did a combo of 5:2 and 16:8 and then 20:4 only (all with Saturday cheat days) for 10 months and lost 20 lbs. The weight seems to be slowly coming back with a vengeance - I’ve gained 10 lbs in the last 2 weeks. I did OMAD last week and gained 1.5 lbs. I don’t do CICO and I probably eat too many carbs. Saturdays are my cheat day when I eat excessively but try to keep it in check the rest of the week. I don’t want to give up my Saturday cheat days or I feel like I’m deprived and will give up.
As for exercise, I do a Sydney Cummings strength workout 4x a week, hit 10k steps daily, and do Peloton 20 min 4x week.
If all of those are on point, I’m in good shape. If any one of them slips, it’s like I’m walking backward.
5’3” currently 135ish
I’m your height and 41 and I went from 145lbs to 130lbs. I did 5:2 but I counted calories on the other days (1500). Cheat days aren’t really possible. I think for maintenance it could be if you’re still doing 5:2 (my ex-boyfriend did something like that- fasted twice a week and could eat what he wanted on the other days).
38f, 5’4. SW 155#, CW 135#.
Disclaimer: I am just starting with intermittent fasting. These results are mainly from the following:
Keto, keto, keto. High fat, extremely low carb. This keeps my appetite/cravings under control.
I drink about a gallon of water every day and add electrolyte supplements (mainly sodium and potassium).
I take a psyllium fiber supplement.
I have a glucose and ketone monitor (Keto-Mojo brand) and I check multiple times daily and tweak my intake to keep myself in ketosis.
MyFitnessPal app to track my macros and try to keep my net carbs at or below 20/day and calories around 1600/day.
I use Bulletproof Brain Octane Oil, which is an MCT oil that is most easily converted to ketones.
I talk to my doctor and monitor appropriate labs to ensure that the way I’m eating isn’t impacting my health in insidious ways.
I don’t have designated “cheat days.” I eat outside my goals once in awhile when it’s really worthwhile.
36F, 5’0”, 112 lbs here. Weight loss is hard when you’re petite — that’s just the unfortunate fact. It can also be tricky, so I’m going to suggest some things beyond the standard “eat less, move more” or “count calories” advice — though this is standard advice for a reason!
The first thing I’d do is probably get my thyroid checked out. Fasting, especially in women, can theoretically screw with your thyroid, making weight regain easier. (I’m still a fan of fasting, but in some women, it can sometimes affect hormones.)
You could consider doing keto, since it will keep your circulating insulin levels low, making weight/ fat loss easier. You could also consider adding more saturated fat instead of consuming polyunsaturated fat. I know this could be a contentious recommendation, but the research on saturated fat’s deleterious effects on the heart have been contested. There’s also some new research suggesting that if dietary saturated fat is high enough, it sends a signal to the body’s fat cells telling them to ignore insulin. This means that the fat cell will stop the ingress of calories at a certain point. Polyunsaturated fats purportedly do not have this same effect, meaning a fat cell will take in more and more glucose without a signal to stop. (We talk about this a lot over on r/SaturatedFat. It’s a fascinating sub to check out!)
It might also be the case that your cortisol is high, which makes it hard to lose weight. Try to keep stress levels low. You could also consider adding in a supplement like ashwagandha, which helps regulate cortisol levels by bringing high cortisol levels down.
Finally, you could consider a different fasting protocol like ADF (alternate day fasting). This gives you a full day of fasting, followed by a day of eating. You can also eat a little more on your eating days, meaning you don’t have to be quite as strict with your calories. Cheat meals > cheat days, but if you’re doing ADF, cheat days aren’t as big a problem.
Besides this — sleep, hydration, consistent exercise (including weightlifting), and eating whole foods remain the pillars of successful weight loss.
I’m almost 38 and 5’2”, I started fasting in May. Initially, I did 16-22 hour fasts plus CICO & carb cycling. I have since scaled back to 16-18 hour fasts. I do shorter fasts during shark week, 14-16 hours. I don’t have cheat days because I eat anything I want during my feeding hours so I don’t feel deprived. I found I felt hungrier and got more cravings when I cut carbs or did keto. I haven’t really exercised, just mostly walks. I weigh myself almost daily, when I notice my weight creeping back up, I fast a little longer the next few days. Weight loss charts here https://imgur.com/a/PB80pbc
Sounds like you need to cut the carbs. Sorry to say! You can do it though, it helps to plan ahead to have lower carb options which you still enjoy.
You could also consider switch in some more HIIT workouts.