Intermittent

missdelainie

I’m really struggling... when I first started IF I didn’t start eating until 12 or 1 and I felt I could eat whatever I wanted and I did... and so 3 months later I’m still eating the same but don’t feel as lean... I must be doing something wrong, in working in a restaurant now perhaps all the fries... I’m eating more chocolate... I’m fasting till 3 and work out before... does this make sense? I’m noticing cellulite that I never had before. Did my body get used to it or do I need to cut it out on the chocolate and fried foods? What if I can’t stop eating chocolate?

L1zardQueen

Are you eating in a deficit? Calorie intake matter, meal timing does not.

livingleanlivingclean

IF isn't magical - if you're eating too many calories you'll gain weight regardless of whether you eat them over a 3 hour period or 12 hour period.

It sounds like you're just eating without tracking or logging your intake.... That would end in disaster for me!

sardelsa

Have you been gaining weight over the past 3 months?

missdelainie

Over the past mont and a half I used to be 106 first starting out on if eating whatever I wanted now I’m 112

missdelainie

I had to give up cardio during cause I couldn’t keep up due to anemia

sardelsa

How tall are you? What are your goals? If you are gaining and you don't want to, then yea you are eating more than you are burning, even if you do IF.

missdelainie

5”2

missdelainie

Well I felt most lean at 105-106

AnvilHead

You're eating the same as you did before, but you cut cardio out. Your "calories in" didn't change, but your "calories out" did, hence the weight gain.

As said above, intermittent fasting isn't magic. Calories are what matter when it comes to losing/gaining weight. If you're consuming more calories than you're expending you'll gain weight - no matter what time of the day you eat them.

amusedmonkey

When you reduce your activity level, you need to reduce calorie intake as well to compensate. You won't be able to eat the same amount you did when you exercised. Would tracking your calories be an issue for you? If not, that's the easiest way to ensure you aren't overeating, intermittent fasting or not. If you would rather not track calories, you need to stop eating things in whatever quantity you want. You need to eat smaller portions or introducing some lower calorie foods and keep tweaking until you're no longer gaining.

nutmegoreo

Are you logging somewhere else? Your diary here is empty. You need to be in a calorie deficit, regardless of your eating window.

kommodevaran

If you have been eating whatever you wanted and "whatever you wanted" has been lots of chocolate and fries and fried foods, your weight will probably have increased. Have you gained weight in those 3 months?

You don't gain weight because your body gets used to a new diet or meal schedule, you gain weight because you're eating in a calorie surplus.

Meal timing does not change your nutritional needs.

Working in a restaurant does not mean you have to eat the food there.

You can stop eating chocolate, but you don't have to.

Redordeadhead

All the above comments about IF are right - eating the same amount of food in a shorter period of time doesn't magically make you lose weight. You need to eat less calories than your body uses to lose weight.

It sounds like you have decreased your physical activity and increased the amount you eat. That's probably why you have gained.