The FastDay Forum

I just looked back at my history and discovered I've only lost 1/2 pound since August 9. This after steadily losing since I started 5:2 in March - a total of about 15 pounds. I'm not giving up. I write this at the end of a long fast day that included about 340 calories.

But my theory is that this current weight is really the weight that my body wants to be at. It's in the normal BMI range. I've never been skinny, at least not since I was 12. No, I don't want to be skinny, but I know that I would both look better and feel better another 6 pounds lighter. (skinny would be another 10 to 15 pounds)

So now I guess it's mind over matter. (Is that an expression in the UK as well?)

I have the same problem Wendy.. I've not really lost much since I've been on 5:2. One week I'm back down at 11stone and the next I've put on 3-4lb. But something is making me stick to it! And a few people now have said I've lost weight. I'm sure you look great
Lil

I have been on 5:2 since April, lost about 3kg and then nothing (my BMI is fairly low to start with). I got the @#$# with it and went onto 16/8 for a couple of weeks in rebellion. My husband announced he was ready for 5:2 so back on I went. You know what? I lost 2kg right away!! I have heard some others say that changing things around seems to help jolt the plateau. Worked for me plus I get tired of the routine and need a change. My plan is to keep doing that every 6 weeks or so. Not only to lose those final kgs but also to have a break.

[janeg]

I can sympathise wendyjane. My loss is glacially slow- about 1/2 lb a month if that.
However, I look much better and am still reducing centimeter/inch wise.
How's your waist to height ratio? That's a good indicator of healthy weight.
Are you measuring? The tape measure can be kinder than the scales.
Mixing things up does seem to have results- folk have slipped in 16:8 or an extra half day or had a wee bit of a splurge and kick started things.
Maybe I should do that too....
Hope things start shifting for you- weight wise or how you feel about it.

Yes do change things around a bit. I stopped 5:2 for about 8 weeks, gradually introduced 16:8 which was great and now back to 5:2 ...I put on about 5lbs during the break and I am now on the downward trend again at 11st 5lb ...so lost just over 7lb in 5 weeks so very happy...change and confuse the body!

I feel I should add that I didn't put on weight in 16:8. I learned that I actually don't like having breakfast so that was a bonus and it made 5:2 fasting tons easier. I don't feel like I am fasting now until lunch time! Yeeah!

Janeg, my waist is just about half my height. But I've always been a "pear", so I'm not so concerned about the measurements. Also, after a c-section and a hysterectomy 20 years later, I'm convinced that the "flab" around my waist is more excess skin than fat. But I could be fooling myself...

Hi wendyjane well I was going to advise you to mix it up a bit but basically someone beat me to it
Can you maybe do a 4:3 or a couple of 16:8 on top of 5:2
Shock your body to make it release its little bit of fat left, mixing it up
Worked for me when stuck. Sue.

Thank you all. I typically eat between about 11 AM and 7 PM, so that's not something I can add. And 4:3 just seems so extreme (and harder to fit into a normal "let's go out for lunch, honey!" kind of life style).

However, stay tuned... Friday morning I'll post my weekly results here, and if there's still no change (every week I think, surely today...) I'll switch things around and get more serious. I so want this whole process to be over before 2014. Then...6:1 for life!

I'm in the same situation as you wendyjane,except I am not in the normal BMI range! I had been losing appoximately 3/4 lb a week since I started last November which is great for me. We went to a big weekend party in August followed by 2 weeks holiday where I didn't do 5:2 and drank alcohol every day which I don't normally do. When we got home I was delighted that I had only gained 0.2 lb which was 1lb more than before the party. However that was a false dawn and since then my weight has been bobbing up and down and I am the same as I was at the beginning of August. I think this has been post holiday adjustment ( change of fluid balance associated with more carb intake that usual and different 'toilet habits' while on holiday) and hope that this weeks loss is the beginning of a gentle downward trend again. Have you been on holiday since the beginning of August? I get the impression that several people have stalled a bit over the holiday season. If not it may just be that as you so near your target you need to glide down to it gently. I am sure if you keep going you will get there in the end.
As to your 'tummy problems' Carorees in her latest blog talks about wearing the correct clothes to shape up the 'unsupported tissues' . I don't know how old you are. I am in my early 60s and have come to the conclusion that my naked body will never again be a thing of beauty ( if it ever was) but as I lose weight I will just have to cover it up with beautiful clothes

Yes, I'm about the same on the scales as I was before my hols in August, but I think that I'm just glad not to have put any weight back on. However, if I don't start losing again soon I am going to start feeling very frustrated!!

As the others said, mix it up a bit.

I was on (what felt like) an endless plateau from about June and then on 14 Sept I decided to switch to low-carb 16:8. I don't mean to reignite the YesCarb/NoCarb controversy but it does seem to be working although it may be too early to tell. Part of the problem is my weight fluctuates so wildly on this WOL that half the time I don't know whether I'm coming or going. I think I've lost 2lbs in the last 10 days.

Best part of it is that I feel so well doing low-carb and I'm finding 16:8 everyday very easy. I don't think I can sustain the low-carb bit indefinitely (is there life after pizza? ) but if it'll blast those last stubborn lbs off, that'll do me nicely for the present. I think I might extend the 16 hour fasting window for some days in due course but preferably not go back to 500 cals if I can avoid it.

Good luck to those of you still in Plateau-Land - there is hope!

[carorees]

It might be interesting for you to see what the new weightloss predictor tool says you "should" be losing for the amount of calories you're eating. It tells you what you might expect to weigh up to a year from now if you continue eating the calories you are now. And you can see what effect dropping a few cals per day might have.

Here's the thread describing how to use the tool and a link to it. resources-links-f3/estimate-your-weight-loss-t8543.html

On the way down again! SOOO excited this morning to weigh an entire pound less than I did last week. Tracker says I'll reach goal first week in December.

@carorees, thanks, but since I only count calories on fast days, I can't really use a tool like that. But part of my frustration over the last month and a half of no progress is that I don't believe I'm eating more on non-fasting days than I was for the first 5 months of 5:2. If that's true, my progress should have been steady. Well, I'm not too concerned. I'll be done soon enough. My biggest goal is to switch to 6:1 by the end of the year. And it looks like I'm on track

And another pound last week! Off the plateau for sure! Goal weight in November!
...can you tell I'm excited?