The FastDay Forum

Hi All,

Started the 5:2 diet Monday 20th May with a fasting day and had another fasting day yesterday (23.05.13).
I weighed in today (an I right in saying you weigh the morning after your second fast day??) and I have lost 8lbs?!?!?!

Really?!?! Obviously losing at that rate won't be healthy but is that initial weight loss correct i.e. water retention or something?!

Don't get me wrong.....seeing the scales this morning, I was amazed and really pumped to get under that 14 stone mark (I just wanna see a 13!!!!)

Do men tend to lose more initial weight than women?
My partner lost 3 and a half pounds which is great but she was kinda jealous about my stats lol.

Any advice on initial weight loss would be great!

Hi All,

Started the 5:2 diet Monday 20th May with a fasting day and had another fasting day yesterday (23.05.13).
I weighed in today (an I right in saying you weigh the morning after your second fast day??) and I have lost 8lbs?!?!?!

Really?!?! Obviously losing at that rate won't be healthy but is that initial weight loss correct i.e. water retention or something?!

Don't get me wrong.....seeing the scales this morning, I was amazed and really pumped to get under that 14 stone mark (I just wanna see a 13!!!!)

Do men tend to lose more initial weight than women?
My partner lost 3 and a half pounds which is great but she was kinda jealous about my stats lol.

Any advice on initial weight loss would be great!

hey first timer - if you've got a lot of weight to shift (and previously you've been eating large portions or high-calorie foods), i wouldn't be surprised to see a large drop the first week. i read elsewhere here that it will be a lot of water initially. it will slow down. keep up the good work!

Hello FirstTimer and welcome to the forum! As badtzmaru5 has said, weight loss in the first week is a lot more than the long run, though your case does seem to be extreme - in a good way of course!

If you join our Progress Tracker (which is a really good idea anyway) you can see our forum stats and these include a graph showing average losses week-by-week which you can also filter for people of your age/sex/BMI/diet-style. This confirm the much greater initial losses. Long run weight loss is somewhat less than 1lb/week (a bit more if you are heavier to start with).

The extra initial weight loss is water though there might also be some other temporary factors. One of these is that by weighing just after a fast day you are weighing when your gut is at its emptiest. I always found my weight went up by 2-3 lbs between ending my 2nd fast day on Friday morning and starting my next on Monday morning, so I planned for that in setting my target weight.

Great start anyway (also for your partner) - keep up the good work!

I've had a large initial drop, as well. Some of it will be water, some of it will be fat. By the way, why do we keep dissing losing water weight? It still weighs on your back and knees, and bloats you. I'm delighted to lose water weight.

Anyway, I weigh myself every day. As you would expect, the weight loss is most dramatic after a fast day, then stabilizes a bit until the next fast. I'm not sure that I'm a good example, as I've really changed my eating habits over the past week. The first two days I was rather indulgent, but when the weight kept coming off, I started eating healthier food, skipping snacks between meals and not eating after 8:30 p.m. Then the weight still kept coming off.

I fully expect the weight loss to slow down to a pound or two a week. I'd say, just enjoy that you've had a splendid start on your journey to better health, and accept that the loss will slow, possibly dramatically, at some point.

I've just finished my first week and I've had the same thing, 9lb for me I think, most of it after the first fast oddly enough..... Congrats to you!

I lost 6 lbs in my first week, which has settled to approx a 1.5 drop the last 2 weeks. (and like my teachers always said.. I could of tried harder !)

Thanks for the replies guys. I did think the initial weight loss was higher, but i wasn't expecting 8lbs!! Its great nonetheless.

I have 3 normal days now, one day with a potential BBQ (weather permitting). I don't expect much of a loss this time next week!!

I've had a large initial drop, as well. Some of it will be water, some of it will be fat. By the way, why do we keep dissing losing water weight? It still weighs on your back and knees, and bloats you. I'm delighted to lose water weight.

sorry, i don't mean to diss the water loss, but to point out that 8 lbs is not alarming if you consider a lot of it might be water. which is a bit easy come, easy go..

I've had a large initial drop, as well. Some of it will be water, some of it will be fat. By the way, why do we keep dissing losing water weight? It still weighs on your back and knees, and bloats you. I'm delighted to lose water weight.

sorry, i don't mean to diss the water loss, but to point out that 8 lbs is not alarming if you consider a lot of it might be water. which is a bit easy come, easy go..

No apologies necessary; it was meant half-humorously. I should have put a smiley in, but I'm not really an emoticon type of gal. I just always feel that water is treated as fat's poorer, uglier sister. When you've been as overweight as I have been for as long as I have been, just about any weight loss is welcome.

I also have some issues about the validity of the concept of water weight, but that's a whole other kettle of fish.