Anyone else intermittent fasting?

mch2829

I'm 28 years old and have been obese since I was about 12 years old. I've worked with dietitians, doctors, tried many different diets, logged food on mfp before....none of that worked. I was always hungry and the results were minimal. I'm currently eating every other day and it has been great. I have to force myself to eat because I lost my appetite. I've been binge eating my entire life. I'm talking 12 tacos for a meal or 10 cheeseburgers. Absolutely ridiculous amounts of food. After water fasting for 4 days, my appetite disappeared. Now I'm just doing IF.

I can't believe the difference it has made. On my eating days, I only average about 1000 calories after forcing myself to eat. 25 pounds have melted right off and I'm losing about 5-6 lbs a week.

aarondnguyen

Me. My eating window is from 4pm to midnight. I'm slowly cutting on 1700-1800 calories. Personally I don't think you're eating enough and slower, more controlled weight loss is better for longevity and keeping it off -- but that's just me.

raven_ous

Me. My eating window is from 4pm to midnight. I'm slowly cutting on 1700-1800 calories. Personally I don't think you're eating enough and slower, more controlled weight loss is better for longevity and keeping it off -- but that's just me.

QFT

General recommendations for weekly weight loss goals should be based on a number of factors, the main one of which is how much weight you have to lose. The more weight that you have to lose the less severe the negative impact of being at a calorie deficit will have generally (see below for examples).

As a rule of thumb, the following weekly targets would give a balance between minimizing these negative side effects and seeing a reasonable weekly weight loss:
More than 75 lbs: 2 lbs/week
40-75 lbs: 1.5 lbs/week
10-40 lbs: 1 lb/week
Less than 10 lbs: 0.5 lb/week

Obviously, the deficit that is right for you will depend on your personal circumstances and how well you deal with the deficit. For example, for someone who is morbidly obese, the health benefits of getting the weight off quickly will often outweigh the possible negative impact and, as such, a higher than 2 lb a week deficit may well be appropriate.

2nd_Coffee

Me. My eating window is from 4pm to midnight. I'm slowly cutting on 1700-1800 calories. Personally I don't think you're eating enough and slower, more controlled weight loss is better for longevity and keeping it off -- but that's just me.

^^^^^totally agree^^^^^

1000 calories on a normal eating day is to low. IR was explained to me as not changing how much you eat but when. Now that being said I am trying to focus on staying between 1500-2500 a day. Lots of wiggle room....

raven_ous

I'm 28 years old and have been obese since I was about 12 years old. I've worked with dietitians, doctors, tried many different diets, logged food on mfp before....none of that worked. I was always hungry and the results were minimal. I'm currently eating every other day and it has been great. I have to force myself to eat because I lost my appetite. I've been binge eating my entire life. I'm talking 12 tacos for a meal or 10 cheeseburgers. Absolutely ridiculous amounts of food. After water fasting for 4 days, my appetite disappeared. Now I'm just doing IF.

I can't believe the difference it has made. On my eating days, I only average about 1000 calories after forcing myself to eat. 25 pounds have melted right off and I'm losing about 5-6 lbs a week.

I think both the parts I have highlighted are indicative of dangerous weight loss techniques.

The water fast was not necessary and well dangerous for numerous reasons.

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/821828-detoxes-and-cleanses

The amount of calories you are consuming are most probably too low, VLCD diets should only be undertaken under the direction of professionals and monitored closely for negative impact.

Your approach to dieting neither seems healthy nor sustainable.

I do not use the IF approach for weight loss but from what I know of it you seem to be disregarding the general guidelines set out by IF for extremely fast weight loss...which I believe will end badly for you.

mch2829

Me. My eating window is from 4pm to midnight. I'm slowly cutting on 1700-1800 calories. Personally I don't think you're eating enough and slower, more controlled weight loss is better for longevity and keeping it off -- but that's just me.

I've tried so many times to lose it slowly. Under the supervision of a RD, I was eating 1500/day. I tried many times before that. It just doesn't work for me. I always felt like I was starving. I had an appointment with a surgeon who specializes in bariatric surgery, and decided that I'd try to do the same thing myself before taking the risk of surgery. After surgery, they eat 300-600 calories per day. My average is about 500/day. Fasting is helping immensely to control my appetite.

I would love to do it the "right way", but after many failures, I wouldn't expect any success. If this doesn't work (which so far it's working great) then I will go through with the surgery. I'm 28 with high blood pressure, high blood sugar, and edema. The only thing that's going to save me is something drastic

mch2829

Me. My eating window is from 4pm to midnight. I'm slowly cutting on 1700-1800 calories. Personally I don't think you're eating enough and slower, more controlled weight loss is better for longevity and keeping it off -- but that's just me.

Obviously, the deficit that is right for you will depend on your personal circumstances and how well you deal with the deficit. For example, for someone who is morbidly obese, the health benefits of getting the weight off quickly will often outweigh the possible negative impact and, as such, a higher than 2 lb a week deficit may well be appropriate.

I have health problems associated with obesity. I qualify for bariatric surgery and this is my last effort before getting the surgery. My doctor knows what I'm doing and has no problem with it as long as I take a multivitamin and eat foods with plenty of potassium and other nutrients on the days that I eat.

mch2829

I'm 28 years old and have been obese since I was about 12 years old. I've worked with dietitians, doctors, tried many different diets, logged food on mfp before....none of that worked. I was always hungry and the results were minimal. I'm currently eating every other day and it has been great. I have to force myself to eat because I lost my appetite. I've been binge eating my entire life. I'm talking 12 tacos for a meal or 10 cheeseburgers. Absolutely ridiculous amounts of food. After water fasting for 4 days, my appetite disappeared. Now I'm just doing IF.

I can't believe the difference it has made. On my eating days, I only average about 1000 calories after forcing myself to eat. 25 pounds have melted right off and I'm losing about 5-6 lbs a week.

I think both the parts I have highlighted are indicative of dangerous weight loss techniques.

The water fast was not necessary and well dangerous for numerous reasons.

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/821828-detoxes-and-cleanses

The amount of calories you are consuming are most probably too low, VLCD diets should only be undertaken under the direction of professionals and monitored closely for negative impact.

Your approach to dieting neither seems healthy nor sustainable.

I do not use the IF approach for weight loss but from what I know of it you seem to be disregarding the general guidelines set out by IF for extremely fast weight loss...which I believe will end badly for you.

My doctor knows what I'm doing. I have a follow up in a month.

mch2829

Me. My eating window is from 4pm to midnight. I'm slowly cutting on 1700-1800 calories. Personally I don't think you're eating enough and slower, more controlled weight loss is better for longevity and keeping it off -- but that's just me.

^^^^^totally agree^^^^^

1000 calories on a normal eating day is to low. IR was explained to me as not changing how much you eat but when. Now that being said I am trying to focus on staying between 1500-2500 a day. Lots of wiggle room....

If you don't change how much you eat and just change when, then you won't lose weight. Your body doesn't care when you eat. Calories are calories

aarondnguyen

I know it's not my place but being a doctor doesn't imply he or she knows what is best for you. Since I don't know you personally, I can't help although I want to. In any case, please listen to your body and how it responds to this diet. The lowest I've gone was 1300 calories for a few weeks.. And I began to notice my sleeping hours got prolonged, and I started to nap more often during the day. This was a physiological response due to the lack of fuel I was providing myself.. So I can't imagine what it'd be like to go as low as 1,000 calories. But best of luck to you. I'm here if you need support

raven_ous

I have health problems associated with obesity. I qualify for bariatric surgery and this is my last effort before getting the surgery. My doctor knows what I'm doing and has no problem with it as long as I take a multivitamin and eat foods with plenty of potassium and other nutrients on the days that I eat.

I am not going to tsk tsk you as I imagine being at the weight you are (qualifying for bariatric surgery) must be extremely frustrating and scarey as well.

I am glad you have some medical supervision but am doubtful any doctor would recommend this approach for weight loss for a prolonged time if any, sorry if I am ignorant of the facts and totality of your situation.

I do however recommend you both read this link...

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1103164-3-yrs-312lbs-lost-1yr-from-bodylift-and-maintenance

...and maybe contact the OP CyberEd312 as he is very inspirational and very supportive and may have (most probably) more insight into what you are dealing with and maybe able to assist you....

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/user/cybered312/status

Good luck OP and I hope you reach your goals in a healthy manner, receive the support you may need and one day hope to read your success story.

mch2829

I know it's not my place but being a doctor doesn't imply he or she knows what is best for you. Since I don't know you personally, I can't help although I want to. In any case, please listen to your body and how it responds to this diet. The lowest I've gone was 1300 calories for a few weeks.. And I began to notice my sleeping hours got prolonged, and I started to nap more often during the day. This was a physiological response due to the lack of fuel I was providing myself.. So I can't imagine what it'd be like to go as low as 1,000 calories. But best of luck to you. I'm here if you need support

Thanks. I'll eat more if I notice any negative effects.