The FastDay Forum

Hello
I've been doing 5:2 for almost 6 months now (started in May) and could do with some advice/tips. I lost a couple of kilos by the end of the second month which was promising. My exercise consisted of 2x weight sessions a week with a personal trainer but not a lot of cardio and a desk job.
Since then I've had no weight loss. In the following two months I was active but didn't do much regular exercise. Since mid September I've been doing regular exercise (HIT 10-20 mins 3/4 days a week on an elliptical/cross trainer) and body weight exercises 2x a week. Since the beginning of October I've increased my fast days to 3 days a week. So far no weight loss. My weight has remained amazingly stable despite the different levels of activity.
I'm 166cms (5ft 5)and weigh 80kgs (176lbs). My BMI is 29 and I'd like to get it down to below 24 so would need to lose 15kgs to do this. I have low blood pressure but not so low that it causes problems (except when I stand up too quickly). Of concern is my cholesterol which increased from 6.9 in May to 7.4 in July (HDL 1.7 LDL 5.2).
On my fast days I have a small cup of coffee, do HIT (elliptical/cross trainer) for between 10-20 mins, wait a hour then have breakfast - 2 eggs with mushrooms or low fat yoghurt and sprinkle of nuts and blueberries or oatmeal with water plus apple. I have another coffee mid afternoon then have a small tin of tuna in spring water and homemade vegetable soup (vegies and vegetable stock cube) for dinner and a small hot chocolate after dinner. I stick to the 500 calories, occasionally going just over.
On my non-fast days I would eat between 1200 - 2000 calories. I don't eat takeaway, fried food, drink coke etc or much alcohol. I don't eat meat but do have low fat dairy, eggs, salmon/tuna, beans/lentils salad and vegies. I have a sweet tooth and eat ice cream, chocolate, home made biscuits and cakes and have the occasional glass of wine (2 glasses a week) but would rarely if ever go over 2000 cals on a non-fast day. I imagine the sweet tooth (butter/eggs etc) could explain the high cholesterol - will get this checked again soon.
I'm happy that I haven't put on any weight but am disappointed that I haven't lost more and my cholesterol has increased rather than decreased.
Any advice would be appreciated.
Regards
Caroline

No advice about the rest of it, but with those stats, your TDEE is a maximum of around 1800. (I used an arbitrary age of 30 so that may be a little off.) If you're regularly eating up to 2000, that explains the non-weight loss.

Thanks for your reply Tara.
The Progress Tracker gave me a TDEE of 2212. I'd eat approx. 1200 on a being good non-fast day and no more than 2000 on an eat what I like non-fast day - still under the 2212???

[Betsysgr8]

Have you taken measurements? Are your clothes any looser? I'd like to offer more but right now my brain is dead. There will be others along soon with their minds in working order that should be able to figure out something for you.

Thanks Betsygr8
I've lost a couple of centimeters off my waist so one belt notch tighter but haven't noticed a reduction anywhere else.
Sleep well!

A couple of cms is wonderful!
I've lost weight and my clothes are loose but I've still got my awfully thick 32 inch waist I would love a couple of cms to bugger off.
Lil

Congrats on your weight loss - I try not to focus on the kgs too much as I think looser clothes are a better measure of success. It is wonderful to have lost rather than gained 2cms but it's been 6 months!!! I'm pear shaped (or more accurately cello shaped!)so my waist is not really the issue - it's the rest of me

Isn't it funny how you always want what you don't/can't have lol. I get compliments all the time about my legs but no one has EVER said anything nice about my top half.
Sorry I can't offer you more advice :/ you must be going wrong on your feeding days whether it's eating too much or too less? Are you sure you are eating the right amount on fast days?
Lil

Oh to have nice legs - that would be wonderful It is so true - my hair is straight but I would love to have curly hair I check calories and weigh things if unsure. I tend to go a little under, sometimes over but if I do only 20 cals or so. That's assuming that the calorie info on the packaging/calorie counter is correct!

And I'm a curly haired chick that would love it straight. Haha.
I wish I could be of more help but I'm sure the more knowledgeable ones will be on soon

My Advice would be stick with it and maybe try just one meal a day on your fast days i.e. fast as long as possible on liquid only until say 5/6pm as your body will then slip into fat burning mode.

I have struggled terribly with not losing and gave up back in May but started again doing what i've said above 1st week in September along with 5 x cardio classes. Another thing i've been doign this time around is I've been skipping breakfast even on non fast days but i do indulge in breakfast at weekends.

I've lost 7 lb's in 6 weeks now and am amazed - its a case of trying different things and seeing which works.

To be honest I believe that in my case i have severely restricted calories for so long that i was actually gaining weight to begin with when i started 5:2 as my body wasn't used to eating up to my TDEE. I think it took a fair few weeks for my metabolissm to work properly again.

Keep going and good luck x

I'm not a nutritional therapist but I do know that the combo of fat and sugar is not good for cholesterol. If you can manage a couple of months without refined sugar, up your intake of green veg and have porridge in the morning, be interesting to have some readings taken again. Don't give up your fat through and give coconut oil a go too. Hang on in there.

[carorees]

If you track your calories on feast days, do you know how many grams of carbs you're eating? I think the sweet tooth, not the eggs and butter is the problem. I'd try to cut down on carbs...keep below 150g per day as a start...and don't worry about the fat content of foods, worry about the sugar and white carbs instead.

Also, eating fats does not increase cholesterol but eating carbs does, and it also stops fat from being burned. Your cholesterol reading is not a problem anyway because your ratio of total (7.4) to HDL (1.7) is good (4.35) - the target is under 4.5.

I agree with TracE, try to fast as long as possible to get maximum benefits, many of the best loosers don't eat until their evening meal so they have a fasting period of 20 hours +!
Also are you eating enough on feed days? You say you are eating between 1200 and 2000, but over a week are you mostly nearer 1200 or 2000? Conversely not eating can stop you from losing weight!

Thanks for your advice and congrats on your weight loss. I thought that the increase in exercise and additional fast day might help shift the weight but perhaps I have to give it a little longer and then, if not successful, change something else until I find what works for me.