Intermittent Fasting – Before & After Weight Loss Stories By Reddit Users!

This article discloses the successful stories, tips, and tricks of Intermittent Fasting Reddit users. There’s no denying it; losing weight is an incredibly difficult task. Most people try out the common weight loss solutions such as exercise, dieting, supplements, and medication, often with minimal or no success, and finally, give up. However, one solution that seems to have worked for quite a lot of overweight people, is Intermittent Fasting.

Ten Successful Stories Of Intermittent Fasting Reddit Users!

For the uninitiated, Intermittent Fasting, or IF, is a diet pattern that cycles between periods of fasting and periods of eating. While most other diets focus on what to eat, Intermittent Fasting methods prioritize when you eat.

Of course, you have to be mindful of what you eat, but with IF, what is more important, is that you only eat during a specific time in your schedule and go long periods without food.

Multiple studies have shown that Intermittent Fasting is safe and effective, not just in regards to weight loss, but also in improving your overall well-being.

There are several types of Intermittent Fasting weight loss methods allowing you to progress from an eating pattern of low difficulty to one that is of higher difficulty as you become more comfortable. Some of them are:

• 12:12 – This IF schedule involves fasting for 12 hours followed by a flexible 12-hour window for eating.
• 16:8 – This IF schedule involves fasting for 16 hours followed by an 8-hour window for eating.
• 18:6 – This IF schedule involves fasting for 18 hours followed by a 6-hour window for eating.
• 20:4 – This IF schedule involves fasting for 20 hours followed by a 4-hour window for eating.
• OMAD – This IF schedule involves eating only One Meal A-Day, and choosing the most effective time to eat this meal.
• 5:2 – This IF schedule, also known as ADF or Alternate Day Fasting involves eating only around 500 calories on two non-consecutive days ‌each week, and eating normally on the remaining five days.

These variations help make IF a realistic and sustainable weight loss approach, even for those who normally find it difficult to fast. 

Here are some Intermittent Fasting success stories shared by Reddit Users, that could inspire you, and also give you some insight into how you can lose weight with IF:

1. u/notjadedyet – Female (34) – 170 lbs to 115 lbs – 2 Years of IF

One of the most inspirational Intermittent Fasting weight loss success stories that I’ve come across on Reddit is one posted by Reddit User notjadedyet.

In this account, the Reddit user notjadedyet details her successful experience with Intermittent Fasting (IF) in detail. What’s inspirational about this story is that she had been struggling with weight gain since the age of 19, which is something many of us who are struggling with weight gain issues can relate to. And although this is an old post and not your typical IF success story as 170 pounds is traditionally not considered in the overweight category. It is nonetheless quite relevant for anyone who is looking to lose weight. 

Before being introduced to IF, notjadedyet says she was already focusing on traditional clean eating habits and was eating up to 6 small meals a day for around ten years, tracking all of her calories, balancing her macros, and carrying food with her everywhere she went. She says, at the time it felt like it was a huge priority and so it consumed her life. She was getting results, but then was always thinking of food. This would cause her to start slipping, get discouraged, and lose her progress, and she oscillated between the120 to 135 pounds cycle for a decade.

Once she found IF, however, she says it got her thinking more about her relationship with food but also worrying a lot less about her dietary habits. She began IF by skipping breakfast, then tried a three-day fast. She first started stretching out how long she waited to break her fast to one or two in the afternoon, and then after a few months, until three or four. She’d then eat a big healthy meal, and maybe another snack a few hours later.

These days, she says, she usually eats between 5 and 7 in the evening. She eats a lot in one sitting, but only eats meat with some fruits or veggies as her big meal between three to five days a week. Then she eats what she wants on the other days. Over the holidays, she says, her weight went a bit above 120 pounds as she was eating whatever she wanted, but was able to bring it down to 115 pounds in about two weeks by eating clean big meals.

If she feels her weight is dropping too low, below the 110 pounds mark, all she does is add lunch back to her schedule for a week or two, until she’s back to her ideal weight. She says that the best part about IF, other than getting to eat what she wants during her meal windows, is that she doesn’t have to think too much about food at all.

2. u/allymumu – Female – 333 lbs to 243 lbs – 9 Months of IF

Reddit user allymumu’s story is particularly interesting and inspiring as she started her IF journey in preparation for her wedding.

In this story posted on Reddit, allymumu says that she and her fiance set a date for their wedding at the beginning of the year. After years of half-hearted attempts to lose weight, this concreteness of getting married was what finally triggered her to start getting healthy. She says her initial goal was to lose 100 pounds before the wedding but soon realized that this was an unrealistic way of setting goals and so decided to aim at shedding 10 pounds a month. She initially started tracking her diet with MFP, lowered her calorie intake, and started swimming regularly. It was only a couple of months later that she started 16:8 Intermittent Fasting schedule after she heard about it from a co-worker.

She got laid off from her job in May and due to this reason was left with a lot of time on her hands. So she decided to use this time to focus even more on her IF journey. She lowered herself down to 1200 calories per day and was consistently swimming one mile five times per week. She says her body liked to plateau and then drop weight, which she found to be quite stressful when trying to stay on track and make sure she was on course for the wedding. But by the time it was wedding day in September, she had met her goal and was down exactly 90 pounds, from 333 to 243.

Now that she has achieved her goal weight, she says she’s trying to find a more sustainable routine. Since she had really pushed herself and her body, she has intentionally slowed down a bit and is focusing on building muscle and mitigating loose skin, before focusing on her next goal of losing 150 pounds.

3. u/lilac_meddow – Female – 238 lbs to 205 lbs – 5 Months of IF

Reddit user lilac_meddow who lost 33 pounds in five months of Intermittent Fasting hours, says what she likes about IF is that although her weight only came off slowly, it was teaching her better habits, such as not eating anything when she got back home at night. She says late-night snacking has always been a huge vice of hers and now has it completely under her control.

She feels the first few weeks of IF are the most difficult since your brain has been hardwired over the years into a fed state all the time. And getting over this mental barrier is the hardest part about IF. She says she started her IF journey at 238 pounds and is currently at around 205 pounds, and can’t wait to make her way under 200 pounds.

She adds that she doesn’t beat herself up if she breaks her fast, goes out with her friends, or indulges herself on a holiday. She believes that so long as good days have become a habit, one bad day won’t ruin your progress, just as one salad won’t make you skinny. She says that IF forces you to not just be aware of what’s going on in your head, but also be mindful of controlling it.

4. u/Techne123 – Male (31) – 303 lbs to 247 lbs – 4 Months of IF

Reddit user Techne123, who is a 31-year-old, 5’5 male, went down from weighing 303 pounds to 247 pounds with the help of an Intermittent Fasting weight loss schedule. That’s 56 pounds dropped, in just four months.

As per the posted story, it dawned on user Techne123 that he had to alter his lifestyle when it got to a point where he couldn’t even button up his size 46 pants. This prompted him to begin an Intermittent Fasting schedule along with regular exercise and eating healthy. He says he began by slowly weaning himself off fast food and sodas, while still eating his favorite meals that were homecooked. He has removed 75% of sugar from his diet and only drinks water or sweet tea. He goes on to clarify that he only drinks a glass of tea, a day, just enough to satisfy his sugar cravings. He also complements his diet with activities including exercise at the gym, swimming, and even yard work. 

As the Intermittent Fasting results, he has gone down from a waist size of 46 to 38 and shirt size of XXXL to XL. And although he has already dropped 56 pounds, he intends to continue Intermittent Fasting to achieve his goal weight of 180 pounds. But he wants to do this by first going down t0 160 pounds and then building 20 pounds of muscle. What is to be noted in this success story is that it points out what you can do along with Intermittent Fasting methods to lose more weight.

5. u/enigmahack – Male (36) – 211 lbs to 194 lbs – 4 Weeks of IF

Reddit user enigmahack’s Intermittent Fasting weight loss success story is also quite inspiring as he lost 17 pounds within the short span of four weeks.

Enigmahack says he actually started Intermittent Fasting hours along with his wife, who suffered from Crohn’s disease. According to him, by doing the IF on the schedule he was following, his wife went from having pain every day to almost no pain at all. She has also gone down from 161 pounds to 149 pounds.

He admits his schedule is quite aggressive and involves OMAD on Monday and Friday, no food on Wednesday, and the remaining days of the week being normal days. In addition, he says, Tuesdays and Thursdays also eventually became 20:4 or OMAD as a consequence of eating less on adjacent days. 

The couple has also been doing what they call, a lazy keto diet, as well, admits enigmahack. He also goes on to say that IF has been a life-changing type of new behavior that has helped them get more time back, save more money, and most of all, get more control over what they eat and don’t eat.

Enigmahack also says avoiding sweets has become easier for him, but at the same time, he doesn’t have to say no if he doesn’t want to. His aim is to bring down his weight between 160 and 17o pounds and then switch to a less-aggressive 16:8 or 18:6 type of IF.

6. u/daniemiller – Female (47) – 210 lbs to 140 lbs – 12 Months of IF

Reddit user daniemiller is a 47-year-old female who also found success with Intermittent Fasting schedule. She says she has been fasting daily for a period of 12 months, during which time she saw her weight drop 70 pounds from 210 to 140. Her schedule involves fasting 20 to 22 hours from Monday to Friday and 18 hours on the weekends. She says she started initially with 16:8 and quickly worked up to 20/22 hours as she became better adapted. Her routine also involves resistance exercise and light cardio 3 to 4 times a week in the summer and twice a week at other times, mostly on the weekends. 

Next, she goes on to describe her dietary habits during IF. She eats low-carb (non-Keto) with a focus on real foods. She cut processed food and sugar from her diet almost entirely, except for a piece of 88% chocolate. She says she lost the first fifty pounds in the first six months and her weight loss has slowed in the second half as she is currently at a plateau.

Due to this reason, she’s working up to 36-hour fasts and has so far been able to make it to 28 hours without food. She concludes her story with a piece of advice for fellow IF followers, which is to ‘extend as you can and listen to your body.’

7. u/Sinned74 – Female (47) – 168 lbs to 136 lbs – 9 Months of IF

Another Reddit user, Sinned74, says she began her Intermittent Fasting weight loss journey in July 2020, and within 9 months lost around 30 pounds, going down from 168 to 136. Since then, she says, she has been able to go down as low as 133 a couple of times but finds maintaining her weight at around 135 and 136 pounds quite easy.

As far as her exercise routine is concerned, she aims for 10,000 steps a day, ideally hiking, but admits that she only manages to hit that target four to five times, a week. However, she tries to spend at least thirty minutes a day stretching and also does light weightlifting three days a week.

In addition, she says she has also reduced her alcohol consumption to one or two glasses of wine, and only when she is socializing. She also admits that she does cheat with her meals once in a while, but tries to stick with the 16:8 IF routine, as much as she can. She says that although IF wasn’t a fast way to lose weight, it certainly was easy. And that’s precisely the reason she liked IF, because you don’t have to think about it. She also has a bit of advice for fellow IF followers – “if you get hungry outside your eating window, grab a sparkling water.

8. u/agile-assistance6739 – Female – Lost 17 lbs in 1 Month of IF

Another user, agile-assistance6739,  who is a female with PCOS, found real success with Intermittent Fasting results in just a month, losing 17 pounds in the process. She says she started IF initially to get her eating habits under control. She began with 14:10, then moved down to 16:8, and now bounces between 16:8 and 18:6. She says she’s been doing this since the end of December, and not only has he dropped 17 pounds but has also managed to gain control in other parts of her life as well. This has helped her to have a proper exercise routine and get organized as well.

Before IF, she used to associate food with relaxation and comfort and eat quite badly, but now she doesn’t even crave sugars. But she also says that if she wants to eat something, she still eats it. The key to her success with IF, she says, was not restricting herself or telling herself to eat in moderation. She next goes on to list some of the things that worked for her.

She begins her routine with a glass of water or vitamins before her morning coffee and then goes ahead to plan and organize her day. Starting the day off by telling yourself you are not going to eat past a certain time will help you feel way better throughout the morning, she says. She prioritizes consistency over single-day results when it comes to exercise.

However, she does make sure she eats protein with every single meal. And if she has a craving during her window and needs a snack, she eats healthier options such as fruits or keto dark chocolate, rather than resorting to processed food. She also advises those who are starting out with IF to do their own research and learn from real-life experiences of other people, as it isn’t always linear.

9. u/Spartan1278 – Male – 255 lbs to 230 lbs – 5 Months of IF

Reddit user Spartan1278 whose name is listed as Dylan in his bio, says he has lost 25 pounds since he started the Intermittent Fasting schedule five months ago. He didn’t think IF was working for him until he stood on the scale to realize he had gone down from 255 pounds all the way to 230. This came as a surprise to Dylan as the last time he weighed himself was back in October before he started the Intermittent Fasting method. His routine included fasting from Monday to Friday and eating fewer calories. But although he had lost 25 pounds, he says he couldn’t tell much of a difference when he looked at himself in the mirror.

Dylan now believes that he will start to see more results with another few months of Intermittent Fasting weight loss schedule. He goes on to say that he’s starting to like IF as he has more energy during the day and is also saving a lot more money as he isn’t spending money going out for lunch or buying gas station breakfast sandwiches on his way to work.

10. u/Mimi_135

Reddit user Mimi_135’s modest success story is proof that Intermittent Fasting is not always about losing a lot of pounds on the measuring scale. On Reddit, you’ll find many such Non-Scale Victories, which are simply something other than your weight that suggests you are making good progress in your weight loss journey. It could also be the health improvements resulting from the lifestyle change.

Mimi_135 says she started Intermittent Fasting last September and mostly followed a 20:4 schedule. To her, the Intermittent Fasting weight loss method is more of a lifestyle thing as she can’t be bothered to be on the scale on a weekly basis for the rest of her life. She also says that she is uneasy about the way she felt the last few times she did get herself on the scale, which is why she is tracking her progress in other ways, such as how she feels, and how her clothes are fitting.

She then goes on to describe her non-scale victory. She has a coat that she usually wears in her office as she is unable to bear the cold air from the air conditioner. She had bought it around two years ago and couldn’t button it up even then. But on the day she posted this story on Reddit, she had tried to button the coat, and it worked. To provide more confirmation, she tried sitting while it was buttoned and she was still comfortable. Now, isn’t that a heartwarming success story?

Conclusion – Intermittent Fasting Reddit

If you are someone planning to begin an Intermittent Fasting weight loss schedule, these success stories posted on Reddit are all the confirmation bias you need to get going.

Intermittent Fasting Reddit says that there’s no doubt that Intermittent Fasting does work when done correctly and also has an outstanding safety profile.

The inspirational experiences and the insightful tips shared in these stories will go a long way in helping you to find success with the Intermittent Fasting schedule too.