Dear Kayla,
I just found your YouTube channel and have watched several episodes. Thanks for helping build this fasting community. I am 59 years old and I am so grateful for the success that I have seen. I started this journey July 15, 2024 at a weight of 370 lbs. I started out doing intermittent fasting and stretched fasting to OMAD. I just kept stretching the fasting window until mid-October when I reached a fasting period of 160ish hours. Now I eat on one day of the week. Lately I have settled on eating on Fridays. I am down 110 pounds, and I am still considered obese. I want to lose another 24 pounds by May 10th for my daughter’s wedding. At that point I will be considered overweight. After the wedding, I want to slow things down and transition to a different schedule but where I can still lose and see success. My end goal is to maintain 199 lbs. Here is the question. Is there a good way to attempt the transition? Do you have any ideas about a new schedule that will allow me to increase my ability to eat more frequently and move into this maintenance phase? This new phase is causing me some anxiety because what I am doing works.
Signed,
Bob D. of Utah
Dear Bob,
First of all, congratulations!! You have lost an incredible amount of weight already. I can understand your anxiety about changing from a plan that you know works, to something that is more sustainable in the long run. I’ll tell you what I would do, if I were in your shoes. (Remember, I’m not a doctor, so this isn’t medical advice.)
After the wedding, I would slowly, very, very, very, slowly, shorten my fasting window. I would change nothing else. I’d keep eating the same foods. I’d keep my activity level the same. I’d keep tracking my weight. I would work my way back to OMAD, because I like eating once a day with my family. I’d start with shortening the fasting window by 12 hours. In other words, my first new fasting window would be 148 hours. I would see how that went, as a trial. I’d try that out for a week or so. When I felt ready, I’d shorten by 12 more hours, down to 136 hours. It might take a few months, but this kind of gradual working backwards would make the transition much smoother. The amount you eat at the meal will need to gradually decrease, and it’s much easier to calibrate this if you take things slowly. Major changes can make things feel far more difficult, so provided you’re feeling good and that seems like a sustainable path, that’s what I would do. Ultimately, you need to find the cadence that works for you. You might feel comfortable shortening your fasting window at a faster rate than I’d do it. Or, you might like a slower pace. Both can totally work. Your rate of loss may slow as your fasting window gets shorter and your weight drops lower and lower. Your current clip is 3.33 pounds a week, if my calculations are correct. As you get into the overweight BMI, it might drop down to a pound or two a week. Just be patient with it, and you’ll hit your goal weight.
Let’s talk about the challenge of maintenance. There’s really only one challenge. You’re already a skilled faster, so you have that part down pat. The real challenge of maintenance is that it’s boring. It’s totally worth it, but it is boring. My best advice is to mentally prepare yourself for the day you hit your goal weight. You’re going to feel elated when you finally see that 199 staring back up at you. But within seconds, you’re going to experience a feeling of letdown. (If you want more information about this phenomenon, google “arrival fallacy.”) We humans enjoy the thrill of the pursuit of the goal. So, the day you hit your goal weight, immediately set your maintenance goal range and write down your maintenance plan. And then set some exciting goals unrelated to weight loss if you haven’t already started pursuing some. Maybe save up for an awesome vacation. Or start training to climb Mount Everest. Or learn a new language. Always have goals that you are striving for that excite you. It will help you maintain your weight loss.
I hope you keep me updated on your progress. If you would ever like to share your success story on my YouTube channel, I’m always looking for people to interview. Just send an email to interviews@sixmilestosupper.com and we’ll set it up!
Sincerely,
Kayla