Advice

FionaDemichele

Hi I’m a newbie and I’ve been telling a friend I’m doing 1200 calories and fasting for 16 hours … her reply I won’t loose wieght I need to fast for 18 hours is this correct please

springlering62

Hi, @FionaDemichele Welcome to MFP!

You don’t have to fast at all, unless you want to and unless you enjoy doing it for whatever reason. Many people here do enjoy that style of eating. That’s all it is, is a style. If it helps you control your food, great and 👍🏻. Me? I have to have a slow drip of food every two or three hours, or I’m climbing the walls.

1200 calories is 1200 calories, regardless of when you eat it. Your body doesn’t “save up” and race through it any faster than if you enjoyed it as meals and snacks throughout the day.

I’m happy you chose to research for yourself rather than believe everything anyone tells you. If you’re serious and successful, you’re gonna find that everyone wants to give you input on the “best” way to lose weight- even those who haven’t managed to lose a darn pound themselves.

Research and do what’s best for you. Ignore IG and TikTok. Many people there are touting powders or pills or unsafe methods of losing weight.

Speaking of which……how did you arrive at 1200 calories. Is this something you “heard” or “saw online”?

For many people that’s very low, unless you are really short.

I started old as dirt at 58, at 1470 calories and very sedentary. As I increased movement I gradually worked my way up to 2170 calories and still lost weight. I ultimately lost 97 over the course of about 15 months, got too thin and decided to add some weight back, but in the form of muscle. (Muscle is denser and heavier than fat, so I gained weight, very intentionally, but didn’t gain size. )

The whole process needs to be very considered and thoughtful and not flitting from quick weight loss idea to yet another quick weight loss idea.

Make sure you entered your goals and set a reasonable calorie goal and a reasonable weight loss goal.

If you need help, please feel free to ask.

Honey, if me starting at a couch potato 58 can do this and stay in maintenance for several years, you can do this, too.

We are all pulling for you here.

When people give you advice, smile politely, weigh and judge the advice, and generally let it go out the other ear. You can smile at your friend, thank her for advice but privately think to yourself “she’s as full of *kitten* as a Christmas turkey”. She never needs to know.

Hugs!

AnnPT77

Every word Springlering62 said is pure truth.

I ate from shortly after I got up in the morning to shortly before bed at night (sometimes actually in bed, TBH, though I did get up to brush my teeth ). I lost weight fine (despite being - horrors! - age 59-60, in menopause, and severely hypothyroid (medicated for that)).

Sadly, your friend has fallen for trendy mythology from the blogosphere, social media, tabloids, junk TV shows, podcasts, or the like. There are a bunch of people out there peddling nonsense, usually to try to sell us something (their proprietary "cure"), or to hijack our eyeballs to make money from making us look at equally idiotic ads.

Don't believe a word of it.

If you like eating fewer hours, and that makes it easier for you personally to eat fewer calories, do that. If time-restricting eating doesn't make it easier for you, don't do it. Either one is fine, and will reach pretty much the same results in terms of weight management.

Wouldn't it be fun to eat on whatever schedule you enjoy, and lose weight successfully in full view of your friend?

springlering62

I like @AnnPT77 ’s use of the term “weight management”.

It’s like managing a budget, managing a job, managing a household. It’s just something you think about and do as efficiently as possible, with as little kerfuffle as possible.

I grew up in the 60’s and 70’s with a morbidly obese mom. You darn well better bet we read all the headlines in the checkout line, all women’s magazines geared towards “I lost 50 pounds in a week!”

BS then, and BS now, just in a more digestible (sorry!), entertaining, and ultimately false format.

And yet, the human heart always being full of hope, we long for, and still buy in to it.