The FastDay Forum

Has anyone gained weight doing the 5:2 diet long-term?
I've gained 1lb after my first week, is this normal? I'm sticking with it but a bit concerned.

[Tracieknits]

Well that's not been my experience, but there can be so many factors influencing things.

First off, 1 lb is insignificant and could indicate water gain as opposed to fat gain. Or it might not even be a real gain.

I have been losing 1 lb a week. While this is certainly less than some, I'm quite pleased with my progress because I have been taking the idea of "eat what you like" to heart

In any case we would need a lot more information. What are you eating on fast days? What are you eating on feed days? What was your diet like before? Is this anywhere near your time of the month?

[carorees]

Please read this: viewtopic.php?f=7&t=1006 It explains in detail how the scales lie to you!

Thanks Tracieknits, that was a quick reply!

I did have my monthly visit, so that might account for it. I suppose I'm still in the old fashioned mindset of dieting as opposed to this new way of life. I have been calorie counting for several years on and off, and last year had a lot of success keeping to around 1500 calories a day plus running 3 times a week and brisk walking for 30 mins every week day to and from work.

Having had a blip over Christmas and not being able to road run while we had snow, I've struggled to get back on track this January. Hearing about the 5:2 diet, I started immediately on 4th Feb, ordered the book & read it last weekend.
So far I've done 4 fast days, on Mondays & Thursdays. I've gone all morning with no food, had a cuppa soup with raw carrots for lunch, a banana, then in the evening I've had either a large salad with tinned salmon or, if going for a run, I've had a bowl of Alpen porridge.
I must admit, my first Thursday run was no problem, but this week it was a struggle, but I have noticed my monthly cycle does leave me drained of energy normally anyway. I did feel nauseous that night and felt peculiar yesterday morning but that did disappear by mid-morning.
On my feed days last week I was a lot better than this because I've had a lot of chocolate. Still using myfitnesspal, I've continued to log my daily calories and have been between 2100 & 2500...maybe that's too much and I need to reign in my "eat what I like", although that's clearly worked ok for you.

Sorry, I seem to have waffled a bit!

Thank you too Caroline, very interesting.