Fasting To Lose Weight
Fasting To Lose Weight – What You Need To Know.
Intermittent Fasting has been a part of my regular lifestyle now for over 2 Years. At the start I was fasting to lose weight, now I use intermittent fasting simply to keep my weight in check.
Not only did I lose weight using intermittent fasting, but I have now kept the weight off for over a year.
So if you have decided you want to try fasting to lose weight, I think I am now well qualified to give you some pointers on where to start and what to do.
Take A Break From Eating
Fasting To Lose Weight- Tips When Getting Started.
1 Keep your I.F. plans private.
The first thing I would advise is to keep the fact you are using fasting to lose weight private. From experience I can tell you, it just is not worth the effort of trying to justify what you are doing. Keep it quiet and let the results speak for themselves.
Even today after losing 65lbs 70lbs when someone asks for my diet, I just say I didn’t diet, I just ate less, and leave it at that.
No.2 Ease Yourself in Gently.
If you have never fasted before, it can seem a little daunting at first to take a 24hr break from eating. All I can tell is it does get easier the more you do it, but at the start, just aim for 1 fast of 24hrs in 7 days. If you come up a little short, don’t worry about it, just try it again a few days later. Start with little steps, if you need to build up to a full 24 hour fast, that is OK too. Start by either skipping breakfast or lunch, and build from there.
I can tell you that going through the process of taking a break from eating will help you learn a great deal about yourself and your relationship with food, and because of this, you find on days when you are not fasting you tend to make different choices because of what you become aware of during your eating breaks.
So much of what we do it based around habit and routine. We eat at 1pm not because we are hungry, but because that is the time of our work lunch break. After you do a few fasts, it won’t be unusual for you to think, ” I am not hungry right now, I am going to skip lunch and wait for dinner tonight. I guess what I am trying to say is, fasting to weight lose weight gets you away from the traditional thinking that you must have 3 meals a day.
Fasting To Lose Weight Calories in V Calories Out
No 3 Calories Still Matter
Remember that even if you are fasting to lose weight, you still have to be in a calorie deficit in order to see weight loss. If you do a 24 hour fast and then eat more calories than you need, you still won’t lose any fat. Don’t over compensate for the fast. continue your day as if the fast never happened. Yes there are huge health benefits associated with fasting, but your fasting to lose weight first and foremost, so keep that in mind 
Make sure you know what your BMR / RMR ; level is. RMR is your Resting Metabolic Rate Use this as your guide for the daily calories. I work of a weekly total rather than a daily one.
OK. Now you can make a start. That covers your essential guide to fasting to lose weight. any questions, leave them in the comments and I will be happy to answer.
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{ 20 comments… read them below or add one }
im just a little confused, do you fast everyday? and do you workout, so basically you dont take in any calories?, im used to fasting for like a month a year , as part of my religion but i really want to lose at least 20 pounds, how soon do you see results?
@ Dalal,
Hi I don’t fast every day, I usually fast once to twice per week, I will fast for 24hrs so for example from 6.30pm Monday to 6.30pm Tuesday. So I still eat every day. I do fasted workouts, and have done for the best part of 2 years. You still need to be in a calorie deficit though to see results.
Hi. How long should your eating window be? At the moment I am eating breakfast and lunch but skipping dinner.- And this is my pattern for everyday. I finish lunch about 1.30 however I eat breakfast the next day at about 8, so that is not a 24 hour fast, its more a 17 hour fast. Is this just as effective? Or do you recommed I fast for the full 24 hours?
If what you are doing is working for you , then I would say stick with it. The one thing about 24hrs is you burn more fat in the 18 -24 hour period of the fast. It then levels off again. But the 24hr hour fasts are not daily. You could always try going lunch to lunch one time, and see what you think, but as I say if you happy with what you are doing and that works for you, then stick with that. It’s all about results at the end of the day.
If what you are doing is working for you , then I would say stick with it. The one thing about 24hrs is you burn more fat in the 18 -24 hour period of the fast. It then levels off again. But the 24hr hour fasts are not daily. You could always try going lunch to lunch one time, and see what you think, but as I say if you happy with what you are doing and that works for you, then stick with that. It’s all about results at the end of the day.
I have been water fasting for some time now, i first started with a 5 day water fast and after that followed e 5 day raw diet. This fast was really horrible, i had very bad detox symptoms ( headaches, body ache, you name it). After about 2 weeks i started doing the I.F. It is very interrsting that i would get so much more hungry than when i was on my water fast! I did not work out but lost quite a few lbs. I am now on yet another water fast (day 4/7) and let me tell you this time i did not experience any of the detox discomfort except for the coated tongue and a bit of bad breath and B.O.
I think my prev water fast together with the I.F had helped my body get rid of a lot of its toxins.
So far on my water fast i have lost 6lbs in 3 days. And i plan to do the I.F after that.
Just 2 questions: do you think 1 or 2 days of fasting is enough or say if i am confortable with it should i do it for more days ( kind of like the worrier diet) or would this make my body and metabolism to get used to eating once a day and slow my weightloss?
Also did you do any exercise?
Oh and did you dry fast or water fast?
Thank you and well done
Sherry
Ps. Sorry about the spelling mistakes
Hi Sherry,
I have found 2 days of intermittent fasting to be enough, but if you feel comfortable doing more, then no reason why not. It really is about just finding what works best for you and fits well with your lifestyle. Eating once a day won’t slow your weight loss, so long as your are below your daily calorie needs. take a look at this RMR chart, it will help you there. http://retireddieter.com/resting-metabolic-rate-what-is-your-rmr.
I did exercise, when I first started I used to walk , but also 3 days per week, would do bodyweight exercises. During my fast I drink water,black coffeee, fruit or herbal teas and also diet soda.
hey so ive beejn not eating breakfest or lunch but i have to eat dinnner cuz i dont my parents to know what im up to. and we dinner together as a family everyday so i really have no choice. is this going to help me loose weight or am i just gonna stay the same cuz im still eating dinner? :L i need to drop some lbs so please reply!!
Audrey, You can fast from dinner to dinner, I do the same, I also did not tell anyone when I started using I.F to lose weight, I just ate with the family as normal on an evening, it must have been at least 12 weeks before they knew anything.
Hi Audrey,
Perhaps if you are still young enough to be living with your parents, it would be a good idea to share your plans with them. It is always best to get as much information as possible about something like this before you speak to people, sure. I agree with that. But trying to hide weight loss and eating plans from parents can be a dangerous practice. Please be very careful that you still are eating enough if you are a minor… under 18.
Take good care. Love your body. Please do not mis-treat it. Peace, Trish
I’ve just stumbled onto this site and I LOVE IT!!!
Since November of last year I’ve lost roughly 70 pounds via IF.
Congratulations from one “retired dieter” to another.
Eating what I want,
That weird guy.
I have not tried this but I am game for anything that will help jump start losing weight. So How many days a week should I do this? I want to lose 50 pounds.
The fast is a tool to restrict calories. If you are new I would start with just one fast per week,. If you want to lose 50lbs, remember you still need to know your normal calorie needs. Check this post on your RMR and use the chart as a guide http://retireddieter.com/resting-metabolic-rate-what-is-your-rmr
Dave, do you mean that during your 24hours IF, there was no food intake at all but you do drink water/liquids? So after the 24hrs fast then you consume food? What kind of food do you eat when breaking your fast? I don’t think i could do a 24hrs yet. Im currently trying from sunrise to sunset. When i break fast, i eat a normal meal and i dont exercise. I dont really see results and thought i might be doing something not right.
@ Fidelity,
During the 24hr fast I only drink non calorie drinks, water, black coffee, herbal tea etc. When I break the fast I simply eat a normal meal as if the fast had never happened. If you are fasting and not losing weight, then your calorie intake is still too high.
dave, I tried the 24hr fast yesterday and i made it! many thanks to your blog and I got motivated by others who wrote on your blog and your responses to them. however,when i break the fast, i had a 2nd or 3rd helping and felt that i ate quite a lot. Somehow I think I’m doing this because i am ‘rewarding’ myself for achieving the fast. when you first started IF 2 years ago, how did you discipline yourself to eat your dinner normally? have you ever felt you were rewarding yourself and kind of ‘overeat’?
@ Fidelity. When I first started, I know after the first few fasts I had a little more than usual, but as intermittent fasting became a normal part of my weekly routine, this was no longer something I was doing. I would just eat the meal as normal.
Can diebetics yous this plain?
Louie, I think you would need to check with your doctor on that. I am in no way qualified to advise you there.
Hi, I’m at a healthy weight but would like to lose about 10 lbs for vanity purposes. I have a few weird questions…
First, are there any side effects associated with IF? I don’t want to hurt my body by depriving it too much. Where can I find info on the health benefits of fasting?
Second, I don’t know if I could use IF as a lifestyle change. I think it’s only something that I would be able to continue for a few months. Do you think I would gain weight back if I were to stop IF, even if my caloric intake stays the same?
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