The FastDay Forum

I think I may have hit a plateau too stayed the same for the last two weeks and weighed this morning to find I've gained a whole kilo I 36 hour fast mon & thurs, 16/8 then on tues wed and Sunday. My TDEE is just under 1800 calories so I always eat around that figure. I go to the gym three times a week and monitor my calorie I take/burning rigidly - the last two weeks I have been just over 6000 net calories down on my weekly average. I'm struggling to get my scales to give me my weight in two number figures!!! Can't shift under that 100kilo for some reason. I've measured my waist too- no reduction at all in quite a few weeks, same with my body fat reading I am going to stick to this woe even tho I can't help be disheartened - I have to keep reminding myself of the health benefits not just the weightless. Anybody have any ideas how I can kick start this ole' metabolism again pls??

The best thing I have notice about the plateaux is that they are almost always followed by a steep fall - cold comfort, at the moment, but hang in there and I'm sure you'll see that graph line plummet!

Hmmmm things still not going very well. I looked back over my diary and I'd lost my first stone by April and only 6lbs since then. 6 lbs in 3 months is just not good enough. I've not lost anything in the last three weeks despite sticking to my fast days. I wanted to lose 2 stone before my holiday. I've lost 20lbs with only 4 weeks left until I go.
I'm not giving up on 5:2 because I think it's the only way I won't put what I've lost back on again but I really need to start losing weight again. I've done 4:3 this week (Mon, Weds Fri) out of desperation to shake things up a bit. Was going to do the same next week and each week until I go away but we're eating out on Monday so I'm fasting Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday next week which will mean I'll have done almost a fortnight of ADF instead! Not my original plan but if the weight starts shifting again I'll stick with that until my hols I think...

... I go to the gym three times a week and monitor my calorie ...

I love reading the between-the-lines determination in your post. I'm sitting on a two-week plateau myself and it is ... irritating.

I'm guessing but thinking that you may be hitting the gym a bit too frequently. Especially if you find that you're still muscle sore/stiff the second day after a work out. Achy-ness is an indicator of some inflamation. If this description is close for you, skip a gym day to give your body a bit more time to recover, and for fluid build up to subside.

HTH, and I hope dhana is right.

I think I may have hit a plateau too stayed the same for the last two weeks and weighed this morning to find I've gained a whole kilo I 36 hour fast mon & thurs, 16/8 then on tues wed and Sunday. My TDEE is just under 1800 calories so I always eat around that figure. I go to the gym three times a week and monitor my calorie I take/burning rigidly - the last two weeks I have been just over 6000 net calories down on my weekly average. I'm struggling to get my scales to give me my weight in two number figures!!! Can't shift under that 100kilo for some reason. I've measured my waist too- no reduction at all in quite a few weeks, same with my body fat reading I am going to stick to this woe even tho I can't help be disheartened - I have to keep reminding myself of the health benefits not just the weightless. Anybody have any ideas how I can kick start this ole' metabolism again pls??

By definition, a plateau does not start until you go 4 weeks without either weight loss or inches loss. The longest I've seen reported on this Forum is 8 weeks (and I'm currently in a week 5, but with a 1 inch loss in my waist). When you understand your weight may vary by 3 or more pounds daily, you can see if you weigh on a dehydration day (say, down 3), then you might lose a pound of fat a week for three weeks before you get even and start showing a loss.

Also you have lost quite a bit of weight. So you might recalculate your TDEE (if you have not) and find you are not as calorie restrictive as you thought.

Finally, if you are exercising a lot, you have additional water weight that you won't get rid of until your exercise stops tearing down your muscles.