Why Am I Not Losing Weight On Intermittent Fasting? (AVOID Doing This!)
Why am I not losing weight on intermittent fasting? If you have wondered this, you are not alone. Keep reading for troubleshooting tips.
If you aren’t losing weight on intermittent fasting, you may find it hard to stay motivated. Let’s review the 10 troubleshooting steps you should follow if you aren’t losing weight on intermittent fasting.
Why Am I Not Losing Weight on Intermittent Fasting
If you aren’t losing weight on intermittent fasting, it’s typically a result of not following a clean fast, lack of sleep, not consuming enough water and high stress levels. If you want to lose weight on intermittent intermittent fasting, you need to follow a clean fast.
Why Am I Not Losing Weight on Intermittent Fasting – Troubleshooting Steps
Step 1: Make Sure You Are Getting Enough Sleep
Did you know that poor sleep is one of the biggest risk factors for obesity? According to PubMed, adults and children with poor sleep have a 55% and 89% greater risk for developing obesity.
When we are tired, our bodies produce the hormones ghrelin and leptin. Ghrelin tells you when to eat and leptin tells you to stop eating. When you are sleep deprived, our bodies produce more ghrelin and less leptin. This can result in weight gain.
To avoid this, make sure you are getting enough quality sleep. You can ensure that you get a good night of sleep by avoiding caffeine in the afternoon and limiting your exposure to blue light before bed.
It is recommended that the average adult gets 7-9 hours of sleep per night. If you feel like you are doing all the right things and still not sleeping well, you may benefit from chatting with your doctor.
Related: The Top Sleep Statistics You Need To Know
Step 2: Make Sure You Are Fasting Clean
If you are not losing weight with intermittent fasting, make sure you are following a clean fast.
A clean fast is not consuming anything that spikes your insulin levels while you are fasting. During a clean fast you can consume water, black coffee, plain green or black tea, mineral water, unflavored sparkling water, seltzer water, salt, unflavored electrolytes and unflavored minerals.
Many people think that a splash of cream in their coffee or under a certain amount of calories is okay and won’t break your fast. However, if you are not losing weight, I would encourage you to try fasting clean for a full month. You will quickly see how different you feel and see your results start to happen!
A clean fast is important for many reasons. When we are fasting clean, our bodies can do many things that we cannot do while we are in a fed state. Here are some of the things our bodies do when we are fasting clean:
- We can access our stored body fat more efficiently
- We can enter ketosis
- We can activate autophagy
Now that we know some of the things that our bodies do while we are fasting clean, it makes sense that we want to do everything we can to support our bodies and avoid interrupting those body processes.
If we consume food or calories during our fast, we could spike our insulin levels. Spiking our insulin levels would interrupt those body processes we mentioned above. Insulin is a storage hormone so it will stop fat burning.
Our insulin levels will also be spiked by things that taste sweet like gum, mints, zero calorie sodas, etc. It’s important to avoid all of these things during a clean fast.
Follow a clean fasting regimen for a full month to allow your body to switch to fat burning.
Step 3: Make Sure You Are Drinking Enough Water
Did you know that hunger is often confused with dehydration? If you aren’t drinking enough water and staying hydrated, you could be thinking you are hungry, when you are actually thirsty!
According to PubMed, in one 12-week weight loss study, people who drank 17 ounces of water 30 minutes before meals lost 44% more weight than those who did not.
Additionally, drinking water has been proven to boost the number of calories burned by 24-30% over a period of 1.5 hours.
Here are some helpful tips if you struggle to drink water:
- Set reminders on your phone so you remember to drink water.
- Add fruit to your water for a little extra flavor.
- Use an app to track your water consumption.
- Drink a glass of water before each meal.
Bonus Tip: Choose water instead of other beverages! If you are struggling to lose weight, make sure you are not drinking your calories. Smoothies, kombucha, juices, etc all add up!
Step 4: Make Sure Your Expectations Are Realistic
Make sure you have realistic expectations for your weight loss. If you are expecting a drastic result in a short window of time, you may need to reevaluate your expectations.
According to the CDC, losing 1-2 pounds per week is average. However, your body may lose weight slower or faster than that.
Keep in mind that weight loss is a slow process. Generally, the slower you lose weight, the more likely you are to keep it off!
If it’s only been a few days and you haven’t lost weight, reevaluate your expectations and know that it may take time for your body to release weight.
Step 5: Make Sure You Are Tracking Progress In A Variety Of Ways
You may not be losing weight on the scale, but it’s important to track progress in a variety of ways. If the scale isn’t moving, you may be losing inches, reducing inflammation and more.
Here are a variety of different ways that you can track progress:
- Track your weight on the scale. But don’t obsess over it. Use it as a tool.
- Take progress photos. If the scale isn’t moving, take a look at progress photos and see how far you have come.
- Take measurements. Take body measurements so you can measure the inches you have lost.
- Record your non-scale victories. Can you now walk up a flight of stairs without getting winded? Is it easier to sit on the floor with your kiddos? Has your acid reflux improved? Has your acne cleared up? Weight loss and getting healthier can improve so much in our lives beyond the scale. Keep track of your non-scale victories – they will add up!
Step 6: Make Sure You Are Being Honest With Yourself
If you are not losing weight, you need to make sure you are being honest with yourself. Are you truly following intermittent fasting? Or are you eating an Oreo here and there thinking it doesn’t count?
Every bite, lick and taste adds up! If you aren’t losing weight, commit to being honest with yourself and tracking everything you are consuming – including every secret Oreo and every bite, lick and taste. You don’t have to track what you are consuming forever, but tracking short-term can help you be honest with yourself.
If you struggle to be honest with yourself or to stick to intermittent fasting, you could also consider finding an accountability partner. Find someone who will keep you honest and who you can check in with. Maybe you agree to send them your food diary daily and ask them to check in with you.
Having an accountability partner can really keep you honest and on track!
Related: Fasting Quotes To Keep You Motivated
Step 7: Make Sure You Are Eating Enough
If you are stuck in a dieting mindset, you may not be eating enough. Eating too little can prevent you from losing weight.
How does that happen? When you aren’t eating enough, your metabolism can stall. According to PubMed, low-calorie diets can decrease the number of calories the body burns by as much as 23%.
In fact, researchers believe a stalled metabolism may explain why more than 80% of people regain weight once they go off calorie-restricted diets.
Make sure you are eating enough and stop stressing over calories! Our ancestors never counted calories. They ate until they were satisfied and that was it!
Here are a few signs that you may not be eating enough:
- You have low energy levels.
- You are having trouble sleeping.
- You feel cold all the time.
- You are constipated.
- You’re easily irritable.
If this sounds like you, you may need to be eating more! Increasing your food intake can help you see the numbers on the scale go down!! It sounds backwards, but your body is smart and needs to be fueled.
Step 8: Make Sure You Don’t Have Any Underlying Medical Issues
If you are being honest with yourself and following intermittent fasting exactly and you are still not losing weight, it may be time to make sure you don’t have any underlying medical issues.
Some medical conditions like PCOS (polycystic ovarian syndrome) can make it harder to lose weight. Knowing of any medical conditions could help you to better understand your body and why you aren’t able to lose weight.
If there are medical conditions that run in your family or you are not releasing weight after truly following intermittent fasting, it may be time to schedule a visit with your doctor to rule out any underlying medical issues.
Step 9: Make Sure You Are Eliminating Stress
When your body is under a constant state of stress, you won’t lose weight – no matter how well you are following intermittent fasting.
When your body is stressed, it releases certain hormones. First, it releases adrenaline, which warns you to fight or flee. At the same time, your body also releases cortisol which reminds you to replenish your food supply.
Back in the day, our ancestors literally had to fight or flee from threats, like animals chasing them, so these hormones were helpful. However, most of our stress today is very different. Luckily, there are things we can do to lower our stress and reduce the surges of adrenaline and cortisol.
Exercise is a great way to release stress! Pick an exercise option that you enjoy and look forward to. This could be as simple as going for a walk. Exercise produces endorphins, a hormone that releases happy feelings. This is a great way to combat stress.
Another way to combat stress is to release the stress by journaling or talking to a friend/family member. Release those emotions so your body can get back to a state of rest!
Step 10: Make Sure You Are Not On A Glucose Rollercoaster
What does glucose have to do with losing weight? Actually, just about everything. “When we focus on flattening our glucose curves, we reduce hunger, cravings and increase time spent in fat-burning mode,” according to Jessie Inchauspé.
“Studies show that when we flatten our glucose curves, we lose more weight, more easily, even if we eat more calories, than if we don’t take care of our glucose levels,” according to Inchauspé.
I think many of us are in the mindset that if we aren’t diabetic, we don’t have to worry about our glucose levels. This couldn’t be further from the truth.
Glucose can impact everything from our mood, our skin health, our weight and more.
Here are a few tips from Jessie on how to flatten your glucose curves:
- Eat a savory breakfast, not a sweet one.
- Start every meal with a plate of veggies and fat.
- During a meal, eat your starches after your protein and veggies.
- Only have fruit whole, never juiced or dried.
- Pair your starches with protein, fat or fiber.
- Go for a 10 minute walk after each meal.
- When you eat sugar, have it as a dessert after a meal, never on an empty stomach.
What Is Intermittent Fasting?
Intermittent Fasting is an eating pattern where you cycle between periods of eating and fasting.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why is my weight not decreasing after intermittent fasting?
Your weight may not be decreasing with intermittent fasting if you are not following a clean fast. Make sure you are not consuming anything that could be spiking your insulin levels and taking you out of a fasted state.
How long does it take to see weight loss with intermittent fasting?
The unfortunate answer is that everyone is different. Some people drop a lot of weight quickly with fasting and some people take longer to release weight. Sometimes our body has healing and processing to do before we can release weight, so fasting starts working behind the scenes before we lose weight. Give it time and trust the process!