I'm not fasting longer than 20 or so hours a day (aka OMAD) ever (and nor do I plan on doing so).

On the weekdays I'm eating one meal a day which ranges anywhere from 1200 to 1700 calories (I don't count every day and sometimes I get so annoyed with adding stuff to MFP that I quit half way through entering a meal...). On the weekends I'm eating and drinking with a longer window (maybe 5 or 6 hours) without counting calories at all - I'd say I range from 1400 - 2000 on Saturday and Sunday. I AM losing, it might be slow (although it seems to be speeding up now - go figure) but my weight has dropped from 199 on May 23rd to 185 today.

I'd suggest maybe sticking with it for a few more weeks?

The reason I suggest this is because this is the ONLY time in probably my whole life where I've felt kind of at peace with food... I'm sorta keeping track of my intake, but not obsessively or every day and it's not stressing me out. I'm eating till I'm full once a day. I can go out with friends/family and eat whatever I want - I'm not looking for the lowest calorie thing on the menu. I can have a more relaxing weekend around food (and booze) and not feel super guilty about it.

Of course, everyone is different and what works for me might not work for you.

But I'm super happy about this right now. I don't feel like this is just another restrictive diet that I'm going to crash and burn on and gain a bunch of weight back (or course, that remains to be seen, but there are others who have had success and are maintaining, which is super rare in the weight loss world!).

wsandy8512 wrote: »

I'm pre-menopausal myself. I did OMAD successfully for 30 pounds, only recently changed up when I got news of my cholesterol. Joe didn't fast at all, he lost 174 pounds so, no, the majority of successful OMADers didn't fast. I never fasted outside of my 23 hours.

Yep, MFP is full of fat people and many are in denial of how much food they're actually eating and how much they're burning. I'm not as fat as I was, but I used to be in denial, too, "It's hereditary", "My metabolism is slow", "I'm big boned", "I hurt too much", "I don't understand how I'm so fat when I eat so healthy", etc., etc. it wasn't until I got honest with myself and stopped making excuses that the weight came off. Healthy eating or not, eating more than you burn will cause weight gain, period.

THIS. THIS. THIS.

While there are almost certainly other factors that CONTRIBUTE to fat loss, eating more than you burn will cause you to gain, period. ALSO there have been MANY studies that show SOME lowering of metabolism post-menopausal but so little it's almost irrelavent. I shall see if I can find some of them for you to reference.

HestiaMoon1 wrote: »

I need tips for distracting myself from eating. I really am someone with 0 willpower and I am surrounded by food - home all day cooking 3 meals for others. I haven't given this a full 100% shot yet, and I'm still gaining. 203 yesterday!

You said your bad attitude comes from doing everything right but if you still have this issue it could be why you aren't losing weight

HestiaMoon1 wrote: »

The long view shows me with a gain of 4 lbs since beginning trying to do OMAD in mid-April.
The short view shows a week's loss of about 2 lbs.
I reset Happy Scale app start date to July 1 because seeing the increase from April hurts psychologically.
I was really hoping OMAD would be the answer. But I'm seeing the same pattern as with every past attempt. I follow the diet to a T and lose weight slowly for a couple of weeks. Then, if I go up even just 200 cals for a day or two, I gain back all I lost and more.
Anything over 1000 calories and I gain.
5' 9 3/4" 54 yrs old female. Large skeleton frame (Seriously, Orthopedic surgeons have exclaimed at how big my bones are)
I used to weigh 145-150, then 160 was good for about 5 years after last baby. Jagged climb over last 7 years to the high of 204 last Sunday.
I am not overly active, but I live on a farm in a house that's 4500 sqft so I do cover a fair amount of ground every day just doing chores.
Oh well, start of a new week. Fresh beginnings.

The thermodynamics you mentioned require:
1) We WILL LOSE as much as or more than a calorie deficit.
2) We CAN ONLY GAIN as much as but not more than a surplus.

If 1200 calories are making you gain, then your BMR is very low, your calories due to activity is very low, and/or you are not estimating the calories correctly that you are taking in.

The BMR you can fix by exercise. Exercise for heavy people should be easy intensity but long duration eventually IMO (so you don't get injured and also not stress yourself out).

Exercise will also increase the calories spent for activity (obviously).

You can try to be more accurate with your estimate of calories you eat and also you can eat lower carb which does make a difference in my opinion. Not all calories are equal just like not all alcohol is equal. The more potent stuff (refined sugars for eating) are what you need to try to reduce. The body is more efficient at digesting sugars than proteins and fats and also the refined sugars spike insulin which inhibits fat loss.

I like to eat and I exercise a fair amount. That allows me to eat a lot more without gaining which even if it didn't help with weight-loss, it helps me psychologically to be able to eat more and not have to worry about it making me gain weight.

I would highly recommend that you either take up easy walking, stationary bike riding, swimming or a combination of these 3xweek, track the calories more closely, and try to fill up on stuff that is a bit lower carb. I'm not an expert but that is how I see it. Good luck!