New to site but on my new eating plan for 12 weeks

This topic contains 3 replies, has 3 voices, and was last updated by TracyJ 10 years, 3 months ago.

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Scottygirl

7:51 am
7 Aug 14
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Hello everyone, I have been using the site for help and inspiration for the last 12 weeks, however I decided to join as I badly need support in dealing with no weight lose for the last 4 weeks. How can that be, do I cheat? Absolutely not! Do I pig out on feast day? No, I don’t count calories and don’t intend to. I have lost 7 lbs since starting which is wonderful, but it is so dis-hearthtening to be stuck when I still need to lose another stone and a half.
Ps; I really don’t want to do 4 3, life is difficult enough as when I started to diet I also quit wine, I will have no fun left!
Thank you for reading and any tips would be much appreciated!

GerryStar

7:55 am
7 Aug 14
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Sorry to hear that. I don’t have good advice as my only one – which is going to put you off – is to roughly count your calorie on off day to see if it has go over your TDEE too much.

Hope someone wit longer experience would able to inspire you more.

Scottygirl

8:11 am
7 Aug 14
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Thank you for a speedy reply. I know quite a few people go by their TDEE, Im just reluctant to go along that path although I may need to. I read the book on holiday and what attracted me to this eating plan was the fact that I did not have to count calories on feast days. Im a celiac so I don’t eat bread, cakes etc., therefore I have a fairly healthy diet anyway. Obviously not healthy enough or I would not have weight to lose. I know at the end of the day it’s simple maths, put less in and you lose weight, so I reckon Im reducing by about 3000 calories a week and Im not even counting the calories I lost by not drinking 2 bottles of wine a week!
Oh well I won’t give up, the other benefits are great and I faith in cracking this somehow.

TracyJ

12:04 pm
7 Aug 14
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Hiya Scottygirl, I’m guessing that if you’ve been reading through the threads you already picked up a lot of this but here goes:

Have you measured to see if you’ve lost inches rather than weight? This happens to lots of people starting out on 5:2.

If you don’t want to count calories longterm I totally get that (I don’t either) but it is a really good idea to do it for a short time (and especially pay attention to how many calories are in a regular portion of your particularly favourite meals & snacks) so that you have at least a rough idea of your non-fastday intake and can guarantee that you’re not going over your TDEE on non-fastdays.

Also look at what you are eating on non-fastdays and see if you can cut down on sugary & carby foods as they tend to ‘set you off’ and you can end up overeating without realising it. You don’t have to cut anything out, just be mindful – “I’m really peckish…. Hmmm, I’ve just eaten a bag of crisps/ dried fruit/ whatever…. maybe it’s just the carbs, I’ll have some water instead” – that kind of thing. Protein & fibre rich foods will be more satisfying so time your carby/sugary treats on non-fastdays well and be aware that right after you’ve had them you may have to fight off some temptation.

Do you eat according to the clock rather than actual hunger on non-fastdays? Some people do but I’d highly recommend breaking that habit. It’s much more difficult to overeat with 2 (or even 1) reasonable meals a day, eaten when you are actually hungry, than 3.

Have you taken up exercise at the same time as starting 5:2? A new exercise regime could actually significantly slow any weight loss. It’s not BAD for you (obviously) and doesn’t happen to everyone but I can tell you from my own experience that I lost almost 4 stone on 5:2 over 18 months, with no additional exercise and since increasing my exercise by 400% in February I have probably only lost a total of 4lb (and that was all in 1 month – so it’s been literally no loss at all or a tiny gain most months). I know that I am redistributing and I can tell that I’m toning up, I also know that once it reaches its tipping point I will start losing again but it IS disconcerting, so I understand your frustration if this is your issue too.

Have a good look through the threads, there are lots of people who have plateaued and stalled and lots of different approaches to kick-starting but if you ARE losing inches then it’s not an issue – you must just be one of THOSE people, so check that first 😉