Intermittent fasting

Hey guys..I am 24 yrs old weighing 100kgs..I started intermittent fasting last week and within days I lost 3 kgs. my daily calorie intake is around 1200. I exercise for approx 30 minutes and walk for bout 2 miles everyday. My question to u guys is will it affect my metabolism in any way? And if someone is doing intermittent fast, please share ur inputs and suggestions. Thank U

Replies

  • thatch1234
    thatch1234 Posts: 276 Member
    Not sure with the fasting but your calories are seriously low which means you are probably losing muscle also. I weigh 2kg heavier than u and I eat 2000 a day not adding any exercise calories back and I lose...
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
    why are you only eating 1200 cals?
  • scottaworley
    scottaworley Posts: 871 Member
    To answer your question: IF will not ruin your .metabolism. Your metabolism is not as delicate as you may think.
    Unrelated to your question: Eating less than 1200 net calories will ruin your metabolism.
  • JakeBrownVB
    JakeBrownVB Posts: 399 Member
    I did IF for months a long time ago, now I know one key fact. Meal timings make no difference to your weight loss. Different meal patterns may effect your short term losses but not the long term. For example after IF I went back to 6 small meals and lost 4 pounds! does this mean small meals is better? no it dont.

    I learned this after a long long time dieting and you take this to the bank: meal frequencies do not effect weight loss, metabolism or muscle gains.

    Your metabolism wont crash on your diet but your muscle mass will. Up your calories or you will regret it when you cant even lift 14kg dumbells
  • Topsking2010
    Topsking2010 Posts: 2,245 Member
    Man up and start eating!!!

    Eat at least 1800 calories each day!!!
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,809 Member
    IF won't affect your metabolism but eating at a massive calorie deficit for an extended period of time will.

    Please set a sensible calorie goal - 1200 is crazy(*) and also completely unnecessary.

    * = unless you are a midget.
  • missems1
    missems1 Posts: 38 Member
    I've been doing 5:2 since Jan 1st but I do eat on my non fast days anything from 1400cals to 2000cals (I've been known to touch over the 3000 cal mark some days) and I still lost all of the weight that I wanted to lose. I've been maintaining since mid-feb. I'd personally up your cals on your non-fast days or else your fast days won't really have the same impact and its pretty miserable to be living on so few cals every single day. :flowerforyou:
  • andiebaco
    andiebaco Posts: 211 Member
    I mix IF with 5:2 but mostly because I found out that I snack less when I don't have breakfast. I know that for some people it may work different, and I respect that but for me this is what works.

    Although I have an overall average of 1200 a week (more or less) I do eat to my maintance leve during Feast days... I don't try to overdue it and I eat until I'm not hungry. I also have my frappuchino during those days... (I am 5'5 so for me 1200 is approx what MFP tells me to eat anyway.. so for me that amount is ok).

    However, for you. I'm afraid that 1200 is not enough.. You work out, you probably are taller than me and you are a man! You have all the reasons why your intake of calories should be different than mine!! Don't overkill yourself with so much restricting! Life has so many good, healthy and fatty things to enjoy! (avocado, cheese, mangoes... it's all so worth it!).
  • tmpecus78
    tmpecus78 Posts: 1,206 Member
    IF won't affect your metabolism but eating at a massive calorie deficit for an extended period of time will.

    Please set a sensible calorie goal - 1200 is crazy(*) and also completely unnecessary.

    * = unless you are a midget.

    QFT 1200 cal is ridiculously low
  • hookilau
    hookilau Posts: 3,134 Member
    I agree, 1200 is definately not enough for a young man...it's not enough for most people to be fair.

    On another note, I've read where someone was able to get his blood sugar under control using IF. Ithink he was pre-diabetic, T2 (of course).

    Like a doofus, I tried this to see if I could get better numbers....umm, NO. :laugh:
    I fasted till I got a nice double digit (87 mg/dl) this took about 20 hrs but the nagging hunger began a cycle I had not experienced since first finding out I had blood sugar issues.

    The low bg was quickly followed by a high and I found myself obsessing about food. i think when i'm hungry, my brain insists i should eat and then my liver panics when food doesn't appear and starts to kick out glucose. :noway: resulting in highs.

    This experiment wasn't a total loss though, my fasting bg's are my historic low for the day. I usually have stuff to do and often don't get to eating bkfst till around 3 hrs or more after waking. My blood sugar would rise about 30mg/dl during that time.

    Now I do the reverse if IF, I eat a wee snack every few hrs & wonder of wonders, 2 days in a row of consistantly low and stable blood sugars. No revelation here, but I thought I might add my experience with IF with impaired glucose tolerance. :drinker:
  • Shadowfax44
    Shadowfax44 Posts: 38 Member
    My experience: I was eating a low calorie diet of about 1200 cal and not seeing much results (0.5 a week on a good week, mostly no loss). I also was eat very low carb, and lots of protein. And I felt shaky and terrible.

    So, I added some carbs back in (but still 1/2 of what I used to eat) and I noticed a better weight loss,

    Then I read about IF. The 5:2 plan would be hard for me, but I could do 14 hr daily fasts. For me that is simply not eating after 6 pm (but drinking water) and not eating breakfast until 8 am. Easy for me, and it has been very effective. I feel better, energetic, and am seeing 1 lb a week losses. I am probably eating 1500 cal/day (haven't been keeping up my food diary, sorry). My weight loss graph for the last 6 months definitely shows a sharper decline after starting this.

    IF is not new - it just has a name now and science behind it. In the 1980s "not eating after dinner" was a basic weight loss strategy that many women had good results with. I don't know why it took me so long to remember it.

    But I have to say that having the knowledge of the science behind it really helps the motivation. I am good at "delayed gratification" and can tell myself "oh I'll just have that snack tomorrow morning". And often by then I don't even want it anymore.

    I hope to make this a lifestyle, and I think I will see great benefits.
  • BarackMeLikeAHurricane
    BarackMeLikeAHurricane Posts: 3,400 Member
    IF won't hurt your metabolism but only eating 1200 calories might. 1200 is meant for the small ladies. You should be eating at least 1500 if not more.