The FastDay Forum

Just finished my 2nd week and after losing 7lbs in the first week, I've lost the grand total of "0". I am gutted, I haven't done anything different at all. I obviously wasn't expecting the same loss, but would hope for at least a 1lb. I will do another week and see what happens.
Has this happened to anyone else?

[carorees]

Try weighing again tomorrow. Last week I thought I had lost nothing when I weighed the day after my second fast so tried the following day and had lost 3lb! There are so many factors affecting our weight from day to day.

Dancersmum, I've been doing 5:2 since September and have lost the grand sum of four pounds. However I appear to have lost several inches from my waist and hips and have dropped a dress size. I am amazed by people losing so much weight when I haven't and still don't know why I'm not. But I'm happy with the new shape my body is taking and can only assume that actually, at five foot five and a half and hovering just below 10 stone I don't really have much, if any, to lose. I'm also happy when I think I may be staving off Alzheimer's and all sorts of other evils.

I am in my 3rd week of 5:2. I didn't weigh myself initially because I didn't want to know the damage! However I felt good last week and stood on the scales. I weighed in this morning and am exactly the same weight! It's a bit annoying when people are reporting huge loses! I have been very strict with the fast. Doing a 24hr fast then eating a 500 calorie evening meal and being sensible on feast days.

I am doing a lot more running than I had been doing before christmas so I figure I am building up muscle at the moment. I'm hoping to see weight loss when that levels out!

[carorees]

If you are swapping fat for muscle you would not show a change on the scales or even an increase as muscle is heavier than fat! The technique of intermittent fasting has long been used by body builders (Google leangains if you want to know more) so this diet certainly helps to build muscle if you work out as well as fast.

Well I work out a lot too so maybe that's the explanation!

Yeah, especially if you have increased the volume of exercise you do since starting 5:2. Your muscle mass should soon stabilise to accomodate the amount of exercise you are doing. After that you should see weight loss.

I think I might buy a body fat monitor as that would pick up on changes in body composition.

[Moogie]

Don't be put off by weeks where you seem not to lose. You'll usually find you lose more the following week or even a day or so later. It's just natural variation in your weight. For example, I posted a video here:
viewtopic.php?f=3&t=9
the lady in the video didn't lose anything one week, then the next time she weighed in 7lbs had magically come off Swings and roundabouts.

I for one find that there's one week of each month where I tend not to lose much at all, but I know I retain more fluid that week as well. It's frustrating, but I know the weight is working its way off

I also think that domestic scales are only accurate to within a couple of pounds anyway so hang in there - things will be better next week I am sure

I also think 7lbs is quite an unrealistic weight loss to expect in one week. Half a pound for me is good enough! I guess it depends how much you have to lose and your age and gender.

I only have 2 stone to lose, I always lose a large amount the first week of cutting down, but continue to lose steadily, I wouldn't say the 7lb loss is unrealistic, it's quite common with most dieters.
I will persevere and see what happens next week, onwards and upwards, or hopefully downwards as far as the weight loss goes.
Thanks for the support everyone

Well, they say 1-2lbs is a realistic expectation. The most I lost in one week was 4 and a half pounds and that was after 3 weeks of losing nothing at all. If you have a lot to lose I guess 7lbs the first week or so is fine but it can never continue at that rate. I did know of someone who lost 10lbs the first week of Atkins but they were about five stones over. The less you have to lose the more of a struggle it is.

If you're a woman doing 5:2 on 500 calories, you're only creating a calorie deficit of a bit over 2000 kcal in a week, which ought to lead to less than 1lb of fat loss over that week. The first week you lost water and other things, probably. You need 3000 calories deficit over the week to lose 1lb of fat. Your scales are not capable of measuring with sufficient accuracy to see 1lb changes, I suspect.

You need to give it a month to see true picture of what is happening. Bear in mind your weight fluctuates so much during any given day for obvious and non-obvious reasons so any single weight measurement is not particularly meaningful on its own. That's why I weigh every day - you get a more complete picture.

I also use measure fat/muscle % once a week using the Omron scales and keep track of it - this helps to explain weeks with less weight loss, if you see the muscle % has gone up a couple of % over the same period. Muscle weighs more than fat.

Hi lost 2 kgs first two weeks, this week shot up 800 gms mid week and today am exactly the same weight as last Friday. Haven't lost an ounce!
I have done 2 water aerobic classes and a very fast aerobics class.
Help!

7 fasts in and I still haven't lost anything since week one. I am going to persevere, but will start keeping a record of my calories on my normal days, just to check I'm not going mad... Will report back in a weeks time with my progress. Very envious of all those who lose a little something each week. But would like to say well done to you all.