So I'm up by 8 pounds from one week ago, and it was because I severely overate for 5 days. I didn't count calories, I stopped intermittent fasting for those days....and well, I got what I deserved.
Today I calculated how long it would take for me to get back to my weight from last week (167 lbs), and I learned it would take me 4-5 weeks to get back to that weight. I feel like I've pretty much erased all my hard work.
For the majority of January, I struggled to go lower than 171-172 pounds because I got a bad bout of runner's knee and could not walk much. Then, suddenly I managed to get to 167 lbs. That took me a couple of weeks, and I felt triumphant, like I had passed an important threshold.
The reason for my initial success was that I did a pretty extreme form of intermittent fasting (22 hours fasting, 2 hours eating). Before I went to work, I ate all my calories (1600-1900 calories) in that time frame. I definitely felt uncomfortable and gassy/bloated afterwards because my breakfasts were high protein and high fiber (think kale and egg white frittata with cheese, fruits on the side).
I decided to quit IF for a week (last week) per my friend's suggestion. Without IF, I felt like I had no structure. I always thought about food last week, whereas on my old IF schedule, once the clock went past 9am, I didn't think about what snack to try next, etc. Decision fatigue was definitely a thing last week, and I don't think I've spent more time agonizing over whether XYZ fit my calories. Then, I guess because I got tired with all the "can I eat this" debate in my head, I just gave up and decided to eat everything I wanted to eat in that moment, regardless if I was hungry or not.
My parents and coworkers have brought up concerns over my extreme IF schedule and have asked me to lessen the severity (like 16/8 or 18/6), but I feel like it just doesn't work because the more time I have to think about food, the higher chance I'll overeat or something.
I am really unsure about this criticism in general. If I were able to burn more calories, I'd definitely consider a longer eating window and be less stressed about weight loss. But I can't walk more than 3.0 mph right now or else my knees start throbbing, and I'm worried about accelerating the pace of knee arthritis (I'm only 23...). I can't run anymore -- that was the main source of my calorie burn from November 2021 - December 2021, and it was really effective because it was cardio. I feel really lost and I know I shouldn't give up and let myself go, because if I do, I'm going to be 192 pounds again (my weight in April 2020). But also, I kinda just feel like I should quit this weight loss thing. It's too freaking difficult.
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