Intermittent Fasting

christinerios

So, I started Intermittent Fasting recently and I was wondering if anyone has done this sort of eating schedule and struggled with a plateau. Where you're not really seeing any fat loss in your body and how to not let the scale completely dictate whether you feel successful in Intermittent fasting or not. P.s. I would love to make friends to help support each other through this journey!

anubis609

There are a lot of IF threads, but I've contributed most to this one: http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10636183/intermittent-fasting/p1

That said, IF isn't magical and it doesn't escape the rule of calories. If you're at a stall, first consider how long you've been stalled/plateaued. Anything < 6 weeks isn't really a plateau. Consider that menstruation, random weekend food increases/parties/drinking/sodium/water retention, etc all play a part in scale weight.

And scale weight isn't a great measure of fat loss, which is really the ultimate goal of being on any kind of diet anyway. If intermittent fasting is causing you to feel restricted and you end up eating all of your calories in your eating window, then it's probably not going to be much of a benefit. IF is really just a way to manipulate meal timing so that it's difficult to overeat from the food bulk.

The secret to fat loss is to determine a reasonable rate of weight loss, about 0.5-1% of body weight per week, focus on protein, and let carbs and fat determine the remainder of your calories that align with your deficit goal.

Fat loss is also a long term game. Trying to rush it isn't going to do anything but cause stress and frustration. Unless you're planning to compete in a bikini/bodybuilding competition on stage, there's no reason to hurry.

malibu927

If you're in a true plateau (at least 4+ weeks without movement on the scale) then you're eating at maintenance. You'll need to tighten up your logging.

YvetteK2015

Don't look at IF as magical way to lose weight. It is only a time frame for eating. It's your calorie consumption that is going to help you lose weight. There is nothing special about IF.

kommodevaran

Weightloss can be really slow if you don't have much to lose, and you have to weigh yourself regularly and expect fluctuations. Then you have to make sure your calorie intake is on point. Eating schedule has no direct connection to weight loss - any meal schedule can make it harder or easier for an individual to control calorie intake. I struggle to understand feeling successful with a meal schecule, and to see the connection between that and the scale?

I'm in maintenance, and I'm actually eating according to 16:8, but I haven't formalized it, so I guess it doesn't count