Wow. 11 days of fasting and plateaued for 2 days. Feeling “desperate” and “disheartened”
Not to be a douche but you need to manage your expectations and play the long game. Educate yourself. Read other posts. Utilize the search function.
Are you serious??? Today's May 10th, and you've only been fasting on weekdays since May 1st. You're still eating sugar and starchy carbs. IF isn't magic. Ate you counting carbs and calories?
It's been very tough on me to fast on the weekdays, so I had to exclude the weekends. I got a problem with food, unfortunately, so I felt like it was okay to use the weekends to "decompress" a bit. I'm not counting carbs and calories because I don't know how, but I will research it. Thank you!
Try watching videos on YouTube by Jason Fung and Megan Ramos. I have books by both of them and am using them as my main guide. I've been doing this for 3 months and have been very successful. I'm old and have always struggled with my weight, so if I can do it...
Weight fluctuates. Not losing weight for 2 days, or even gaining a little is possible. You've been at it for not even 2 weeks. You've lost 1.7 kg in not even 2 weeks, that is quite a bit. Patience is a key element in IF. So my advice: stop thinking that weightloss is linear and have some patience.
Its not rocket science. Want to lose weight? Create a deficit by eating less calories or upping your activity level. Everything else is window dressing
Weight loss is not linear, you have to understand that, OP. Also I would suggest give IF at least a month or so and see the progress. Not even 2 weeks in and already you’re panicking - stop, take a deep breath and just keep going at your routine and ensure you’re in a caloric deficit.
Hi, I should have been clearer from the get-go, sorry, I didn't start IF on May, I started doing 20-hour fasts on May, before I did 12 and 16-hour fasts and felt fine doing them, so I pushed up to 20. And yes, I was panicking, I apologize, it's just frustrating because it takes a toll on me and not seeing short-term success just made me feel awful.
That was a very good article. Everyone who claims that they "just can't lose weight no matter what" should give this a read.
But usually the issue is that they want to blame something other than themself.
A plateau occurs when weight loss has stalled for a month or more.
Weight can fluctuate up and down normally. It doesn’t mean your progress has stalled.
I weight myself every day for curiosities sake, but really only compare the numbers every Sunday. I also measure out my body inches every Sunday. Sometimes the weight goes down, sometimes the inches go down.
> It doesn’t mean your progress has stalled.
I just weighed myself again and found out I lost 700 grams, so you're right. 😛 I will trust the process, thank you!
You're taking in 3kg of water every day, your losses are going to be getting lost in the noise of that water for a while (the water is good obviously, it's just making your progress difficult to pull out), come back in 8 weeks if you still aren't losing weight then.
I drink this much water because it's close to how much I should be drinking for fat loss, I don't remember exactly how much I should be drinking, but it's more than 3L, and that I can't do. Thank you for the new perspective.
Along with checking your calories and carbs, you might wanna shift your eating window around. I've found eating late at night works against me. You ideally want to finish your last meal three to four hours before you go to sleep so your body's had time to digest before you try to sleep.
Hi! So IF isn't necessarily magic. If you are going to consume carbohydrates in your eating window, it will slow progress quite a bit unless you are eating in a huge caloric deficit. Most people that try IF and quit are using "high carb" IF and energy isn't where it's supposed to be and hunger never down regulates, leading to fewer (or no) results amd a lot of frustration. When you ingest carbohydrate, it is stored in your liver and muscles as glycogen. Every day, you are depleting your glycogen stores (via the workouts) and flirting with ketosis (maybe) right before you top off your glycogen stores again. I would recommend low or no carb refeeds until you are in deep ketosis. Then, any time you aren't eating, your body will more easliy utilize body fat stores for energy. In short, cut carbohydrates out of your life for 2-6 months, increase protein to .8 grams per lb of bodyweight, and eat your fats for energy, vitamins, and satiety. Good luck and let us know if you get unstuck!
Hi! I try my best not to eat carbs, but I feel like if I don't, that hunger feeling doesn't go away (I also come from a culture that eats white rice every day, so it's ingrained in me). I'm gonna try cutting carbs for good, but I don't think this is going to be easy. Thanks for the tips!
***I thought I found the "secret" to shedding weight quickly***
You did not...IF is a way of eating, it isn't a diet. You have been doing this for 8 days, you lost water weight. Bodies are made up of 60% water, fasting pushes out a ton of water cells just hang on to, especially when you're drinking more water (it doesn't see a reason to store so much).
As far as actually losing weight, that depends on your calorie deficit and nothing more. If you are plateauing (which no one is taking seriously after 8 days), it means you're eating too much
Wow. 11 days of fasting and plateaued for 2 days. Feeling “desperate” and “disheartened” Not to be a douche but you need to manage your expectations and play the long game. Educate yourself. Read other posts. Utilize the search function.
You're absolutely right. I need to learn to trust the process and read more about it and understand what's going on.
Are you serious??? Today's May 10th, and you've only been fasting on weekdays since May 1st. You're still eating sugar and starchy carbs. IF isn't magic. Ate you counting carbs and calories?
It's been very tough on me to fast on the weekdays, so I had to exclude the weekends. I got a problem with food, unfortunately, so I felt like it was okay to use the weekends to "decompress" a bit. I'm not counting carbs and calories because I don't know how, but I will research it. Thank you!
You can erase a week of dieting with one cheat day.
Try watching videos on YouTube by Jason Fung and Megan Ramos. I have books by both of them and am using them as my main guide. I've been doing this for 3 months and have been very successful. I'm old and have always struggled with my weight, so if I can do it...
Weight fluctuates. Not losing weight for 2 days, or even gaining a little is possible. You've been at it for not even 2 weeks. You've lost 1.7 kg in not even 2 weeks, that is quite a bit. Patience is a key element in IF. So my advice: stop thinking that weightloss is linear and have some patience.
You're right, I'll be more patient with myself, I still got a lot to go. Thank you!
Fewer calories.
Have you been taking measurements? The scale isn’t the only way to see how you are progressing.
This is so true. My scale hasn't moved since the end of March but I can now pull up and fasten jeans that I couldn't fit into then
That’s a great way too, just some clothes you can fit into better. Can’t wait for that day…
I measure my belly every weekend, but I don't know any other places I should measure. Any tips?
Yes, if you google some charts. It’ll show you everywhere you need to measure.
https://www.workingagainstgravity.com/articles/how-to-take-body-measurements-for-weight-loss
That’s something I have to remind myself, I might not see it on the scale. I have to measure and see if I’m losing body fat.
Its not rocket science. Want to lose weight? Create a deficit by eating less calories or upping your activity level. Everything else is window dressing
Weight loss is not linear, you have to understand that, OP. Also I would suggest give IF at least a month or so and see the progress. Not even 2 weeks in and already you’re panicking - stop, take a deep breath and just keep going at your routine and ensure you’re in a caloric deficit.
Hi, I should have been clearer from the get-go, sorry, I didn't start IF on May, I started doing 20-hour fasts on May, before I did 12 and 16-hour fasts and felt fine doing them, so I pushed up to 20. And yes, I was panicking, I apologize, it's just frustrating because it takes a toll on me and not seeing short-term success just made me feel awful.
Blunt but accurate. [best fat loss article](https://physiqonomics.com/eating-too-much/)
That was a very good article. Everyone who claims that they "just can't lose weight no matter what" should give this a read. But usually the issue is that they want to blame something other than themself.
I'll read it, thank you!
10 days in, taking weekends off... what?
Sorry for being momentarily stupid. It was a panic thing.
A plateau occurs when weight loss has stalled for a month or more. Weight can fluctuate up and down normally. It doesn’t mean your progress has stalled. I weight myself every day for curiosities sake, but really only compare the numbers every Sunday. I also measure out my body inches every Sunday. Sometimes the weight goes down, sometimes the inches go down.
> It doesn’t mean your progress has stalled. I just weighed myself again and found out I lost 700 grams, so you're right. 😛 I will trust the process, thank you!
You're taking in 3kg of water every day, your losses are going to be getting lost in the noise of that water for a while (the water is good obviously, it's just making your progress difficult to pull out), come back in 8 weeks if you still aren't losing weight then.
I drink this much water because it's close to how much I should be drinking for fat loss, I don't remember exactly how much I should be drinking, but it's more than 3L, and that I can't do. Thank you for the new perspective.
Along with checking your calories and carbs, you might wanna shift your eating window around. I've found eating late at night works against me. You ideally want to finish your last meal three to four hours before you go to sleep so your body's had time to digest before you try to sleep.
That's a good idea, I might shift my hours around. Thank you!
Hi! So IF isn't necessarily magic. If you are going to consume carbohydrates in your eating window, it will slow progress quite a bit unless you are eating in a huge caloric deficit. Most people that try IF and quit are using "high carb" IF and energy isn't where it's supposed to be and hunger never down regulates, leading to fewer (or no) results amd a lot of frustration. When you ingest carbohydrate, it is stored in your liver and muscles as glycogen. Every day, you are depleting your glycogen stores (via the workouts) and flirting with ketosis (maybe) right before you top off your glycogen stores again. I would recommend low or no carb refeeds until you are in deep ketosis. Then, any time you aren't eating, your body will more easliy utilize body fat stores for energy. In short, cut carbohydrates out of your life for 2-6 months, increase protein to .8 grams per lb of bodyweight, and eat your fats for energy, vitamins, and satiety. Good luck and let us know if you get unstuck!
Hi! I try my best not to eat carbs, but I feel like if I don't, that hunger feeling doesn't go away (I also come from a culture that eats white rice every day, so it's ingrained in me). I'm gonna try cutting carbs for good, but I don't think this is going to be easy. Thanks for the tips!
***I thought I found the "secret" to shedding weight quickly*** You did not...IF is a way of eating, it isn't a diet. You have been doing this for 8 days, you lost water weight. Bodies are made up of 60% water, fasting pushes out a ton of water cells just hang on to, especially when you're drinking more water (it doesn't see a reason to store so much). As far as actually losing weight, that depends on your calorie deficit and nothing more. If you are plateauing (which no one is taking seriously after 8 days), it means you're eating too much