What happen when you stop fasting/IF?

IsabelleBabel · March 2022

Hi, I need some advice.

My weight loss has stalled for almost a month now. I am extremely depressed and mad at me. Every second I am thinking of giving up, but I cannot. I don't want to be at this weight.

I made another post where I said that I yo-yoed most of my adult life, and this is why I now have to almost starve myself if I want to gain weight.
I used to lose by eating 1200 cals/day, or even a little more, but these days are gone now.

I am 50 years-old, 5'3". I maintain at 1200-1500 cal/day, and gain weight if I eat over 1500. So you can guess how many calories I am eating right now as I try to lose weight

I walk at least one hour per day, I workout (moderately) 30 minutes a day, like I have done in the past 10 years, so there is no muscle gain.
Yes, I track and weight my food very diligently. I have lost weight with this method before, and knows how it works.

I gained 25 lbs during the pandemic. No excuse: I ate like a pig, and moved a little less because I started working at home. I am down 11lbs from 150lbs when I started in last December.

But the loss has been stalled for a month, and it even goes up. I cried again this morning, seeing the number higher than yesterday. I am far from my goal (130 minimum). My weight of the past 10 years has been around 122-125, sometimes reaching 130 for a few weeks, so it's not like 140 is a "set point".

I went through several periods, so it's not the problem. And even if I had water retention (due to periods or else), after a month, the fat loss would nonetheless happen and show on the scale. Also, frankly, I want to lose weight and be smaller, so I don't care what my weight is made of - water or fat.

I need the weight to go down. Every minute I am obsessing about giving up, but I can't. I know my life will be worst if I give up, I don't even want to think about it.

I cannot just "give it time" and wait two or three months for that the magical «woosh» some people talk about. Why?
Because I won't be able to make it. As I said, my calorie intake is low. It is very difficult to be hungry most of the time and to spend so much time around food, exercice and dieting, and being isolated (because 95% of human interactions with people I know revolve around stupid food and drinks). It is very hard, but seeing result is what keeps me going. It is the only positive thing in my life right now, the thing I hang on to when I am hungry and tired.

The problem is that that obvious solution - eating less calories than I do now - is not sustainable. I know by experience that I would be able to hold it for a maximum of one week, then crash.

So I was thinking of trying intermittent fasting. Something like 20/4 or maybe fasting entire day(s) until the weight goes down. And this is where I need your advice: what happens when you break the fast and go back to your "regular" diet?

I read a lot of things on fasting/IF, I know it's not something you improvise. But I would like to hear from those of you who have PERSONAL EXPERIENCE with IF/fasting. What would happen when you stop IF and go back to eating between 9am and 18pm? Is there a sudden jump?

TIA

Xerogs · March 2022

I know when I hit weight loss stalls they can really suck but they are part of the journey and I accept them now. My doctor told me that sometimes the body just hits a point of homeostasis for a while before things change.

These are a few things that have helped me in the past to lose weight but also just be healthier.

I reduced my stress via mindfulness techniques and also stopped letting the number on that scale affect my wellbeing. Weight loss is never linear and in reality its only one facet in my overall health. So take that scale "pressure" off yourself and get out of any negative feedback loops associated with it. I've made plenty of mistakes over the past few years but the only thing I can do is learn from them and move on and worrying about an unknown future just causes anxiety. MFP is great and I think its a wonderful guide but I don't stress over the minutiae of each entry even though I log everyday. Stress can derail my best intentions so reducing that has always been high on my list. I walk everyday and while I do so with intention and exercise I also take that time to unplug and just relax my mind and marvel at the world around me. My dogs always remind me to be present on our walks.

I do intermittent fast most days and the easiest option for me is to have my dinner ~5pm and then not eat until the next day ~11am aside from some morning coffee and water but you have to do what works for you and is easiest to maintain. If I am truly hungry I might break my fast earlier in the day but you just get used to eating a certain times of the day and giving your body a chance to chill out for the rest of it.

I also looked at what I was eating and made a decision to go to whole foods as much as possible and cut out sugary, processed, and starchy foods. My doctor recommended reducing my carbohydrate intake so I've followed that advice and really paid attention to what I am eating and how much. I feel a lot better physically and mentally since I've gone done this path so why not continue to do so?

Probably the hardest thing for me is wrapping my head around the concept of "diet" which seems like a short term fix. The way I eat now is just how I am going to proceed with no finish line or return to the atrocious way I ate in the past. If I hit my weight loss/health goals the most certain way of gaining it all back is going back to the way I ate before so why even put that out there as an option. I also looked at my TDEE to determine where my calorie range should be which took the pressure off conforming to a minimum standard. Some days I am close to the minimum other days I am right at where I should be.

I've really had to change my mindset in terms of how I eat and in the past why I ate what I did. It's a mental game of sorts and a test of my willpower at times but I'm better for it. There are addictive qualities to certain types of food so I just stay away from them and that is just my day to day. I've just had to make that decision and stick to it for my own sake and reinforce it every day.

One other thing that might help is when I look at my current weight I realize that I didn't gain all of this in a few weeks. It happened over time and it will take time through all the ups and downs to lose it. The only way to lose it and be healthy is to remain on my path and address the issues that lead me to eat crappy foods for years knowing they weren't good for me.

I hope this helps in some way. Good luck.

Hollis100 · March 2022

There are several types of IF -- when my weight loss stalled, I tried the kind of IF where I gave myself a window to eat that started at 11 a.m., sometimes noon, so I skipped breakfast. I told myself I could eat the regular amount of calories within the window. This strategy ended my stall and I began to lose again. I reached goal and was able to maintain for almost 2 years, but slowly gained 10 pounds back when I slid back into old eating habits that made me gain in the first place.

IF is not magic. It reduced my appetite. It lowered my calories and jumpstarted my weight loss. I regained 10 pounds when I started bad habits again without watching the calories, not because I stopped IF.

kshama2001 · March 2022

Sounds like you are currently 139 pounds. Above you mention a previous weight of 122-125-130 and in your other thread you say "I lose so slowly, is disheartening to think that it will take me almost a year to lose 10 pounds."

So let's say you want to lose 10-17 more pounds.

It's going to be slow.

From my perspective, you are causing yourself a lot of unnecessary pain because you are being way too hard on yourself with unrealistic expectations. What would you say to a dear friend in this same situation?

You sound very stressed (and depressed) which has likely increased your cortisol levels, which can cause water retention:

http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/research-review/dietary-restraint-and-cortisol-levels-research-review.html/

...a group of women who scored higher on dietary restraint scores showed elevated baseline cortisol levels. By itself this might not be problematic, but as often as not, these types of dieters are drawn to extreme approaches to dieting.

They throw in a lot of intense exercise, try to cut calories very hard (and this often backfires if disinhibition is high; when these folks break they break) and cortisol levels go through the roof. That often causes cortisol mediated water retention (there are other mechanisms for this, mind you, leptin actually inhibits cortisol release and as it drops on a diet, cortisol levels go up further). Weight and fat loss appear to have stopped or at least slowed significantly. This is compounded even further in female dieters due to the vagaries of their menstrual cycle where water balance is changing enormously week to week anyhow.

And invariably, this type of psychology responds to the stall by going even harder. They attempt to cut calories harder, they start doing more activity. The cycle continues and gets worse. Harder dieting means more cortisol means more water retention means more dieting. Which backfires (other problems come in the long-term with this approach but you’ll have to wait for the book to read about that).

When what they should do is take a day or two off (even one day off from training, at least in men, lets cortisol drop significantly). Raise calories, especially from carbohydrates. This helps cortisol to drop. More than that they need to find a way to freaking chill out. Meditation, yoga, get a massage... Get in the bath, candles, a little Enya, a glass of wine, have some you-time but please just chill.

cwolfman13 · March 2022

Nothing would happen. IF is just a food timing thing...there is no magic to it...there's no difference between consuming 2000 calories with 3 squares per day and snacks vs 2,000 calories consumed in some IF eating window...it's 2,000 calories regardless. Many people use it as an easy way to control calories, particularly if they have a relatively small calorie allotment and like to eat bigger meals.

I have done IF off and on at various times for various reasons throughout the years. I have lost weight, maintained weight, and gained weight doing IF. I often use it for summer maintenance as we tend to entertain more...pool parties, BBQs, etc,

In the mid 120s, you're pretty much smack in the middle of BMI for your height...if you're 140 year still at a normal BMI of 24.8...it is the high end BMI for your height, but normal. That being the case, weight loss is much more difficult and slower when you are in a normal BMI as fat stores are limited relative to someone who has unhealthy levels of bodyfat. An oversimplification perhaps...but essentially, your body as biologically evolved is saying, "there's no need to get rid of this as we have a healthy amount of fat available". This evolutionary response does become more pronounced with age as a protective measure against poor health and death.

The desire to be quite lean is a relatively new phenomena of the human race and sometimes unfortunately or not goes against our biological evolution. It is vanity weight, and in my experience both personal and observational, losing vanity weight when you're in a healthy weight range can be done, but requires a lot of work...in my own personal case, a much more rigid diet vs a more flexible one and quite a bit of more strenuous exercise vs light exercise and recreational activity.

In my case, I usually maintain right around 180 which is just slightly over the high end of BMI for my height, but at a healthy 15ish% BF. Four years ago I dropped down to around 172-173 and was very lean. I had a pretty rigid diet along with cycling about 100+ miles per week, hitting the weight room for an hour 3x per week and walking my dog 2-3 miles most days. Much of my free time was spent exercising/training as I was otherwise tethered to a desk for my work.

My wife is also 47 and has experienced the same. She generally maintains at 5'3" and around 136-138. Four years ago she got down to around 126 and it required a ton of work...she was in the weight room for an hour 2-3x per week and running about 20-30 miles per week in addition to walking the dog with me four 2-3 miles pretty much everyday.

We did this together that year primarily for the purposes of a big beach vacation in South America. It was a lot of work...it was also a lot of work to maintain that level of leanness and we both ultimately determined that we were a lot happier at a bit higher, but much easier to maintain weight and level of BF. Obsessing over a lighter weight and leaner physique took a lot of joy out of lives and added a lot of unnecessary stress...maybe something to think about.

I too gained weight over COVID...about 20 Lbs, and I'm currently in the process of taking it off. It is very slow going...I don't stress about it, as stress is counterproductive to the weight loss process and raises cortisol levels which further impedes weight loss. I'm just putting my focus back on healthy and sustainable eating and exercise habits along with a greater emphasis than I've ever had on sleep hygiene and mental health with Hatha Yoga and daily meditation. More than weight or achieving a specific level of leanness, I've thus far used 2022 to get refocused on my overall health...physically, mentally, and spiritually and trust that the rest will ultimately fall into it's place...whatever that place may be. If I get back to 180, I anticipate it will take me the better part of a year...all of 2022 to do so.

Xellercin · March 2022

Unfortunately, there's just no version of reality where you aren't going to have months where you don't lose. No matter what you do, when you don't have a ton of weight to lose, you can't expect the scale to consistently drop.

I do intermittent fasting, but it takes time. It takes time for your body to adjust to it, it takes time for appetite correction to kick in, and often, it results in very slow weight loss. I'm part of Gin Stephens online IF community, and there are countless people who actually gained weight their first month of IF.

So I wouldn't jump to IF as some kind of quick fix. From my perspective, it's more of a long-term lifestyle, which may or may not be an ideal fit for you.

The number one cause of diet failure is impatience and unrealistic expectations of what the scale will do.

I personally lost weight steadily until late December and then gained in January for no reason, and then lost nothing until this week. So two straight months of gain/no loss, and I was doing everything right. But I know from experience of having lost a lot of weight that that's just a normal part of the process.

You talk about "giving up" but what does that even mean?

There's no "dieting" vs "giving up." Every day you choose what and how much to eat. What does giving up mean to you? Does it mean making poor choices and over eating foods that you know will make you gain weight? That's not giving up, that's actively making a choice to eat in a way that isn't compatible with your goals.

Is that really preferable to sticking with a way of eating that sometimes doesn't produce weight loss?

This is where a mind shift is so critical. It's also why I never have a weight goal, I always have a lifestyle goal. I know what kind of eating I want to be doing on a daily basis, and I know generally what kind of body that eating will produce. So if my ideal way of eating doesn't produce a loss for awhile, that's fine, because I'm already succeeding at my goal.

I'm never going to take a gain on the scale as a sign that I should really start eating piles of unhealthy food, that doesn't make any sense. Nor do I take it as a sign that I should heavily restrict what I'm eating.

I wish I had a secret way to make the scale cooperate, but I don't, no one does. So perhaps try to focus on modifying your perception of your eating and what it means for your body.

Because there is no "giving up" there are just the food choices that you have to make day in and day out and the consequences they have for your weight and your health. That's all.

IsabelleBabel · March 2022

Xellercin wrote: »

You talk about "giving up" but what does that even mean?

It means start eating at maintenance (ie 1200 to 1500 cals/day), and keep the same weight.

IsabelleBabel · March 2022

cwolfman13 wrote: »

Nothing would happen. IF is just a food timing thing...there is no magic to it...

I know. I wanted to know what was the experience of those who tried IF, stopped, and went back to eating at any time of the day.
Did they notice a weight increase, as if the body reacted to the change?

Thank you.

cwolfman13 · March 2022

Only one other thing that I might add...have you seen a Dr. to have blood work done to determine if you have any kind of metabolic disorder like PCOS or thyroid issues or diabetes, etc? This kind of stuff can mess with your metabolism far more than "breaking" one's metabolism with yo-yo dieting. These kinds of conditions can really jack with a person's hormones and appropriate medication can help a lot. I would wager that being overly stressed about this is not helping in the least and your cortisol levels are probably through the roof.

"Broken" metabolisms from dieting generally recover when calories go back to normal...exceptions are typically for very large and rapid past weight loss (think Biggest Loser kind of stuff). On average, a female of your age (and I input "slightly active") has a BMR of right around 1200 calories (the calories you burn merely existing) and a TDEE (maintenance) of around 1700 calories. This would indicate a strict and consistent diet of 1200 calories should result in about 1 Lb per week loss...this would assume logging is as accurate as humanly possible. I mention this because sometimes people do just fall outside of the averages...but even then you should be losing on a consistent 1200 calories...but often, people who fall outside of averages have something else going on metabolically/hormonally that might be able to be corrected.

Your estimate of 1500 calories for maintenance isn't that far off from what the SailRabbit calculator I used of 1700, so you may very well be somewhere in there in general. So another consideration would be to increase your TDEE with more activity and/or exercise. Walking for example, is great for one's health...but it's not a substantial expenditure of energy and has only a relatively small impact on your TDEE...you may want to consider adding in some more moderate cardiovascular exercise in addition to the light cardiovascular walking you're doing to increase your TDEE...and/or increase your overall activity in general.

Xellercin · March 2022

IsabelleBabel wrote: »

Xellercin wrote: »

You talk about "giving up" but what does that even mean?

It means start eating at maintenance (ie 1200 to 1500 cals/day), and keep the same weight.

You don't know that that would keep you at the same weight though.

If 1200-1500 calories is sustainable for you, then try that and see what happens. If you research IF in the meantime and want to take it on as a lifestyle, then do that.

No matter what, you're going to have to play along with what your body wants to do, and it will require patience.

sijomial · March 2022

IsabelleBabel wrote: »

cwolfman13 wrote: »

Nothing would happen. IF is just a food timing thing...there is no magic to it...

I know. I wanted to know what was the experience of those who tried IF, stopped, and went back to eating at any time of the day.
Did they notice a weight increase, as if the body reacted to the change?

Thank you.

That's not how it works.
I've done different forms of IF and at other times eaten multiple times a day and my weight tracked my calorie balance - as you would expect.

These days I mostly skip breakfast but sometimes I'm eating 3 meals a day and a multitude of snacks - my weight trend tracks my calorie balance no matter what eating pattern I'm doing.

Hollis100 · March 2022

Hollis100 wrote: »

There are several types of IF -- when my weight loss stalled, I tried the kind of IF where I gave myself a window to eat that started at 11 a.m., sometimes noon, so I skipped breakfast. I told myself I could eat the regular amount of calories within the window. This strategy ended my stall and I began to lose again. I reached goal and was able to maintain for almost 2 years, but slowly gained 10 pounds back when I slid back into old eating habits that made me gain in the first place.

IF is not magic. It reduced my appetite. It lowered my calories and jumpstarted my weight loss. I regained 10 pounds when I started bad habits again without watching the calories, not because I stopped IF.

To clarify one point of what I wrote above: IF lowered my calories because I decided to only eat in a window of time. That meant I didn't snack before or after the window. People can accomplish this in other ways, like just deciding not to snack.

IF is one strategy of many. Being aware of how many calories I'm consuming is the main thing for me.

Walkywalkerson · March 2022

IsabelleBabel wrote: »

cwolfman13 wrote: »

Nothing would happen. IF is just a food timing thing...there is no magic to it...

I know. I wanted to know what was the experience of those who tried IF, stopped, and went back to eating at any time of the day.
Did they notice a weight increase, as if the body reacted to the change?

Thank you.

When I eat at any time of the day - I usually over eat.
I've had diet/ IF breaks in the last 3 months and have plateaued.
I'm on my last 20lbs and am over eating and giving myself too many 'breaks'
What IF does for me is that it draws a line under my last meal and keeps my calorie intake down.
It also helps with cravings.
Constant eating doesn't work for me - I feel much better having 2 big meals a day in an 8hr window.
I play around with it , but 16/ 8 is what I try and practice 5 days week.
I feel more in control when I practice IF and its helped me lose 54lbs.

IsabelleBabel · March 2022

Xellercin wrote: »

IsabelleBabel wrote: »

Xellercin wrote: »

You talk about "giving up" but what does that even mean?

It means start eating at maintenance (ie 1200 to 1500 cals/day), and keep the same weight.

You don't know that that would keep you at the same weight though.

If 1200-1500 calories is sustainable for you, then try that and see what happens. If you research IF in the meantime and want to take it on as a lifestyle, then do that.

No matter what, you're going to have to play along with what your body wants to do, and it will require patience.

I already know that I maintain at 1200 - 1500.
Above 1500, I gain.
(Thanks to years of dieting).

Anyway

I am now very careful and do not want to "play around" too much. This is why I am trying to learn as much as I can about IF before trying it out, because I don't want to make things even worst.

Seasonal_One · March 2022

Walkywalkerson wrote: »

Constant eating doesn't work for me - I feel much better having 2 big meals a day in an 8hr window.
I play around with it , but 16/ 8 is what I try and practice 5 days week.
I feel more in control when I practice IF and its helped me lose 54lbs.

I like this comment, constant eating doesn't work for me either (I know it works for some). 7 weeks of OMAD for me and this is so easy (for me). This works and is easy to stay on but I've always gone long periods of time without eating. You can give 16/8 a shot and see if it works for you. If it doesn't, try something else. You don't need to jump into OMAD or skipping days of eating, first thing. IF is not for everyone.

AnnPT77 · March 2022

IsabelleBabel wrote: »

Xellercin wrote: »

IsabelleBabel wrote: »

Xellercin wrote: »

You talk about "giving up" but what does that even mean?

It means start eating at maintenance (ie 1200 to 1500 cals/day), and keep the same weight.

You don't know that that would keep you at the same weight though.

If 1200-1500 calories is sustainable for you, then try that and see what happens. If you research IF in the meantime and want to take it on as a lifestyle, then do that.

No matter what, you're going to have to play along with what your body wants to do, and it will require patience.

I already know that I maintain at 1200 - 1500.
Above 1500, I gain.
(Thanks to years of dieting).

Anyway

I am now very careful and do not want to "play around" too much. This is why I am trying to learn as much as I can about IF before trying it out, because I don't want to make things even worst.

,
How long at a time have you stuck to an accurately-tracked 1500 calories, and seen your weight hold steady, out of curiosity?

Shifting gears: One thing stopping IF could do is change the timing of eating and elimination (breathing and sweating as well as urination and defecation), compared to your weigh-in time of day. There's the potential for that to affect scale weight patterns (not necessarily via body fat changes).

For example, though I don't IF, I know from long daily weighing experience that if I eat a big meal unusually close to bedtime, my next morning first-thing weigh in will be a little heavier than usual, and also the reverse, i.e., if I eat very early in the evening, but bedtime/weigh-in next day are at usual times, I'll weigh less at that weigh in. Weight fluctuates.

In my case, though I'm not very big (mid 120s pounds), my scale weight changes by at least 2-3 and sometimes 5-6 pounds over the course of a day (in same clothing), if I weigh in lots of times just for the fun experiment.

There are some patterns, in a regular life. If my daily weigh-in were at a time of day when I tend to weigh a bit more, I'd think my "real" weight was a little higher; if weighing in at what's usually a low point, I'd think it was a little lower. My body fat level is the same in either case; what differs is water and food typically in my body temporarily at that time of day.

The point is: If you OMAD, and eat from (say) 4PM-7PM, and weigh in in the morning at 8AM; then shift to eating 3 meals at 9, 12, and 8PM (adding up to the same calories), still weighing in at 8AM, your typical bodyweight at 8AM may change, without bodyfat changing at all. Higher? Lower? Dunno. Depends on your body's patterns.

jusnjas · March 2022

I am 50 years old as well about 5'4/prob 5' 3/4 lol. I just posted a picture on my profile I found from 9/16 I was 153.4..that was 24.6 pounds ago. Yep! life and covid weight caught up to me and I am disgusted. I can't lose as quick as I use too! I've done IF and skip breakfast. Nothing has really helped except exercise/daily document my food here on MFP. When I stopped that accountability, guess what! I started gaining! I think you're at a very good weight! When I was in the low 150's, in my mind.. I thought I looked overweight like I am today!! That's because the devil is a liar! LOL I definitely need to do better about food choices and stop too many carbs and sweets. I need to drink more water too!! I need more encouragement too! We're in this together!

paperpudding · March 2022

IsabelleBabel wrote: »

Xellercin wrote: »

You talk about "giving up" but what does that even mean?

It means start eating at maintenance (ie 1200 to 1500 cals/day), and keep the same weight.

If you are within healthy BMI range ( according to post upthread) and keep that weight, would that be a bad thing?

Maybe along with unrealistic rate of loss expectation, you also have unrealistic expectations of the right weight for you?

Redordeadhead · March 2022

Would you be willing to open your food diary, to see if some of the experienced members here might spot something that could be causing you trouble or give you some individual pointers?

PAV8888 · March 2022

So you're both h(angry) as *kittens* and stressing yourself crazy. And you're breaking from the white-knuckling because, logically, when you're putting so much stress you can only do it as long as the visible rewards are there.

So, again, as somebody asked and you've sort of answered... what's the terminal thing that will happen if you eat at what you perceive to be your maintenance? You will, presumably maintain, and presumably you won't be h(angry) as *kittens*.

There is a concept called diet break. It is not a terrible concept, especially for people who are not obese and have been putting their body under some stress.

The whole narrative still gives me the feel that you're pushing for visible daily scale loss. And for a person at normal weight this can only be accomplished by substantially large deficits. Probably deficits that are much larger than the body can reliably and consistently tolerate in most cases.

My best/only/sincere advice is that you must find in you the strength to deal with your weight in a consistent weight management basis instead of a diet/not diet dichotomy.

I really liked @Xellercin 's post above. No comment on the IF portion as I tend to see IF as a secondary long term strategy, not a primary one. Should it suit your lifestyle and inclination... why not use it as a tool. But I am not sure it will magically transform your no immediately visible losses into consistent losses.

IsabelleBabel · March 2022

Redordeadhead wrote: »

Would you be willing to open your food diary, to see if some of the experienced members here might spot something that could be causing you trouble or give you some individual pointers?

I certainly can, but if someone posts that goddam chart, I'll scream, I am not in a mood to be asked if I know how a kitchen scale works or to be told that I don't eat enough (which always happen whenever someone eats below 1200), or to be told that I should eat 100% clean. My health is very good, I have regular check up at my doctors, so thank you everyone in advance.
Also I know by experience that changing the way you eat does not create weight loss. Some people say that when they change what they eat, they lose weight. I am 50 years old and never experienced such a thing.

Also, I overestimate many things, ex the milk. Usually it is closer to 1/4 cup, but I keep it at 1/2 everyday.

One last thing, I only log some of my exercise, at some point I was using a fitbit, et , so just ignore the exercise data.

What happen when you stop fasting/IF?

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