IF: when does it hit you? page

[Anivair]

This last week, I've done an IF twice where I stopped eating at 8:00 and started again around 1:00 the next day. Worked out okay, but I didn't see any great results.

Yesterday, i had a different sort of IF. An Inadvertent fast. I had planned to fast breakfast and get a healthy lunch. Then a client showed up at the office and I never got lunch. Then I hit the gym and had a chopped salad for dinner. It was only mildly uncomfortable, really, but I had thought that I'd see some decent results today after a day and a workout like that, but I got very little. Does IF often stall out your weight loss at all? Do the ramifications take a while to settle in? Or is it just not doing a whole lot for me at this stage?

[brahnamin]

Let me be sure I understand what you're saying before I try to answer.

You did IF twice last week, got on the scale, didn't see massive instant weight loss, then you did a mondo IF yesterday - complete with workout, and you got on the scale today and still didn't see any massive instant weight loss?

If that is what happened and what you are looking for, you might want to notch it back a bit. Slide that scale up under the bed or lock it in the garage for a month before pulling it out again. IF can be fairly quick acting on your blood sugar numbers and insulin resistance and other metabolic effects, but yeah - it's not going to drop the scale out from under you.

Weight loss is made easier with IF, IMO, but easier doesn't necessarily mean faster. And I only think it makes it easier by helping to bring your metabolism back around to where it is functioning optimally.

YMMV - Maybe someone else knows better, but that has been my experience with IF.

[Anivair]

To be honest, I'm already losing weight at a good clip, so it's not a problem, I just wasn't sure if it was abnormal. In actuality, I seemed to lose weight slower the day after a fast than without (which may be due to other factors). just looking to see if my experience was normal or not.

[Primal Fist]

If by 'my experience' you mean your expectation that one fast will cause you to lose a stone and one workout will cause you to visibly bulk up, then yes, it seems to be becoming far more normal around here lately.

[runnergal]

Weight loss on a day to day basis has as much to do with the humidity in the air that night as it does with anything else. You are talking variation beyond your scale's repeat accuracy readings most likely and certainly beyond normal water fluctuation in the body.

[kennelmom]

um....yeah....I think you have some unrealistic expectations in general. Any weight fluctuations you are seeing post-workout or post-fast would most likely just be water.

[Anivair]

If by 'my experience' you mean your expectation that one fast will cause you to lose a stone and one workout will cause you to visibly bulk up, then yes, it seems to be becoming far more normal around here lately.

That seems like an oddly hostile reaction to an honest question. I guess I'll solider on without, then.

[denise]

That seems like an oddly hostile reaction to an honest question. I guess I'll solider on without, then.

@anivair - this is not entirely your fault - but I was going to post something similar. I think the problem is that there have been a LOT of posts and threads about IF recently with people seeming to think missing a couple of meals was a magic ticket to miraculous weight loss and body transformation. I'm not saying you did, you posted a question on a forum that invites questions. fair enough.

You say you are already losing weight "at a good clip" I would genuinely advise you to accept that with gratitude and worry about the minutiae of IF when you have really slowed down for a couple of months??

And I TOTALLY agree about stopping weighing so often. Too much genuine fluctuation is possible from day to day, even week to week. If you worry about the effects of individual days on next day weigh ins you could just make yourself very unhappy (and be radically altering you body but not appreciate it).

Good luck.

[cavemanj]

That seems like an oddly hostile reaction to an honest question. I guess I'll solider on without, then.

Here is my story, basically...

I started PB on January 4 and blasted off 17lbs without doing anything (down from 231 to 218). Basically, more meat, less carbs. 15lbs GONE. Double chin GONE. Shirts all fit nicely, many of which didn't fit at all.

Then February hit and I was stuck at 218, and then it would go up from 218 - 220. I started getting stronger, looking better, feeling better, but weight stayed the same. I made some minor modifications -- incorporated the Leangains fasting, potatoes on workout days, and rotated high fat with low fat days depending on carbs.

It took two weeks, but I dropped to 213 as of this morning. Bench is up, pullups are up, etc. It was weird because I was doing the above for like two weeks and the scale didn't move until yesterday -- but then like 4 or 5 lbs were gone. I suspect my body lost the fat, replaced it with water, and now the water is gone.

Keep plugging along. It's weird like that. Also, everyone says it, but ditch the scale. Everyone has commented on how much weight I've lost since January, but it's more of a re-composition than anything.

[cavemanj]

Also, IF was more of a 'by necessity' thing for me. I just don't have time to eat all that much. Plus, I find that I'm most productive on IF. If I'm going to court, I do it in a fasted state.