r/AlternateDayFasting

I do OMAD everyday 22 hours and am really struggling with getting past hour 22-26, any tips?

Honestly, for years I thought weight loss was just a math problem—calories in vs. calories out. But the biggest game-changer for me was realizing it’s actually a psychology problem.

Once I stopped treating a "bad meal" like a reason to ruin the whole week, everything changed. Learning to forgive myself for not being perfect was the one thing that actually made me consistent.

I’m curious, what was that one tiny realization or mental switch that made your whole journey feel less like a "struggle" and more like a lifestyle?

I’m overweight. Have plenty of fat to lose. Im a 40 year old male, 6ft tall in case you were wondering. My SW this past Sunday 06/28/26 was 314 lbs. My fasting schedule was MWF. Here’s a break down of how it went.

Sunday I stopped eating at 3pm

Monday 6/29 - fasting / just water

Tuesday 6/30 - end fast at about 9am (42 hr) ate a small box of wheat thins with some store bought guacamole for breakfast 😋. Lunch 3:30pm had 6 slices of pizza 🍕. Dinner at 6:00pm had KFC 🍗 1 and a half breast, mashed potatoes, 3 biscuits. Stopped eating at 6:30pm.

Wednesday 07/01 - fasting schedule/ just water

Thursday 07/02 - end fast at about 9am (38 hr) had 4 boiled eggs with salad and a Greek yogurt for breakfast. No lunch. Had dinner about 7pm KFC chicken pot pie, 2 biscuits, 1 chicken slider, 1 cheesy Gordita crunch from Taco Bell. Had a piece of tres leches cake for dessert. Eating ended at 8:30pm.

Friday 07/03 - fasting schedule/ just water

Saturday 07/04 🎆- it is 10:41am as I’m typing this post while deciding on what I will have to break my fast which will total up to 38 hrs so far right now.

So 🥁 drum roll with this weeks end results … scale showed 296 lbs. 😱😭 it was a SUCCESS ✅

I’d say I had great discipline this week. The challenging parts are not being able to have meals with my wife on my fast days. She loves to eat together. Sorry babe. But yes for the most part it’s a lot of mental discipline. I even go to the gym daily. Cardio / incline treadmill for 30-40 minutes. Some strength training but not “heavy” working out on my fast days was not hard at all. However, at work it is physical type of job that requires lots of walking so at times I was tired from work. I managed to track at least 20k plus steps daily. So yes lots of sweat n fat burning. Happening this week.

Pros - no more bloating this week
-The need to want to binge gone. However last night I was hungry n kept looking at food reels on instagram 🤦🏽‍♂️. I rode out those hunger waves 🌊 though 😅.
- skin is clearer more glowing
- don’t feel like I need to eat everyday I feel more light in a sense.
- stomach flatter, thigh fat still there 😭 but I’m being patient in the weeks to come
- disciplined to not want to binge on my eating days

Cons - not being able to eat with my wife
- food noise

I will post weekly if anyone wants to follow my journey on here. For a goal weight the tdee calculator determined 177lbs 😫. I don’t think I want to get that size. I like having some meat on me lol. I think I will aim for 220 lbs to 230 lbs to see if I like what I feel and look like at that weight. I really want to look good. I know all the health benefits will follow. Good luck 🍀 to anyone else out there trying this. Hope this motivates you!

I feel like I haven’t seen this perspective when I was in this subreddit, so I wanted to share. I did ADF for around 6 months. I went in at a normal weight for my height, and my goal was to lose around ~20 pounds. I maintained the ADF lifestyle and lost about ~10 pounds, but after around half a year of doing it, it became clear it wasn’t for me.

DISCLAIMER: I think it genuinely works and helps people, and has numerous health effects, but it was something that personally didn’t work for my body and lifestyle.

Even after 6 months, I still wasn’t totally used to fast days. I drank LMNT to help my symptoms, but I would get intense cravings, and eventually developed lightheaded spells and extreme fatigue. On eating days I would borderline binge eat, and neglect nutrition to satisfy my cravings. I felt bloated more often. I hit a wall at the 6 month mark and even started gaining weight because I was no longer in a calorie deficit with my eating habits.

I eventually gave up ADF because it wasn’t worth it anymore for me. I lied to myself saying this is something I could keep up, but I knew I couldn’t.

In 2 months time after that, I gained most of the weight back.

SO WHAT ACTUALLY WORKED?

DISCLAIMER: Please keep in mind everyone’s body is different.

For me, the restrictiveness of ADF was a major factor in my bad eating habits and weight gain. It was a mindset thing too. What helped me was seeing the eating habits of friends who were more lean. I noticed they took their time to eat, saying they wanted to savor and enjoy their food. For me, I thought that meant eating as much food as quickly as possible, so this really helped change my mindset. I started slowing down when eating food. Taking my time chewing, putting the fork down in between bites, and taking breaths, which is weird to say. I would check in with my body and stop when I felt satisfied. At first I was worried this would make me hungry later to not eat to the point of feeling stuffed, but it wasn’t the case. And when I was hungry, I told myself I could eat, and that it was beneficial for me to. Removing that restriction helped me have a better relationship with food, not binge-eat or eat unhealthy foods later. It even lessened my cravings, and it became easier to choose nutritious meals because I wasn’t in the mindset of “I have to satisfy all my cravings before I have to fast again the next day.”

I’ve lost the 10 pounds again, and it feels much more manageable this time. I don’t feel restricted, and I’m taking my time in the weight loss. I know ADF works wonders for many, but it just simply wasn’t for me personally.

My ADF routine is a bit different. I do a 24-hour fast (basically OMAD) i drink water and diet soda only and track my TDEE over a 48-hour window. On my eating days, I eat 500 calories above my TDEE.

It’s been 2 weeks and I’m down 3 kg! Honestly, this is so easy for me to stick to.

28F 5’3” SW: 150.8 CW: 144.2 GW: 125-130

Finished up a month of ADF and back to being below 145! It’s been years since I’ve been back down this low, I’m also taking body measurements and I’m down a few inches all over so I’m super happy about this. I have been doing sporadic workouts, but due to a eczema flare up that had my entire face swollen and itchy I decided against going to the gym and doing intense workouts in case it further inflamed my skin. Frustrating, but I’m glad that I still had ADF to stick to so the weight loss can continue.

My face does feel much better now so I’m hoping to jump back into strength training soon! Maybe doing a split where I break fast at 12pm, go to the gym immediately after, so that I don’t lift while fully fasted. It also helps to build in a natural 3/4 days of strength training in the gym.

I was initially a bit upset by how “slow” the weight loss has been, but I’m actually glad that I’m not suddenly losing 15lbs this month. My weight loss was much more rapid back three years ago when I did adf from what I remember, but I was also way more strict and I think I was t eating enough or well on my feasting days either. I also wasn’t working out at all. This time around on my eating days I am actively eating cleaner, eating more, prioritizing protein/fiber, and trying to remain active to build muscle.

Also want to go back to incorporating light walking on my fasting days. The activity hasnt been the best but hoping to ramp that up soon!

I did ADF back in my 20s and got pretty fit.

Now I am 44, quite a bit overweight (205 - 5'11") and have developed Gout.

This legit sucks.

I want Allopurinol but my Doc says I need to end the first flare up and do another blood test in a few months.

This flare was dissipating but I went and walked on it over a mile thinking it was better and it came right back.

I know weight loss will greatly reduce the danger of gout and more.

I'm motivated to do this, but is there any thing I should know before diving in? I heard that weight loss can increase gout because of the added uric acid in fat loss, but I'm of the mind the fastest way out is through.

Also, I take a low dose statin.

Started today, almost bedtime and feel fine... well aside from my swollen foot

I’d love to hear some success stories from women in their 40s who have successfully lost 10-20kg ADF.

I lost 5kg ADF last November but then got a bad chest infection - it took me four months to feel normal again. I’ve been counting calories and am more active than ever. I started weight training three weeks ago.

I didn’t start again because I hear conflicting advice about cortisol etc

I need some encouragement to try again. I get bad headaches about 24 hours in, but have enjoyed fasting at times and would love to get rig of this extra weight and fluffiness once and for all.

I am 45m 230 lbs.. shooting to drop 30 lbs asap… starting this morning.. Anyone else starting today want to keep in touch?

G'day. Starting proper ADF this week and wanted to post for accountability.

Background
male 111kg 173cm

Setup:

- Eating days: 7am–1pm window, keto meals + eggs/avocado

- Fasting days: water + electrolytes only, ~42hr fasts

- Training 4x/week fasted (resistive, cardio)

- student schedule so time is tight — meal delivery keeping nutrition consistent

Main goals: fat loss, body recomposition, improved focus (also have ADHD).

Currently down from 110kg to 108.35kg after a 1 week of getting the protocol dialled in. Excited to see where this goes over the next 4–8 weeks.

Anyone running strict ADF with keto?
Tips for the first few weeks welcome, especially around electrolytes and training on fast days.

6 weeks, 10 pound loss, feel pretty good, but I do not want to lose a lot more weight, so I believe I will change to a Modified ADF and have a my protein shake on Fasting Days.

Am I really losing anything by doing this?

I started this mainly to lower my Triglyceride and Cholesterol levels and will do my blood tests in another two months to see if the new diet and added supplements have actually done that.

I am perfectly fine going 36 hours, have not had any issues, the only thing being I do not want to lose a lot more weight. I started at 183, now 173 and even though I am only 5 foot 8, I look great, especially for a 68 year old. I walk every day and work on weights every other day. BMI says I am overweight, but BMI is a bullshit measure. :)

What I do really enjoy is the lower stomach fat that I am losing and I do not want that to stop.

I guess my question is if I do change to a Modified ADF schedule, will I still see the loss of fat and maybe a few extra pound loss?

I’ve been fasting for 10 years now. Started with 16:8 and kept progressing. Went through periods where I was trying to lift and bulk but just got fat. Last summer in July I started 5:2 and what a change. From July 2025- now I’ve lost 25lbs (195-170) and 4.5 inches off my waist. It also helped my depression and other mental health struggles. I sometimes mess with olive oil fasting to extend - I’ve read it can increase autophagy but not 100% sure. I’ll eat a few cloves of raw garlic and down it with a shot of olive oil before bed.

One thing I’ve learned over the years is that it helps to take breaks. So what I do now is I’ll do 8 weeks on 5:2 and then 8 weeks off. Helps to replenish and during those times see how I’ve actually changed my long term habits. It’s helped me maintain and while I gained a few pounds back this mainence period I am now ready to hopefully get down to my goal weight (160lb).

The mental clarity and spiritual connectedness I feel to myself when I’m doing this routine are insane. It can be tough to adjust in the beginning but the benefits are amazing. While I try to mostly maintain a healthy diet - this way of eating allows me to enjoy some fun out with my friends and some cocktails and tasty indulgences without sacrificing.

I’ve found that in the long run - I’m not as hungry anymore. It has completely changed my hunger signals. I feel full way faster (I used to be a big eater) and generally WANT to eat more veggies, fruits, and proteins and less garbage because of it. You become so much more sensitive you realize how much those foods are affecting you.

Anyway just wanted to come on to praise what’s helped me so much.

Hi All!

I started ADF, and I'm on my second fasting day today. So far so good! Except that I woke up this morning with the tingle and a small swollen lump that is threatening to become much bigger. I've taken an antiviral and am hoping for the best.🤞

Stress, plays a big part for me in cold sores being triggered. Anything from changing weather, certain foods, being run-down, a period of mental anguish... you name it.

So it's not a stretch to think that the mild stress fasting is putting on my body, and perhaps the autophagy I'm chasing is forcing the herpes virus to freak out as it's home is being dismantled! So the virus comes out of hiding to find a new duplex to occupy.

I'm just hoping this isn't a regular thing. I've been immune compromised for longer stretches before, and no sooner that one cold sore heals another pops up - it's painful, frustrating, and makes me want to hide for longer than the world will let me (because life).

Anyone have experience with cold sores and ADF?

I wonder if others observed difficulties maintaining ADF while getting out-of-routine stress?

I was successfully doing ADF for more than two months and it was becoming increasingly easy and easy even backed off doing 3-4 fasting days per week and was maintaining 2-3 days as I was approaching my goal weight.

But then life happened.

I got my first poison ivy encounter which rendered me barely sleeping at nights due to insane itch. During day time in addition to usual work, housekeeping, exercising, etc I was constantly cleaning closets and doing insane volumes of laundry every day getting all this poison ivy contamination out. This really pushed me to the edge after two weeks.

Then at work we had to host week long event for our guests with business dinners and such. While everything was very well planned and guests were amazing, still I lost my flexibility and my ability to plan my life.

At the end of that week I had to host family gathering at home which is a very happy event but it does involve lots of planning, cleaning, and then not being able to relax in usual way for at least a day.

These three stressors added to the usual stressors and demolished my ADF. I ate every day. I overate. I didn’t even like food I ate or overate! I was clearly losing it and overcompensating for something. It was extremely unpleasant experience of losing my balance.

I heard before from a few people that stress and fasting are not compatible and now I experienced it first hand. This night was the first night I was able to sleep somewhat normally. I hope I am on the mend.

This was a setback.

For me I started out having zero energy during fasts but that went away after about 10 fasts.

He still gets slight headaches come the afternoon even though he is taking enough electrolytes. We both take Santa Cruz Paleo.

Anyone know any solutions for that?

So, I live in Colorado, in the epicenter of the Colorado 14er mountains. This is obviously a popular activity to do here. I did a mountain yesterday and I feel like for my body to heal properly I should take a day or two off adf. I feel like a week would be too much. It’s usually a two day healing process for my body to get back to my usual self, which is what I was thinking I’d do as a break from ADF. I feel like my weight in the past has been a factor for how much these mountains kick my butt, and I’m kicking myself for not doing elevation training more over endurance on easier trails. But that is neither here nor there for adf. Does taking time off adf feel like the right choice for healing time? I don’t want my muscles to eat themselves and not build more muscle, because that’s just as important to weight loss. Am I over thinking this? Thoughts?