The FastDay Forum

Any thoughts or tips would be very much appreciated but I really just think I need to vent!

Having averaged a weight loss of about 1kg a week for the first month on the 5:2 diet I have found that since then (about another 5 weeks) I have lost only another kg in that entire time despite sticking to my two fast days, staying below my TDEE on almost every day (maybe gone over about 2 days total in the past month) and increasing my excercise in the past few weeks. Last week I burned 2500 calories extra over the week in the gym and out running and still no weight loss! I've still got another 18kg to go to reach my goal weight and whilst I don't mind how long it takes, at this rate I think it's going to take until 2020 to get there! I know people hit weight loss plateaus but everything I've read says this normally happens about 6 months in or once the person reaches a 'good weight', I'm still at the upper range of 'overweight' according to my BMI.

I think I'm secretly hoping that my body will be reading this and realise that really all the science indicates I should be losing weight and I'll step on the scales tomorrow morning having caught up and lost another 8kgs!

Stick with it.

There are numerous threads on here that explain why exercise can make you weigh more, but in a good way, Muscle repair etc etc (never quite got the hang of it myself though).
The extra 2500 cals over the week equates to less than 0.5kg of fat if the old equation is to be believed.
Exercise brings other benefits as well as weight loss so as I said stick with it.
If you can bear to limit your carb intake that will help, I know it works for me and Caroees had a thread about it last week.
Sorry for the rather rambling reply

Perhaps not the case here, but a common effect of exercise is the tendency for people to reward themselves with extra food. Well, as someone said, there's no way you can outrun your fork. Taking your exercise on fast day is an easy way to avoid this.

Also, cutting down on the carbs might help. I had some pasta yesterday afternoon, and I couldn't resist the cravings I got before bedtime. When I stick to salad, fat and protein there's no such problem.

Hi:

It looks like you have lost about 11 pounds in 11 weeks. The average weight loss with 5:2 is about a pound a week. You are right on schedule. Keep up the good work!

As for exercise, it is irrelevant to weight loss. Do it for health reasons, but not for weight loss reasons.

Good Luck!

[Moogie]

You're on track with an average weight loss of around 1lb a week - you've lost 11.4lbs in 10 weeks so are in fact slightly over the average. The higher losses seen in the first few weeks are often predominantly water, some of which is regained as you lose fat and causing a bit of a yo-yo effect on the scales or a seeming slow down in loss. Don't worry

Remember also that exercise tears your muscles (they then repair to get stronger) and while repairing the muscles hold extra water, having an impact on your weight.

Yes, exercise is usually irrelevant to short term weight loss for the average person, but with persistance you actually slowly begin to enjoy it. There's always an element of both suffering and pleasure with physical exercise, the more you do it, the more the suffering part fades away and pleasure takes over.

After 3-12 months, you've built a new habit, and a fitness level which will make it a lot easier to avoid regaining the weight.

It might take a year or so to get fit, but when you're there, you burn a lot more calories than the average person during and after exercise. You're more free to enjoy your food, that's quality of life besides the other benefits.

Michael H I must disagree about exercise becoming pleasurable. I've been exercising for years and I still hate it

Thank you for all of the replies. I do know that I have in the past been guilty of 'rewarding' myself with food when I exercise but I am trying to keep track of my calories on non-fast days just to make sure I don't go overboard. I ran a marathon last year and didn't lose any weight (although I did tone up a lot so will have lost some fat weight). I ate far too much and told myself I'd earned it because of the exercise. I do enjoy exercising once I get into a routine so will definitely keep it up for a combination of health benefits, weight loss and muscle definition (for when I've lost enough weight to be able to see the definition!!).

I realise that I have lost similar to the average weight loss and that is encouraging. It's a long process but I can already tell that my eating habits are changing, hopefully for life! I avoid sugary, high calorie foods on my fast days and crave them less on my 'feast' days and I also snack A LOT less than I used to so hopefully the weight loss will continue in a slow, downhill trend!

It will. I've done all sorts of exercise and not really lost weight. However, combining this with high-intensity stuff is working well. However, the muscle mass increase plus water retention means it's harder to see straight scale loss.

You might want to think about a tracking app, as then you'll be able to see your calorie deficit and the trends.

I'm trying out doing my longer runs (about 6-8 miles) on my fast days, that way I can't overeat as a 'reward'. I find I'm often not that hungry on those days anyway so it's more a frame of mind thing and fasting stops me consuming an extra 1500 calories because I've burned off 1000 calories running! I need to get on with some higher intensity stuff as well as my long slow runs to get that calorie burn up!

I like to excercise, it makes me feel better and tones me up and it surely must help me lose weight if I don't overcompensate by eating too much. Surely if I burn an extra 2000 calories per week and don't eat more then I will lose weight or at least lose fat and size.

I'm doing all sorts of stuff and not losing atm, body is changing composition instead.

My daughter used to be an Ironman Competitor, she was so good she qualified and competed in the World Championship in Hawii in 2011, so she knows a bit about weight and exercise. She ALWAYS lost weight when she stopped exercising, yes I siad lost weight. But, a very big but, she also lost muscle mass and tone.
Basically when you are exercising you are gaining muscle mass which is a dense substance, but losing fat mass which is a looser mass (if I can be so unscientific).
Exercise is vital for health reasons, exercise for weight loss in the short term is counter productive, you are quite likely to stall or even put on a bit of weight. But don't drop the exercise, long term weight loss results are better, just try to understand what is happening to your body and don't rely too much on the scales as a measure of fat loss.

Say you have 2000 calories deficit per week from exercise, that's less than a pound of fat so it's going to be several weeks before you see the scales move. You would see a trend if you use an app but natural fluctuations would mask it for a weekly weigh. Any muscle gain...

Only a bit related to this but my personal trainer, who I see twice a week, is not convinced that this diet is good for me to tone up and lose weight. She thinks I need to have some carbs before interval training and some protein afterwards. I tend to exercise on the morning after fasting day and have not had a problem. I have not tried my weekly 4.5km run on or after a fasting day. Will it help with weight loss?

[carorees]

@Wmr309 you might like to read this article about the value of fasting on exercise and exercise recovery.