Intermittent fasting and losing weight?
liljakaren1997
Posts: 22 Member
So I've been trying this intermittent fasting for the last 4 days and it's been going pretty well. I've been reading something about it but I still don't understand it completely. If you're trying to lose weight while doing this fasting, do you still need to reduce your calorie intake?
I wanted to try this ''diet''(well I know it's technically not a diet but still) because for the last months my weight has been standing still. From July-December I lost about 14 kilograms. I am now around 80 kilograms(I'm a 20 year old female, 158 cm tall if that makes any difference) but since December my weight has been standing still. I've heard that many people have lost weight while doing the intermittent fasting. I have a few concerns tho. I've usually been eating like 13-1500 calories everyday, my goal on mfp is 1900 tho but I'm always afraid of eating too much. I'm pretty active and I work out 2-4 times a week and walk a lot. I'm afraid that I might be eating too little and that might have slowed down my metabolism. And doesn't fasting make you eat less and therefor slows down your metabolism?
I just wanted to get some advice about this since I'm relatively in this.
I wanted to try this ''diet''(well I know it's technically not a diet but still) because for the last months my weight has been standing still. From July-December I lost about 14 kilograms. I am now around 80 kilograms(I'm a 20 year old female, 158 cm tall if that makes any difference) but since December my weight has been standing still. I've heard that many people have lost weight while doing the intermittent fasting. I have a few concerns tho. I've usually been eating like 13-1500 calories everyday, my goal on mfp is 1900 tho but I'm always afraid of eating too much. I'm pretty active and I work out 2-4 times a week and walk a lot. I'm afraid that I might be eating too little and that might have slowed down my metabolism. And doesn't fasting make you eat less and therefor slows down your metabolism?
I just wanted to get some advice about this since I'm relatively in this.
3
Replies
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It is extremely difficult to actually impact your metabolism, so any time something says it’s going to boost (or “destroy”) your metabolism, it’s good to be skeptical. Usually the proven effects are pretty small, if any. IF works if it helps you keep to a calorie deficit. Any other benefits are questionable at best, and ultimately won’t matter if you can’t keep to a deficit. Are you confident that your calorie counting is accurate? With those numbers, you probably should be losing weight, and it’s so easy to underestimate the calories in what you eat, or overestimate how much you’re burning.8
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You still need a calorie deficit to lose weight no matter how you eat. For many intermittent fasting helps make maintaining a calorie deficit easier.8
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Whatever way you choose to time your macros does not negate the requirement of a caloric deficit if fat loss is your goal. There is no twilight zone timing where calories don't count; thermodynamics doesn't work that way4
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For me, intermittent fasting is just a method to limit my calories so I have more leftover in the evening to enjoy a bigger dinner and dessert. There is no benefit of eating this way besides preference. It helps narrow your eating hours so you are less likely to go over your calories in a day. Since you are trying to lose weight, you still need to stick to your calorie limit. There's really no exception to this. If you're at a stand still with your weight loss, that typically means you are eating at maintenance. The way you are eating now will keep you at this weight unless you eat less calories. Are you weighing all of your food? I'd say you're probably eating more than you think you are if you aren't weighing everything. I'd highly recommend if you're not!
What is your calorie goal on here? If you want to lose 1 lb a week, it should have you eating at 1350 or so calories. This is the calories before any activity. My advice would be to set your activity level to sedentary and add your exercises/workouts/steps individually. Doing it this way has worked best for me.
You really have to forget everything you've heard about metabolism. Eating less food or less often isn't going to make your metabolism slow down. It wont make it harder to lose weight. It wont make you have to work harder to lose the same amount of weight as someone else. Focus more critically on your calorie intake and you'll see an improvement. Good luck!4 -
If you want to lose weight, you need a calorie deficit (reduce your calorie intake).
Meal timing is a different matter than calorie intake.
Meal timing can make it easier or more difficult to stick to an appropriate calorie intake.
Fasting is not eating. Intermittent fasting isn't fasting. It's just not eating all the time.
Height, weight, age, sex is vital information.
If you aren't losing weight, you aren't in a calorie deficit.
You're supposed to hit your calorie target. But you have to set it properly first. Did you pick weightloss as a goal?
You're also supposed to log your intake correctly. Do you use a food scale?
Your metabolism doesn't slow down like that. You're eating more than you think.6 -
Weight loss is from calorie deficit and not from timing of your calories.
Say you have an IF eating window of 12:00 - 20:00 daily.
Now if you ate your first meal at 12:00 one day and the exactly same first meal at 11:55 another day then I'm sure you can see that it's the calories in that meal which are significant and not the precise time of day you eat it.
If your weight loss has stalled the first thing is to recheck the accuracy of your food logging. Metabolism changes may slow the rate of weight loss (especially if prolonged and high deficit) but isn't going to stop weight loss if you are in a true deficit. You can't create energy out of nothing, you can't keep your energy stores (fat) constant if you have an energy deficit - that would be like the fuel level in your car staying the same even though you are driving places.
Yes people can and do lose weight doing IF, because it helps them adhere to a deficit. (I'm one of those people!)
No IF doesn't automatically make you eat less, there's plenty of people who are breakfast skippers who manage to gain weight. What it can do for some people is help you stick to an appropriate calorie goal easier.2 -
Thank you everybody for your replies! Now I have a better understanding. Just to answer some of your questions. I have my activity on mfp set to active and my goal to lose 0,5 kg per week(I'm European, so I use the metric system). I have a garmin watch and I walk between 12-18 thousand steps everyday plus going to the gym 2-4 times a week. I do have a food scale and I weigh my food, but I get food at work and I don't weigh my food there, I just do a rough estimate. About the intermittent fasting, I've read that when you are fasting your body starts using the fat on your body as an energy source, is that just bulls*it then??
I've been doing weightlifting and I can really see a difference when I look at myself in the mirror, could that have something to do with the weight? Should I maybe just stop thinking about the weight?1 -
It's not BS. But it's sometimes purposely vague by those who are making money selling the system and their books. (I don't begrudge the selling of their books and all, but I do have a problem with the purposeful avoidance of what the real mechanism of losing fat from your body is). Your body uses what is convenient and ready. Even so, if you eat at a caloric surplus, your body will store fat, even if it burns fat at times through the day. So even diets like keto, which use fat as the primary energy source will not work for weight loss if you eat more calories than you burn.
To the original post, I've used IF on and off, but not for any "magic". It simply allows me to eat a little bigger in a smaller window. For me it helps me be both satiated and under control of my intake. Nothing more.
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BS in the sense of a complete exaggeration especially the "starts" part.liljakaren1997 wrote: »Thank you everybody for your replies! Now I have a better understanding. Just to answer some of your questions. I have my activity on mfp set to active and my goal to lose 0,5 kg per week(I'm European, so I use the metric system). I have a garmin watch and I walk between 12-18 thousand steps everyday plus going to the gym 2-4 times a week. I do have a food scale and I weigh my food, but I get food at work and I don't weigh my food there, I just do a rough estimate. About the intermittent fasting, I've read that when you are fasting your body starts using the fat on your body as an energy source, is that just bulls*it then??
Your body is constantly using fat for energy - it's one of the two primary fuels.
While you are sitting at your computer the vast majority of your current fuelling is coming from fat - both dietary and stored.
No tricks are required to make you burn fat, it's a normal part of everyday life.5 -
liljakaren1997 wrote: »So I've been trying this intermittent fasting for the last 4 days and it's been going pretty well. I've been reading something about it but I still don't understand it completely. If you're trying to lose weight while doing this fasting, do you still need to reduce your calorie intake?
I wanted to try this ''diet''(well I know it's technically not a diet but still) because for the last months my weight has been standing still. From July-December I lost about 14 kilograms. I am now around 80 kilograms(I'm a 20 year old female, 158 cm tall if that makes any difference) but since December my weight has been standing still. I've heard that many people have lost weight while doing the intermittent fasting. I have a few concerns tho. I've usually been eating like 13-1500 calories everyday, my goal on mfp is 1900 tho but I'm always afraid of eating too much. I'm pretty active and I work out 2-4 times a week and walk a lot. I'm afraid that I might be eating too little and that might have slowed down my metabolism. And doesn't fasting make you eat less and therefor slows down your metabolism?
I just wanted to get some advice about this since I'm relatively in this.
i've been doing this since january and i love it. at times, it does become hard but overall its all mental. the ONLY way to lose weight is to be in a calorie deficit. there is no way around that. i personally like it because it allows you a smaller eating window, which for most helps them be in a cal deficit. i fluctuate my calories based on TD and NTD, naturally i eat less on my NTD that i do on TD but eating "Enough" IS always key. if you do not already i'd suggest getting you some macros and going from there.0 -
BS in the sense of a complete exaggeration especially the "starts" part.liljakaren1997 wrote: »Thank you everybody for your replies! Now I have a better understanding. Just to answer some of your questions. I have my activity on mfp set to active and my goal to lose 0,5 kg per week(I'm European, so I use the metric system). I have a garmin watch and I walk between 12-18 thousand steps everyday plus going to the gym 2-4 times a week. I do have a food scale and I weigh my food, but I get food at work and I don't weigh my food there, I just do a rough estimate. About the intermittent fasting, I've read that when you are fasting your body starts using the fat on your body as an energy source, is that just bulls*it then??
Your body is constantly using fat for energy - it's one of the two primary fuels.
While you are sitting at your computer the vast majority of your current fuelling is coming from fat - both dietary and stored.
No tricks are required to make you burn fat, it's a normal part of everyday life.
Only Suggestions:
1. Can you find a simple small food scale (not expensive one to weigh your "at work foods"? Something you can keep in your desk, or bag. Better than eye balling your foods.
2. Can you bring your own food in for "at work meals"?
Doing 1 or 2 will help you log more accurately. And keep to healthy nourishing food.
For 3) you can also stick to eating places that you know offer fairly standard measured "out food" choices on days you have to eat lunch you buy.
These are just suggestions in case you want tighten up your logging.
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liljakaren1997 wrote: »Thank you everybody for your replies! Now I have a better understanding. Just to answer some of your questions. I have my activity on mfp set to active and my goal to lose 0,5 kg per week(I'm European, so I use the metric system). I have a garmin watch and I walk between 12-18 thousand steps everyday plus going to the gym 2-4 times a week. I do have a food scale and I weigh my food, but I get food at work and I don't weigh my food there, I just do a rough estimate. About the intermittent fasting, I've read that when you are fasting your body starts using the fat on your body as an energy source, is that just bulls*it then??
I've been doing weightlifting and I can really see a difference when I look at myself in the mirror, could that have something to do with the weight? Should I maybe just stop thinking about the weight?
I’m glad that the replies have helped! If you’re going to keep eating the work food, you might want to start rounding up your calorie estimates a bit. You might also round down your exercise burn estimates. Either way, stick to whatever you choose to do for a few weeks and see if it helps, then you can reassess.
To be honest, I don’t really understand the whole “burning fat vs burning carbs” thing. All I know is that I’ve lost 45 pounds just eating the same food as before, only less of it, and with more exercise. All of the studies I’ve seen of specific diets (low fat, low carb, whatever) show very little difference in their success rate. What matters is finding something you can stick with.
Good job with the weight lifting - I’ve started a program recently too and it’s so much fun! You might be retaining some water in your muscles, but you probably haven’t built enough new muscle to cancel out fat loss if you were actually eating at a deficit - gaining muscle is a lot harder than people think, especially for women. But if you’re happy with how your body looks and feels, and you don’t have specific health need to lose weight, there’s nothing wrong with focusing on fitness over weight loss.0 -
liljakaren1997 wrote: »Thank you everybody for your replies! Now I have a better understanding. Just to answer some of your questions. I have my activity on mfp set to active and my goal to lose 0,5 kg per week(I'm European, so I use the metric system). I have a garmin watch and I walk between 12-18 thousand steps everyday plus going to the gym 2-4 times a week. I do have a food scale and I weigh my food, but I get food at work and I don't weigh my food there, I just do a rough estimate. About the intermittent fasting, I've read that when you are fasting your body starts using the fat on your body as an energy source, is that just bulls*it then??
I've been doing weightlifting and I can really see a difference when I look at myself in the mirror, could that have something to do with the weight? Should I maybe just stop thinking about the weight?
Your body is constantly cycling between fat storage and fat oxidation...you have a net fat loss when you consume fewer calories (energy) than your body needs. Basically, your body fat is your backup generator and it kicks on when inadequate energy is coming in.2 -
I do a fast once a week usually on Sundays to boost my metabolism.15
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I do IF because once I start eating, I tend to be hungry the rest of the day until dinner and tend to eat more, so I dont start eating til noon, and usually eat the last time about 7, but I allow myself to eat until 8, so only eating for 7-8 hours a day helps me keep my calorie count lower and allows me to eat bigger meals. Its much easier for me to stick to 1400 calories in an 8 hour time frame than it is in a 12-16 hour time frame.3
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BS in the sense of a complete exaggeration especially the "starts" part.liljakaren1997 wrote: »Thank you everybody for your replies! Now I have a better understanding. Just to answer some of your questions. I have my activity on mfp set to active and my goal to lose 0,5 kg per week(I'm European, so I use the metric system). I have a garmin watch and I walk between 12-18 thousand steps everyday plus going to the gym 2-4 times a week. I do have a food scale and I weigh my food, but I get food at work and I don't weigh my food there, I just do a rough estimate. About the intermittent fasting, I've read that when you are fasting your body starts using the fat on your body as an energy source, is that just bulls*it then??
Your body is constantly using fat for energy - it's one of the two primary fuels.
While you are sitting at your computer the vast majority of your current fuelling is coming from fat - both dietary and stored.
No tricks are required to make you burn fat, it's a normal part of everyday life.
Only Suggestions:
1. Can you find a simple small food scale (not expensive one to weigh your "at work foods"? Something you can keep in your desk, or bag. Better than eye balling your foods.
2. Can you bring your own food in for "at work meals"?
Doing 1 or 2 will help you log more accurately. And keep to healthy nourishing food.
For 3) you can also stick to eating places that you know offer fairly standard measured "out food" choices on days you have to eat lunch you buy.
These are just suggestions in case you want tighten up your logging.
I've thought about bringing a scale to work, but I just fear that people will judge me for it.... I've already paid for the food for this month so I kinda wanna use the money. I also prefer getting warm food during lunch and then I can just have a yogurt and bread or something for dinner because I'm very lazy when it comes to cooking myself. I'm very confused about how many calories I should eat, should I eat more when I exercise? Like today I was working out for like 2 and half hours, should I eat more? Ugh this is so confusing.0 -
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liljakaren1997 wrote: »
No. You cannot boost your metabolism. That isn't a thing.
Your metabolism is what it is.2 -
quiksylver296 wrote: »liljakaren1997 wrote: »
No. You cannot boost your metabolism. That isn't a thing.
Your metabolism is what it is.
Really? Then why are people talking about that eating too little slows down your metabolism?0 -
liljakaren1997 wrote: »quiksylver296 wrote: »liljakaren1997 wrote: »
No. You cannot boost your metabolism. That isn't a thing.
Your metabolism is what it is.
Really? Then why are people talking about that eating too little slows down your metabolism?
Because they fell for some sort of marketing diet woo.2 -
liljakaren1997 wrote: »quiksylver296 wrote: »liljakaren1997 wrote: »
No. You cannot boost your metabolism. That isn't a thing.
Your metabolism is what it is.
Really? Then why are people talking about that eating too little slows down your metabolism?
The same reason people talk about a lot of things: they're getting information from misleading/inaccurate sources or passing along things they've heard over the years.0 -
cwolfman13 wrote: »liljakaren1997 wrote: »Thank you everybody for your replies! Now I have a better understanding. Just to answer some of your questions. I have my activity on mfp set to active and my goal to lose 0,5 kg per week(I'm European, so I use the metric system). I have a garmin watch and I walk between 12-18 thousand steps everyday plus going to the gym 2-4 times a week. I do have a food scale and I weigh my food, but I get food at work and I don't weigh my food there, I just do a rough estimate. About the intermittent fasting, I've read that when you are fasting your body starts using the fat on your body as an energy source, is that just bulls*it then??
I've been doing weightlifting and I can really see a difference when I look at myself in the mirror, could that have something to do with the weight? Should I maybe just stop thinking about the weight?
Your body is constantly cycling between fat storage and fat oxidation...you have a net fat loss when you consume fewer calories (energy) than your body needs. Basically, your body fat is your backup generator and it kicks on when inadequate energy is coming in.
I like the comparison to the generator. Good analogy.0 -
I love IF. I started 17 months ago with 16:8. Now, I'm 21:3. I love it I eat all my food in a short period of time. It's convenient. I don't have to worry about bringing lunch or breakfast to work. I can sit at my dinner table after my shower and relax and eat my meals. My eating window is 7:30 p.m. -10:30 p.m. It helps my weight management because it allows me to control my calorie intake. If I start eating earlier, I will eat more that day.3
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janejellyroll wrote: »liljakaren1997 wrote: »quiksylver296 wrote: »liljakaren1997 wrote: »
No. You cannot boost your metabolism. That isn't a thing.
Your metabolism is what it is.
Really? Then why are people talking about that eating too little slows down your metabolism?
The same reason people talk about a lot of things: they're getting information from misleading/inaccurate sources or passing along things they've heard over the years.
Good to know. I've read so many different things, I never know what to believe.0 -
liljakaren1997 wrote: »janejellyroll wrote: »liljakaren1997 wrote: »quiksylver296 wrote: »liljakaren1997 wrote: »
No. You cannot boost your metabolism. That isn't a thing.
Your metabolism is what it is.
Really? Then why are people talking about that eating too little slows down your metabolism?
The same reason people talk about a lot of things: they're getting information from misleading/inaccurate sources or passing along things they've heard over the years.
Good to know. I've read so many different things, I never know what to believe.
A big problem here is bad science journalism combined with people looking for an easy fix. You have a study that shows you burn and extra ten calories a day by eating chili powder, for example, or by spending several hours in a freezing cold room. The next thing you know, the media is running a story called “Eating hot peppers increases weight loss!” or “Turn down your thermostat to burn more calories!” It’s not that the studies are wrong, but they’re dealing with really tiny changes on the margins - an extra ten calories a day (or whatever, just made that number up) isn’t going to get you anywhere. If there were an easy fix to lose weight, it wouldn’t be a secret. You don’t have to optimize your diet or do exactly the right exercise for the right amount of time in the right weather. Just eat fewer calories than you lose. If you aren’t losing or are gaining weight, there’s no mystery involved: you are eating too much, or not burning enough.2 -
liljakaren1997 wrote: »janejellyroll wrote: »liljakaren1997 wrote: »quiksylver296 wrote: »liljakaren1997 wrote: »
No. You cannot boost your metabolism. That isn't a thing.
Your metabolism is what it is.
Really? Then why are people talking about that eating too little slows down your metabolism?
The same reason people talk about a lot of things: they're getting information from misleading/inaccurate sources or passing along things they've heard over the years.
Good to know. I've read so many different things, I never know what to believe.
The diet and fitness industry is a multi billion dollar industry for a reason...a calorie deficit to lose weight isn't sexy and doesn't sell anything.
My thoughts have always been that we're highly evolved beings...if everything was as complicated as the diet and fitness industry make it out to be, it's likely we would have died off a long time ago.
In general, I think people also fall for this kind of stuff because for whatever reason we like to make things more complicated than they need to be...it's never the obvious answer, it must be something else.
For some things, there is merit...but context is often lost, particularly when something becomes popular and trendy and and everyone and there brother starts writing about it and making exaggerations or taking things out of context.
And a lot of things...particularly things born out of the fitness industry have some minor benefit but it's usually not really all that applicable to the general population...like high level athletes are the ones that reap that marginal benefit. It's like me going out and spending $10K on a set of golf clubs...I'm sure the most awesome clubs in the world are going to have some impact on a pros game...I'm still going to suck.
As to metbolisms going down...there is some truth to that in that dieting does result in some adaptive thermogenesis due to hormones being wonky, but it's not nearly to the extent of "starvation mode"...a good example of something that's real, but gets highly exaggerated and misunderstood. The reverse happens when you go to maintenance and your hormones re-regulate and your metabolism returns to normal.
Your basal metabolism basically is what it is...from there it's about increased activity and exercise.
My thing is that if it sounds overly complicated and defies logic and my common sense...then it's probably a load of crap or something where the benefits are so minimal as to exist, but not be particularly material.3 -
MegaMooseEsq wrote: »liljakaren1997 wrote: »janejellyroll wrote: »liljakaren1997 wrote: »quiksylver296 wrote: »liljakaren1997 wrote: »
No. You cannot boost your metabolism. That isn't a thing.
Your metabolism is what it is.
Really? Then why are people talking about that eating too little slows down your metabolism?
The same reason people talk about a lot of things: they're getting information from misleading/inaccurate sources or passing along things they've heard over the years.
Good to know. I've read so many different things, I never know what to believe.
A big problem here is bad science journalism combined with people looking for an easy fix. You have a study that shows you burn and extra ten calories a day by eating chili powder, for example, or by spending several hours in a freezing cold room. The next thing you know, the media is running a story called “Eating hot peppers increases weight loss!” or “Turn down your thermostat to burn more calories!” It’s not that the studies are wrong, but they’re dealing with really tiny changes on the margins - an extra ten calories a day (or whatever, just made that number up) isn’t going to get you anywhere. If there were an easy fix to lose weight, it wouldn’t be a secret. You don’t have to optimize your diet or do exactly the right exercise for the right amount of time in the right weather. Just eat fewer calories than you lose. If you aren’t losing or are gaining weight, there’s no mystery involved: you are eating too much, or not burning enough.
Thank you for this! But there can always be some underlying reasons for not losing weight, like an inactive thyroid and stuff. I'm getting a blood test next tuesday to check my thyroid. If that comes out normal I'll just have to think more about my diet.1 -
leejoyce31 wrote: »I love IF. I started 17 months ago with 16:8. Now, I'm 21:3. I love it I eat all my food in a short period of time. It's convenient. I don't have to worry about bringing lunch or breakfast to work. I can sit at my dinner table after my shower and relax and eat my meals. My eating window is 7:30 p.m. -10:30 p.m. It helps my weight management because it allows me to control my calorie intake. If I start eating earlier, I will eat more that day.
How many calories do you eat in that tiny window, out of curiosity?0
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