The FastDay Forum

Greetings all,

First post as I've been lurking for a while. My wife and I started the 5:2 diet about a month ago and she's been tracking very nicely losing about 4 lbs. however I've not really lost any weight yet. I realize that my age (61) and the amount I'm eating on my feed days are probably the cause. Btw, I'm not unhappy with the program as I'm not gaining and my clothes feel a bit looser. Any ideas other than watching my KCals on feed day? I was wondering if folks like me (people who don't lose weight easily) might do better on a 4:3 diet, at least for a while to help "kick-start" the process? TIA

Hi!
I haven't lost much weight (2kg in 6 weeks) but I have lost 7 or 8 cm around my waist. Really, I'm more interested in my waist shrinking, and other fat loss and muscle gain, so I'm not disheartened. I do keep getting on the scales and hoping though that they've gone down. It's like I need them to confirm my shrinking waist, which is silly. I've hidden them, but of course know where so just drag them out. Maybe I should get someone else to hide them from me for a few months?
I'm going to stick to 5:2 for now, but have also considered 4:3 or alternate day fasting as a kick start.

Some people do seem to lose weight much more slowly than the average, but zero weight loss in four weeks is unusual - most 5:2ers find their bathroom scales at least recording water loss in their first few weeks, even if they are not shedding fat yet.

There are a number of things which you could try, apart from simply cutting back on kCalories on your non-fast days:

* Experiment with what you are eating - some individuals appear to do better on low-fat regimes, some on low-carbohydrate, some on low-sugar.
* Increase the amount of exercise you take, and keep gently increasing it until you find your personal optimum amount.
* Try varying the amount you eat on non-fast days, so that you eat more heartily on some days and more sparsely on others.
* Replace any junk food in your diet with nourishing food, so that your body does not have to process large quantities of garbage in order to take in minimum amounts of vital nutrients.
* If there is a chance that you have been consuming too few kCalories overall, increase the amount you take in on non-fast days, as your body may be verging on "starvation mode" and holding on to every kCalorie by lowering your metabolism.
* Arrange for a check-up with your doctor, to ensure that you don't have a medical condition which is preventing you from losing weight.
* Settle for losing inches rather than pounds - particularly if you are exercising more and may therefore be replacing fat with heavier muscle.
* Check that you are taking in the appropriate amount of kCalories overall for your age, height, gender, weight, and level of activity, rather than just following the average. Yes, this may show that you need to cut back, but at least then you will be able to make an informed choice.

Good luck!

Good tips from Phoenix there, also have you seen this topic: Why do the scales show an increase when I've been so good??