November 22, 2018

Intermittent Fasting Trial, Week 3 Results


Happy Thanksgiving!

Today starts week four of my intermittent fasting experiment. It's been three weeks, and I've learned quite a bit about myself while doing it, even though I haven't exactly gotten the results I was looking for.

My main reason for wanting to try it was to drop the weight I've gained. My starting weight was my highest weight in the last eight years--162.4. After the first week of intermittent fasting, I actually gained 0.4 pounds, bringing me to 162.8. Last week, I lost the 0.4 that I'd gained, and was back to my starting weight of 162.4.

I again made some changes, and was hoping to see some real progress this week. When I weighed in today, I was... 162.4. On the nose. I honestly couldn't maintain my weight this perfect if I tried!

But clearly, my goal is not to maintain my weight, but to lose it. I am trying not to feel frustrated, but it's discouraging to do so much work and not see any results. I've been eating pretty healthy--certainly more so than I was before. This week, I had reduced my eating window to 4 pm to 8 pm. I stuck with that for five out of seven days... there were a couple of days where I went over 8 pm.

I even started running again this week--I ran on Friday, Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday mornings.

I don't know how else I can change things up this week to hopefully make some progress. I really don't want to reduce my eating window any more. My guess is that I'm probably eating too many calories, though. I could always count calories, but then that defeats the whole purpose of intermittent fasting (for me, anyway).

I have noticed some things I really like about intermittent fasting, though, so next week I will write a full post about all of my thoughts of the trial.

Despite feeling discouraged, here is my plan for this week (my fourth and final week of this trial):

Keep the eating window to four hours. However, I think I'm going to change this to 5-9 instead of 4-8. I like eating at night, so I think it will help keep me from snacking past my eating window. Waiting until 5:00 to eat will be challenging, but it's only an hour past what I have been waiting, so I'm sure I can do it.

I'm going to have to be very conscious about how much I'm eating. I am not going to count calories, but I am at least going to make sure my portions aren't huge.

I'm going to continue running, but instead of aiming for Monday through Friday, I'm going to aim for three days a week--without going more than two days between runs. That was my general rule of thumb for years, and it worked out well. I really like the heart rate training, so I'll continue with that.



I'm hoping that I'll see some progress next week. If not, I'm not sure what I will do! I will likely have to start counting calories if I want to lose weight; something I really don't want to do, so I'll have to decide if it's worth it to me.

It's interesting... from what I've read, this would be a great way to get my weight back down! But it just seems to be really difficult for me. I still hope that I'll find the "sweet spot" that works for my body!


17 comments:

  1. I think I've seen you write about this before, so I'm sure you know this, but it's very common for people to retain an extra pound or two of water weight when they start a new exercise routine. If you ran a lot this week, and especially if your muscles are sore, I wouldn't be surprised if you're hanging on to some extra water weight and that's why the scale isn't budging.

    Or maybe IF just isn't your thing. I'm skeptical about all the grandiose claims I've seen regarding IF - I think that, like any other effective weight loss tool, it mostly just comes down in calories in vs. calories out. As much as calorie counting sucks, I feel like it's often the only "surefire" way for me to manage my weight.

    Looking forward to hearing how your last week of the trial goes!

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  2. My first thought was of your addition of running into the mix. Many people show an initial "weight" gain when they begin to regularly exercise because of water retention in the muscles. Could this be the culprit?

    My science nerd is showing, but if you really want to find out if something is impacting your weight, you have to leave everything else the same and change only that one thing. If you start messing with adjusting your nutrients, water, calories, or exercise, then you don't really know if the IF was having any impact. I would hang onto it for a while longer after your trial if you like it, if it makes your life easier, if you feel better, etc.

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  3. Maybe you should consider 12/12 fasting . If I recall you were eating 4x a day with about a 12hr fast and had good results?! Good job so far and I hope you find your sweet spot!

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  4. Funny, I’ve been practicing IF for over a year now. I initially started IF as something different to try to lose 20 pounds I had gained back after losing 100 pounds. I did not lose (and still have not lost) the 20 pounds by practicing IF. It did, however, really help me with controlling the symptoms of my Ulcerative Colitis. Because of that reason alone, I continue to practice IF. It is now a lifestyle for me!!

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  5. From what I've been reading about intermittent fasting (mostly from Dr. Fung's books and website), it's different for women. It sounds like women see the most success with weight loss when doing a 36-42 hour fast 3x per week. I'm sure you have seen the various fasting schedules, but for example, eat dinner on Sunday and then have nothing to eat until breakfast Tuesday (36) or lunch Tuesday (42).

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    Replies
    1. This is totally not a critique on your comment and I'm just saying this from my perception but...fasting for 36 hours sounds terrible!!!

      Then again I'm pregnant. I can't fast for one hour right now :'D

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  6. I recently read the book Delay, Don’t Deny by Gin Stephens it’s a great read and all about IF. She mentions that with IF you won’t see quick weight loss especially in the first month or two.

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  7. I've done intermittent fasting off and now for a few years now. I've found it hard to sustain for long periods of time, but a great way to lose weight and speed up my metabolism.

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  8. As other people have said see what happens next week. Then if you are still not getting weight loss I personally like 1 or 2 low calorie days per week. I dont count calories either, just replace a meal with a snack. Then not all days are hard. Just an idea.

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  9. What is your diet in your eating window? If you read Dr. Fung's book I'm sure you are aware that he recommends a keto diet. I recently started keto and 18:6 and am dumping weight quickly. I knew I had to get off sugar because I was horribly addicted. I'm staying away from artificial sweeteners, too, because they trigger the same insulin response as sugar. From what I gather on the Obesity Code FB page, some people are successful following their regular diet with IF, but most people need to ditch the carbs to see results.

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  10. My husband has lost 60 pounds this year by doing IF. Slow and steady!

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  11. Fasting is a healing process first I believe and weight loss second. Please be patient, hang in there and it will work!

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  12. I think your window is too small, causing your metabolism to come to a screeching halt. Broaden your window to 8 hours. You are going to long in your waking hours without food.

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  13. I just talked to my niece who is 27 .......she has been doing IF for a little over a month. She says the only thing she has changed is the time she eats. She eats from noon to 8pm....she exercises almost daily ....and kind of eats whatever she wanted during the 8 hour window. She has lost 6 pounds. We all know some things work great for some and for others not so great.....who knows......but good luck!

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  14. I'm sorry you aren't have any luck so far with IF. I started it about the same time as you but took a break over the Thanksgiving week as we were traveling. I don't have any great insight but am glad to read your experiences. I have read that some people have to mix up their fasting window to keep their body from acclimating to the new routine. Have you considered some "feast" as well as fast days?

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  15. Katie,
    I think you’re being too strict. From what I’ve read, fasts longer than 14 hrs are not recommended for women. I’ve been doing IF for about four weeks and have lost something everry week. My window of fasting is from 8pm and 10am. It’s been so easy to do and my binging has been non-existent. Do some googling... you may not be seeing results because your eating window is too small. Best Always!! Erica

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  16. Have a look on YouTube at the channel Six miles to supper. I love Kayla's relaxed approach to intermittent fasting. She does OMAD (one meal a day) eats whatever she wants for her one meal even dessert sometimes and once she has finished her meal she starts fasting again.

    I find as a binge eater the OMAD way of eating works great as I know once I am done my meal and dessert I can't keep eating and picking at food for the rest of the night as my eating window has closed once I get up from the table. Seriously OMAD has changed my relationship with food so much already.

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