Thousands of people trying to lose weight are frustrated by traditional diets that don’t work — or work only for a short time before the weight comes back. Health blogs and magazines tell us to cut calories and “watch what we eat”. Some promote restrictive diets that can be certain foods… or even entire food groups.
The result: People trying to lose weight end up trapped in a “yo-yo dieting cycle. They lose weight. Regain it. Then diet again. Over and over and over.
Intermittent fasting can break that cycle and lead better results because it’s not a traditional diet. It’s a lifestyle transformation.
If that yo-yo life sounds familiar to you, and you’re ready to discover a new way to tackle weight loss and improve your health and well-being, read on!
Intermittent fasting before and after result pictures
This is Debi. At 59 she felt trapped by fad diets and health issues. Then, SIMPLE changed her life. By reducing sugar, and swimming, she lost 76 lb, going from 20 to 12. With improved health and reduced dependency on medications, Debi is living her best life.
This is Owen. At 72 years old and often aboard cruise ships, Owen had been putting on weight for a few years. One day — after that "enough” moment —- he decided to take action to lose the extra lbs. So far, Owen’s lost 24lb, but his waistline isn’t all that’s reduced. His grocery bill has also come down by 50%!
If these intermittent fasting before and afters inspire you, let’s get on your way to your own success story. Tell us about your goals in our SIMPLE quiz. We’ll help you shift your fasting game into gear, steer you on what to eat, and help you get moving.
Can Intermittent Fasting Lead To Results In One Month?
For sure! In the first 30 days, intermittent fasting can lead to results like improvements in your sugar and fat metabolism, hormone levels, and sleep, plus benefits to your cardiovascular health.
Looking a little longer term, you can make significant inroads into losing weight and dropping body fat:
- Research shows it can take anywhere from two to ten weeks to lose between 7 and 11 lb on intermittent fasting. [8] That’s about 1 lb a week — a steady, safe, and sustainable rate of weight loss.
- Women who were overweight or living with obesity fasted for 6 months and lost 4% to 7% of visceral fat (aka belly fat that sits around your abnormal organs).
If you’re curious about how intermittent fasting can improve your health one, three, or six months from now and the results you could see whether you’re female or male, check out our guide on how long it takes for intermittent fasting to work.
Does weight loss vary based on age?
Research tells us that, when it comes to weight loss, intermittent fasting can lead to results for adults of all ages.
That said, different fasting schedules will work better at different stages of life. Finding the one that suits your lifestyle has a huge impact on the weight loss results you’ll get — a poor fit will lead to less consistency in following the schedule, and less consistency leads to fewer results!
We also don’t encourage fasting for anyone who is under the age of 18 or over the age of 80. Check out our guide to intermittent fasting at every age for help with choosing the right schedule for you, whatever age or stage you’re at.
Is exercise necessary?
Regular, effective, safe, and enjoyable exercise can certainly speed up the results of intermittent fasting and increase the health benefits you’ll experience across the board.
We go into in-depth in our guide to intermittent fasting and working out, but there are a couple highlights:
- Cardio training can help you burn more calories, drop body fat, get a smaller waist circumference, improve your stamina, and manage your hunger and cravings.
- Strength training can help you lose fat, increase your metabolic rate (so you burn more calories), manage your appetite, and both build and preserve muscle.
Each one of these things is valuable to anyone wanting to lose weight and improve their metabolic health. If you’re intermittent fasting and you want to see more progress, adding exercise help.
Why should you try intermittent fasting?
Because you might like it! And because intermittent fasting has reliable track record of health benefits that could bring extra health, vitality, and feel-goods to your life. For instance, fasting can:
- Help reduce your blood pressure, improve your insulin resistance, and lower your cholesterol
- Bing you better mental clarity and more energy
- Get you feeling confident about your body, comfortable with your weight, and in control of what you eat
Intermittent fasting has done all these things for SIMPLE users. Could it be a winner for you, too?
Losing weight vs. losing fat: what’s the difference?
It can be exciting when you begin fasting and watch the scale numbers start dropping. (Woohoo!) But the scale doesn’t tell you what kind of weight you’ve lost.
Most people want to lose fat, not muscle mass or water. A slow and steady weight loss journey with intermittent fasting means you’re more likely to lose body fat while maintaining the muscle that keeps you strong. Tracking your progress using before and after photos can help you see more clearly the kind of weight you’re losing on your intermittent fasting journey. For more on this, check out:
- Fat loss vs. weight loss
- How to burn fat effectively
Lessons from Krystal’s intermittent fasting weight loss journey
Krystal is a SIMPLE user who learned a lot along her fasting journey. Here are her top three tips.
Tip 1: Choose your best schedule – not someone else’s
Krystal experimented with various schedules until she found the right one. And she stays flexible. This helps her align intermittent fasting with everyday changes in her schedule.
“I alternate what kind of fasting I do. Sometimes, I stick with the traditional 16/8 fasting period and other times, I will do a longer time frame.
Her advice for beginners is this: “Start slow! Build up to longer fasts. Fasting muscle you have to exercise and grow. Challenge yourself, but stop when your body is ready!”
Tip 2: Use credible information
Not all the information you find online can be trusted. Poorly informed or false sources can give intermittent fasting a bad rep, which Krystal felt firsthand.
The biggest challenge is probably other people’s perceptions of fasting and overcoming the idea that no eating is dangerous or an eating disorder,” said Krystal. “I’ve found that having information about why I do what I do helps me stay focused.”
At SIMPLE, we couldn’t agree more, which is why all our blog and in-app content is expert-approved and backed by science—information you can trust.
Tip 3: Keep track of your health
Whether tracking your habits is your SIMPLE app or getting regular checkups with your doctor, keep track of how your weight and health indicators change.
You’ll likely discover some non-scale victories (NSVs) that are worth celebrating, too!
“I had my annual checkup a couple of months ago and di blood work,” explains Krystal. “I’m in perfect health!”
Having this kind of confirmation can help you stay motivated and confident in the choices you’re making.
SIMPLE’s expert opinion and final thoughts
You can lose weight and get results from intermittent fasting. And with the SIMPLE app to help, even more so!
- Your best fasting schedule match
- Access to credible information you can use to make practical changes
- Trackers to keep you aware of and on point with your food, movement, hydration, and progress
- Non-judgmental food feedback to help you build healthy eating habits
- Support when you need it from Avo, daily reminders, and expert articles that appear when you need them
… and more! Take our SIMPLE quiz and create your account today to get your hands on all this good stuff.
Important and final note: Intermittent fasting may not be for you, especially if you are under the age of 18 or year 80, pregnant, underweight, have a history of or an active eating disorder, take any medications, or have anemia. We recommend that you speak with your doctor and get their medical advice before making any changes to your eating habits and lifestyle.
Frequently asked questions about intermittent fasting results
Why is 16 hours the magic number for fasting?
16 hours is the magic number for fasting for some people. For others, it’s 14 or 18 or 12. Sixteen hours is a very common length of fast, and it’s been studied possibly more than others, so we have a lot of data on it. But there’s nothing magic about it. It’s just a number of hours that help people comfortably cut sufficient calories from their day, and it’s easier to get into ketosis (where you burn fat fuel) if you fast for 16-18 hours.
How many kg will I lose in water fasting?
We don’t recommend water fasting at all unless you do it under medical supervision. So, we’ll take a pass on this question and simply say — if you’re considering doing a water fast, talk to your doctor.
Can you do 16/8 intermittent fasting forever?
Yes, you can do 16/8 intermittent fasting forever if you find that it’s an easy way to shape how you eat every day and are happy with the results? So long as you’re giving your body all the nutrition it needs in your eight-hour eating window, you’re good to go for as long as you want!
