Starting a Water Fast

kendraj404

Unless you give birth or have a large limb amputated, there is no healthy way to lose 20 pounds in a month. You could lose 5 pounds or so — which is a great start. But you definitely need to focus more on not letting your own sisters make you feel bad about yourself. If you’re actually unhappy with you how you look, use the trip as a motivation to get started with a healthy weight loss. You might be able to hit 8 pounds depending on how heavy you are now... and that’s a great start.

jennifer_417

Fasting (I'm not talking about IF) is a terrible diet strategy. Sure you'll lose weight, but you won't learn a single thing about how to keep it off, plus you're depriving yourself of nutrition that you need. Not to mention that you'll be pointlessly tired, cranky, and above all HUNGRY.
It's a terribly shortsighted strategy, and completely unnecessary. Please consider doing something healthier and more sustainable.

AnvilHead

abbyjp97 wrote: »

I am doing it too get rid of toxins and weight. I plan on doing it as long as I can. (Probably wont be long I have terrible self control). I am also hoping when I come out of the fast dieting will be easier for me.

Which toxins, specifically? Can you name just one of them? And explain how a water fast will remove it from your body?

You will not lose 20 pounds in a month. And if you somehow manage to stick to it, even if you manage to lose a portion of that weight, you'll spend your entire beach vacation feeling sick, weak and horrible.

Instead of trying something as ridiculous and dangerous as a water fast, you'd be much better off spending the next month getting psychiatric counseling to deal with your self-hate/body issues.

kommodevaran

Self control, self respect and confidence go together. Work on all three, and you'll lose weight, improve physical health, and feel less vulnerable. If you can't do it alone, seek professional help. You will still have to do it yourself.

bbell1985

abbyjp97 wrote: »

Its so hard to go to the gym with my anxiety. It comes from being self conscious about my body and then I feel bad for not going and I eat my feelings..its a vicious cycle. I love running though! I wish some of my friends would actually wanna workout with me.

Do you like alone time? The only way I do cardio now is when I can put the lights half down in the fitness room at my gym, when no one is there, take my shirt off and go at it. I love that time to myself.

Just run. You don't need anyone!

Plus, you don't even need to workout to lose weight. Just start logging your calorie and eat less than you burn.

lightenup2016

abbyjp97 wrote: »

Well I was considering it since I am going to the beach in a month. Its scary for me all my sisters are smaller and there will be so many pictures

As others have said, do not do a water fast to lose weight. I have done (not to lose weight), and no, with no other health issues it's not dangerous within a reasonable period of time. However, in my experience, it will not help you to eat less afterwards. I've done several fasts, and each time I've had an increased appetite afterwards, and any weight I might've lost was quickly gained back. You might see a big drop initially, but that will mostly be water and food/waste gone from your system.

Do you as others have said, and lose weight at a sensible rate, i.e. 1-2 pounds per week, or whatever is appropriate for your current weight. I understand wanting to be a lower weight for a particular event, seeing family or friends, etc. But you just have to be happy with yourself, and work on it over a longer period of time. Don't crash diet right before hand.

estherdragonbat

I don't belong to a gym. About 10 years back, I got a GazelleEdge glider as a length-of-service gift from work. Like a lot of fitness equipment, I used it for a short time and then let it sit there accusing me. When I started MFP, my first short-term goal was to get below 250lbs (SW254) so I could start using it again!

Well, I prefer to walk. This machine isn't really great at getting me to the intensity where I feel my heart increase significantly, but then neither does walking. And on days when the weather won't let me get outside, I get on that glider. I also strength train in my basement.

Between cutting calories and exercising at home, I've dropped 103 lbs in the last year and a half and goal is in sight. Slow and steady, bit by bit. No quick fixes. No fasting (except for religious reasons, and when the fast is over, I pretty much eat my daily calories at once). Just patience.

BWA468

I watched a documentary last week on You Tube about a guy who did a water fast for 55 days. He lost 43lbs and a little muscle. If he had just eaten at a calorie deficit he would've lost a lot more and not lost any muscle. He was a big guy. There was really no benefit at all with him doing the fast.. im sure with an update he would've put that 43lbs back and more..

1BlueAurora

One drawback to insanely fast weight loss is loss of muscle. You won't look better, you'll look more "wobbly". Anyway, you can lose weight using the MFP calculations, but a realistic result would be losing 4 to 6 pounds in a month. My concern for a person on a fast, doing their same daily activities, is that you'll get (1) headaches, (2) fatigue, and (3) basic crankiness. If you're sensitive about your body size or shape, practice this month imagining a member of your family saying something mean to you and think "F YOU." If anyone on the vacation is mean about your weight, think again to yourself, "F YOU." They're the problem, not you. You can learn to lose weight but they can't learn to be polite? Really? If you can screw up the confidence to do it, try this response: "Why in the world would you say that to me?" Then give that person the stink eye. If they continue, you can LIE and say that you're happy with your body, thank you very much, and let's go do something fun together. Maybe they'll apologize (don't count on it) but you might have to be the one to change the subject. And I'd also recommend making an appointment with a counselor to deal with your anxiety over this. Therapy can help you develop some coping skills for these situations. Believe me, not all of us are naturally courageous or able to advocate for ourselves. But it's definitely a skill you can learn!!