| | Water Fasting

Can anyone throw me a hug?

I have previously lost almost 100 lbs, mainly due to fasting. Am no stranger to it now, my longest was for 17 days. I gained a lot during the whole corona shut-down (also, I don't recommend breaking your heart pretty much on the day where the whole world shut down. 2021 was rough!) , and I want to lose it again. I have a ton of social stuff coming up in the spring, so I've gone keto, and I fast. Either completely for a few days, or OMAD. Anyway, I fasted for 5 days, then Thursday, Friday and Saturday this week, I only ate dinner, about 500 kcal per day. (I don't plan to do this for a long time, just another week or so to kick-start my loss). I *know* I'm losing. I know its not physically possible to be alternating between fasting and VLCD and not lose. Its simple math, but stepping on the scale this morning and seeing the numbers going *up* ... It's not even me thinking "Oh well, I'm gaining, I might as well order pizza". Because I want to lose the weight so bad - I can almost *feel* the way I felt after I lost the weight last. I was more ... me, you know? I believed more in my self - also professionally, I was calmer, happier. More me. I cannot continue hiding at home because I'm scared of meeting people, I'm missing my life this way. šŸ˜” I'll lose the weight. I want to go lower this time, my end goal is lower, and I have about 72 lbs to lose, so I have lots of fat to lose. And fasting will ensure that I'm losing, no matter what the scale says. I know its water retention and the simple weight of having food in my system, and it's fine. It's just ... I'm disappointed in myself that I let myself go, you know? šŸ˜•

Answer

Put on old clothes. Even if they feel slightly loose, it will make you feel good. Think about how your body feels during a fast (lighter, no full belly getting in the way when you sit/bend). Measure yourself (that’s kind of hard since it’s hard to remember where you last measured, but use body landmarks and try. And don’t worry about the scale, my weight stayed the same on some and even increased on others during a 17 day water fast for heaven’s sake. The water also accumulates and adds weight. Don’t give up!

Also carbs are great at retaining water, so just keep that in mind when you eat! I’m not totally against healthy carbs but they help you understand why the weight may fluctuate so much.

Answer

This happened to me slightly.. i did a long term fast about 4 days and after i went low calorie like 100-300 daily. the weight went back up. it never came down again i had to fast again to lose it. šŸ¤·ā€ā™€ļø been waiting for a big drop but it didn’t happen. now its either fast day or eating day for me but never low cal.

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Hugs, lots - you could be me!

I lost about 40 pounds in 2016 after an arduous 8 months of CICO. Slowly but surely I gained it all back and more. I have a friend’s wedding in May that I want to look fab for - and I have a birthday in March where I want to feel like this isn’t another year of fatter me. Difference is that fasting has completely changed my life - but it hasn’t impacted my work or what I want to do one jot.

I’ve started to feel more confident every day with IF and fasting, and hoping to make OMAD my lifestyle. I hope fasting gives you the results you want - you’ve done it before and you’ll do it again - smash it šŸ’ŖšŸ’Ŗ

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I would not cut calories like that. It is not necessary and it is actually counter productive. I keep cutting and pasting this paragraph as an example:

Take OMAD. Normally there are three meals in a day, with OMAD there is one. If you are eating maintenance, 66% of your calories come from burning fat. But maintenance can suck; if you eat meal and a half you are still getting 50% of your calories from fat. Heck have a double plate and you are still pulling 33% from fat. That is still not shabby at all. On the other hand, cut calories too much and you risk lowering your metabolism, undermining the whole process.

Slow your roll. Eat more. Use your eating windows to fix your relationship with food.

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I suggest not weighing yourself so often. The natural, meaningless fluctuations of water weight can drive you crazy if you take them as an instant judgment on your actions the previous day. It’s the long-term trend that really matters.

If you want to track something daily to keep yourself motivated or accountable, track your fasting hours. The free version of the Zero app lets you track streaks of fasting days, and has a nice calendar view where you can look at fasting hours per day and totals per month. This is how I judge my success each day — did I log my fast? Did I meet my goal for fast length? Did I keep my streak going? The scale will bounce around day to day regardless of what I do, but if I stick with the process, long-term results will come. So I make my metrics about the process.

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Hugs! I’m in a rut, too. Message me if you wanna be support buddies :) I’m trying the 36 hr fast then 3 hour eating window that i saw someone did earlier. I’m keto, too, but seriously struggling with the kiddos’ snacks