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This topic contains 6 replies, has 3 voices, and was last updated by Cinque 4 years, 7 months ago.

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faakhatri

10:12 pm
26 Apr 20
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Hello I started fasting from October last year. Funnily I thought 5:2 was 5 days of fast and I started losing weight and in 3 months I had lost more than 7 kg.
Then I went out of the country gained some weight.
Now since last 4 to 6 weeks I cannot seem to lose weight. It goes down slightly but on non fast days it goes over what I have lost in the fast days.
Eating wise I did not follow the 600 calories but ate as normal but trying to keep away from chocolates, snacks etc.
I would appreciate if someone can let me know where I have gone wrong as I’ve taken on few kgs but cannot seem to get them off. Thanks

Cinque

12:16 am
27 Apr 20
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Hi Faakhatri,

Am I right in thinking that for the last 4 – 6 weeks you have been having 2 days a week without chocolates and snacks, and 5 days with them?

If that is so, you probably aren’t making enough changes to your diet to lose the excess weight. You probably do need to make sure you don’t go above 600 calories on your fast days (or 800 calories if you want to follow Dr Mosley’s most recent recommendations to make 5:2 sustainable), and probably keep snacks and chocolate as an occasional treat maybe once a week or a fortnight.

Check out the Mediterranean diet guidelines eg https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/nutrition-and-healthy-eating/in-depth/mediterranean-diet/art-20047801 as this is what Dr Mosley recommends for non fast day eating.

Best wishes

faakhatri

3:25 pm
27 Apr 20
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Thank you for your reply.
No actually I am fasting 5 days a week from 9pm to 5pm and only having something to eat between 5pm and 9pm in 4 hours window.
With reference to food, I have been eating normally with occasional chocolate, biscuits etc on fast and non fast days.
As Ramadan has now started I will be fasting the next 30 days.
Kind regards
Farhan

Cinque

12:07 am
28 Apr 20
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Hi again Faakhatri,
Ramadan Mubarak

Well, I can see why you are so frustrated when you are limiting foods so extremely and not losing much weight.
It doesn’t make sense that you could be eating like that and not losing steadily, but other people have complained about it. You might enjoy reading this: https://thefastdiet.co.uk/forums/topic/really-no-weight-loss/

I have found the biggest trick with 5:2 is to make it easy and sustainable so that I know I can keep doing it for the rest of my life. So having just 2 days a week of restricted eating is what works for me. I was able to lose excess weight over 15 months and then I have stayed doing 5:32 for maintenance for nearly four years now.

However, Dr Mosley’s book Fast 800 developed from the need for some people to lose weight more quickly, either because they had pre-diabetes, or because they were finding basic 5:2 too slow and therefore gave up. In that book he recommends eating 800 calories a day for a few weeks, and then transitioning to 5:2 (with the Mediterranean diet on the non fast days).

It sounds like you are doing a slightly different version that is more suitable for you, hoping to lose some weight quickly, before transitioning in to a way of eating that will make sure you don’t put it on again.

It does seem like it should work!

Hopefully Ramadan will be a good fasting period for you, and when you get back to your 2:5 it will work nice and effectively. All power to you.

Lola22

2:34 pm
28 Apr 20
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Hello! I’m also a new member 🙂

Wow, I didn’t know there were people doing 2:5. I’m on my way to 5:2, but still doing 16:8. I want to start 6:1 in May. I hope I can find the right answers here when I encounter some problems.

I already have one question: During fasting days should I consume no more than 500 or 600 kcal?

faakhatri

2:46 pm
28 Apr 20
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Thanks

Cinque

1:30 am
29 Apr 20
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Hi Lola,

The original 5:2 recommended 500 calorie limit on fast days for women, and 600 for men. The idea was that this is 1/4 of the daily recommended calories. Some people found it better to work out their TDEE https://thefastdiet.co.uk/how-many-calories-on-a-non-fast-day/ and stick to 1/4 of that. And others decided it worked best for them if they worked out their TDEE for the weight they wanted to be, and eat 1/4 of those calories.

As if that wasn’t enough, Dr Mosley realised that a lot of people gave up on 5:2 as they found the 500 or 600 limit too hard, and he recommended they do up to 800 cals on a fast day. You will still lose weight, and if it is sustainable, then you will keep at it.

The good thing is you can choose for your self, and then change if necessary. I stated with 800 limit but quickly found I could eat less than half of that on a fast day, and so was eating 350 – 400. Once I got to maintenance I do some easier fast days of 800 limit.

Good luck with it!