The FastDay Forum

I keep reading from people about clothes fitting better, losing inches, etc (and sometimes not losing much weight), but what about the opposite? I'm actually 4 kg down in less than 3 months, and at 5'4", that should have resulted in clothes fitting looser (it has in the past too). But I haven't really noticed that. I've measured waist and hips, and they are the same.
Anyone else experience this? Am I just losing water, and how much can there be left?

I was going to a trainer for the past year but stopped when I moved, so maybe some of the loss is muscle?

My boyfriend says I've lost weight in my upper body - neck, shoulders, upper arms, but I haven't noticed shirts or other tops fitting looser.

I am a pear shape and do carry most of my weight from belly button down. I'll keep at this and see if a few more kg causes some shape-changing... but maybe I need to get back to weight training?

Hi, I didn't really notice loose clothes until I got to the 2kg spot (part of it done prior to 5:2). You have a pretty good bmi - about the same as me but you are a bit taller. I think things change less if you are already within a reasonably healthy weight range. Stick with it - there isn't really any sacrifice once you get used it it.

Thanks, Caro. Technically, I'm down 4 kg from my heaviest (though only 1.6 kg on 5:2), and in the past, even 1-2 kg has resulted in things feeling looser. So am a bit mystified about what's being lost this time around.

I'll be seeing my trainer again in 4 weeks for a few sessions, so we'll see if I've lost muscle/gotten weaker then. And hopefully there will be another kg or two shed by then!

Mine has been really slowly going down. I've been teetering on the same inch for the last few weeks. In my family, most of the women have a little potbelly - hoping 5:2 will take care of mine!

I have lost 12 lbs and I can't get the tape measure to change my waist measurement- in fact sometimes it reads bigger! But my waist bands are loser I've given up trying to work that one out.

Maybe you've just lost visceral fat (I.e. the fat around organs)?

I've lost nearly a stone over 4 months & have lost it from my wrists & fingers (slack watches & rings) & people tell me, recently, my face but only 2.5 inches from my waist. Clothes are looser, but waist measurement proving difficult to reduce.

I'm like Merlin. Lost half a stone but waist measurement at my belly button hasn't changed. However I do seem to be losing the muffin top as my jeans don't dig in by the end of the day. So I think my inch loss must be underneath my bust but above my waistline, especially the back lumpy bits just above my hips. I have a friend who, when she loses weight, she loses it from the feet up. She actually drops a shoe size but it takes her ages to lose any off her bust. keep with it. This new woe takes a little time for your body to adjust. Shelley x

Amberenchanted, me too, yet again, no change in belly button measurement but waistbands looser. Definitely loosing from above waist to bust. Think it's called midriff? Muffin top used to be called midriff bulge, very unkind but true

Hi badtzmaru5, thinking about it I suspect you are right that stopping weight-training has had an effect. Your body no longer needs the top-half muscles you built up when training and so it has been letting them go and so that is where the weight loss is occurring.

If you want those muscles back, do the weight-training again (and those press-ups). That will cause your body to rebuild the muscles and unless you eat additional calories it will have to metabolise them which should cause fat loss elsewhere in the body. (As you probably know, it also needs some fresh protein to build muscle mass, it can't get this from body fat.) So this process won't in itself cause weight loss but it will cause weight redistribution (more top-half FFM, less lower-half fat).

Even without the exercise, if you just continue with 5:2 then once your body is fully back in its 'untrained' shape (i.e. 'surplus' muscle has been recycled) I think more normal weight loss will resume. If you are a natural pear I would expect your waist will start reducing before hips/thighs. The visceral fat is the stuff you really want to be rid of, although with your BMI you may not be in the danger zone anyway.

Hi badtzmaru5, thinking about it I suspect you are right that stopping weight-training has had an effect. Your body no longer needs the top-half muscles you built up when training and so it has been letting them go and so that is where the weight loss is occurring.

If you want those muscles back, do the weight-training again (and those press-ups). That will cause your body to rebuild the muscles and unless you eat additional calories it will have to metabolise them which should cause fat loss elsewhere in the body. (As you probably know, it also needs some fresh protein to build muscle mass, it can't get this from body fat.) So this process won't in itself cause weight loss but it will cause weight redistribution (more top-half FFM, less lower-half fat).

Even without the exercise, if you just continue with 5:2 then once your body is fully back in its 'untrained' shape (i.e. 'surplus' muscle has been recycled) I think more normal weight loss will resume. If you are a natural pear I would expect your waist will start reducing before hips/thighs. The visceral fat is the stuff you really want to be rid of, although with your BMI you may not be in the danger zone anyway.

Thanks, Dominic, that makes sense. I'm definitely going to continue the pushups challenge, so hope that helps. Since my trainer is in America (and I'm in Ireland), I don't think I'll end up doing the same training as before, but I'll see how I can incorporate the Jillian Michaels DVD with heavier weights, at least, and I'll make my yoga more strength-focused vs flexibility. I have been rather lazy lately about exercise (I miss my trainer!), but the process you describe is very motivating.

I'm like Merlin. Lost half a stone but waist measurement at my belly button hasn't changed. However I do seem to be losing the muffin top as my jeans don't dig in by the end of the day. So I think my inch loss must be underneath my bust but above my waistline, especially the back lumpy bits just above my hips. I have a friend who, when she loses weight, she loses it from the feet up. She actually drops a shoe size but it takes her ages to lose any off her bust. keep with it. This new woe takes a little time for your body to adjust. Shelley x

The back lumpy bits are the WORST.

Gosh. How we are all different.
I lost it from my neck downwards. The first thing I noticed was the 'lumpy back bits' disappearing and boy did I have some!
Waist, tummy and hips are dropping slowly on tape but trousers have gone down 2 sizes, from 18 to 14.
I don't understand it badtzmaru5, but I like it. Ooohhh how good is this 5:2.

I think that the biggest bits of us are sometimes the last to shrink!

I noticed how much thinner my feet were yesterday - and my fingers - but that stubborn roll of fat is still lurking around my waist!

I've been doing the 5:2 for exactly two months and have lost 11 pounds according the scales, which is nice, but I haven't noticed any change in my body shape either. Clothes do not feel any looser, and I can't tell a noticeable difference anywhere. Very frustrating!