Hi littlebitlit

not easy is it?

Your doctor might be able to shed some light, I do hope so.

Other than that, its just a matter of grasping the nettle that is 5:2 – I started at nearly 14 1/2 stone, and I’m over halfway to a 5 stone loss, but, for me, like most of us, its a slog and a game of snakes and ladders.

I always calculate my TDEE at two stones lighter than I am – started this when I had no weight loss it the first three weeks of 5:2 – the other thing I did was to keep a food diary. I also calorie count fast days and none fast days. Not everyone does, but for some of us the nettle is harder to pull out of the ground!

Your TDEE sounds high, I use sedatory even though I have been exercing and doing 10,000 to 15,000 steps a day, though not able to exercise at the moment.

Having a low TDEE is hard, and I go over now and again – but using the low TDEE makes any excess more forgiving.

If you are eating a quarter of your TDEE twice a week and you aren’t losing weight – but not gaining – you might just be eating the exact amount you need. The theory of 5:2 is to eat 20% less a week for a one pound loss – on average. I’ve discovered I actually don’t need many calories and can maintain my weight eating an average of just 1500 calories a day – bummer eh? Explains how I put so much weight on though!

So, check your TDEE, if correct you can eat 18,900 calories a week (2700 per day) to maintain your weight – you are eating no more than 12350 (2200 x5 plus 675 x 2), 66% of your TDEE – a lot less than the 5:2 20%, you should be losing at a rate of nearly 2 lbs a week, as the deficit is 6550 calories. Might be your TDEE is wrong, it is after all a guideline only, a good place to start but not an exact measurement. Why not experiment and for 4 weeks try 20% less than you are eating now, a total of 10,000 calories, about 1950 calories a day and 500 calories on your fast day. Count and record EVERY calorie, for the 4 weeks.

Theoretically, a loss of 1 lb a week, bang on the 5:2 theory.

Sorry to bambozzle with figures but – supposing there is not a medical reason – 5:2 for weightloss is simply eating less than you need – and 20% is a reasonable long term workable amount. I really think the hard part to finding the maximum you can eat to put the brakes on weight gain – and how much less you should eat to reverse and actually lose the weight. As I said already, not easy!

I hope this doesn’t come over a condescending or clever, I sat down and worked this out for myself when I wasn’t losing – and when I go off the reservation and eat more than my calculations, I put on weight.

Good luck and let us all know how you get on!!

Little,

I suspect you have hit the nail on the head and answered your own question: ‘…the thing that attracted me to the 5:2 WOE was the fact that I could eat anything on non-fast days. I guess for some of us the rules do have to be adapted.’

Eating anything on non-fast days is not the same as eating everything. You should eat normally on non-fast days, but if your ‘normal’ is in fact overeating, then you can’t expect two fast days to result in significant weight loss, although it might help you to maintain your weight (i.e. not gain any more).

And as for the rules having to be adapted? No. The rules are the same for everyone. You eat a reasonable amount of food on non-fast days, and by that I mean up to your TDEE, and on fast days you eat a quarter of your TDEE or less. No one will lose weight fast (if at all) if they are over eating on non-fast days.

5:2 works, but you do have to accept that you need to let go of those unhealthy eating habits that caused your weight gain in the first place.

I see that you were here briefly a year ago. Simco advised you then. You would do well to read his posts. He is the Oracle on all matters 5:2.

Good luck sticking with 5:2 this time round.

Hi Little

I’m glad Happy has joined this thread – she really is a font of knowledge. Its unfortunate that because you can’t see folk when they write, words can be quite bald and unforgiving. Just bear with us, we are all in the same boat (and those of us who are on the part of the boat that is sitting deep in the water feel your pain!)

I think lots of us have tried lots of things – one of the brilliant things about this forum is the help and support – we really are all in this together, whether you need to lose 200 lbs or 7 lbs – sometimes I think the 1/2 stone is the hardest to lose.

And losing is only the beginning, staying there takes effort as well.

Read some of the threads and join one or two or as many as you like – please read buttonboots journey, inspirational! And, interestingly, she does pretty basic 5:2 – another fairly basic 5:2er is Ginette – calling her basic though is a misnomer, she spends a lot of time researching and passing on some great information. What they have in common is a desire to long quite a lot of weight, but both concentrate on small targets. And read the maintence crew (including Happy) thread – been there, done it, got the tee-shirt and swop it for a smaller size!

There are many variations of 5:2, we need them, to make 5:2 doable for individuals, but get the basics going, get the 1 lb a week away, then tweak!

You are doing marvellously and you are well on the road to success, even if you can’t see the first bend, ne’er mind the end of the road, so enjoy the journey!