How Much Weight Can You Lose Fasting? Real Weight Loss Results

Are you curious about how much weight and belly fat you can lose with intermittent fasting?

Intermittent fasting has become one of the most popular weight loss dieting methods. Countless people have had incredible weight loss results from using it. It’s a proven way, backed by science, to lose a lot of weight quickly.1,2

While fasting seems like a promising way to lose a lot of weight in a short time… how much weight can you actually lose? And is it safe? Your results will also vary depending on the fasting protocols you’re following.

Discover how much weight you can lose through fasting, whether it’s for a day, three days, a week, two weeks, or even a month. You’ll get a clear understanding of how quickly intermittent fasting can deliver results.

Plus, you’ll get the best intermittent fasting protocols to maximize your weight loss results.

Will Fasting Target Belly Fat? The Surprising Truth

The best part of intermittent fasting is its ability to help you lose weight as well as burn stubborn belly fat.3 Belly fat is hard to lose because it’s your body’s “piggy bank” of stored energy, saving it for a rainy day.

Your body will not want to burn off belly fat (or other stubborn body fat areas) unless it has to. This is a survival mechanism humans have in case of famine when food is scarce for days or weeks. But nowadays, we’d much rather not have this survival mechanism.

Your body first prioritizes incoming calories, carbs, and sugars for fuel. After that, your body mostly uses glycogen (stored carbs in your muscles and liver) for fuel. Only after that does your body really start burning its fat stores for fuel.4

If you’re always eating throughout the day, your body won’t even have a chance to start burning fat stores.

Intermittent fasting gives your body a break from constant food intake. Allowing it to deplete glycogen stores and begin burning belly fat for energy.

Many people start to see their belly fat shrink within the first week. Your results will depend on the fasting protocol used. And what else you’re consuming during your feeding window.

Make sure to download my “Food List Cheat Sheet” for a complete list of the best foods to eat to lose belly fat (and the worst ones to avoid):

CLICK HERE: Get the Food List Cheat Sheet âž”

16-Hour Fast: How Much Weight You’ll Lose

The 16/8 method for intermittent fasting gets great results for most. It’s called the ‘magic number’ for fasting because it’s easy to follow and delivers results.5

Your body begins to burn through fat stores around 12-16 hours after your last meal.

It usually takes about 12 hours of fasting for your body to burn through glycogen stores. After then, your body will switch to burning fat for fuel.

After 16 hours of fasting, your body will be in a mild state of ketosis. This is when fat-burning becomes your body’s primary source of energy. To enter fat-burning ketosis faster, eat a low-carb meal as your last meal before fasting.

Exercising during your fast helps deplete glycogen stores faster. Since your body needs fuel for exercise, it’ll burn through glycogen stores faster. This allows your body to start burning fat stores sooner.

You can feel your body burning belly fat for fuel as hunger levels increase. You may also experience a boost in energy or focus as your body starts making ketones from fat stores. Bloating will also decrease as your body relies on fat stores for fuel, making you feel “lighter.

Tip: Don’t just weigh yourself to measure your results to know if you’re losing belly fat. The scale could throw off your progress tracking. This is because you could burn fat, build muscle, or have water weight fluctuations.

Instead, use a measuring tape around your abdomen to track your belly fat loss. Use a Smart Scale to measure and track your body fat reduction.

How Much Weight You Can Lose Fasting 1 Day Week

Fasting for a full day once a week, or 24-hour fasting, is likely to result in only a small weekly weight loss. But for some people, it’s easier not to eat one day a week than to count calories all the time.

With a full-day fast, your weekly calorie intake will be reduced by 1500 to 2500 calories. In general, you have to cut 3500 calories to lose a pound of weight.

You shouldn’t expect to lose a ton of weight by fasting one day a week. But it can help you lose weight over the long run. Especially when combined with calorie reduction, eating healthier foods, and increasing physical activity.

You have to be careful not to overeat during the rest of the week. You could unconsciously eat more since your body wants to make up for those lost during the 24-hour fast.

Many also start to experience additional health benefits after fasting for one week:

  • Lower Blood Pressure
  • Lower Insulin Levels
  • Increased HGH Levels
  • Improved Blood Sugar Control
  • Reduced Inflammation
  • Improved Cellular Repair
  • Improved Gut Health
  • Improved Brain Health

3 Day Fast: How Much Weight You’ll Lose

With a 3-day water fast, you can lose 5 to 10 pounds following a pure water fast over the three days.

But a pure water fast is going to be a lot more difficult, especially if you’re a beginner. It’s better to work your way up to a 3-day water fast with single 24-hour fasts. This is because most will struggle with the hunger pains, low energy, and lack of sleep.

For Faster Results Use:

Alternate Day Fasting (ADF) is a method of intermittent fasting when you have one day of fasting followed by a day of normal eating. With ADF fasting, you consume just 500-600 calories on your fasting day. ADF has been found to be very effective for weight loss vs calorie restriction diets.6

It’s best to eat low-carb foods with ADF. You want to keep insulin levels low during your fasting days to enter a fat-burning ketogenic state. Studies suggest ADF can help to lower blood pressure too.7

On your feeding days, you would eat normally, trying your best not to overeat. Your body can tempt you to eat more to make up for the lost calories. With Alternate Day Fasting, you could expect to drop up to 5 pounds over a three day period.

16/8 intermittent fasting is more sustainable for most, so this could give you better results in the long run. I wouldn’t expect to lose much weight just from doing 16/8 fasting over a three day period. But you could expect to lose 1-3 pounds in 3 days of 16/8 fasting.

7 Day Fast: How Much Weight You’ll Lose

Most people lose 10 to 20 pounds over a 7-day water fast. Prolonged fasting with just water can cause you to lose a lot more lean muscle mass since lack of protein can cause muscle loss.

Extended periods of fasting with just water for seven days generally isn’t a great idea for beginners. You should first work up to and complete a 3-day water fast before trying a 7-day water fast later. You’ll also lose lean muscle mass following a 7-day water fast, with less weight loss from fat mass stores.

If you’re following Alternate Day Fasting, then you can expect to lose 4-8 pounds over seven days. I’d recommend following Alternate Day Fasting instead of a pure water fast. It’ll be more sustainable for most to do over the seven days.

Keep in mind you’re also losing water weight as glycogen stores deplete. Glycogen binds water with one gram of glycogen holding 3g of water. So, as your body uses glycogen for energy, it’ll naturally flush out water weight.8

If you’re following the 16/8 intermittent fasting protocol, you can expect to lose 1-5 pounds over the seven days. Some of the weight loss will be water weight, but you can also expect to lose 1-2 pounds of body fat.

2 Weeks of Fasting: How Much Weight You’ll Lose

If you’re a beginner, then Alternate Day Fasting can help you lose about 6-12 pounds of weight over two weeks.

I definitely do not recommend doing a 2-week water fast. But instead, try Alternate Day Fasting if you’re looking to lose more weight in a shorter amount of time.

The amount of weight you lose will also depend on the foods you eat the rest of the time and your activity level. The healthier you eat throughout the two weeks, the more weight you’ll lose. The more physically active you are, the more calories you’ll burn and lose more weight.

If you have more weight to lose to begin with, then you’ll lose more over the two weeks. Preserving muscle mass is another benefit of Alternate Day Fasting over a strict water fast.9 This not only keeps your metabolism higher but also tones and shapes your body better.

16/8 fasting protocol will produce less results than Alternate Day Fasting over two weeks. You can only expect to lose about 3-6 pounds over two weeks using 16/8 intermittent fasting.

Now this may not sound like a whole lot of weight loss. But if you keep progressing at this rate, then you’ll get terrific weight loss results in the coming months. Find an intermittent fasting that works for you and that you can do in the long run.

16/8 is also much more sustainable than even Alternate Day Fasting. This will be a better fasting schedule to stick with if you’re having trouble with Alternate Day Fasting.10

One Month of Fasting: Weight Loss to Expect

Over 30 days, you can expect to lose up to 15 pounds using Alternate Day Fasting.

This depends on how much weight you have to lose starting off. The more weight you have to lose, then it’s generally easier for your body to start getting rid of it.

With Alternate Day Fasting, you’ll only be consuming 500-600 calories per day, every other day, for a month. This can lead to a significant average calorie deficit. Assuming you’re not overeating on your feeding days, then this average daily deficit over 30 days will be 500-1000 calories.

I wouldn’t expect to lose more than 10 pounds using the 16/8 intermittent fasting method. You won’t create as big of a calorie deficit following this method, but it’s much more sustainable for a lot.

Keep in mind that your results will vary and depend on other factors. This includes:

  • Your Metabolism
  • Starting Weight
  • Foods You’re Eating During Your Feeding Times
  • Activity Level
  • Sleep Quality
  • Hormones

Fasting can be a great way to kickstart and adhere to a simple schedule for losing weight. Many people find it easier than counting calories all day since you’re just restricting the times you’re allowed to eat.

And if it works for you in the long run, then it’ll be a much more sustainable practice than cutting calories daily. Be sure to use these drinks during your fasting period to increase results.

I recommend adding C8-MCTs to your morning coffee when fasting to kickstart ketogenic fat-burning. Your body converts the C8-MCTs into ketones, helping to flip the “metabolic switch” to burn fat for fuel:

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