Throwaway account because personal details :-/
I had a very difficult pregnancy and high risk birth and ended up retaining most of the weight I put on because of my condition. That was in May 2020, but between caring for a premature baby/PPD/COVID/work, I guess I sort of figured this is my life now and stopped looking in the mirror.
Anyway about a month ago I started fasting. I’ve never felt like I needed three meals, so I’ve pseudo-fasted before, but this time I’m doing it with the express intent of losing weight.
SW: 164.7, CW: 163.9, GW: 130
Fasting either 18:6 or 20:4 (mostly five days 20:4 and two days 18:6)
What am I doing wrong???? How is it possible that I’m hungry most of the day, but still I’ve not even lost a pound?! What is going on?!?!
I drink a bunch of water, drink black coffee when fasting (though I’m trying starting today to give that up), eat mostly healthy but also probably too much sugar (which I’m working on giving up as well). I try to run every day but at the very least walk daily. I went from being overfull at the end of each day to happily light feeling, so I’m just… completely at a loss here. Has anyone experienced anything similar? I must be doing something wrong.
Thank you for any/all ideas/suggestions/advice.
Okay so it’s not that easy! You have to understand how your body stores energy first.
Your body probably has a lot of glycogen stored up, which is why you aren’t immediately losing weight (fat).
Glycogen = energy that you ate, didn’t immediately use for energy, and were stored in your body to be used later.
Your body WILL NOT burn ANY fat until it goes through all your glycogen. It doesn’t want to. Fat is important for us to “survive” (your body thinks).
So you’ll need to deplete this first, which means it may take a short while.
Dr. Fung explains at 0:43 of this video. I really recommend. Because if you don’t understand the BASICS of why fasting works, then you’re just going to feel like you’re suffering for mysterious reasons that internet people believe for some reason, and it will be hard for you to keep your heart and will in it.
EDIT to add: cardio is nice for your heart, but you 100% do NOT have to exercise for fasting to make you lose weight. I’ve lost \~20 pounds since April and haven’t done a single exercise. Head to r/fasting for a helpful Wiki!
Are you changing shape/shrinking sizes at all? This pretty much happened to me. I’ve only lost about 15 pounds in a year of working at it. But I have definitely been changing shape and going down sizes a little bit at a time. The other thing I’ll say is that cardio was a big game changer for me and since starting that I think I’m losing about a pound a week but time will tell if it stays off. So, not much weight loss yet, but I look a lot better (not sharing pics myself yet because setbacks demoralize me, I was seriously sick 3 times during my year of effort to lose weight and it was hard to see those pounds come back). People are just now starting to notice/comment on it/treat me nicer. Yet I still haven’t lost significant weight.
Don’t give up! A lot of us women seem to go through this. Some have told me that the change tends to happen after some plateauing and to do a bit of changing things up. I found that cheat days and cardio went a long way and I’ve had increasing results over just the last two weeks.
EDIT: I wanted to elaborate a little on cheat days: I actually noticed a big reduction on bloating and a bit more weight loss after a cheat day and it was also easier to fast? I know everyone’s body is different but it was a huge difference for me from fasting for two weeks straight. I think some of it has to do with shaking up the routine? Making our bodies stay on their metaphorical toes. But I’m sure it can have the opposite effect for some!! It works super well for me to do about every two weeks.
We have a VR system so Spouse & I are doing Beatsaber for cardio– it’s really really effective because it engages a mental aspect as well as a physical one.
One month is pretty short for some people to see changes. I recommend measuring key areas like your waist, ribcage, hips, and other places you want to see change.
It takes some time to get used to the schedule, but it gets easier over time and your hunger should decrease. Have water and try to reduce refined carbs (even if it’s not sugar) and processed foods - it’s tough though! I still have some, I don’t cut anything out but I feel better when I have less of these.
I only lost 3 lbs over the first 5 months of fasting, though I didn’t get up to 18 or 20hrs in that time. Then in one month I lost 8+ lbs and reached my first goal. Now it’s easy to even widen my eating window and still maintain! I just went on a 10-day trip and one day after, I’m back within 0.2kg of my lowest weight. Give yourself grace, understanding, and patience! : )
Ppl are giving great advice but as someone who recognises your eating style as my own also, may I suggest replacing some of that sugar with 70% dark chocolate? it hits the spot x good luck and be kind to urself :)
Congrats on starting fasting!
Besides all the other great suggestions below, I found I had to keep track of my calories consumed during my eating window. Otherwise, I could easily inhale two days of food in a four hour window. Planning my menu and tracking CICO was a necessary component for me. Especially with kids, it’s too easy to “clean up after them” and end up scarfing a ton of extra food.
Second, I don’t know how often you weigh yourself but realize your menstrual cycle can cause significant fluctuations. I usually gain 3-4 pounds the week of my period, and then lose it the 3 weeks after. Depending on when you step on the scale, you may have gained and one week to lose it the next.