The FastDay Forum

I have kept going now for 5 weeks, but just wonder how much longer I can keep going without seeing any results

I feel like I have been playing with the same kilo now all this time and nothing is shifting. Here's my story:

Following the birth of my son 1 year ago I was keen to shift the weight. I easily lost all my pregnancy weight and a couple of pounds more whilst eating exactly what I wanted I got down to a comfortable size 12 but was keen to shift another stone to get me back to my pre children weight. So I tried fasting when my son was about 8 months old. It made me feel awful so decided to try again once i had weaned. I weaned my son at 10 months. I dropped from 4 feeds a day to 1 in about 4 weeks. I picked up running too. In that time I gained 10lbs and none of my trousers fit! I then started 5:2 and read lots of stories on this forum. My week goes like this. After a fast day l lose a kilo, then over the next 2 days I gain it back. After the next fast I lose it again. And so the pattern continues.

Just losing the incentive to keep going and feel I'm wasting my time and should do a 'proper' diet where I have to control what I eat every day. I am exercising plenty. Running three times a week and going to zumba twice. Rant over!

Looking for similar stories or incentive to keep going. So fed up of being this weight

Hi teb Well mine is in no way a similar situation at all, all I can say is absolutely NO diet ever worked for me hence the reason my BMI was over 44 when I began almost 6 months ago, now 3 stone lighter
So I'm saying this WOL is definitely working for me.
My only advice is if you're eating to your TDEE on non fastdays and 2x500-calorie fastdays then something is wrong deffo, I'm doing 4:3 so is this something you could fit in the extra fast, because my advice is to Mix it up a little so as to ''confuse '' your body or a couple of 16:8 days on top of the 5:2 sometimes the min-up kickstarts us into losing again.
Good. Luck + I hope someone else can give you some sensible tips.
Sue.

Sorry you're not seeing the results you want Teb. Some people do take a while to show loss while others seem only to think 5:2 to lose!

Have you put your details into the tracker? You can keep the info private or share with the forum. This will give you some idea of the calories you will need because although you can eat WHAT you want on this WOE you probably can't eat as much as you want - there is a difference.

Also take measurements everywhere on your body as you may lose ins/cms whilst not losing weight. I know you said your trousers have got tighter but you may lose elsewhere first. With all the exercise you could also be building muscle. And, if you are eating a high carb diet, that along with fluid retained for muscle repair could be one reason for your increased weight.

Hope your downward journey starts soon!

[Betsysgr8]

Check this thread the carorees posted topic1006.html Why do the scales show increase when I've been so good. You might find the answer in there.
Maybe 4:3 would work for you? Or do 5:2 and skip breakfast during the week? Perhaps you should calorie count on you normal days for a week or so, just to see where the 'extra' is coming from (my extra is beer, I know I'd lose faster without it, lol). Maybe cut back on carbs? There is a solution, just need to work out what yours is.

Hi and welcome:

It sounds like you may have a couple of problems.

First, your exercise may be hindering your weight loss. Here is why:
5-2-diet-chat-f6/topic6543.html

Second, you may be eating too much on your feast days. Here is what you need to know about the 'math'. 5-2-diet-chat-f6/topic6600.html

Good luck!

Thanks everyone! I'm just feeling so annoyed that I gained the extra 10lbs so easily and I was just kind of hoping that would fall off as easily to put me where I was 2 months ago. I am definitely not losing inches either. I probably overeat on some of my feast days and yes the weaning and exercising contribute too. I was supposed to have a fast day today but just feel so down about it all, that I didn't. I was hoping that this WOL would also avoid the need to calorie count so was hoping not to have to do that on my feast days. I am considering the options you have listed and 4:3 seems most appealing. I am off on holiday on Thursday for 2 weeks so not looking forward to the damage I might do whilst away. Not looking forward to getting into swimwear whilst away either and I have to go and buy some new clothes to fit as well. Grrr....

Thanks for listening!

Hi teb Well my advice is go away and Enjoy your holiday
Do the fasting in a better frame of mind on your return
Make your plans now to do 4:3 additionally if you can throw I a couple of 16:8 s. On the days after my fasts I'm not hungry at all so I skip breakfast then at lunchtime if I need to I eat a feta salad ( small amount of feta) I bring this I under 70 cals but if I can go all day I do then eat + drink whatever I want to regardless of how many calories, I actually use this most helpful tool on a Fri or as today Sunday I've not eaten all day and have got 3 course meal cooking and this wine uncorked. Don't know how many cals + don't care. However I do this on top of my 3 f/days
Only because I'm finding it so easy + it works + it fits into my life OK
I'm at home all day most days with all the temptations around me.
So Enjoy your holiday eating carefully + healthily then there won't be
To much damage to repair on your return Sue.

Hi Teb.
I now excatly how you feel. I've been doing 5:2 for 7 weeks now and I've lost 2lbs. I keep losing and then gaining the same 2lbs! I'm not bingeing on my non-fast days but I just can't seem to get beyond the 2lbs. That said, I'm going to stick to it and I'm monitoring every calorie I eat now. Last week I took a break from 5:2 and just had a low cal week- the result was that I lost 2lbs. Hopefully I'll manage to break beyond the 2lb this week. Best of luck and keep at it.

[carorees]

I think it is really worth logging every calorie for a week just to find out exactly where you are now with calories eaten. Once you know that you can think about why the weight is not dropping. It's a real pain to do, but once you know this, you can use the weight loss predictor tool to work out what you might expect to be seeing weight-loss wise and see if the predictor matches what you are seeing on the scales. If not, then we need to think about why that might be.

Here is the weightloss predictor tool: resources-links-f3/estimate-your-weight-loss-t8543.html

I found that tool a really helpful one - and it seems to be accurate for what I am eating too. Nice to be able to see where I might be at some point in the future!

Thank you everyone for your advice. This is such a supportive forum

Debris - it is so comforting to know I am not the only one so thanks for posting. It seems that everyone is posting great successes that I feel the only one it is not working for!

I think I will have to log calories for a week to see exactly where the calorie creep is coming in. I have also been interested in toying with 4:3 but then I read that the average weight loss is not much more so wonder if it is more hassle.

The reason I am most disappointed is because, I was hoping that this would be the answer I am looking for. It sounds so simple that to factor in other elements such as 4:3, 16:8, low carb, calorie counting changes it to be another diet like the rest. In fact I was so surprised to find so much talk about it. 2 days a week fasting is what I thought I signed up for LOl!

So, I go on holiday and am going to do my best to keep it as low carb as poss and then resume when I get back. Thanks again everyone!

[Betsysgr8]

Don't be disappointed about a week of calorie counting. Many of us did calorie count in the beginning not as much for the actual calories but to learn what is a proper portion. Plates seem to be so much bigger than the ones I used as a kid and when you put a proper portion on these large plates it looks quite tiny but it is a totally adequate amount to satiate.

Have fun on your holiday and good luck when you return.

The 2lb off, 2lb back on again is my experience too. I'm going to stick with it for a while, as I think it could have non diet health effects. Like you, I was lured by the 'don't have to calorie count on feed days' idea, and like you, realise now, it's not so simple. I don't eat masses on feed days, and when I have counted, maybe go 200 cals over my TDEE, so really, I should be losing weight! I've calorie counted for so many years on and off, I can more or less list the calories in most foods by now, and automatically count up whether I want to or not:)

I was losing/regaining the same few pounds during August. But I kept at it. In mid-August I also decided to give up alcohol for a bit. I've basically been alcohol free since (I think I've had one glass of wine). Also, on the day after my fast, if I am not hungry for breakfast, I skip it.

I weigh myself daily and was feeling like I wasn't making much progress. But what I began to see was that both my high and low weights were dropping.

So... I do recommend sticking with it and collecting more data. Yes, you may have to adjust your feed days so you don't go completely crazy. But with a few small adjustments you could get things on track and see some steady losses.

PS - I'm a runner and find that many people overeat quite a bit in response to exercise. This is a result of two things:
- for some folks the exercise stimulates more hunger, and
- it is so easy to feel you 'deserve' a treat after exercise and to eat back more calories than you burned doing the exercise in the first place. So you end up losing ground pretty quickly.