Hello BellaB,

If you take a look at No. 4 in the 1st post of the following thread then there may be some helpful guidance/answers for you.

https://thefastdiet.co.uk/forums/topic/the-basics-for-newbies-your-questions-answered/

There may also be some useful discussion of the science in the FAQ in the top menu.

It’s good that you can feel the difference with your clothes because altho’ weight is an easy metric to measure on a repeated basis, it is one of the least informative assessments to make of someone’s health and wellbeing (beyond obvious red flag points).

I started IF in 2011. I’ve shed 60lbs and been in maintenance for a while and all I can say is that nobody has commented on my losses (altho’ whether or not they’ve noticed and refrained from commenting is a different matter – tho’ this would be most unlike my F&F 🙂 ). The upside of the lack of comments is that when you enter maintenance, you don’t have a source of positive approbation and affirmation to lose, IYSWIM – because I know that some people end up missing the ‘attagirl’, ‘attaboy’ comments when people are accustomed to your new shape.