F42/16:8 minimum/SW: 241 CW: 229/Friday was 9 weeks completed My back story…started on a whim, was eating fast food almost daily, drinking absolutely no water, 4-5 Pepsi’s/day, dealing with some depression, extremely sedatary. I 100% am ok with slow weight loss but I haven’t moved the scale in two weeks. I’ve finally stopped weighing myself daily because my weight fluctuations were bringing me down (I’ve weighed myself daily for years but after starting IF I started feeling some negative connotations with it so I just stopped daily weighing last week). I’m ok with slow weight loss but it would be helpful if I can get some opinions if I’m on track or if I could make any slight changes. For me truly slow and steady is ideal. So I of course know keto or all vegetables would drastically bump up progress but those aren’t realistic long term options for me. Anyways, I’m barely eating any fast food and when I do it’s medium or small versus super size, I’m down to less than a 7.5 can of Pepsi a day. Some days no Pepsi at all. My water intake is between 48-64 ozs/day. Trying to bump up to 64 daily. I don’t enjoy drinking water so I chug 32 oz when I break my fast and then drink the next 32 or less before bed. I don’t calorie count but as I’ve removed all fast food, just by chance with the increased water I’m eating fairly low calorie intake. Like I honestly think I’m under a 1000 many days. So I worry of that is bad. I eat pretty close to OMAD just because it kinda happened that way. When I started IF I was eating fast food still so I just made it my only meal.
Anywho…does it matter if I’m not steadily drinking water all day? Does it matter if I end up eating not enough calories? Some days I feel more lethargic but when I was eating fast food I was losing weight and feeling better. I did a 50 hour fast 10 days ago and haven’t lost anything since, actually went up almost a pound. Ideas? Thoughts? Just keep going as is? Just curious if there are small changes I might be able to incorporate to push past rhis
First, congratulations on the work you are doing. I suspect you will get lots of advice here - my advice is 1.) To keep on doing what you are doing while trying to make small changes that you can maintain. 2.) You mentioned being sedentary - would it be possible to start a basic exercise routine. Walking is a great way to start and I have found helps with mental health as well. Again, congratulations and I wish you well on your journey.
Counting calories doesn’t work, at 62 I’ve been there and done that too many times. Your body takes in carbohydrates and insulin stores it as fat, simple as that. It uses protein for tissue repair and fat for energy. Give insulin to someone on 1600 calories a day and they’ll get fatter - they’ll starve but the body will lay down fat for storage because insulin is a hormone and that’s what it does. You don’t want a ‘diet’, that implies something that’s strict, hard to follow and temporary. You want a complete change because what you’ve been eating is making you sick. Eating less of the same stuff is like a smoker restricting themselves to 5 cigs a day instead of a packet. There’s little health benefits and they’re still craving.
Check out Dr Stem Ekberg on YouTube and books by Gary Taubes.Don’t sweat the water intake, if your urine is not concentrated you are drinking enough. Drink (water) when you are thirsty. Walk for enjoyment.