The FastDay Forum

Hiya,

I'm new to this diet and started last week,
I am gutted as I also done 3 days last week on 500 calories, Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday,

I weighed myself last Sunday and again yesterday and have not lost a single pound!
I did weigh myself Thursday morn and lost 3 lb, but because I had eaten normal on fri and sat I went back up to my original
Weight x

Please anyone with any tips xxx

Read the FAQ's and other Nerdy stuff posts that explain the science of weight loss - then wait a couple of weeks. As long as you aren't over (or under) eating on the feed days you will lose weight.

I've had fluctuations like that too Kate, in both directions. Frustrating, but I stuck with it. This is week 5 for me and the overall trend is now unmistakably down.

So I urge you to keep with it and see what happens, cos if this does work for you, it's the easiest thing in the world to do forever. It just might take a good few weeks of data for a trend to emerge that cuts through any normal variations in the data.

I'm doing just plain old 5:2 (Mon/Thu) just now. I checked my usual impatience at the door and decided to make it easier on myself.

Hi Kate!
Well done on getting through the first week! I would say just give it another couple of weeks, don't give up! We all see a lot of natural fluctuations in our weight, mine can go up or down by 4lbs in a day just from how hydrated I am and what time of day I'm weighing. I'm sure you didn't put on 3 real pounds of weight just over Friday and Saturday because you would have to have eaten about 10,000 extra calories to do that! I would guess that your natural daily fluctuations in weight go up and down several pounds like mine. So if you kept trying for a few more weeks I'm sure you would see the wobbly line on your weight graph getting steadily lower.

Gail

Thank you for your replays x I am def gona stick to it x as I am so far finding it not that bad,

Apart from last week I had terrible insomnia
On the days I was fasting,

And yes you are right Gail my weight does fluctuate on day to day basis so fingers crossed x

I was exactly the same, not losing anything for the first 3 weeks and I think I worked out what the problem was for me:
I hadn't measured my TDEE which is actually 1771 meaning that my fasting calories are actually 440 per day rather than 500.
Secondly, on my feast days I was catching up on all the things I'd been missing out on while on the Slimming World diet, eg cakes and cheese, and think I just went over the top! By sticking to the 1770 cals a day I've had more success.
However, I did have a bit of a blow out on Saturday while my son was visiting and gained a pound. So for me at least, the 5:2 diet is preferable to a 'normal' diet but it's definitely not an easy option. I always bear in mind that this is also a healthy way to lose weight and affects my overall well-being.

Hiya thanks for your reply,
I am new to this diet and site so sorry I'm a bit confused what TDEE is?
Could you advise and tell me how I am able to work mine out cheers

[carorees]

TDEE = total daily energy expenditure (how many calories you burn in a day). Links to TDEE calculators in the FAQ (see my signature).

The calculators are not very accurate but they are a good starting point. I would check your TDEE on a few of the online calculators and then assume that yours is somewhere in the middle of the range that they give. Your body weight does not change daily in response to the calories you consume but over several days so daily changes don't mean much. So, if you try to eat somewhere around TDEE on feed days and 500 on fast days you should create enough of a calorie reduction to result in weight loss, even if it doesn't show up immediately. This allows for indulgent weekends as long as the weekdays are more careful!

This way of life does not require you to count calories daily but it is helpful to do so occasionally to get a feel for how many you are actually eating on feed days and to compare with what your calculated TDEE is. Obviously if your TDEE calculation comes out at around 1800 and you are eating 2500, you are not going to see any weight loss! If the difference is small, then probably it will just take time. There is no need to restrict your calories below TDEE every feed day just to eat at around that level on average.