Why Fasting Works For Obese People

I’ve decided to dedicate 2023 to getting healthy after being overweight most of my life (and obese since I graduated from law school). Both my parents have died in the last few years, and I want to get healthy to avoid dying prematurely and leaving my two kids fatherless. I’m a very data driven person, and I come from an academic family. When I decided to get fit I didn’t just hop and a treadmill and figure it out as I went. I decided to get fit over the holidays, but didn’t start my plan until January 10th. That’s because I spent almost two weeks researching, reading academic and medical studies and trying to figure out how I wanted to do it. After reading everything I could, and considering it, I decided that fasting is the best plan for people like me (I’m M43 / 6’3 / SW: 315) for two simple reasons. **1.) Rapid Results** When you're very overweight, "slow and steady" weight loss is more difficult mentally. People who have BMIs over 35 clearly have problems with impulse control and gratification. We need strong motivation to stick to it, and that's definitely helped by rapid results. When I started I needed to lose 75 pounds just to not be obese, and 115 pounds to be a healthy weight. At a doctor recommended pace of 2 pounds a week it would take me 9 months to not be obese, and over a year to be a healthy weight. That's an extremely long time to stay highly motivated and dedicated, and when you have two young children and a very stressful career the odds of life getting in the way and throwing you off track during that long a period are extremely high. It's a lot harder to stick to a diet when the results are slow and it's going to take forever to reach your goal. Moreover, if you're hoping for small loss weekly, missing your goal may mean zero weight loss, or even a weight gain which is hugely deflating. **2.) Simplicity / Easy to Follow** I find one of the biggest problems with other diets is they are very complicated and difficult to follow in the "modern world". Calorie counting isn't easy for people with kids and busy careers where you're on the move a lot, nor are boutique diets recommended by doctors like the mediterranean diet. I've got a three year old and a four year old, both parents work, and I'm driving to courts all over the place. Fasting creates a very simple rule: just don't eat during your fasting period. That's a lot simpler than trying to figure out how many calories you've had, what your macros were, and what item on the menu at the coffee shop is the healthiest. Even more, a hard and fast rule like "just don't eat" is less likely to lead to small slipups. If you're doing CICO or something like that, it's very easy for an obese person to think "one little treat won't hurt". Hard rules really work for people with the kind of mentalities that lead to addiction and obesity (or at least my way of thinking). I used to be an alcoholic, and I stopped drinking in 2014 when my wife insisted I do so. For me, if I had one beer I was going to have ten, and socializing was based entirely on drinking. I didn't go to rehab or AA or anything like that, I just decided I was going to stop drinking and stuck to it. It completely changed my social life, and cost me friends, but it was super easy to follow and I just decided to do it. Fasting works the same way - it has a social impact, people think it's weird, but it's a simple rule and I'm just going to follow it.  I’m currently wrapping up day five of my first ever extended fast. My plan is to carry on with this fast as long as possible (which given how tough today was won’t be much longer), and then move to rolling 48s. I’ll be posting regular updates as I go along. In my dream world I’d like to no longer be obese by birthday in May.

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Personally I think you’re jumping in too hard, too fast. I would consider doing OMAD with maybe a single 36-48 a week first. Also mix in some cardio if you can. I’m currently on OMAD + 3 miles a day and have never felt better. Best of luck to you!

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Great post dude. I’m similar stats 6’5” and started at 294 with kids.

You do your own fast. People are going to recommend lots of different things. The one that works is the one that YOU can do consistently.

I’ve been doing OMAD, lots of different IF schedules and several extended fasts of 2 to 7 days.

Find what works for your life. I know from experience kids make life more complicated and variable.

Find what works for YOU and try to do it as safe as possible.

Also, electrolytes make life and fasting better. I start supplementing on day 1 if i plan on fasting more than 48hrs and it makes a big difference. Much easier to stay ahead than catch up.

~Note: I’m not a doctor and my experience is my own. ~

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Men I know with similar stats have in the end done best on an ADF (1 day eating, 1 day not eating, but only IF you eat ENOUGH on the eating day, and a lot of protein) plan. Usually a lot of trying various things first. It’s tough at first but eventually the body adapts enough that you don’t mind the fasting. Just be aware you should take some minerals esp at first as you’ll drop a lot of water weight. And that diet drinks aren’t ok for a variety of reasons including increasing insulin in many.

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Congrats thats really good to do 5 days I have only done a 3 day one so far. Doing 20-4 IF or OMAD (when I feel up to it) now and I gotta say that cravings are more frequent when doing IF/OMAD vs Fasting as expected.

Still, I think if the goal is weight loss, IF is the way to go over extended fasting, especially if you combine some exercise. It’s totally doable to eat everyday and lose weight at a good pace doing this. I think it can also be extremely bad to lose to much weight too quickly.

It really does come down to self-control and extended fasting is definitely a great way to build up control.

I think you will start to feel alot better and get rid of alot of health issues before you technically cross the obese line so that, at least to me is far more desirable. I am also currently obese but I view losing weight as a side effect of become healthy.

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OP I’m sure someone has/will reccomend OMAD to you. I advise researching/trying it out. It’s an even more simplified version of fasting and I’ve had really positive results.

tldr- 6’2/SW-310/CW-255/started serious OMAD in May 2023

Obviously we have different day-to-days, but the core concept of one meal a day is really easy to conceptualize and you’d be surprised how freeing it is.

Don’t have to worry about the next meal until at least a day later/see rapid results/you get used to the cadence reasonably quickly.

Good luck OP, reach out with any questions about OMAD/how I approach it. Looking forward to see your progress ✌️

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I find it easy to fast;compared to controlling myself after the fast/binge eating.

Statistically, something like 98% people who do extended fasts gain the weight back

It’s so easy to cancel out the progress from a five day fast once you return to eating 😥

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I went from a 48 hour fast being my max to jumping to a 96 hour fast that ended a few days ago. It just takes discipline. I found that having an app made it easier to visualize my trajectory. I did get crazy hungry but that’s because I was nowhere near ketosis when I started. By the 4th day I was no longer hungry. Since then I don’t really crave junk food the way I did before starting the fast. Best of luck to you sir.

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If order for this to be effective, you need to do this for a lifetime, not just 4 months. Yes, you can fast less once you hit your goal weight, but you need to still do some fasting or you’re just going to go back to where you are now.