11 Reasons You are Not Losing Weight On Intermittent Fasting

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Intermittent fasting is one of the fastest ways to lose weight.

But, like with every diet, a plateau comes.

The weight starts coming back or the weight stops coming off.

Not good, right?

Well, here are a few things that could be going with your intermittent fasting diet that you can start working on.

If you stopped losing weight on intermittent fasting OR you started to gain the weight back, then read on.

11 Reasons You’re Not Losing Weight Or Stopped Losing On Intermittent Fasting

You’re Not Being Consistent With Your Fasting Schedule

Intermittent fasting is all about flexibility, which is great. If you work the night shift, you’re eating won’t follow a normal fasting schedule. So you fast 2 full days a week and eat a metabolic/healthy fat loss diet for 5 days.

Or you can eat while you work and fast while you sleep, which works best for you.

With flexibility comes great responsibility. Since you want to stick to a consistent schedule with intermittent fasting, because you want to see if what you’re doing is working for you OR if you need to make adjustments.

If you’re fasting 8pm to noon one day, then 10pm to 2pm the next, your average fasting period shortens and you’re not going to reap all the benefits.

Some of my customers like to fast using the 16/8 method during the week and be a little more flexible during the weekend, using a 13/11 fasting method.

If it works for you, it works for you.

But, consistently (or lack there of) will make or break an intermittent fasting program or any good diet for that matter.

Be consistent, track your progress, gauge how it works for YOUR schedule, and adjust as necessary.

Stay consistent with my help and the help of thousands of other on The 3-Week Intermittent Fasting Diet…

Too Many Cocktails

While yes, it’s okay to drink alcohol while intermittent fasting (provided it’s within your eating window – it would count as “food”), you need to stay mindful of the fact that alcohol contains calories.

And hormonal influences…

If you’re struggling with getting rid of stubborn fat, then alcohol could be to blame.

If you’re a daily drinker and you’re also a daily complainer about your weight, then you should try your best to give up alcohol for a while, or at least save it for the weekends.

If you’re goal is getting into ketosis, then alcohol is not your friend. If you’re goal is balance your hormones, then alcohol is not your friend.

Once you’re in maintenance mode and you’re happy with your results, then you can start being a little more flexibility with drinking, but until then, try to give it up and see what happens.

You’re Not Fasting Long Enough

While it’s possible to lose weight fasting shorter periods of time, generally the longer you fast on a daily basis, the better your results will be.

For many people just starting out, fasting for 16 hours or 24 hours can seem (and be) daunting.

BUT, if you want to see real weight loss results, you must fast for extended periods of time.

For my clients and customers, 14-16 hours seems to be the Holy Grail. If you go any lower than 14 hours, you won’t be happy with the results.

If you’re not hitting 16 hours as frequently as you’d like, check to see how long you are going and see if you can push it just a little bit longer.

Also, if you’re having trouble stretching your fasting window, try the salt trick: simply dab a little salt on your tongue and drink a bunch of water. I don’t know why this works, but it really does. It will help you reach your target until you get more used to it.

You’re Not Tracking Your Progress The Right Way

One of the most important things you need to be doing when losing weight is tracking more than just one metric.

It’s so easy to feel like you’re not losing weight because maybe the numbers on the scale aren’t moving as quickly as you’d like, but the weight loss could show up elsewhere.

Remember, scale weight isn’t the only indicator of RESULTS.

If you feel like you’re not losing weight on intermittent fasting, yet you’re doing everything right, consider using these methods for tracking below:

BMI, Bodyweight, and Bodyfat

The scale is definitely a love-hate thing, but it’s important. My advice is to get a biometric scale that tracks more than just body weight.

Here’s a good and inexpensive one on Amazon: RENPHO Bluetooth Bluetooth Scale

The most important metrics are weight, body mass index (BMI), body fat percentage and hydration levels.

So, with a scale like this sometimes you can see quite easily that if the pounds aren’t melting off as quickly as you’d like, you can see your body fat percentage is going down, and that lets you know you’re on the right track.

Another thing I always remind my customers of when it comes to body and weight is that sometimes the body has to heal other areas internally before it can help you get rid of stubborn fat.

If you have hormonal imbalances, increased toxin overload, inflammation, etc…then your body (and you) should address these first before losing weight.

That’s why I address hormonal imbalances with all of my programs including The 3-Week Intermittent Fasting Diet. If you want to try an intermittent fasting program focused on health and hormones, then this is the program for you.

Tape Measure:

It’s very important to use a tape measure to track your progress. This helps see reductions in areas that the scale might not show.

That’s why it’s important to measure your body using a measuring tape and track your progress on a weekly basis.

Progress pictures:

Taking before photos should be at the top of your list, even if they are for your eyes only.

I tell my customers and clients to take before photos and let them know they don’t have to show anyone. But many times they end up showing me, because they’ve see awesome results.

Here’s what to do:

1. Clothing and location. Dressed in a swimsuit, or small pair of shorts and fitted/revealing top like a sports bra, stand against a bare wall.

2. Camera setup. Set up your camera about 5-7 feet away from you so that it can capture your whole body from head to toe. You can use a tripod or have a friend snap the photo.

3. Lighting. Make sure the room is well-lit and that you use the flash when taking your photo. However, make sure there isn’t a ton of overhead light; you don’t want to cast shadows.

4. Write it down. Write down exactly how you took the before pictures (camera settings, lighting conditions, how far away the camera was, etc.). This will help you duplicate the same conditions in the future.

5. Three photos. Take 3 total photographs: one of your front side, one of your left side and one of your back side.

6. Copy photos to your hard drive. Connect your camera to your computer, typically with the USB cable that comes with the camera. You should be able to copy the photos to a folder on your computer.

Here is an example of what your progress photos should look like:

We know that the photographic process can be an intimidating one. After all, the lens sees all and the flash is bright. However, you’re not here to hide anything! The weight loss process is all about honestly assessing where you are today and making the necessary changes to improve your outcome tomorrow.

Check how your clothes fit:

Either pick something you’ve been wanting to fit better in or go buy or yourself something you’ve had your eye on that you know you need to lose a few more pounds to look better in.

Either way, judging how you fit in a piece of clothing is a great way to see how things are going with your intermittent fasting diet program.

It’s best to use all of the methods I outlined above to measure and track your progress, but as long as you us something other than the scale, you’ll be in good shape.

And in good shape! 😉

I provide with you a detailed guide and progress tracker inside The 3-Week Intermittent Fasting Diet, along with some tips on how to stay motivated and succeed. Get started today!

You’re Treating Yourself Too Much

“Sorry, you’re not actually fasting!”

Is what I have to break to many people asking why they aren’t losing weight.

Fasting, for the sake of intermittent fasting, means the total absence of calories.

For most people even the smallest amount of calories will break a fast.

It’s best to stick to water or black coffee and tea.

Any amount of calories will break your fast and you will lose out on the benefits of intermittent fasting, including losing weight.

If you’re struggling to avoid calories, then adjusting your fasting windows to see if that helps.

Intermittent fasting or any diet program is all about fine-tuning.

So be patient…which brings me to the next reason you aren’t losing weight on intermittent fasting…

You Just Need To Be More Patient

We all want to do a diet for a few days and have the perfect body in less than a month.

It doesn’t work that way.

Did you take you month to gain that extra 100, 50, or 25 pounds?

Nope it didn’t. And I mean this in the nicest way possible.

I’m here to help you!

If you feel like you’re doing everything right and still not losing weight intermittent fasting, give it a little more time!

I’ve had customers on my program lose 7 pounds in 7 days, then nothing from day 8 to 21 and others lose nothing in 7 days, but 12 pounds in 21 days later.

You can see that I mean reading my testimonials…

Everyone is different.

But, again, if you had a halfway decent diet and incorporated even a little exercise beforehand, adding fasting isn’t that big of a leap and you aren’t likely to see a super-fast dramatic result in just a week’s time.

Just like you’ve heard before, patience is a virtue, especially when it comes to losing weight.

Give it some more time! The other thing I would recommend is to start a program, ideally with some kind of coaching/support group. I provide this inside The 3-Week Intermittent Fasting Diet.

You’re Eating Too Many Calories

While the beauty of intermittent fasting is that it restricts when you eat rather than what you eat – you still have to do things in moderation.

Yes, it’s totally possible to continue to enjoy the foods you love, like ice cream, pizza and french fries, but just because you’re eating one to two meals a day instead of three or four doesn’t mean you can’t completely blow it.

For example, a McDonald’s Big Mac, fries and a coke will run you about 1,100 calories. And that’s just ONE meal. If you ate pizza later that day – or even enjoyed a healthy meal but ate ice cream as a dessert you’d be blowing it.

Sure, doing this here and there is fine. Life is for living! BUT… you can’t eat crazy every day and expect to lose weight just because you’re overeating in two meals instead of three.

If you’re not losing weight on intermittent fasting take an honest look at your diet. You don’t have to go ON a diet, but you much WATCH your diet.

Be honest. Do you see room for improvement?

Underlying Hormonal Imbalances

if you’re not losing weight on intermittent fasting, there may be an underlying medical condition that you are unaware of.

Before you begin any new dietary or exercise program you should always check with your physician, but if you’ve been fasting for a while and following all the guidelines, working out, watching your calorie intake and staying on top of things yet you’re still not progressing, it’s definitely time to make an appointment.

You Have Unrealistic Expectations

If you feel as though you’re not losing weight on intermittent fasting, you might need to check your expectations.

For starters, the more fat and weight you carry to begin with, the easier it is to lose in the beginning.

Someone who starts at 250 pounds might lose 5 to 10 pounds in their first week intermittent fasting. But someone who starts at 150 pounds probably won’t (and shouldn’t).

The CDC officially says that 1 to 2 pounds per week is a safe, healthy weight loss rate. So, if you’re losing around 5 to 8 pounds per month (not per week), you ARE losing weight. Great job!

You Need To Exercise

While it’s true that you can lose weight intermittent fasting without exercise, if you’re not losing weight intermittent fasting, that may not be true for YOU.

Everybody is different. Just because some people may lose weight without exercising doesn’t mean that you’ll fare just as well. So, if you’re not exercising at all, start. And if you’re already exercising, maybe consider raising the intensity, duration or switching it up!