The FastDay Forum

Hi all, I have been doing Monday and Thursday fasting for 8 weeks now with only 1 week off (on holiday - impossible to fast with the kids around....!) the scales are stuck at a 4lb weight loss, which is roughly what I lost in the first week. I have been soooooo good sticking to this diet and I am truly dissapointed. I know I only have 18lb in total to lose, so I now have 1 stone more to go, but why is it taking so long to budge a single ounce?? I feel very upset. I am doing this diet for the health reasons mainly, but as you can not actually 'see' these changes that are going on internally it would be great to be getting the weight off and noticing it externally! Is anyone else having the same trouble as me? Will things stay the same or will there suddenly be a change and a start in weight loss? I hope there are some answers for me as I feel like quitting right now!!

[carorees]

Hi pipdev

So sorry you are feeling down! Have you had a chance to read this? viewtopic.php?f=7&t=1006

It is possible that because you don't have much to lose that your loss will be slower than the average of 1lb a week. Remember that the average value does not mean that everyone loses at that rate. I guess I'm lucky that I am losing faster than that but unfortunately that means there must be someone losing slower than average to compensate! In fact if you look at the progress tracker data for the whole forum and check out the frequency distribution graph you will see that there are a lot of people who are losing less than 1lb a week. If you think how long it took to put the weight on, and the fact that you are only restricting your intake on two days a week, I think it is only to be expected that it will take a long time to get rid of the weight again!

However, I would recommend that you count your calories on feed days for a few days and compare with your TDEE (total daily energy expenditure). You can work out your TDEE here: http://iifym.com/tdee-calculator/
If your feed day calories tend to be higher than TDEE then that will explain the slow weight loss. If your feed day calories are much lower than TDEE some people have found that this does slow weight loss a bit (we're not completely certain about this).

The other thing that helps is to exercise more, particularly walking and lower intensity exercise with short bursts of high intensity exercise. Hours on the treadmill however, have been shown not to be as useful. However, if you have increased your exercise during the 8 weeks that can also result in an apparent slow weightloss but is really due to water retention.

Other people have had plateaus with no losses for up to a month and then suddenly the weightloss has started again so don't lose heart!

Hi all, I have been doing Monday and Thursday fasting for 8 weeks now with only 1 week off (on holiday - impossible to fast with the kids around....!) the scales are stuck at a 4lb weight loss, which is roughly what I lost in the first week. I have been soooooo good sticking to this diet and I am truly dissapointed. I know I only have 18lb in total to lose, so I now have 1 stone more to go, but why is it taking so long to budge a single ounce?? I feel very upset. I am doing this diet for the health reasons mainly, but as you can not actually 'see' these changes that are going on internally it would be great to be getting the weight off and noticing it externally! Is anyone else having the same trouble as me? Will things stay the same or will there suddenly be a change and a start in weight loss? I hope there are some answers for me as I feel like quitting right now!!

I know how you feel, just weighed and I have stayed the same for the last few weeks. Only lost six pounds in seven weeks of fasting, and lost this weight in the first 3 weeks. My waist measurement has reduced though (if I measured it right).I have an underactive thyroid though and this could be the reason the weight loss is slow. I am continuing with the 5:2 diet though as I do feel it is improving my general health and giving me a feeling of control over my diet. I don't exercise or count calories on non fast days so these options may help kick start the weight loss for us. Hope you feel you can continue and that we will all reach our goals eventually x

I haven't lost much weight either in recent weeks. I can only blame it on the Guinness and French fries. I thought I could eat whatever I wanted on feast days, but it turns out, no I cannot. I need to be responsible, so no more Guinness (I'll stick to a single glass of wine instead) and no more fries. (They were good, but I don't need 'em.)

Hi Pipdev - don't be too despondent. I figure it is all to do with the fact that you have relatively little to lose compared to some. I too only had just over a stone to lose and it has seemed terribly slow often showing no weight loss at all. BUT I have been fasting 5:2 for about 8 weeks now and have actually lost 7lbs overall (a little more than you I realise) with another 9lbs to go so my goal really does look attainable now. I find the Progress Tracker really helpful as even though my weight does fluctuate (sometimes wildly) I can see from the graphs that my weight trend is definitely downwards which convinces me to carry on - although I know that it WILL go up again before it goes down. This last week I had one of my two fasting days as a total fast (drinking lots and lots needless to say) and the second a little less strict than I have previously done but still under 500 - maybe this has given me the boost this week, who knows? Although I see everyone saying it, it has taken me some time to have the confidence to 'tweak' the fasting to my own needs etc. The most bizarre thing I have noticed (although it may have been recorded elsewhere and I have simply not read it) is that I now do my bra up on the tightest set of hooks rather than the loosest! I cannot tell you what a smile that brings to my face each morning and compensates for any lack of weight loss for sure! I have never noticed any weight loss from that area before on any other programme. Stick with it, I have and am now really thankful that I did not simply throw in the towel. I also find myself pondering now what I will do when it comes to maintenance.

Pipdev, my experience has been fairly similar. I have a little bit more to lose than you and have been going since January. I've lost about 4Ibs too- I was going to say only 4 ibs. I don't know what to tell you but I am going to keep going with my fingers crossed! I will try to track feast days more accurately too, just to see. Hopefully we'll both have good news to share soon, it is frustrating but encouraging to see all the success stories. I also must say that I really enjoy the feeling of fasting and the energy I get from it so I will be plugging on regardless, hopefully we are both getting some of those less visible health benefits and the weight loss will follow.
good luck

Oh- and, have you checked your body fat percentage? That, and your waist measurement could be more encouraging changes!

Thankyou all for your kind words and support, I will keep on going!!!