The FastDay Forum

Ok,I finally weighed after six weeks and am most disappointed .H ave lost about 600 g
Have been doin 5.2 and most weeks have even added an extra fast.
On nonfast days I have not counted cals but I have not over eaten.,in fact I sometimes think I have under eaten
There are two possibilities here.1) not eating enough
On nonfast days i skip breakfast,have soup or salad for lunch with bread
Then a cracker in after noon,dinner of some protein and veg,yogurt and maybe another cracker and low cal hot choc.i may have a few squares of dark choc on nonfast days
2) I have been doing a lot of exercise...not cardio but really hard yoga and gym and I am much stronger and I have lat about 5cm off my waist
So do I continue with this WOE?
Ps I am very short and only have a few kilos to loose and I am middle aged
Ideas please?

[Betsysgr8]

You are exercising and you've lost 5 cm! Well done! Did you read this thread? viewtopic.php?f=27&t=1006 it explains what happens when you've you been so good and aren't showing a loss on the scales. I'd keep going with this WoE, I think you are exchanging fat for lean muscle with the exercising you've been doing.

I think the loss from your waist says it all: it is working. I'm sure weight will come off too. Exercise, in addition to building up muscle, causes water retention.

Also... the less people have to lose, the harder it seems to be (according to posts in this forum).

Just wanted to say,I stuck to it and suddenly the weight started to drop
I have lost almost 4 kilos but more than that I am finding nonfast days easy.i,skip breakfast,eat a late ,light lunch ,small snack at 5,dinner and a small treat
In fact the only difference between fast and nonfast days is a latte and some choc in the evening
Unless we go out for dinner ,in which case I eat what ever I feel like
Feeling really good
I think the key here is to,stick to it.

Hi Sarah Glad this woe has finally got going with you, it's amazing how it does that with some people, never mind coz its kicked in now and I bet you're more motivated now to carry on. Sue

Just saw this thread. I'm glad that you stuck with it and now see some good results. I didn't lose the first 5 weeks and suddenly the weight dropped off that sixth week. Now the weight loss is more steady. I agree with you, the key is to stick with it.

I also wanted to add that I now i weigh every day and have noticed that my weight fluctuates quite a bit
It seems to go up at the beginning of the week and then drop during the week until its gets a little lower than the week before,
Strange way to lose weight .the increase at the beginning of the week has nothing to do with when I fast as I actually fast on a Sunday,Wednesday and mini fast on Friday.

Hi:

I have another post around here somewhere on Why Exercise?.

It points out that initially, exercise works against weight loss because when you tear down muscles via exercise, the muscles store water to help them repair themselves. As with 5:2 you only lose a little weight each week (for women, usually measured in grams (ounces where I come from), rather than pounds, the retained water in the muscles usually masks the fat loss caused by 5:2.

By all means, stick with 5:2. It will prevail in the end.

So what is my real weight, the low readings on the weekend or the kilo heavier on Tuesday morning?

What good news. I'm not unhappy as I'm remaining below my target weight n° 1, but having got there 5th June only 500g in nearly 1 month is getting a little tiresome & makes target n° 2 seem a very long way away:(

Every time that I could be depressed about the plateau I remind myself that I haven't put weight back ON. I WILL NOT give up !!!

So what is my real weight, the low readings on the weekend or the kilo heavier on Tuesday morning?

That is the problem with weighing often - your weight can vary two or even three pounds from day to day due to water retention. If you are the worrying type, the weight fluctuations can drive you crazy.

I find the best way is to weigh monthly. However, if you want to weigh more often, those that weigh daily and then keep a trend line seem to like it. Your weight would be the trend line weight, not your scale weight. I don't have the software for it (and don't want to do a spreadsheet), so it is too much bother for me.

When I started 5:2 back in January I was unsure what was the best day of the week to get an 'accurate' reading so started to weigh daily, logged it all on an excel spreadsheet (how nerdy ) and decided to input Wednesday weights in the Progress Tracker. I did not realise back then how much the weight would fluctuate from day to day (and doesn't always follow the same pattern).

Roll on nearly six months and I'm still weighing daily as it has become some sort of strange fascination - even when the weight goes up! My weight loss rate is very slow indeed and the only way I can see downward progress is to take an average over the week and compare it to the previous week's average. Again, a bit nerdy but was kencc's suggestion and I probably would have given up by now if I hadn't have done this because otherwise it can look like you are on a never ending plateau (when actually it's a v. gentle downward slope).

I weigh in daily. Like Madge1304, lots of fluctuation so the daily weigh-ins help me not get discourage because, inevitably, a bounce up is followed soon after with a bounce and a half down. Finding something that can graph your progress really helps.

I tend to add to the Progress Tracker here when I reach a new low.

Losing weight is hard enough (though easier with 5:2) so track the lowest weight you can!

If you weigh daily the simplest way of decided on a 'true weight' for the week is to use the average. Add all your daily weighings for the week and divide by 7

I love all the replies but think I will just remember the lowest weight each week and consider that my weight....I like that
Seriously though,it is quite fascinating when I try to understand why it happens.today being Wednesday I weigh almost a kilo less than Monday.
I am trying to look at what I have been eating.
As I said , I fast on Sunday ,eat a very controlled diet on Monday,fasted Tuesday ,will eat well today as I .ike the downward trend ....then by Friday night I let go a bit ,enjoy Saturday
So ,I am thinking its Friday night,and Saturday,s eating that is resulting in extra weight a few days later
But I can't fast or restrict every day!