Is this normal?

[u/slimgo123]

If the answer is “be patient, be consistent “ i will take it.

I started 20:4 last week. Exactly one week today. I have a very filling protein shake woth berries and a ton of added stuff for breakfast plus toast. Lunch is a bowl of lentils with egg whites and cheese. I work out twice a day for 30 min.

Exactly onr week i followed this to a T. Not a single pound lost 😅.. should i be tracking calories?

[u/r3cklessafterdark]

one week isn't data, it's weather

[u/Agreeable_Recipe3571 → u/r3cklessafterdark]

That's a good way to put it, and easy to remember too

[u/OrangeToTheFourth]

3 weeks minimum into any new dietary change to start expecting to see effects. Soft measuring tape as well. 

1lb is too small of a number to be able to track accurately with how much our bodies hold and fluctuate. You could have lost a pound of fat but had a poor night sleep. You could be holding more water weight from a change in work out routine. Both men and women hormonally cycle, which can change water weight well past a single pound. You could even just need to go to the bathroom. 

Give it time is the answer, and you know this haha. Just track measurements and weight as close as you can (and feels mentally healthy for you), track calories if that's information you want to inform your health choices, and get to know your body, it's cycles, and establish it's patterns. You need to take time to understand your baseline before you can start tweaking the factors. I track calories and didn't have an accurate for me BMR until month 3ish. 

[u/vantittyy]

Yes you should definitely be tracking calories. IF makes no difference if you're consuming too much calories still. Sounds like you're eating good but how much you should be eating is going to depend on your body composition. I'd run a calculation on TDEE to get an idea of where you should be for calorie consumption and then start eating according to that.

[u/vantittyy → u/vantittyy]

Also, after only one week, you may just not notice much change. Unless you went from eating like crap before to healthy now and you notice the water weight drop, it might take a little longer to reflect changes on the scale, even if you are doing everything right.

[u/Virtual-Buy-1322 → u/vantittyy]

I agree one week is too short of time but also should always track calories. You would be surprised how fast things add up.

[u/Obvious-Monitor8510]

yes, track calories. 20:4 is just a eating window, it doesn't create a deficit by itself. you can absolutely overeat in 4 hours, especially with protein shakes that often have 400-600 calories plus add-ins, toast, lentils, cheese, egg whites - that can easily hit 1500-2000+ calories depending on portions.

one week is also too short to see scale movement due to water fluctuations. but the tracking piece is the real answer here - most people are genuinely surprised how much they're eating once they log it in MyFitnessPal or Cronometer.

[u/Wild_Spikenard]

Most people drop a bunch of water at the start because they stop eating so many carbs/sugars. If you are eating basically the same food as before and planning for 1lb loss per week then you won't be able to see a trend until 4-6 weeks in.

[u/mrchowmein]

To lose weight fast with IF, you need to maintain a deficit or increase your deficit with exercise

Calculate your BMR. Thats the amount of calories you need per day. Now what you eat needs to be under that amount. So if your BMR is 2000 calories, and you only consume 1500 calories, you just created a 500 cal deficit. Approx 3500 calories is 1lb so if you can do that hypothetically you can lose a lb a week. That said, if you eat a lot of carbs, that will slow down the weight loss even with the deficit as rise in insulin creates weight gain. If you want to lose weight even faster, exercise like weight training and easy cardio like walking after all your meals. Then you’ve effectively increased your daily cal requirements but if you maintain the 1500 cals, you have a larger deficit.

[u/HighItsMeKristen]

Tracking calories is THE ONLY WAY to lose weight. Calories in, calories out. You MUST be in a calorie deficit for your weight to drop.

[u/Longjumping_Bend_833]

Chill out on protein dude. Animal base products, multiple body weight × 0.36. Average protein your body needs. To much extra protein gets store into fat. Causing growth. Unless your a body builder, go for it. Surround your plate with other food groups. Just a suggestion

[u/Connect_Rhubarb395]

IF is a helpful tool. Less time to eat can reduce how much you eat or reduce snacking.
But r/CICO still applies.

[u/MountainBrilliant643]

You could have easily gained muscle mass, and lost fat and water, which would make you healthier than you were a week ago, but weigh the same amount.