To fast to lose weight?

[tallietalia]

I'm depressed about being overweight. I'm still young, but my legs are so thick compared to most people my age. I hate them.

I've tried diets, but they don't work for me. I can't exercise because I don't want other people to see me and I live in a tiny room in uni halls without any space to do proper exercise privately.

Would I be putting myself in any danger if I just stopped eating for a few days? I'd only do it for 1-2 days at a time, and I wouldn't make up for food I'd missed on the other days.

Yes that’s stupid. Read about how metabolism works. Starving yourself is not sustainable and slow your metabolism down so when you do inevitably start eating again you will gain weight quicker.
Use an online calculator to find your basal metabolic rate and calculate what your colorie deficit needs to be. Usually for a young woman it’s around 1700 calories a day. Make a diet plan, keep a diary and go for lots of long walks.

This is actually exactly what I do.

I do 72hour fasts, upto once a week and sometimes longer between. I recommend a keto diet (low carb, Google it). It eliminates hunger and you naturally go into ketosis by day 3 of a Fast, so there's less headaches and uncomfortableness at that stage of the fast by virtue of already being in ketosis.

I've lost 4 stone so far.

Google Jason Fung for fasting if you have any queries about effectiveness or safety.

Or 5:2.

It’s not particularly dangerous but I doubt it would work. When you’re hungry you think about food!! Far easier to eat low calorie every time you’re hungry, distract yourself from your usual”bad” foods. If you work out your BMR online then use MyFitnessPal or something to count calories you can make sure you’re eating less than you’re burning. Exercise doesn’t have to be sweaty or embarrassing either, try walking as fast as you can for 30 mins 3-4 times a week? When the weight starts coming off you’ll feel more confident - you’re proving to yourself that you are powerful.

I doubt it's dangerous but it's probably not the best way to go about it.

You say you’ve tried diets but they don’t work. Have you tried fosucing on your macros rather than calories? I would recommend an eating plan like the diet coach or something along those lines of you want lasting results and to be -healthy.

Can you/do you walk everywhere? Free, and the easiest exercise in the world, just try to do more of it.

Try running. It will really tone and trim your legs and you'll get weight off faster. Also you'll get the runners high which is a mood lift. I burn 500/600 calories a run which lasts about 50 minutes.
Nothing feels better than being fit

5:2 simple. Not harmful or dangerous. Many health benefits. Google.

What is it about diets that don’t work ?
I calorie count , if I was too fast I would end up bingeing and undo the hard work.

“ to fast”

There’s a really friendly fasting thread on Mumsnet. The benefits of fasting have been scientifically proven and if done correctly, is safe and sustainable long term.

Pop over to the thread for a look!

There is a big difference between doing 5:2 for example and not eating for days at a time - which is dangerous and not very clever OP. Also your OP screams ‘eating disorder’.

You think your legs are thick, that is impossible to judge objectively here. Please speak to someone IRL - there are brilliant student support services, MH helplines or even your GP. But in summary yes, as an ex-PT I would say not eating for days on end would be a very bad move.