The FastDay Forum

Hi, my husband and I are on 5:2 Diet for 4 weeks now and we've lost NOTHING! We're following it strictly and are at a loss on what to do. I found this forum out of desperation and joined in straight away. I have to mention that at the same time we joined a gym and are doing some weights and cardios. It might explain the lack of weight loss but our size isn't shrinking at all... Could someone shed a light on what we're doing wrong?? Thanks.

[carorees]

Welcome to the forum!

Sorry to hear you are not getting any weight loss. We need more info to get an idea of why you are not seeing movement on the scales: your TDEE, what you eat on feed days, how you arrange your fast days (cals and timing), how much you need to lose to get to a healthy weight, previous diet history, anything else that could affect weight loss.

If you are happy to share this info we'll have a think about what's happening.

Thank you for the quick response. What we eat on feed days vary but we do not overeat unless we eat out (and we eat out about 3 times a week), and we have fast days on either Monday & Thursday or Tuesday & Friday depending on our social engagements. On fast days I have breakky of 2 pieces of multigrain corn thins, Laughing Cows Triangle Light Cheese & 100ml of milk (121 cal). For lunch we have salad with dressing and a boiled egg (158 cal), and for dinner we have a small piece of salmon and steamed broccoli (125 cal). My husband has a boiled egg (90 cal) on top of it for a snack. I'd say we're both still in a healthy weight range, but I'd like to lose 7 kg (especially around my belly area) and my husband needs to lose a few kilos. I'm sorry but not sure what TDEE is. We tried a high-protein diet once and lost a few kilos very quickly but we couldn't continue and we put it back on very quickly.

Wonder if this is enough information? Would be great if you could give me any advise. Feels like we're the only ones who are not losing anything with this diet in the whole world...

[carorees]

Check your TDEE (total daily energy expenditure), there is a link in the FAQ, and in the essential links thread on the frequently asked questions board (link to FAQ in my signature). Then use one of the online calorie calculators (links in the essential links thread) to get a rough guesstimate of how many cals you eat on a feed day and compare with your calculated TDEE. Remember to include drinks as well as food!

If you are eating much over TDEE on feed days or, perhaps for some people, much under TDEE, it can slow the weight loss. If all looks fine there then you may need to just keep waiting or you could increase exercise which can make a big difference when used together with fasting. Especially exercise on fast days.

As you don't have much to lose it could take a while! The average loss is 1lb per week but some are losing a lot more so it follows that some are losing less. I'm sure you will get there in the end (as long as you are not overeating on feed days).

Good advice there from Carolees. I think you actually need to calorie count for a while to get an idea if what you are having in feed days. I have used the myfitnesspal ap on my iPhone for a long time and pretty much know what my "normal" day is. I also know now that I can have a few biscuits or an ice cream without blowing the budget.

Thank you for the advise, I'll check this TDEE thing out. I'll also record what I eat on normal days.