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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 3 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 2 years.
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.
Fasting To Lose Weight

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  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 you 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, just see how far you get. 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 is 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 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 you are 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. You can also follow me on twitter  here 
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  • dalal

    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?

    • Dave

      @ 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.

  • Peanut Butter

    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?

    • http://RetiredDieter.com Dave

      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.

  • http://RetiredDieter.com Dave

    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.

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  • Sherry

    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 :-P

    • http://RetiredDieter.com Dave

      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.

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  • Audrey

    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!!

    • http://RetiredDieter.com Dave

      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.

    • Trish

      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

  • Thatweirdguy

    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.

    • Karen

      way to go – are you still doing this?

  • Life time dieter

    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.

    • http://RetiredDieter.com Dave

      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

  • Fidelity

    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.

    • Dave

      @ 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.

      • Fidelity

        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’?

        • http://RetiredDieter.com Dave

          @ 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.

  • Louie

    Can diebetics yous this plain?

    • Dave

      Louie, I think you would need to check with your doctor on that. I am in no way qualified to advise you there.

  • Laura

    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?

  • http://fastingtoloseweight josh

    hey guys i know this comment im about to make sounds weird but bear with me plz. i just recently picked up 20 lbs although i am not overweight, still i do not like the little bit of fat that i accumulated. how many days do you think i would have to fast to lose ten pounds? thank you.

  • Alannah

    hello, I am nearly 18 years old (18 on April, 2012) and I am 216 lbs, overweight and according to my mother, I have the same body type as her. She told me that i should weight around the 150 mark. So I would like to loose about 60 to 65 pounds. Would the weight lose be affective if I were to only eat twice a week?

    • Dave

      Alannah, are you meaning to only eat 2 days per week, or did you mean fast 2 days a week ? I hope it’s the latter as looking to only eat twice per week is not something you should do.

  • Grace

    Hello. I just stumbled onto this site and I’m a little confused. I keep hearing not to skip meals because it will slow down your metabolism and you will gain it all back and then some later on. Is this not accurate information? I want to lose 30 lbs and I know I can do it quickly, but every site says to eat 4 or more times a day. I can easily eat 800 calories a day and feel fine, or skip a day, but is it healthy?

    • http://RetiredDieter.com Dave

      Grace, you metabolism does not slow down because you miss a meal.. Here is one study ( there are many ) showing no change in metabolism before 60 hours without food http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/3661473 . If you want further evidence , just look at my own results, hardly looks like skipping a meal has caused me any problems losing weight and keeping it off.

      Hope that helps

      Dave

  • KM

    I’ve fasted a couple of times in the last week to try out IF and they were successful ( I managed!) I just want to know how long it took you to see results? Im going on holiday in 4 months and need to lose about 35lbs! I’m prepared to do small fasts everyday 16 hours-ish and perhaps a couple of longer fasts 24 hours-ish a week? Do you think thats reasonable or would I be pushing my body too far?
    KM

    • http://RetiredDieter.com Dave

      KM, I would see how it goes. It’s really just about if you stick with that routine. I saw results in terms of the weight coming off from the first week. Looking back through my old posts, I notice here http://retireddieter.com/fasting-for-weight-loss-update I mention I had lost 21bs ( approx 10 kilos ) in the first 5 weeks. Now that did slow down, but initially I did see results quickly.

  • KM

    Okay I shall see how it goes then! Thankyou and congrats on your amazing progress! Hopefully I will get some good results too!
    Thanks again,
    KM

  • Jenni

    hello dave thanks so much 4 the info!!!!
    i just wanted to ask a couple of questions:
    - i want to lose about 10kg’s (sorry i dont know what that is in pounds), so roughly how many weeks will that take me?
    -i currently am not exercising or active in any way, so what can i do to start that will go along with my fasting
    i am new to fasting, so what would you recommend?
    thanks a million!!!

    • Dave

      Hi Jenni

      10 kilos is around 22 pounds, The time depends to a certain extent on your current hight and weight, but I would say a realistic time would be around 20 to 26 weeks. In terms of exercise, just start with walking.

  • wannaretiredieting

    Hey Dave. Glad to hear this is working for you. FOr the past few weeks I have been quite stressed about my diet and exercise. I was on LCHF and gym…didnt lose. I have been trying cut carbs but that leaves me craving them. Im still gyming though. I had been reading about intermittent fasting and didnt know enough about it. Funny enough 2 weeks ago I had a dream -all i remembered when I woke up was ‘intermittent fasting’ -it was burnt into my brain. Still didnt try it continued with a new diet and weightloss but still no weight loss. So im going to listen to my dreams-from what you said this I.F makes sense. So i will start it soon. Please tell me: you say after your fast you eat normal. What does that mean. I checked my RMR and as a woman I should be consuming about 1430 calories. After I fast, what food is considered normal. I want to retire dieting too and just live.

    • Dave

      @ wannaretiredieting

      By eat normal, I simply mean don’t compensate for the fast by eating more just because you did the fast. My point is that if you did a 24hr fast, say from dinner to dinner, you still know that the 1430 calorie number is key. Over a week, you have about 10,000 calories, so to lose weight, you need to be under that figure over the week. The fasting is just a tool to help you.

  • KM

    Hi Dave,
    So since my last comment ive been fasting successfully and managed to lose 3lbs since friday which is great, especially for me! its taken me a while to lose any weight ‘the healthy way’ . However, the only problem i’ve had is that ive been feeling a bit depressed and lacked willpower, did you find that? or is it just me overdoing it, ive read that food contains dopamine and thats why when you fast frequently you feel unhappy?! Im so stuck on what to do! Cause ive ended up overeating today! Maybe today was just a bad day and I should resume tomorrow, sorry for all the questions, but what dyou think?

    Thanks,
    KM

  • Hayley

    I’ve eased into fasting and have been loving it. I only eat once a day – I’ve found that it’s really all that I need. Then I started throwing in a 24 hour fast about twice a week and I’ve really been liking that, too. Now I’m kicking around doing a 24 hour fast every other day, while sticking to my once-a-day eating on the non-fasting days. Do you think that might be over-doing it? I do worry about the negative things we read about fasting – like slowing metabolism and fat storage – but I’m really seeing weight-loss results with fasting and I actually feel good, happy and energetic. With other diets I get grouchy and depressed. I never realized how little food our bodies actually need. I’ve also noticed that when I have my daily meal – I eat around 6:30 pm – that I’m craving healthier foods and eating better. Initially my one meal would be a carb-fest – but now my body is naturally craving healthier foods. I know fasting isn’t for everyone – but for me it’s working and I’m going to keep doing it, hopefully for life.

  • Melinda

    I quit smoking 7 months ago, and gained 25 pounds. I am learining to adapt to the “Live Foods & Fasting” health style. Great Informational book I just read was Paul Bragg “The Miracles of Fasting” He suggest to end your fast with a piece of fruit or vegtable as this retrains your tastebuds. My first week i`ve lost 5 pounds. I believe this is a life style I can live. :)

  • Hillarycoates

    I have dabbled with fast 5 and am now taking up running and trying to combine the two. Especially since my running is revving up my appetite and making me gain weight!  Does fasting help with this exercise=hunger thing?

  • CaseyBrooke

    Okay, I am a little confused on this “fasting” thing. Howdoes it work? I thought that it was unhealthy to not eat. And I do not exercise at all. But eat a little healthy foods once a day. And that’s at dinner time. How would I start with fasting? How long would it take? I would like to lose atleast 30lbs. or so. Please check in!
    Thanks,
         Casey

    • http://retireddieter.com/ Dave

      Casey, if you are only eating once a day, you are already fasting has many different eating windows, but it does mean you have to more than a day without eating. If you are only eating a meal at dinner, you are most likely fasting for 18 hours or more.

  • http://www.facebook.com/dee.navolis Dee Navolis

    What about liquids? Water only? Sugar free juices? Tea? I am interested in this idea, but am assuming you must still take in liquids?

    • http://retireddieter.com/ Dave

      liquids are fine, just so long as they are no cal, so diet soda, black coffee, fruit tea, black tea, water etc, are all good.