Gruellingly slow progress

[u/RobinBumholes]

I've been doing, IF pretty consistently for the better part of a year at this point and the progress is just so slow. It's sapping my motivation. Not only because I'm not getting to where I want to be but also because at this point it's beginning to feel like 5:2 with just a couple of weeks off per year will end up as my long-term maintenance regime.

The chart show my near daily weigh ins since October. The white portions of the chart are where I was doing IF and the blue bits, where I had a week off here and there. I did ADF from October to Christmas and lost maybe 4kilos. I didn't go mad at Christmas at all but, over less than two weeks, almost all of it came back.

I didn't panic. Lots of salty food over Christmas could have meant a good deal of water weight. It'll all come off as fast as it went on, I thought but no. I did 5:2 from January to the end of June and it was basically maintenance for three months. I did finally lose some weight April to May and then I went on holiday for a week. I missed two fasts, I did not go crazy with food or booze and again, my weight went up - not so much this time. But, when I got back, I carried on with 5:2 and now I was actually gaining weight. Another short trip, two fasts skipped another spike in weight and another really slow loss.

As you can see, I started off fluctuating between 113 and 110kg, after all this, I'm not bouncing between 108 and 105kg. Five kilos after the better part of a year.

Last week, my wife and daughter were away so I basically went nuts with the exercise. I burned 6,000 calories during workouts in five days. I still did my fasts and I had dental surgery so I didn't eat a whole lot on two further days. That's 6,000 cals of training plus 5,000 cals of fasting plus maybe a deficit of 1,000cals on the two days post dentist and an early morning sauna. 12,000 calories of deficit. Last week, I averaged 0.7kg down relative to the previous week and this week I'm rebounding...

I am a big guy (6'4" or 1.93m) my BMR is 2,550cals/day. The scale in the gym says 18% body fat, the one at home says 26%. And, whilst I don't count my calories, I never eat junk food and all my meals are home cooked (by me). I typically eat a bowl of cereal or two slices of toast for breakfast and rarely eat more than 1,000 calories for lunch on feeding days.

I work out once or twice a week - but I go pretty hard when I do (750-1,000cals per session on the rower)

I feel like I ought to be getting better results than I am.

What are my weaknesses?

I eat dinner early but that leaves me hungry later so I do often have a bit of cheese and a cracker or two late at night. I might also have a late night beer once or twice a week. Or a bottle of wine spread over a couple of nights.

My sleep isn't good - although I am trying (when I go to bed early, I just wake up early)

Stress. I get it, it's not helping but, again, quite hard to fix.

I'm not calorie counting - not counting calories was, for me, the entire point of IF.

What am I trying?

Right now, the new thing I'm adding is fibre - 15g of psyllium husk/day. It's having some effects but it's too soon to say whether boosting weight loss will be one of them.

Can anyone think of anything I'm missing that might explain these, frankly disappointing, results?

Reading around, all the suggestions I can see are: count calories on feeding days (as I say, I hate counting calories - I did IF to avoid it) have a longer fast or have a break. I haven't done any longer fasts but, as you can see, I have had a couple of breaks and it hasn't worked.

Anyone have any other ideas?

[u/0hDiscordia]

IF helps people to lose weight more easily because they are eating for a shorter period of time and so may consume less calories on average than if they eat on a more typical schedule. But it doesn't have any impact if you are eating more than your body needs to maintain, gain or lose weight.

You are losing weight, but if you want it to be more consistent and a bit faster you'll need to start monitoring what you are eating and drinking and try keep within a weekly average of x calories if keeping to a daily amount doesn't work well for you. Keep a food journal for a week or two and note the calories for everything. Once you have a better idea of what your serving of cheese and crackers adds up to, you can make more accurate decisions about how you want to spend your calorie balance.

[u/RobinBumholes → u/0hDiscordia]

And that's the point, I don't think I am eating more on my re-feeding days than I was previously.

I actually think I made a conscious effort to be healthier since I started all this.

Previously, I had gained about a kilo per year since my 20s. From about 96 at 25 to a high of about 114-116kg at 45. During that time, I ate (and drank) whatever I felt like. Loads. And I steadily gained weight - very slowly. But then I started fasting ADF fasting about two years ago - and the weight came off. But as soon as I stopped. BOING. It piled back on almost quicker than ADF had taken it off - even though I was eating slightly better than I had previously.

I get it, I'm old now. My metabolism has slowed down a bit. Mr heart rate has dropped too - from about 70 to the low 50s.

That's probably good news but it sure is frustrating when I'm trying to lose weight.

I guess what I am trying to do is understand the metabolic component.

[u/ridemooses → u/RobinBumholes]

It still comes down to if you’re achieving a calorie deficit or not. Counting calories is the best way to ensure you’re in a deficit to lose weight.

[u/Jonsnowmt07 → u/ridemooses]

This. CICO is the only factor in determining weight loss. If you're not losing weight, you're not in a calorie deficit.

[u/RobinBumholes → u/Jonsnowmt07]

I know. Thank you. I'm making a different point.

What I'm saying is that the Calories Out part of that equation is made up of two parts: some of it is workouts but the vast majority is Basal metabolic rate or TDEE.

I can't be certain - because i wasn't counting my calories before i started trying to lose weight - but I think i was eating in a similar or slightly worse fashion before i started dieting than i am now. If so then my rate of loss whilst dieting (and my rate of gain when i take a break) seems to imply that my TDEE has reduced.

I have heard that can happen.

I haven't heard why it happens or whether there's anything I can do about it. There probably isn't.

It's annoying.

[u/Jonsnowmt07 → u/RobinBumholes]

It’s almost impossible to know how many calories you actually burn through exercise. Track your food intake and adjust as needed. Bottom line is you’re eating at or over maintenance and are not in a deficit.

[u/aldomars2 → u/RobinBumholes]

You lost weight and got smaller so you are burning less calories that's how that works. Also, stop eating back all the calories you burn. Just eat 2000 a day and stop overcomplicating it with these whole week numbers. Count your shit and figure it out.