I’m so close to giving up

I can’t do it anymore. So much failure, all the time. I was doing well, but I hit a particular weight and couldn’t get below it. I was doing 14:10, going to the gym (mostly walking on the treadmill and weights due to physical restrictions). I wasn’t making any progress—I know it’s not just about the weight, it’s the inches lost, etc.—but nothing was changing. I tried switching up my eating plan a few times, adjusting my fasting time, nothing was working. Then I had to stop going to the gym because of pain. I was finally able to get back to physical therapy this week, but I’ve not been there since the summer. I lost all the progress I was making, and recently I was instructed to start taking a medication twice a day—and it has to be taken with food. Due to medications, I have to change from the 14:10 to the 12:12. There’s no way to alter my medication schedule to fit around the 14:10. I am just so discouraged and I come here and see you beautiful people getting more lovely and I am so happy for you, but it’s killing me. I guess IF just wasn’t for me. I hate to quit it though because I felt so much more in control. 😔

Answer

Then do it 12:12. You actually can take medication with small amounts of greens, according to Jason Fung. What is your new plan of eating when not being on IF? Eating 5 times a day? Three meals and two snacks? Snacking all day and perhaps during an evening? Ask yourself what your alternative is? Did it bring you any benefits previously? I’m guessing that if you have some weight to lose, the answer is no.What can you do to make IF work for you?

Answer

Don’t give up 12hours is better than constantly eating. Have you heard of the glucose method or doctor Berg ? I’ve implemented some of their tricks into my life and it honestly helped me so much. I have acv diluted in water before a starchy/high carb meal so I don’t get a massive sugar spike.Sometimes I start my morning with litre of water with diluted acv, lemon and cinnamon.I put cinnamon everywhereAlso try to to eat veggies and protein first before carbs.Also increase protein intake so you stay fuller for longer.

Answer

You may feel like you have lost all progress at the gym, but that is unlikely. It is more likely the case that while you were at the gym you went 3 steps forward and maybe this break from the gym has put you one or two steps back. It’s very unlikely you lost everything you gained.

It takes a week or two to START losing cardio fitness. One study I found is that at 8 weeks without training vo2 max had dropped by 16%. But then it didn’t drop further than that and none of the test subjects went back to their original lower vo2 max.

It takes a month to START losing muscles. The bonus is regaining is easier. Rule of thumb is it takes half the time to get back to where you were. So a 4 month break will take 2 months to get back. 6 month break is 3 months etc.

As someone with chronic illness I understand that limitations on being able to be active really really suxs. It’s awful watching other people kill it and knowing I can’t do that.

But this is MY HEALTH I am fighting for. Every condition I have is made worse by being obese. I can do some things. My journey is a lot slower. Sometimes my journey IS a plateau. Because I believe without the minimal exercise I CAN do and controlling my diet as best as I can I would be much worse off. Intermittent fasting helps me to control the calories in.

I also enjoy the support I get here. Maybe 12:12 can work for you. You won’t know unless you try. And I am sure ppl here will be able to offer advice and support to help you in your goals.