The FastDay Forum

Please help! (this is my first post but I have been reading others with gusto and am very thankful for this forum!!!)

I started 52 on 20th Dec and have been fasting every Mon and Thurs since (even boxing day!) except 2. I started at 10st7lbs and a BMI of 27.7. I want to lose 25lbs. Since starting my weight has been fluctuating wildly. My lowest was down 2lbs and I've weighed this morning and it's 10st8lbs. Hence the plea for help!!

My good behaviour: on fast days I have been having coffee and tea throughout the day (and counting those calories) and then having something like an innocent pot for dinner. Or if my husband is home, whatever one of us cooks but weighed and counted very carefully. I've been to the gym a few times but I would scarcely say that it was enough to put on "heavy" muscle.

My bad behaviour: I haven't been all that good on my feast days but I haven't been terrible, either. I never drink enough water on either feast days or otherwise and I think I have too much salt in my diet. I have started to introduce alcohol back into my diet but it's the odd glass of wine or couple of bottles of beer.

Potential complications: My daughter was born on 5th Oct 2013 so at first I thought maybe I was struggling to lose weight because of that but my other Mummy friends have been losing weight (using all sorts of methods) so it can't just be that. I'm no longer breast feeding (stopped end Nov).

Soo.... Any advice? Is there something I'm doing wrong??

[Moogie]

Hi Glomommy and welcome

So sorry to hear it hasn't been working for you yet but I'm sure we can get to the bottom of this. As I understand it every pregnancy is different, so it's possible that your body just hasn't adjusted yet and comparing yourself to other new mums may not actually be a fair indicator. So, don't worry about what's happening for others, let's look at what's happening for you.

Firstly I'd say that alcohol is often the culprit in these cases, it's full of empty calories and even a glass of wine can add a few hundred without you even really noticing it. If you consume too many calories on your feed days you will undo the calorie deficit from fasting and therefore not experience any loss.

Also, if you've recently had a baby I would think you've been used to 'eating for two' during pregnancy and may have lost touch a little with what your actual calorific needs are. May I suggest you sign up to our Progress Tracker and let it calculate your TDEE (total daily energy expenditure). You may find this is lower than you think. Many of us do not need the full 2000 cals the 'average woman' needs. It may be helpful to keep a food diary for a little while to get an idea of whether you are overeating on your feed days. It seems the likely culprit - especially with Christmas indulgence involved too!

Bear in mind also that you are not highly overweight and therefore any weight loss is likely to be slower than those of us who started in the obese or beyond category.

Note also that a 1lb gain isn't necessarily a gain, our weight fluctuates from day to day and even throughout the day, and this can often mask a loss when the fluctuations can be by several lbs and the losses rather less. Water retention, what you've eaten, hormones, time of day and all sorts can influence the figure on the scales. Have you tried measuring to see if you've lost inches rather than lbs?

I see you say you don't drink enough water on feed days, bear in mind that if you don't drink enough water your body will retain more fluid than if you drink enough on a regular basis, so you may have lost a few lbs but actually be holding water weight at the moment.

Finally, bear in mind it's only been 4-5 weeks you've been doing this. Some folks have found it's taken them about this amount of time for the loss to start showing, particularly if they're not very overweight.

I think the first thing to check is your TDEE (always best to check on Sedentary setting as many of us overestimate our activity levels and think we can eat more because of it) against what you're actually consuming. Let us know how you get on!

Hi Glomommy - what Moogie says!!

It sounds like you're fairly self-aware if you know you've not been entirely 'good' on feast days, you've fessed up to the alcohol etc. So you kind of already know what to do!

I'm one of those who didn't lose any weight at all for about 8 weeks, but I did lose inches. So take measurements as well and don't rely solely on scales.

Not only have you just had a baby, but it's been Christmas and New Year - crikey! I've kept my fasts up but I'm still trying to get back to my November weight.

I would say definitely stick with it - you're in it for the long term. Filling in the Progress Tracker will really help. Good luck!

Thank you both so much! I really appreciate the thoughts and encouragement. I will definitely stick with it and I'll pay more attention to the non-fast days and concentrate on drinking enough water. Oh.. I did forget to say that I have lost 2" off my waist (I did follow the advice and took my measurements at the very beginning).
Thanks again. Watch this space for good news!!

[Moogie]

2" off your waist in just over a month is fantastic progress! Who cares what the scales say really if your body shape is changing. The number on the scales is something only you see, the shape of your body is something everyone who sees you will notice

Well done on your fantastic loss - it's working

[Betsysgr8]

Well done for not gaining the national average of 7-10 lbs over the festive period! This WoE IS working for you, it's just been hidden by the holiday indulgences. You've lost 2 inches! Take the advice from the above posts and stick with it, it is working and I'm sure the scale will reward you soon.

[Betsysgr8]

@Glomommy take a look at this post/poll that asked forum members "How much did you gain over the christmas new year" 5-2-diet-chat-f6/how-much-weight-did-you-gain-over-christmas-new-year-t10841.html and you will see you did better than most of the "seasoned" fasters! So, don't be disappointed in maintaining!

Hi @Glomommy And Welcome
Congratulations on the baby
All good advice given so not much to add from me other please keep at it and give this WOL a real chance to pay you back because believe me it will and 2inches is absolutely brilliant, so yes even changes that seem small to you can all add up together to show you big results.

On my Friday weigh- in I'd gained 1kg and have been struggling since xmas I was so down + low and posted on here to return to "proper" 500 cals fasts because I can't remember the last time I actually did that ( yes I've let things slip a little) and everyone on here building my confidence back up ready to restart today, I've had my normal weekend of eating + drinking what I want got on scales this morning and that 1kg has gone totally gobsmacked this WOL is so unpredictable and we can hold onto so much water + fluid plus as you've found the tape measure is much better.

[carieoates]

Give it time, having a baby does weird things to your body. Congrats for the baby, not gaining too much over Xmas and for breast feeding.

I started at the same weight as you and wanted to lose 21lb. It has taken 9.5 months but I've done it eventually. There have been ups and downs (the ups coinciding with holidays - no fasting, eating white carbs and drinking wine!!) have a look at my tracker. If you can stand to, cut out the white carbs and wine for a week - I know, I know!!! and see if that helps. The problem is, when you have a little to lose, it takes ages. However, don't worry, it's not a race, it's a way of life. Well done for getting those 2" off and keep on keeping on. Your efforts will be rewarded.

Wow! Thank you all so very much. I'm really touched by your kindness and words of encouragement.

I'm down 1.6lbs today (switched scales so it's showing I'm up but I'm not).

I will persevere!! Watch this space.

Ditto to all the other posters who say congratulations, you've done really well to stick to your plan, to keep the Xmas gain at bay, and lose inches as well.

Please come back in a month or two and update this thread. Because I am sure that will be an inspiration to other people who don't get the results on their scales at the beginning.

If you look at my progress tracker, you will see a lovely smooth slope down for the first few months. That's because I didn't go near the scales until I knew the result would be good! So among things, congratulations for not being such a wuss as me!