Does fasting really work?

[PrincessHoneysuckle]

Just signed up to the Body Fast app for 3 months.Can you really lose weight eating "whatever you like" when you arent fasting?

No. I love 5:2. I’ve lost weight on it before and am starting again next week. But if you overeat on the days when you’re not fasting you won’t lose weight. It’s all calories in vs calories out.

No, you still need to have a calorie deficit overall to lose weight.

Brilliant thanks,I'm used to calorie controlling.

The 'you can eat whatever you want' is a bit misleading.

Fasting does work. I think its great.

But, if you sit and eat a the same amount of calories in the window that you are eating, then you won't lose weight.

It can work if you eat 'normally' on the non fasting days. The catch can be that those of us who are overweight typically are eating rather more than should be 'normal'

If I eat normally I tend to eat carb heavy foods

Yes fasting does work. I did 5:2 for a week and lost 7lb. I'm now skipping breakfast and eating a smaller portion lunch, a little snack and dinner and losing weight steadily that way.

You might want to consider adjusting that 'normal' - it's very probably one of the reasons you now want to lose weight. I think some people do find switching to higher protein and veg, lower carbs alongside intermittent fasting can work well. Not 'low carb' restrictions, but more nutritious and satiating foods iyswim.

Think of longer term sustainable changes, not a quick fix followed by return to habits that got us overweight in the first place. Does that make sense?

I did the one where you only eat between 1 and 8. I just ate a normal lunch and dinner and maybe a small snack now and again and I lost 1st 7lb in 3 months. It's all gone out the window now though as I'm not working and my old boredom/stress eating has crept back in.

I started 16:8 fasting before lockdown and it’s helped me to not gain weight despite boredom eating biscuits, chocolate and too much bread. I’m sure I’d actually have lost a few pounds if I was being more careful about what I ate.

The 5:2 worked for me. I ate what I liked on the other days and still lost 1.5 lbs a week. I switched to 6:1 to maintain but I'm eating loads on lockdown so it'll be back to 5:2 when things are more normal.

I've done 5:2 since New Year. I eat literally whatever I like on a non fast day, within reason and have lost 1st 7lbs in four months.

@Errol yes it does

I don't eat breakfast and feel so so much better for it. Have a light soup for lunch, lentil or miso and pretty much what I like for dinner.. I'm also loosing weight but I don't weigh myself so I don't know how much.

I feel so so much better though! It's can't believe what I ate before even though it would have been a reasonably healthy

Every Wednesday I try and just have a light soup for lunch or bone broth and a heavier soup in the pm

Agree with everyone else. You can’t eat whatever you like when you’re not fasting unless of course you’re doing long fasts inbetween. So say a 48 hour fast. 12 hours window where you eat abs then straight into another 48 hour fast. You’d be able to get away with it that way.

Quite a lot of people seem to find that IF alters what/when they want to eat to some extent - eg finding that the morning after a fast they don't want breakfast.