Intermittent fasting
jordan_bowden
Posts: 90 Member
So I've been intermittent fasting for several months now and not seeing results anymore. I started of doing 24 hour fasts (Wednesdays and Sundays) and it basically evolved from there. I am now fasting 16/8 on a daily basis, (sometimes a few hours longer) in addition to the 24 hours twice a week. I shuffle the times I break my fasts, in order to prevent adaptation but I still don't see results?? Does anybody have any ideas as to why this may be ?
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Replies
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I do better with several smaller meals and snack. I like to call it grazing. Starvation is something that I am just not cut out to do.1
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You are consuming more calories than your body burns.9
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I generally stay under 800 calories a day, occasionally I reach 1000 but not often. I know it's really disgusting but I do gym and exercise several times during the week as well. How much would you recommend reducing my intake by then ?1
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jordan_bowden wrote: »I generally stay under 800 calories a day, occasionally I reach 1000 but not often. I know it's really disgusting but I do gym and exercise several times during the week as well. How much would you recommend reducing my intake by then ?
Do you use a food scale?0 -
Unfortunately I do not have one yet, but I do meticulously measure quantities. I am a raw till 4, hclf vegan and I don't use salt or condiments so I know that I don't have any issues with unknown calories0
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What are your height and weight?0
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I do better with several smaller meals and snack. I like to call it grazing. Starvation is something that I am just not cut out to do.
Same. Four to six meals per day for me. I can't imagine fasting. I'd die.
Fasting would lead me to binge, or at the very least, make some really fattening food choices.0 -
I'm 161cm (5'3 I think) and 50kg (110lb)0
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jordan_bowden wrote: »I'm 161cm (5'3 I think) and 50kg (110lb)
BMI = 19.5
What is your goal? You say that you are not seeing results. What results are you looking for?0 -
My goal is to lose as much body fat as possible and tone overall. I would still like to lose a couple more kg's, I just can't seem to manage it0
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800 calories a day? That is probably less than my breakfast.4
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jordan_bowden wrote: »My goal is to lose as much body fat as possible and tone overall. I would still like to lose a couple more kg's, I just can't seem to manage it
Being "toned" requires muscle mass. At your stats if you are not completely shredded, you are lacking muscle mass and would be better off eating more to build muscle mass. You do not even have enough fat to recomp successfully IMO. Eat more and get on a progressive resistance program. I'd say a long slow bulk (a year or more) would be your best option and get you much closer to the look you want than would losing any more weight.5 -
Thank you so much, I really appreciate it! This is really helpful!:)1
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I'm doing 16:8 ..just started. But I wonder what you're end game is? you want to live your life fasting two days a week and intermittent periods during the other days ...eating 800 calories a day and work out like crazy to weigh what? 100 pounds?
Think about that. You can do that forever?
with the 16:8 I feel this could be an eating pattern that I can manage forever. But I'm eating healthy not restricting calories during my 8 hour eating period.2 -
You still need to be in a caloric deficit for this to work!0
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Very true, IF is a great tool (I love it and practice it daily) but the key is to eat at a deficit.trigden1991 wrote: »You still need to be in a caloric deficit for this to work!
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jordan_bowden wrote: »I generally stay under 800 calories a day, occasionally I reach 1000 but not often. I know it's really disgusting but I do gym and exercise several times during the week as well. How much would you recommend reducing my intake by then ?
What's disgusting? I'm genuinely curious because when I read all your posts in this thread, I felt concerned about the possibility of some disordered eating behaviors. I don't know you, so obviously I may be completely wrong. It just sounds to me like you're super restrictive, with the amount you eat, what you eat, and when you eat.3 -
To much focus on fasting (24 hour fasts, alternating food timing to avoid body adaptations etc..) the real goal should be to eat the right amount of calories to lose fat and add in some strength training. Logging 800 calories without a food scale can very much be "consuming" a lot more than 800 calories..0
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distinctlybeautiful wrote: »jordan_bowden wrote: »I generally stay under 800 calories a day, occasionally I reach 1000 but not often. I know it's really disgusting but I do gym and exercise several times during the week as well. How much would you recommend reducing my intake by then ?
What's disgusting? I'm genuinely curious because when I read all your posts in this thread, I felt concerned about the possibility of some disordered eating behaviors. I don't know you, so obviously I may be completely wrong. It just sounds to me like you're super restrictive, with the amount you eat, what you eat, and when you eat.
I don't really struggle with sticking to my fasting, I just don't have much of an appetite and even on days that I do have higher caloric intake, I still battle to consume that much purely because I can't eat that much food (800 is the average in general)0 -
jordan_bowden wrote: »distinctlybeautiful wrote: »jordan_bowden wrote: »I generally stay under 800 calories a day, occasionally I reach 1000 but not often. I know it's really disgusting but I do gym and exercise several times during the week as well. How much would you recommend reducing my intake by then ?
What's disgusting? I'm genuinely curious because when I read all your posts in this thread, I felt concerned about the possibility of some disordered eating behaviors. I don't know you, so obviously I may be completely wrong. It just sounds to me like you're super restrictive, with the amount you eat, what you eat, and when you eat.
I don't really struggle with sticking to my fasting, I just don't have much of an appetite and even on days that I do have higher caloric intake, I still battle to consume that much purely because I can't eat that much food (800 is the average in general)
There is quite a lot wrong with this.. You cannot reach calories on normal eating days? I would say you need to drop all the 16:8 and 24 hour fasting and get back to eating a normal amount of calories each day.
This fasting sounds like it is not for you in the least bit and perhaps leading to (and I hate to say this) disordered eating patterns and thinking.
VLCD (800 calories.. even below 1200 calories) is very very unhealthy. You are not seeing results any more because you are eating way way too little. I might entertain the idea of speaking to a professional, start with your primary doctor for some help. You truly need to drop dieting all together to help your metabolism IMHO.3 -
jordan_bowden wrote: »distinctlybeautiful wrote: »jordan_bowden wrote: »I generally stay under 800 calories a day, occasionally I reach 1000 but not often. I know it's really disgusting but I do gym and exercise several times during the week as well. How much would you recommend reducing my intake by then ?
What's disgusting? I'm genuinely curious because when I read all your posts in this thread, I felt concerned about the possibility of some disordered eating behaviors. I don't know you, so obviously I may be completely wrong. It just sounds to me like you're super restrictive, with the amount you eat, what you eat, and when you eat.
I don't really struggle with sticking to my fasting, I just don't have much of an appetite and even on days that I do have higher caloric intake, I still battle to consume that much purely because I can't eat that much food (800 is the average in general)
But what were you saying is disgusting? That you don't eat a lot, or that 1000 calories is disgusting because it is a lot? I'm not just trying to harp on this question. I'd like to offer more of my input, but I want to understand better first.2 -
jordan_bowden wrote: »distinctlybeautiful wrote: »jordan_bowden wrote: »I generally stay under 800 calories a day, occasionally I reach 1000 but not often. I know it's really disgusting but I do gym and exercise several times during the week as well. How much would you recommend reducing my intake by then ?
What's disgusting? I'm genuinely curious because when I read all your posts in this thread, I felt concerned about the possibility of some disordered eating behaviors. I don't know you, so obviously I may be completely wrong. It just sounds to me like you're super restrictive, with the amount you eat, what you eat, and when you eat.
I don't really struggle with sticking to my fasting, I just don't have much of an appetite and even on days that I do have higher caloric intake, I still battle to consume that much purely because I can't eat that much food (800 is the average in general)
There is quite a lot wrong with this.. You cannot reach calories on normal eating days? I would say you need to drop all the 16:8 and 24 hour fasting and get back to eating a normal amount of calories each day.
This fasting sounds like it is not for you in the least bit and perhaps leading to (and I hate to say this) disordered eating patterns and thinking.
VLCD (800 calories.. even below 1200 calories) is very very unhealthy. You are not seeing results any more because you are eating way way too little. I might entertain the idea of speaking to a professional, start with your primary doctor for some help. You truly need to drop dieting all together to help your metabolism IMHO.
She needs to drop dieting because she is already at a low weight and continuing to lose weight is not going to get her to her goal. Yesterday she seemed open to the idea of eating more.2 -
jordan_bowden wrote: »distinctlybeautiful wrote: »jordan_bowden wrote: »I generally stay under 800 calories a day, occasionally I reach 1000 but not often. I know it's really disgusting but I do gym and exercise several times during the week as well. How much would you recommend reducing my intake by then ?
What's disgusting? I'm genuinely curious because when I read all your posts in this thread, I felt concerned about the possibility of some disordered eating behaviors. I don't know you, so obviously I may be completely wrong. It just sounds to me like you're super restrictive, with the amount you eat, what you eat, and when you eat.
I don't really struggle with sticking to my fasting, I just don't have much of an appetite and even on days that I do have higher caloric intake, I still battle to consume that much purely because I can't eat that much food (800 is the average in general)
There is quite a lot wrong with this.. You cannot reach calories on normal eating days? I would say you need to drop all the 16:8 and 24 hour fasting and get back to eating a normal amount of calories each day.
This fasting sounds like it is not for you in the least bit and perhaps leading to (and I hate to say this) disordered eating patterns and thinking.
VLCD (800 calories.. even below 1200 calories) is very very unhealthy. You are not seeing results any more because you are eating way way too little. I might entertain the idea of speaking to a professional, start with your primary doctor for some help. You truly need to drop dieting all together to help your metabolism IMHO.
She needs to drop dieting because she is already at a low weight and continuing to lose weight is not going to get her to her goal. Yesterday she seemed open to the idea of eating more.
I missed that part of thread from yesterday.. sorry.. my bad..
eta: I am not sure what is going on then.. nevermind..
thanks. 1 -
colors_fade wrote: »I do better with several smaller meals and snack. I like to call it grazing. Starvation is something that I am just not cut out to do.
Same. Four to six meals per day for me. I can't imagine fasting. I'd die.
Fasting would lead me to binge, or at the very least, make some really fattening food choices.
See and for me grazing meant I nevet felt full or satisfied so 16:8 intermittent fasting works. I get that large satisfying meal every night that I crave and sleep better with this eating schedule. I was always over calorie goal when I tried several small meals.
It just goes to show how different we all are2 -
distinctlybeautiful wrote: »jordan_bowden wrote: »distinctlybeautiful wrote: »jordan_bowden wrote: »I generally stay under 800 calories a day, occasionally I reach 1000 but not often. I know it's really disgusting but I do gym and exercise several times during the week as well. How much would you recommend reducing my intake by then ?
What's disgusting? I'm genuinely curious because when I read all your posts in this thread, I felt concerned about the possibility of some disordered eating behaviors. I don't know you, so obviously I may be completely wrong. It just sounds to me like you're super restrictive, with the amount you eat, what you eat, and when you eat.
I don't really struggle with sticking to my fasting, I just don't have much of an appetite and even on days that I do have higher caloric intake, I still battle to consume that much purely because I can't eat that much food (800 is the average in general)
But what were you saying is disgusting? That you don't eat a lot, or that 1000 calories is disgusting because it is a lot? I'm not just trying to harp on this question. I'd like to offer more of my input, but I want to understand better first.
Sometimes I just feel really unwell when I eat around 1000 calories and I feel rather disgusting physically. I gain weight really easily though, so if I have eaten high calories in a day that exceeds my calorie burn, I tend to gain. I really want to get out of the cycle of gaining on "normal" eating days while still doing some fasting, I just can't think what else to do
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colors_fade wrote: »I do better with several smaller meals and snack. I like to call it grazing. Starvation is something that I am just not cut out to do.
Same. Four to six meals per day for me. I can't imagine fasting. I'd die.
Fasting would lead me to binge, or at the very least, make some really fattening food choices.
See and for me grazing meant I nevet felt full or satisfied so 16:8 intermittent fasting works. I get that large satisfying meal every night that I crave and sleep better with this eating schedule. I was always over calorie goal when I tried several small meals.
It just goes to show how different we all are
This is why I keep toying with the idea of doing IF. I hate grazing or eating lots of snacks, just makes me want to eat all the time and never feel satisfied, and I end up eating less healthfully in general. It helped me to do 3 meals, no snacks, but I keep wondering if cutting breakfast and adding a few more calories to lunch and dinner would be a good way to cut calories again. May try it.
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jordan_bowden wrote: »distinctlybeautiful wrote: »jordan_bowden wrote: »distinctlybeautiful wrote: »jordan_bowden wrote: »I generally stay under 800 calories a day, occasionally I reach 1000 but not often. I know it's really disgusting but I do gym and exercise several times during the week as well. How much would you recommend reducing my intake by then ?
What's disgusting? I'm genuinely curious because when I read all your posts in this thread, I felt concerned about the possibility of some disordered eating behaviors. I don't know you, so obviously I may be completely wrong. It just sounds to me like you're super restrictive, with the amount you eat, what you eat, and when you eat.
I don't really struggle with sticking to my fasting, I just don't have much of an appetite and even on days that I do have higher caloric intake, I still battle to consume that much purely because I can't eat that much food (800 is the average in general)
But what were you saying is disgusting? That you don't eat a lot, or that 1000 calories is disgusting because it is a lot? I'm not just trying to harp on this question. I'd like to offer more of my input, but I want to understand better first.
Sometimes I just feel really unwell when I eat around 1000 calories and I feel rather disgusting physically. I gain weight really easily though, so if I have eaten high calories in a day that exceeds my calorie burn, I tend to gain. I really want to get out of the cycle of gaining on "normal" eating days while still doing some fasting, I just can't think what else to do
Gain on a particular day isn't real gain, it's water weight fluctuations or the weight of food. It sounds like you have some stuff going on and would benefit from seeing a dietitian and probably talking to someone about your eating issues and fear of gaining if you can't manage to eat more than 1000.5 -
Given her height and her weight and her self-reported history of long-term serious restriction, I would posit that we have here a case of someone's RMR dropping low enough that she can maintain on much less than one would expect from the calculators.1
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jordan_bowden wrote: »I generally stay under 800 calories a day, occasionally I reach 1000 but not often. I know it's really disgusting but I do gym and exercise several times during the week as well. How much would you recommend reducing my intake by then ?
Wow (and not in a good way). If you are logging correctly - your lean muscle loss is going to be much higher than average. This isn't a good look.
MFP's default minimum before exercise is 1200. So if you really are under eating by that much, you must have some issues with water weight right now. Sore muscles hold water, time of month fluctuations, waste weight, etc. Weight loss isn't linear. When you are close to goal a 1/2 pound a week loss is good progress.
Google weight loss & hair loss. Under eating (if your calories are correct) can lead to all kinds of medical issues.3 -
jordan_bowden wrote: »distinctlybeautiful wrote: »jordan_bowden wrote: »distinctlybeautiful wrote: »jordan_bowden wrote: »I generally stay under 800 calories a day, occasionally I reach 1000 but not often. I know it's really disgusting but I do gym and exercise several times during the week as well. How much would you recommend reducing my intake by then ?
What's disgusting? I'm genuinely curious because when I read all your posts in this thread, I felt concerned about the possibility of some disordered eating behaviors. I don't know you, so obviously I may be completely wrong. It just sounds to me like you're super restrictive, with the amount you eat, what you eat, and when you eat.
I don't really struggle with sticking to my fasting, I just don't have much of an appetite and even on days that I do have higher caloric intake, I still battle to consume that much purely because I can't eat that much food (800 is the average in general)
But what were you saying is disgusting? That you don't eat a lot, or that 1000 calories is disgusting because it is a lot? I'm not just trying to harp on this question. I'd like to offer more of my input, but I want to understand better first.
Sometimes I just feel really unwell when I eat around 1000 calories and I feel rather disgusting physically. I gain weight really easily though, so if I have eaten high calories in a day that exceeds my calorie burn, I tend to gain. I really want to get out of the cycle of gaining on "normal" eating days while still doing some fasting, I just can't think what else to do
Ok, so I used to feel this way too, not quite with as few calories as you eat, but I had little appetite and felt stuffed without eating hardly anything. Now that I've gotten to a place where I have a healthier understanding of weight loss and fitness, I can see that my lack of appetite was a manifestation of the way I thought about food and weight loss.
My advice to you - and it sounds so simple but can be so amazingly difficult - is to trust the process. Figure out what your maintenance calories are (I guarantee it's over 800-1000 calories unless you're super extra short or something), and try eating there for a while. You might see a bit of a weight increase at first because you've been eating so little, but it should even out - and once you see how much you can eat without gaining, you might start to trust it. I used to stick to around 1200 calories, but now I eat around 2000 without gaining. That's not to say your needs will be the same as mine; it's just an example of how far off my understanding was.
You can't gain weight eating so little. What you're probably seeing when you eat a little more is water weight. It takes 3500 excess calories to gain a legitimate pound (of fat or muscle). Weight can fluctuate as much as five pounds day to day, so you're not going to see the same numbers every day. It just doesn't work that way.
I hope you can figure this out. I've found life is so much better with a healthier attitude toward food and exercise.
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