The FastDay Forum

[Debs]

Oh dear, I am clearly not average as I have lost 2kg since I started on the 14th January, a little disappointing therefore. I'm struggling to make a dent in the remainder at the moment, despite exercise, not overeating etc etc.
However I shall persevere, safe in the knowledge that at least no loss is not a gain!

For me, it's two steps forward and one step back...
I lose 1.5 to 2lb during the week and regain 1 to 1.5 lb before the next weigh-in.
Average loss is around 0.75 lb.

Thanks so much for this data... I have been on the 5:2 for 4 weeks now and I have lost 4lbs, 3lbs the first week then stayed the same then 1lb. One thing I have noticed though is the inch loss more so than the weight loss. I too was considering upping to 3 days a week but after reading this I will stick with 5:2.

These stats are great. I'm a newbie - to both the diet and this forum - and have just completed week 2. Had I not read this thread before my weigh-in this morning, I'd have been quite disheartened as I lost a staggering 5lb week 1 and have stayed the same with no loss end of week 2. I know I lost a lot of water initially and hopefully I've regained some and replaced that with a loss of fat, but time will tell. I will continue, although a little disappointed, I realise this isn't a quick fix and am also focusing on the health benefits!

Has anybody recorded their waist measurements? Interestingly- I have only been looking at my weight loss- which has been brilliant- 9 lbs in 7 weeks (I am very happy!!) and the bonus is: 3 inches off my waist!!!! so don't just look at your weight loss but also the inches- some weeks the inches shift but not the pounds!!- all the best to all of you- ursula

Hooray! I'm not a hopeless loser. At one pound a week I was pretty discouraged because I have a lot to loose. But I've also figured out the whole TDEE thing too, so I've realized that I'm still eating too much. You can read my post in the Newcomer section about controlling those 5 days. But thanks so much for the stats!!

I have 2 and a half stone to lose and have lost 6lbs in 4 weeks, am I on the right track as many seem to have lost much more ?

[carorees]

Well it's more than 1 lb a week which is the average so you're doing well! There will always be some who lose faster and others slower!

Hi everyone. I agree, big thank you to Carorees and Moogie for their stats and detailed support. After last week's fasting days I'd lost nothing; but I'm far more confident in this WOE than in any of the diets that I put myself through before. I think my average weight loss is a bit over a pound a week (I set up my progress tracker in kilos, and now wish I'd stuck to metric!).That rate is absolutely fine by me; I feel quite quite prepared to continue with the Fast Diet until I reach the weight I've set myself. And ... I may not have lost weight this week, BUT I'm only 3lb away from exiting the dreaded Obese zone.

Good luck to everyone!

Here's a little table I made that predicts, without reference to the tracker data, what you might expect to lose following our 5:2 or 'fast diet', depending on your TDEE ('total daily energy expenditure' i.e. how many calories you need to consume to maintain your weight), in kg or lb per week.

This is calculated for a woman assuming she eats her TDEE on 5 days and sticks to 500 calories on the 2 fast days. The calculation follows the generally used assumption that 1 lb of body weight is equivalent to 3500 calories.

What's nice is that these 'theoretical' figures match up reasonably well with the real numbers that people have entered here in the tracker.

They predict, correctly, that those with higher BMIs (and therefore, other things being equal, higher TDEEs) will lose weight faster (because 500 calories is a bigger absolute reduction for them.)

This table doesn't adjust for water loss, which accounts for the substantial gains that many (but not all) fasters see in the first four weeks (especially the first). And contrariwise it takes no account of changes in body metabolism that dieting can trigger, though we think these are relatively modest with 5:2.

I've been consistently losing 0.5 kg each week, which I think is about a pound. Very happy with this rate, as I am hoping it will be slow enough for my skin to shrink and not end up with loose saggy skin. Fingers crossed, anyway!

Ill be happy with any lose !!!

Kind of off topic, but I can't resist saying I love the whole "stone", "kg", "lb" thing. How is it we all came from the same place a few hundred years ago? And as for weight loss, I am obsessively weighing morning and night every day and recording. It gives me a sense of what happens on 5 days versus 2 days. And I can see a pattern developing if I begin to over-feast. Not worried about it, I'll get tired of the weighing, but hope to stick with the 2 day "fast"-ing (well, maybe 1 day eventually) from now on.

My partner and I have been doing 4:3 since Jan 21st. I have lost almost 12 lbs and my partner 11.

It is interesting as she has more weight to lose, yet it is coming of slower.

I don't want to lose any more weight but those 12lbs were the vanity pounds that I had been unable to shake since giving up smoking three years ago.

I love this way of eating. I like the discipline and also knowing its only going to last for one day.

This diet has made me rediscover my love of cooking. I prepare everything we eat and we are definitely healthier for that reason alone

Newbie here. Thanks for a great post and info. Know of quite a few people doing 4:3 but I'll happily stick to 5:2.
Great post by Dominic on loss/TDEE.