The FastDay Forum

I have never been in a forum before but I am close to tossing in the towel!
Today is my 13th fasting day and at the most I might have lost one kilo! Hard to say since I bought new digital scales early on.
What am I doing wrong? My husband has lost about four kilos. We fast on Mondays and Thursdays so this means that after dinner on Sunday night, I only consume around 460 calories until Tuesday breakfast. I have never cheated.
My bmi is about 21.5 but I have a light skeleton and wobbly, fat legs. This is my all time, non pregnant weight. I am 57, do yoga twice a week and walk about three times a week. I don't know if this is relevant but my insulin like growth factor one level was only nine to start with. All the other test results were good too. My GP isn't up on the fast diet so no help there.
Any advice?

Hi and welcome:

What is your TDEE? This might help: 5-2-diet-chat-f6/topic6600.html

Sorry to hear this but it happens a lot..i didnt start to lose til i had been IF ing for five weeks..not even one kilo..kept seemingly losing ounces then putting back on,ditto a few cms off waist
The following 20 ish weeks ive lost almost two stone..so its worth being patient
When you know what your TDEE is,make sure on feed days you eat under or to it and hopefully you will see results and not want to throw the towel in! X

[carorees]

Hi there and welcome

Sorry you're not making progress. Um, I notice from your profile that your BMI is already on the low side, so I would expect weight loss to be very slow. Is your waist measurement (taken a bit above your belly button) less than half your height? If so, you're already a healthy size. Unfortunately, the fat doesn't always come off from where we want. Sometimes reducing carbohydrates in the diet can help shift tummy fat but I don't know of a way to move fat from the thighs apart from general toning.

However, having said all that, I would say don't give up yet. Several forum members who started 5:2 without a lot of weight to lose found they didn't see a change on the scales for many weeks. If you think that natural variations in our weight due to water content and undigested food can be as big as 2kg or more and with your low BMI you may only lose 250g per week, it could potentially take more than 5 weeks just to move beyond the natural variation. Have you measured everywhere? Often the tape measure shows a change when the scales don't.

I'd suggest sticking it out for a bit longer, but also consider how many calories you're eating on non fast days compared with what you're predicted to need. You can find out your predicted calorie needs by inputting your data into the progress tracker.

Good luck and keep in touch!

Hi @de Hane And Welcome
Sorry your results have been so poor and I don't think I'm going to be much help but there have been many members who hav'nt seen a loss for many weeks then it kicks in.
However for me reducing my carb I intake kickstarted my weightloss again, but did you measure? because sometimes it shows first with the trusted tape rather than the unfriendly scales, in answer to your question you're doing nothing wrong and you also know that with a healthy BMI you will always struggle, I can understand your frustration and I certainly hope things work out for you because this WOL Works and is truly the best especially with the health benefits you will gain even if you're not losing weight.

I can understand the big thighs. I have been cursed with big thighs since I was a child, my cruel childhood name was 'thuderthighs'. They came in handy when I was sporty, but they are the bane of my life now. My waist is slimming down really nicely, but I have to stay in trousers that are way too big on the waist because the thighs are too big.
I am hoping that sessions in the gym to tone my thighs will help, but I am pretty worried that I will end up with a body builders thighs and small boobs. Until we try though, we won't know whats going to happen.

Thank you everyone for responding! I knew I would forget to mention something - the tape measure has not given me any encouragement over the seven weeks I have been fasting. Having said that, I just halved my height and my waist is 20cm smaller so that must be good!?!
My legs have cellulite below the knees even and although I find myself eating less on non fast days I have to say I LOVE CARBS! That was the appeal of the 5 2 diet.
I have put my details into the progress tracker so I'm hoping to find out how many calories I need and use but it didn't come up immediately.

[Debs]

And there is no harm in loving carbs!! If your appetite is shrinking then you will eat less of them, so it is win-win!! Stick with it, it. WILL work for you!

I love carbs too but I don't eat them potatoes, bread, rice and pasta I mean. My bmi is similar to yours and my TDEE is too I would imagine. It is shockingly low so I don't feel I want to waste calories on the carbs, I would rather have a lot of salad or veg. Just realised what I typed and think I must be an imposter because Wendy would NEVER say that

You have fat legs, I have a fat tum. I would imagine that like me you have never needed to diet (I never have and didn't know how to do it) and the weight has crept on slowly. Apologies if I have presumed too much. I started this woe in April and have just reached my target having shed 21lb, I was going to go for a bit more but can now feel my ribs and spine, so this might be the right weight for me. However, my tum is still fat and the tops of my arms and legs need a bit of attention so my next plan of action will be walking when the weather gets better.

Please don't give up, try if you can to ditch the above mentioned evil carbs for a week, weigh daily for that week and see if that helps. Don't forget this is not a race it's a sensible forever eating plan. Have a look at my tracker, it's full of ups and downs but I got there eventually. Hope that helps, let us know how you get on

I think a loss of 1kg when you've already got a BMI of 21 is pretty good going, actually. Sorry!

21 lbs - that's great! But it did take a long time - good on you!
It seems my tdee is 1783? I put down 'light activity' as I never play 'sport'. I do yoga twice a week and walk for half an hour (big hill in the heat!) maybe three times a week but I also mind my four y.o. grandson about 4-5 days a week. It is predicted that I reach my goal weight by mid Sept!!! It's not like the TV programme is it?!!
About ten years ago I got to 66kgs so I joined weight watchers and lost 6 kgs in 12 weeks - maybe that is what I should be doing instead?

21 lbs - that's great! But it did take a long time - good on you!
It seems my tdee is 1783? I put down 'light activity' as I never play 'sport'. I do yoga twice a week and walk for half an hour (big hill in the heat!) maybe three times a week but I also mind my four y.o. grandson about 4-5 days a week. It is predicted that I reach my goal weight by mid Sept!!! It's not like the TV programme is it?!!
About ten years ago I got to 66kgs so I joined weight watchers and lost 6 kgs in 12 weeks - maybe that is what I should be doing instead?

Given what you stated your expected weight loss with 5:2 would be about .75 pound a week or three pounds a month. I would guess your activity level is somewhat lower than you guessed.

If you run the numbers, any faster weight loss would be water weight, as the numbers work for any diet, not just 5:2. Here is how your numbers work:

1783 - TDEE
2 days at 500 = 1283 removed from diet twice a week, or 2x1283=2566.
3500 cal in a pound, so 2566/3500=.73 pounds a week. .73x16oz=12oz.

To lose a pound a week (less than you said you did with WW), you would have to remove 3500 cal a week regardless of the diet you followed - for 5:2, that would allow you 33 cal each diet day and your TDEE for the other five days.

A typical WW diet would have to allow you 1283 cal a day for 7 days to lose that same pound.

All diets work the same from a calorie point of view. There is no diet that will allow you to lose more weight eating the same number of calories. As they say a lot on this site, it is what you want. Do you want to eat fewer calories twice a week and normally the other five, or do you want to eat about 1280 every day of the week with WW?

It is up to you.

Good Luck

Thank you for taking the time to explain all this and congratulations on your 11.34kg weight loss!
I'm not sure how to proceed - it's all pretty bleak. How can Michael Mosely say that it makes no difference to your weight loss if you eat fast food for five days a week?

Thank you for taking the time to explain all this and congratulations on your 11.34kg weight loss!
I'm not sure how to proceed - it's all pretty bleak. How can Michael Mosely say that it makes no difference to your weight loss if you eat fast food for five days a week?

Calories are what you count. It makes no difference if they are in fast food or super organic oranges.

I'm not sure why you think things are bleak. Is slow weight loss, if you want weight loss, anyway, that bad?

Good Luck!

I have managed to lose 10lb since August, now at my weight, that IS bleak. Especially when I have a major reason to lose weight, namely being a decent weight for serious surgery. But I am still doing 5:2 because I am still doing 5:2. With WW or any of the others I would have given up after 12 weeks or so, the longest I ever stuck to a diet was 19 weeks. Within 6 months I had put it all back on plus extra. Every time. With the help andtechnical understanding of this group I have learnt why I have never really been able to kick the weight, I have learnt why plateau's happen and I have learnt that there is a price, with any diet for eating crap. Some days I am willing to pay the price for that food, most of the time now I'm not.

But Dr. M did a bit of a disservice to dieters by implying that you could eat what you like and as much as you liked with 5:2. The burger he so famously ate was actually quite well balanced, protein, fats, carbs and vegetables. But even he wouldn't eat one every day.

I do say to new faster's that yes, you can eat what you like on feed days, just not as much as you would like. So have the bread with butter, just don't have half a loaf and a slab of butter.

It may be an idea to use your knowledge of Weight Watchers and incorporate it into 5:2 as an added boost or at least a form of control. Think in WW terms as to balancing your meals out, adding more vegetables, portion control etc. Just on feed days allow a small amount of leeway with a bit of cream with your desert or a glass of wine. You don't need to be a martyr to the WW way of eating, after all 5:2 is supposed to be way to lose weight and still enjoy eating. But if you eat too many calories on your feed days, you will still put on weight at the worst, or not lose fast enough at the least.