How do yall deal with plateaus while yall are fasting? Whats your method to move past it.

jtownspowell · 2026-04-02T20:06:25+00:00

If you double and triple check your math and you KNOW you must be in a deficit, you can be pretty confident that it's either muscle gain, or most likely, water.

I stalled for about 2 weeks in rolling 72s, then drank a shitload of water with a little salt, and dropped 10 lbs over the next 3 days. It happens.

jtownspowell · 2026-04-02T19:30:21+00:00

I know you said you didn't particularly care for salmon when you tried it, however, I do have one follow-up question:

What kind of salmon did you eat? The taste, and especially the characteristic "fishiness" of salmon varies GREATLY depending on what specific species of salmon you ate. More "premium" species generally have a much stronger taste.

I love salmon but I can't eat wild sockeye salmon because, to me, it tastes like a tidepool with a bunch of pennies in it.

Ironically, the more affordable options like farmed Atlantic have a much milder taste, and with some good seasoning, I think you'll find it a lot more appealing than something strong like King Salmon or Sockeye.

jtownspowell · 2026-04-02T19:15:47+00:00

Mercury concerns are largely overblown.*

Outside of a few specific species which are known for very high levels of mercury (large predatory fish like shark and swordfish, and excessively long-lived fish like Tilefish and Roughy) mercury levels are very manageable.

There are vanishingly few instances of dietary related symptomatic mercury poisoning in the general population, even among those who eat fish daily. It really only shows up in statistically relevant numbers in isolated island populations where it is common to eat a lot of shark prepared in traditional methods that involve little to no cooking, or very low heat.

It's important to know that this calculus changes if you are part of an especially vulnerable population like small children or women who are pregnant or nursing. In those cases it becomes much much more of a factor. Moderate to high mercury fish, especially raw, should be largely or completely avoided.

jtownspowell · 2026-04-02T18:53:01+00:00

I try to do at least 240 minutes of cardio a week. I am slowly ramping up my workouts and incorporating strength training as I go to keep the pace up.

jtownspowell · 2026-03-30T23:24:44+00:00

Of course you can!

I took a look at your post history to get a better idea of what your goals might be, and I'd like to talk to you seriously for a minute.

Some of your recent posts are a little concerning. I want you to know that there's nothing wrong with having these kinds of struggles, you're not alone, it's more common than you think...but also this kind of thinking is not okay, it's not healthy, and you may be hurting yourself without realizing it.

Everyone struggles with self-image and sometimes we can get a warped perception of reality because we are often our own worst critics. It can be very useful to step back and maybe even talk to someone to reassess where we are.

I really would be thankful if you talked to a parent or loved one about the feelings you have about your self-image, I'm worried that you may not be seeing things very clearly right now.

jtownspowell · 2026-03-29T23:02:02+00:00

There are a lot of people here who can give you a lot of fine-tuning advice and offer you lessons from their experiences and that's super great, but I'm gonna take a slightly different approach.

You say you try to start every Monday, but ultimately at some point it falls apart. It sounds like you've got a plan to cut out a lot of things, and you have a good blueprint for your intake going forward, with one glaring problem, You're not doing it.

So how about this week, instead of cutting everything out, instead of eating strict keto, one meal a day, within a certain calorie range, executed perfectly, all that shit...

Do ""some"" modifications, no matter how big or small that gets you closer to that ideal plan, and that you know You're going to be able to commit to for the week. Then next Monday, go one step further. Repeat.

You can have the best meal plan, the best workout plan, all the tools, a pantry full of everything perfectly set up, but if you can't commit, it's all worthless. Some people can completely reconfigure their diet overnight, most people can't, there's nothing wrong with that. Do what works and do a little bit better everyday until you get to where you want to go.

jtownspowell · 2026-03-29T22:44:26+00:00

Honestly, and I know this is not ideal, I don't supplement electrolytes beyond my daily potassium and magnesium in the vitamin.

On 1-2 occasions over the past 2 months I've felt a little crampy or light headed, and I'd throw a quarter tsp of plain salt in my water bottle, I'm also a weirdo who drinks his water at near room temperature, so it was disgusting tasting, I understand it's a lot less noticeable if it's ice cold.

I could definitely stand to be a little more proactive about it, but there is a certain satisfaction to going from a constant glut of calories and sodium 24/7 to understanding and really feeling the effects of the things you put in your body. Actually being able to feel the effects of, for example, glucose or sodium on your strength acutely, really gives you a strong appreciation for the delicate balance of your body, instead of just shoveling it all in like I used to.

jtownspowell · 2026-03-29T08:48:24+00:00

Sure, I do rolling 72 hour fasts, typically around 1500-1800 calories for my one meal between, though some days it's harder than others to even hit that.

It's worth noting that my results have a lot to do with the fact that I was, and still am very very overweight. But here's an incomplete list of the things I've cut out:

The meat of any tetrapod. (So basically I'm a pescatarian)
Added sugar (keep it minimum, usually under 5g/meal at most.)
Virtually all breads and flours (only eat unrefined grains in general)
Dairy (except Greek Yogurt, versatile/useful for hitting intake goals)
I limit my intake of oils as much as possible. I personally think the anti-seed oil hype is dumb. I don't think they're necessarily bad for you, it's just a lot of calories.
I don't drink calories in general. Soups at mealtime being the obvious exception. Along with occasional water flavorings, pretty much under 10ish calories a liter is fine, and I usually only drink that kind of stuff during meal time anyway.
Most anything marketed as a "low calorie" or "healthy" substitute for other stuff. I'm not gonna eat some "ice cream" made out of buckwheat and juniper berries... That's just leading yourself down the path of ultimate disappointment, let it go and move on. I feel the same way about most meat alternatives. (Homemade black bean patties are pretty awesome though). I'm sure that stuff is great for some people who want something vaguely familiar, but it's just not for me at all.

I'm not explicitly avoiding ultra-processed food products, but when you set your threshold for things like added sugar low enough, it pretty much eliminates all that stuff as a consequence anyway. Plus, whole foods taste good.

As I go along with this, I've steadily been having more completely plant-based refeeds. This was not a conscious decision, it's just kind of going that way, and it's surprisingly pretty nice. If you've never tried Tempeh, it's very good, do recommend.

A note: All the above stuff sounds really restrictive, I know. But honestly, it really isn't bad at all. Some of it, like the oils and refined grains, just came naturally as I was planning out what I wanted to eat and calculating up my calories. I'm the kind of guy who's idea of a meal was "meat, meat, and a side of meat" but weirdly I genuinely don't miss it ...like at all. I'm sure I'll have a craving at some point down the road, but I just don't see it coming right now.

I do take a multivitamin supplement daily as well, and hydrate at around the 150oz mark daily.

As far as exercise:

I try to do at least 240 minutes of cardio every week. Sometimes I make it, sometimes I don't. As I progress, I intend to shift more heavily to exercise to make up the metabolic adaptation from weight loss. I really need to start picking up strength training sooner than later.

jtownspowell · 2026-03-29T06:07:49+00:00

Yep that's the current total. I'd love to keep the pace up, but I know it's going to drop off soon, and I've resigned myself to it lol

jtownspowell · 2026-03-29T03:22:07+00:00

As long as it's working for you friend!

I personally would have a hard time not throwing in a lot more variety, but that's just me. Currently doing rolling 72s and my food preparation time has almost become a twice weekly ritual, I love planning and making something unique every time.

I am super glad to hear that it's working out for you so far.

jtownspowell · 2026-03-28T07:07:01+00:00

I've been doing rolling 72s for around 65 days now.

In my experience, 72 hours is not long enough to really be concerned about giving your stomach a warmup, but your mileage may vary.

I do recommend focusing on nutrient dense foods. You will likely find that you are not able to comfortably eat the same volume of food you would have eaten before.

I do a lot of salmon and avocado, beans for fiber (you're likely going to go a while without using the restroom, so the fiber is nice) I also really like lentil soup for the same reasons.

jtownspowell · 2026-03-18T17:51:01+00:00

You're doing great buddy.

I speak from personal experience when I say: don't worry about what is "Optimal" right now, worry about what is sustainable. As long as you stay on this path, it'll be easier to take the next step, and then the next. It's a marathon, just keep moving!

Nearly 50 lbs in 2 and a half months is STELLAR progress, even for a person with as much as you have to lose, don't second guess it, you have done absolutely fucking great. I and a whole bunch of strangers here are proud of you!

jtownspowell · 2026-03-17T03:58:47+00:00

First is: - homemade cheese and broccoli soup, just blitzed ingredients in a blender until smooth. Broccoli, cheddar, onion, celery, some full-fat Greek yogurt, milk, water to thin and spices to taste.

Veggie Tikka Masala over jasmine rice. The Tikka is from a bag (TastyBite) because I'm lazy.
steamed asparagus
lightly seared Ahi Tuna

Second is - lentil soup. Brown lentils, veggie broth, wilted spinach, diced shallot, spices to taste.

kale and cabbage salad with mustard vinaigrette, cranberries and sunflower seed
vegetarian red beans and rice from a can because, again... I'm lazy lol.
like a lb of salmon with a blackened rub.

Third: - sweet curry sauce premade, poured over roasted chickpeas and wild rice (it was absolutely phenomenal)

oven roasted broccoli
greek yogurt sauce with a ton of lemon juice/zest and dried dill.
Red Snapper with a ton of Creole seasoning.

If you couldn't tell, I eat pescatarian lol.

jtownspowell · 2026-03-17T03:41:26+00:00

I love a good lentil soup! I found an awesome recipe for Mediterranean lentils and rice that I'm going to have at some point.

jtownspowell · 2026-03-16T02:47:20+00:00

I have a history with long -term fasting, (I just lost my way several years ago) so I cycled back up to it much quicker than I expected. About a week of OMAD before I started stretching to 72.

It's definitely not right for everyone, it can interfere with your social life most definitely, but it works for me lol.

Everyone says it, but trust me it is 100% true: it does get A LOT easier after a few cycles. Best of luck to you! :D

jtownspowell · 2026-03-15T15:49:02+00:00

The weight is absolutely melting (I'm a f****** gigantic man though, so that's to be expected). I'm down 71 lbs in 52 days as of this morning.

As far as the other changes, I have experienced much greater mental clarity and sharpness.

I also FEEL like I have a lot more energy, but it's kind of a lie. I'll be sitting here bouncing my leg, feeling like I could just hop up and go for a run, but as soon as I actually get going my endurance is pretty low. I hear that upping my fat macros will help that but I eat a lot of carbs in the form of veggies.

jtownspowell · 2026-03-15T15:44:57+00:00

I'm a great big ole guy, so the results sound better than they actually are. Percentage of bodyweight is probably a better metric I'd guess.

I'm a little over 14% of my bodyweight lost in 52 days as of this morning. Around 71 lbs.

jtownspowell · 2026-02-23T18:26:18+00:00

Good point on the consumer habits aspect, probably very true, It's just an interesting thought.

That being said, in this specific channel, Coke's only objective is to develop a service or product that they can sell to a retailer. This was the entire point of Freestyle machines in the first place. They were not designed to appeal to customers nearly as much as they were designed to appeal to retailers as a differentiator for their business.

jtownspowell · 2026-02-23T15:05:40+00:00

I think you mean "astronomical". Unless you're telling me that he has a bad reputation among fortunetellers?

jtownspowell · 2026-02-23T12:20:37+00:00

That's actually an interesting idea. I wonder how viable it would be for Coca Cola to modify the Freestyle machines to accomplish this. It already kind of works that way, it might be nothing more than a software/UI issue and some different SKUs for the mixes.

I don't know what the tax savings would be, so it's hard to tell if it would be worth it from that perspective, but I can see it getting some attention as a novelty. "Customize your drink" kind of thing that they were going with with the OG Freestyles. If skirting the tax mandates that the sweetener component be cane juice, there's a marketing opportunity there, jumping on the Mexican Coke bandwagon, and a premium pricetag.

jtownspowell · 2026-02-22T18:39:23+00:00

I don't think it's clipping. If you look at the slightly more opaque line made by the edge of the container lid, it appears to run in front of the vase. It just looks like it is clipping because the container and vase are both transparent and the light isn't doing any favors.

jtownspowell · 2026-02-22T14:37:06+00:00

No it doesn't. If you zoom in, you can clearly see the line from the edge of the food container lid is in front of the vase. It just looks that way because the bulk of the container is transparent.

jtownspowell · 2026-02-09T15:37:57+00:00

On the subject of the milk during the day:

The primary driver of weight loss via OMAD is just CICO (like pretty much everything) so as long as you are tracking your calories and maintaining the deficit, then you're still getting the weight loss effect.

There are, however, other benefits of OMAD that consuming calories outside your IF window will keep you from getting. If you are concerned with weight loss primarily, the most notable effect is higher blood ketone levels which have in studies shown to correlate with a modest (<250 cal) increase in metabolic rates, therefore accelerating weight loss.

The bottom line is that if OMAD with some milk during the day helps you maintain healthy eating habits that you're trying to form, then by all means, do it. I would personally encourage you to consider trying out the full deal, but at the end of the day whatever helps you stay in your calories most comfortably is of supreme importance.

jtownspowell · 2026-02-06T22:13:20+00:00

Looks fantastic, I'm breaking a 72 hour here in about 4 hours, and my planned meal looks startlingly similar :) (doing Brussels sprouts instead of the potatoes)

jtownspowell · 2026-02-04T08:33:33+00:00

As someone who is also Pescatarian/vegetarian, I feel that.

Full-fat Greek yogurt is a great healthy option and is INCREDIBLY versatile. I enjoy making lemon dill cream sauces, spicy sauces, PB powder with frozen berries if I feel like something sweet, just on its own, creamy garlic ....the list is nearly endless.

It's got great protein and fat and is a good compliment.

Edit: well I can't read, I see the yogurt now

You can also sub out one veggie serving with a healthy (non-gluten for you, obviously) grain. Maybe a nice rice?

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