The FastDay Forum

Hello!
I lost around 5lb in the first week, but as I embark on my 6th fast day I am back up by 4lb.
I assume this can only mean I am massively overeating on my nonfast days? Does this mean I need to count calories on days off or something? Or is it too soon to tell?

(I am overweight/obese with a BMI hovering around 29/30.)

Glenda hi,

I am by no means an expert but healthy weight loss is about 1lb a week. Anything over that is probably water which you may have put back up. However, you need to give a bit of info - what is your TDEE? What are you eating on feed days? What do you eat fast days?

I go up and down by about 4-5lbs every week but there is a small downward trend overall but I have very little to lose so its even harder. You're BMI isn't public or tracker so I can't tell but weight regain/fluctuation is very common - don't be disheartened. Do a search for this thread as a lot of people panic

The TDEE experts will be along in a minute, I'm sure. All I can tell you is that my weight fluctuates wildly (that's been the experience of most people here, I think) so I'm never sure from day-to-day if I'm losing or not, but the overall trend has been slowly but surely downwards. And this has been based on sensible eating on non-fast days but no calorie counting - I'm pretty certain I've gone over my TDEE on many days and still continued the downward trend.

So, don't be disheartened - this WOL works in strange ways. Good luck!

Thanks for the quick replies.

My TDEE is 1917.

Do you mean what food am I eating, or how many calories am I eating? I am eating 500-550 calories on fast days and not counting on feed days.

Also I don't understand "You're BMI isn't public or tracker" - sorry!
But as I said, my BMI is 29/30 (hovering between the two).

Ok Glenda, Are you eating a lot of carbs? late at night? I found my weight loss to be significantly better if I didn't eat after 6pm at night. Also lowering my carb intake has helped massively. What type of food are you eating?

BMI tracker is on the "progress tracker tab". Play around with the site and you can reveal what you want about your weight. You will see under my name I reveal everything- weight, BMI etc

Hi Glenda and welcome! I fast every Monday and Thursday generally. My lightest weight is Friday morning. My heaviest weight is Sunday morning. Guess which one i acknowledge? The difference each week can be 2-3 kgs but I care not a jot because I love my foody weekends and the general trend is downwards as you can see. I also ignore monthly variations and don't bother recording those unfair gains. Maybe for you it is those weekly / monthly fluctuations that you are seeing?

This is from Volek & Phinney (p241) - it goes some way to explaining the vagaries of the scales (apologies if you've seen this before but I think it bears repeating):

"We humans are about 2/3 water. Each of us contains about 40 liters (or quarts) of the stuff, and each liter weighs a bit over 2 pounds. Our bodies effectively regulate fluid balance by adjusting urine output and sense of thirst, but this is done within a 2-liter range. Within this range, your body doesn't really care if it is up to a liter above or below its ideal fluid level.

" What this means is that we all live inside a 4-pound-wide grey zone, so that from day to day we fluctuate up or down (i.e. plus or minus) 2 pounds. This happens more or less at random, so with any one weight reading you don't know where your body is within that fluid range. Your weight can be the same for 3 days in a row, and the next morning you wake up and the scale says you've 'gained' 3 pounds for no apparent reason. For people who weigh themselves frequently, this can be maddening." (FatDog's emphasis)

All the best, FatDog

For me eating "normally" on non fast days means sticking within my TDEE, and at the beginning that meant counting calories until I got a better idea of what "normal" looks like.
Hope this helps

Thanks again, all!

I will reply properly later but in brief I don't get home from work until 7/8pm and have to eat after that, but I do generally eat a low-carb diet. Carbs make me balloon and feel sluggish.

I think I may have to do that too Sian!

I weighed myself last night at the end of my fast, then weighed myself this morning. I was 5lb lighter this morning. All water weight with maybe a bit of fat loss. That demonstrates the daily fluctuation. So pick a time to weigh, usually first thing in the morning after using the toilet and naked is best. It gives a slightly de-hydrated figure but its more consistent than after drinking or eating.

Now I'm back to eating I will put 2lb on between morning weigh ins before my next fast, then hopefully lose a pound for the next fast. But If I was paranoid I would have seen a 5lb spike, followed by a large dip then a 2lb rise followed by a 3lb dip.

TTOM (the time of the month) can make dramitic difference to your weight, usually caused by booating, that bloating isn't air, its water. So if you look as if you are 4 months pregnant think of the weight of half a bucket of water.

Different scales and different clothing can be a massive different. Everyone here will tell you that their doctors scales show differences of 8lbs (3+ kilo).

Or as you think, you may be eating too much. Some of us calorie counted for the first 2 weeks just to find out how much food we could have for our TDEE allowance. As many of us, me included didn't have a clue as to what eating normally was. Occasionally I double check my TDEE as it lowers with weight loss and make sure I am still in its range through the days, or actually eating enough.

There are plenty of reasons for your weight to do an upward blip.

[Moogie]

If you've not eaten an extra (ie, above your normal amount) 14,000 calories since your last weigh in, it's not a real 4lb weight gain. Probably just the natural fluctuations which happen as water & fat are lost & water regained in the early days.

See #whyscalesincrease and my blog entry here:
http://www.the52dietplan.com/why-have-i ... -5-2-diet/

I'm worried I somehow have done, but that's a hell of a lot!

Thanks for the link.

Sorry, I missed your post, Julieathome.

I am a bit of serial dieter and tend to weight daily and it doesn't make me panic. The reason I am concerned this time is there has been a general upward creep for two weeks after my initial week-one loss.

I am going to have to keep an eye on my feed calories, I think. The big one to watch, sadly, is the wine...