Why does it take so long?

This topic contains 7 replies, has 5 voices, and was last updated by Apricot 8 years, 9 months ago.

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Professor

2:30 pm
13 Feb 16
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Hi. I’m an American in Chicago who has been on the 4:3 diet since Nov. 1. Since then I have lost 13 pounds, a slow grinding loss that has nearly come to a halt. I’m eating less than I ever have, have dramatically curbed my drinking, but still the weight is not coming off and I have so much to lose.

I have to wonder that despite this method supposedly helping metabolism, or speeding up metabolism, my metabolism seems to have slowed to a crawl.

I have read all the books and have silently read most of the posts here, but wonder if anyone has any new insight into this problem.

Thanks

Amazon

3:31 pm
13 Feb 16
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Hi, your metabolic rate is a measure of the number of calories your body needs in order to function. Unless you have an underlying medical disorder it will not have “slowed down”
Have you checked your TDEE and tried counting calories on non fast days to ensure that you are not overeating?

HappyNow

6:04 pm
13 Feb 16
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Also worth looking at what you are eating, as well as how much. Too much carb/ sugar/ some types of artificial sweeteners in your diet could be keeping your blood sugar high.

Professor

6:05 pm
13 Feb 16
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Yes, I do track how many calories I eat on nonfast days. They are lower than the TDEE. I don’t try to starve myself. I just try to eat responsibly. That said, I lost the first 10 pounds easily and quickly, and since then I’ve been on a two-month long plateau. I just wonder from the other posts I’ve seen if that isn’t pretty standard on this diet. That to me suggests that your metabolism is adjusting down.

HappyNow

6:11 pm
13 Feb 16
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Your metabolism does slow, in so much as the lighter you are the fewer calories your body needs.

Some people plateau, lots don’t. There is no ‘standard’, everyone’s different.

Are you diabetic or pre-diabetic? If so you might like to consider Michael Mosley’s latest 8 week blood sugar diet, it appears to promise relatively quick weight loss.

simcoeluv

6:45 pm
13 Feb 16
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Hi Professor and welcome:

First, you have lost 13 pounds in about 14 weeks. The average weight loss on 5:2 is about a pound a week. You say you are doing 4:3, so you might expect to have lost 3 or 4 additional pounds over that time – in the 16 to 17 pound range.

First, remember, whatever the TDEE calculator gives as your TDEE, it is just an estimate. If you are tracking calories, eating less than your TDEE on non diet days and 600 cal. or less on your three diet days each week, you have to lose weight and you did.

The rate at which you lose depends on the calorie deficit you are creating. If your TDEE estimate is high, and you are eating to your TDEE on non diet days, then you will not lose as fast as expected. One reason TDEEs are too high, aside from or in addition to the normal error involved, is that people overestimate their activity level when determining their TDEE.

I suggest that you recompute your TDEE. Use your current weight and enter sedentary for your activity level. Some people are more successful by entering their goal weight, rather than their current weight, so they will get used to eating at a level they will have to maintain when they get to their goal weight. This should give you an in the ballpark TDEE that will yield quicker results.

This post will explain why you ‘lose weight so slowly’: https://thefastdiet.co.uk/forums/topic/tdee-for-the-curious-or-why-dont-i-lose-weight-faster/. It has nothing to do with a slowing metabolism, aside from that caused by weight loss.

Unfortunately, most overweight people do not understand just how few calories their bodies need to function. The number is very low compared to what they are used to eating. To some it is shockingly low.

Good Luck!

Professor

7:09 pm
13 Feb 16
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Thanks, all. I am committed to intermittent fasting (my university is where the clinical trials were held.) I’ve been doing 4:3 for four months and can boast lots of benefits.

I just have been really discouraged with the lack of weight loss in the last six weeks. I have paid attention to TDEE and factored mine at the lowest sedentary level, though my activity is higher than that. I eat roughly 1500 calories on non-fast days. My TDEE is 1800+, which I rarely ever eat to, unless there’s a celebration etc. I am in excellent health, and have recently had labs and checkups. So there are no internal problems.

You just wonder if your body adjusts to this way of life as well and stops giving up the fat.

Apricot

7:12 pm
13 Feb 16
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Hi, Professor. Have you tried cutting out all foods that are mainly carbohydrate on your non fasting days? So added sugars of all sorts, flour products (eg bread and pasta) potatoes. This means you would increase protein foods (fish, meat, eggs, dairy) plus vegetables especially green ones, nuts and seeds, and increase olive oil, coconut oil and butter. This is actually the Mediterranean Diet (minus the red wine!). These fats reduce hunger and are better for you than highly manufactured ones. They actually make it easier to eat less. If you are doing this you don’t really need to count calories except on fast days, but if you choose the foods first and log the calories after, for interest, you may find that you are automatically eating less than your TDEE because you feel full. I’ve been doing this recently and in the last fortnight the nearest I’ve been to my TDEE was twice, only 150 cal below, and both times I’d included some carbs. Mostly I was on my basic cal allowance,1340 or around 1200. I found the first three days of low carb difficult, had cravings for carbs, but found that if I had a higher fat food at the beginning of a meal (eg, a piece of cheese, some nuts or an egg) that the carb craving went. This might joggle the plateau for you. Another possibiliyy is to cut out milk products for a short time, maybe a week or two, as the lactose is a sugar.