The FastDay Forum

Hi everyone. I'm new to the forums but I'm on my first fasting day of week 4. I'm really keen to continue this plan as it will really suit my lifestyle but I'm concerned that I haven't lost any weight at all yet. I'm not looking for a major initial weight loss, I'm after a long term and sustainable solution to my weight problem and would be happy if I could lose 1lb per week. My husband is doing the diet with me, we both need to lost several stones, but neither of us have lost an ounce. We're closely watching our fast day calories on Myfitnesspal and have cut back a little on our non-fast days too. What are we doing wrong???

[Moogie]

Hi Queenie & welcome. Prior to doing 5:2 were you gaining weight or generally maintaining? If you were more or less maintaining or only gaining very slowly you needn't cut back on your non-fast days.

How do you do your fasts? 1 sleep or 2 sleeps (eg 24 or 36 hours)?
How do you split you fast day calories and what sort of things do you eat and drink on your fasts?

If you have a lot to lose it may not yet show up on the scales due to your natural variations in weight masking the changes.
If you're older, you may find the loss is slower.
If you're not vastly overweight you'll also probably find the loss slower.

Please give us much info as you can and we'll be better equipped to help! You're among friends, so no-one's going to judge you!

Hello QueenieD and welcome. You say you are cutting down on non fast days. I think this plan works because by consuming 500 calories on your fast days you are actually cutting your normal intake by 75%.

Do you know what your TDEE is? (Total Daily Energy Expenditure) I think it is important to make sure you eat around this mark on feed days.

http://www.fitnessfrog.com/calculators/ ... lator.html

Good luck. You will find lots of support here

Hi Queenie D and welcome. It doesn't sound as if you are doing anything wrong! I think the weight loss you have already achieved is probably just being masked by temporary fluctuations. Just give it a couple more weeks and I would say you should (you must!) see results.

Hi all, and thanks for your replies. I think this place looks like an invaluable resource of support. We're generally fasting on Mondays and Thursdays, so one sleep between fasts. I'm skipping breakfast and then having my usual breakfast of bran flakes and semi-skimmed milk at lunchtime and then a bowl of soup for dinner and maybe a couple of marshmallows and a cup of normal tea just before bed )because I can't sleep if I'm hungry at bedtime!_ I'm drinking water, green tea and black coffee. I weigh everything out carefully and track my calories on Myfitnesspal. We're eating normally on non-fast days, just cutting down on the sweet stuff etc. For example I changed my normal mocha at the coffee shop for a capuccino with a sweetener. I'm definitely not over-compensating though, if anything my appetite has reduced a little. Out of interest I did track my normal calorie intake on non-fasting days which came in at between 1700 and 2100. I just checked my TDEE and it's around 1950 per day, which is average I guess. I'm only 5.2", 42 years old and I've been a size 18 for years. I had my second baby last year but had gestational diabetes so managed to lose a stone over the course of the pregnancy by diet control but put it all back on again over the last year. (The diabetes is gone obviously, I wouldn't do the diet otherwise.) Like I say, I'm quite happy with the plan as it suits me and I don't find it particularly hard going. I had an eating disorder in my teens and early twenties and really struggled to be slim. I stopped dieting years ago because I just couldn't maintain things and it made me miserable. This way I see as a perfectly simple lifestyle diet so I honestly believe I can do this. I just don't want to go months without seeing any results. I should state that I have got ME, although I can't see how that would affect the diet. If anything, losing the weight should make a positive difference to my health. I have had a few side effects though as I seem to be suffering with water retention and my breath could be fresher, lol! I'm hoping this is just my body getting used to the diet.

Oof, sorry, that was a bit of a ramble!

[carorees]

Hi queenie

If you are suffering from water retention that could certainly mask any changes in body fat because water weighs so much more than fat. The ME affects the number of mitochondria (aka the powerhouse of the cell) in your cells, might affect how many calories you burn so your TDEE might be a bit lower than calculated. One thing that helps increase the mitochondria is high intensity interval training. Dr M covered this in his documentary "The truth about exercise", there is a link to the programme in the resources section.

However, I expect you will see results soon once the fat loss exceeds the water retention!

I have got ME... I have had a few side effects though as I seem to be suffering with water retention and my breath could be fresher

Might the ME mean lowered metabolism i.e. your TDEE is lower than you think? Just a thought. The water retention could be masking the weight loss. The dragon breath is a known side-effect (sometimes blamed on ketones I think), it will probably get better or just wash your mouth out (no I mean literally )!

Thanks Carorees and Dominic. I hadn't really thought about how the ME could affect things, but you're probably right. I hadn't considered the effect of the water retention either. That makes me feel a little better though. Excercise, or the inability to, is a big problem for me. I have a hard enough time maintaining energy levels looking after two kids under 4! I will plow on with it for a few more weeks anyway and fingers crossed the weight will start coming off eventually.