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If you’re not losing weight, you’re eating too much. It’s a simple as that. Obviously many people have had a plateau experience since as you lose weight, you use fewer calories per day, so you have to continue reducing intake or you’ll stop losing weight (unless you increase activity-exercise). If you’re not eating anything while fasting, then you must be eating too much between fasts. Everybody claims they hardly ever eat anything and they still gain weight. Whatever, fasting won’t change the simple fact that calories consumed must be less than calories used if you’re going to lose weight and calories used go down as you lose weight.
hi thimbletack,
yes it has happened u r not alone
ur body is resisting this is normal
for us normal fat retaining people
we r not the elitist that we r striving 2 b & achieve
that do a 6:1 or never count calories & just lose exactly what they want & quickly
mine was after 3 months
so i kick-started with an if of 4/3 one wk then a 5/2
it started going down again
and now i’m in another plateau
now i will do mediterranean w/ fasting
i think the link i put is gone already on this page of the latest 50 comments or look 4 webmd
put plateau in search & u will come up w/ a kaleidoscope of
these concerns
hang in there there is definitely a world of health
u don’t want 2 go back 2 the prison camp of guilt or yoyo dieting & b their inmate
or take a vacation from this stress u can always comeback w/ new insight
wish u a stress free uncomplicated successful healthy lifestyle
keep us posted we r here 4 u
hi thimbletack,
Hitting a plateau is normal on any weight reduction plan. Consider the health benefits of 5:2 even if you’re not losing for a while. I know it’s frustrating, I’m currently on my second plateau since starting mid-April but while the scale’s not budging I’ve lost another inch off my waist. Congratulations on losing 10 lbs, don’t give up!
Record all that you consume for a week and calculate the calories.It may not be what you are eating but how much. Next check that you have adjusted your TDEE in line with your weight loss. Measure all body parts and see where you have lost inches and record that-you will need that for your next plateau!
Plateaus are part of weight loss. It takes time for the body to readjust and then start losing again.
I was running once a week, hit a plateau and went swimming twice a week for two weeks and lost 2lb each week.
I am a firm believer in the power of the tape measure and trying on clothes to see where the loss is.Keep going.
hi thimbletack, as stated above plateaus are normal and do happen even when your doing everything right and sticking to the plan, mine lasted almost four months, but while the weight stayed the same in that time i dropped three dress sizes, try on some clothes that were tight before, sometimes our body is reshaping and internal fat is being broken down even when the scales say nothing is happening, dont just rely on those numbers,
the way i broke my plateau was by taking up swimming, if your already active then like others say just stick with it, it will start to shift again, some others have stated they took a break and had a blow out, after a slight gain when returning to the plan weight loss restarted, above all else listen to your body and do whats right for you, best of luck xx
Plateaus are not uncommon –
http://www.the52dietplan.com/losing-weight-again-5-2-diet-plateau/
Thank goodness for that! Thought I was the only one who was experiencing this. I fast 2 days a week (eat breakfast and evening meal..No snacks). Lost 9lbs in total so far.But have hit a serious plateau for the last 8 weeks or so. It’s very disheartening and I’ve thought of giving up several times but after reading this I’m determined to carry on. My clothes are definitely fitting better and I feel healthier. I may also be a little guilty of extra snacking on non fast days (however much I may be in denial!) Just good to know ur not on your own. Keep at it! I know I will be. Hopefully we will both start losing on the scales again soon.
I have hit several plateaus since January. I am a firm believer in trying on clothes and using the tape measure.Put the scales away for a month and just measure once a week. Sometimes when there has been no change in size in the usual places, I have found that my calves had shrunk or by trying on clothes realized that back fat was disappearing.
Keep at it and you too will have a pile of clothes that hang off you even if the scales don’t seem to move much.
Goal is a waist less than half your height. I have lost 23 lb in 30 weeks and had lost 16″. I have been on a plateau for a month but have lost another 7″!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Keep going……
Don’t despair thimbletack. You are definitely not alone.
I know all about plateaux, having taken 7 months to loose 5 kilos (11 lbs). BUT many clothes that were once too tight are now a perfect fit, I’ve dropped 2 dress sizes, my blood pressure has plunged, cholesterol is down to 4.8 and I’ve loads more energy. And following a very naughty non-diet week while on holiday, I didn’t put on an ounce, so the metabolism has clearly changed. In the past I would have come home half a stone heavier and feeling as sick as a pig into the bargain.
Some or even all these things are almost certainly happening to you. The Fast Diet isn’t just about weight loss, it also has a pronounced effect on general health and well-being.
I think it’s unfair – and I would venture to say unkind and judgemental – to accuse you of over-eating and it’s good to see that most fellow Fast Dieters are on your side and share your experience. It may be that your pre-diet intake was already pretty healthy, so the weight loss won’t be as dramatic at that seen by someone who was previously eating all the fatty, sugary stuff – that’s what I tell myself anyway :). Hang on in there!
Hi there, I have a tip or two I’d be happy to offer but need a little help myself. I’ve been doing 2:5 IF since November last year and it has totally transformed me, and I’ve lost over two and a half stone. I’ve managed to avid hitting plateaus by giving myself holidays. I live abroad and go back to the UK for holidays and when I go back I don’t do the diet. Then I start up again when I get back. And it’s worked perfectly – until now! I’ll get to that later. So apart from my ‘holiday’ tip I also suggest cutting evening carbs on non fast days and avoiding alcohol. It’s worked for me!
So here’s my problem, perhaps someone could help me? I went back to the UK for a week in summer (I generally gain a kilo each time I go back for a week) I came back, lost my kilo in the week that followed but since then (4 wks ago) the weight won’t budge. Has this happened to anyone else? Does 3:4 IF help? What can I do? (Hope I’ve helped a little too !)
Thimbletack, is it possible that you could be fasting too much? I am pretty new here and don’t know your history, I am sure there is a reason you are doing 36 hours of total fasting alternating with 12 hours of eating, but to me it sounds like a lot more fasting than the standard 5:2 plan and I wonder if its metabolic effects are different. Or is that the standard alternate-day-fasting plan? I thought those usually involved some eating on fast days, but I am no expert. I wonder if maybe your body thinks it’s living through an actual famine and is trying to conserve itself rather than letting the fat loss happen. I could be completely wrong, this is just a question that came into my mind reading your post. I wonder if taking a holiday from your plan or trying a standard 5:2 for a while would let your body re-adjust. Plateaus are really tough. I admire your efforts, please don’t despair and give up, there must be a way!
Thimbletack,
I, too, am doing ADF. And, like you, on my fast days I am not eating anything. However, on my non-fast days, I am not giving myself any kind of window. Nor am I counting any kind of calories, or restricting my eating in any way. On the eat days, I eat what I want. Seriously, I eat whatever in the world I want. In two weeks, I have already lost 8 lbs.
The key, I think, is that your body needs to know that the calorie restriction is only temporary. If your restriction is less than 96 hours, or so, your body will increase metabolism and burn fat while preserving muscle…all in an attempt to prepare you to go out and find food. But if the restriction lasts a long time, your body thinks it is in a famine and will stop burning fat and reduce your metabolism, all in an effort to save your life, which it thinks is in jeopardy.
So evaluate your non-fast days. Not from the perspective that you must be eating too much, but rather that you are eating too little. Again, your body needs to know that the calorie restriction is over. I have eaten like a king on my non-fast days and lost 8 lbs in two weeks so far. And I am nothing special. I don’t say it to brag, but only to prove my point that we’re only supposed to calorie restrict on the fast days.
Aww, thimbletack, don’t give up! I think Tom here above has a really good point. I also never calculate my calories on non-fast days. I have buns with chocopaste if I like. 😀
Plus as you see, we all have hit plateaus. And weight plateau is not all of the story; even if the weight does not seem to go down sometimes, there must be something good still happening, since many of us loose inches of our waist anyways… It’s just so easy to keep a tap on the weight, less easy to see what is actually going on inside.
DON’T QUIT! Here is my experience that I wrote to someone else here who wasn’t losing: Back in April I decided to start 5:2. I was around 185 lbs when I started. After the first few weeks, I had lost down to about 178…and then it stopped. And there I stayed for the next 3 MONTHS. I did 4:3, I did every other day fasting, I exercised, I cut out carbs etc…all the things you have done. Nada. I didn’t take my measurements so I couldn’t compare those but I was very disheartened.
After 3 months, I decided to just quit the 5:2. Well, looking back, I actually looked pretty good at the time I was doing 5:2. I still don’t eat gluten, very minimal sugar, low dairy…and I am now a little over 190lbs!
All this to day I should have just stuck with the 5:2 even with no weight loss because it was at least affording me 5 days a week where I didn’t have to really obsess about food and the 2 fast days really weren’t that hard for me. And I agree with those who say “I’m going to just keep doing it because really, what are your other options?” Because my other option was that I put on almost 15 lbs from stopping 5:2!
So now I’m back and I am NOT going to weigh myself at all. I took my measurements and am just going to look at this as a health change…NOT a weight change. Man I wish I had just stuck with it…then I wouldn’t have these 15 lbs to try to lose now 🙁
Must you spam every single thread in this website wiltnusa? I dont see why you have to enter your check marking message into every thread for test purposes? I like to check every new post that I see on this messageboard and the last 10 I have gone into are yours with your testing message! Very annoying!
Hi everyone I have just read all the topics,on plateus and thank you .i am encouraged to keep going.
I started 5.2 eight weeks ago I am a 66year old male and 5ft 7 tall and started on 13st which is high on bmi scale.in the first 5 weeks I lost 17lb. But since then have not changed at all.
I am going on holiday next week so I am concerned that all the hard work will be lost.
Any body got any suggestions on how to avoid putting the weight back on.
Hi Loiner and welcome:
Your 5 week weight loss is way above average, so much of it was water weight. Your current loss after 8 weeks is still above average.
Here are some tips: https://thefastdiet.co.uk/forums/topic/the-basics-for-newbies-your-questions-answered/
The tips cover plateaus and what you might expect to happen after your holiday.
Good Luck!
Hello. I am a yo-yo dieter (max 24st min 13st) who gains weight very easily especially when stressed, I have been on diet where I went down from 24st to 13st, 17st to 14st and 18st to 15st. I am currently on the 5-2 diet trying to get back down to 13st from 18.5st.
Every diet I have been on, I have hit the “dreaded” plateau – usually for me after 10-11 pounds lost. I began my latest diet (after another stressful period in my life – divorce! – saw me go from under 15st to 18.5st in a year) a month ago and the first 11lbs were a breeze, but then nothing for ten days and counting!
The plateau occurs because your body wants to hold on to as much fat as it can. Fat keeps us warm and is an abundant supply of energy. Our bodies are still “cavemen” bodies and don’t know our supply of food is plentiful!
So, initially, our bodies will only give up the “weight” it can “afford” to lose – which is mainly fluid and easy energy stores. This is why you always lose a lot of weight in the first week of the diet.
The plateau occurs because it’s very tough to get your body to start to use stored fat as energy, as it doesn’t want to. It’s likely having to use your life savings rather than your income to pay your utility bills.
As I said, EVERY major diet I have been on, I has experienced the “plateau” and sometimes it has lasted a month. But EVERY time I got through it, and lost weight at a steady weight of one or two pounds a week until I got to an acceptable weight.
Keep at it and good luck 🙂
I thought I’d revive this old post because @iwrite4u did such a good job of explaining the dreaded stubborn plateau. My 2 week plateaus isn’t entirely a random event after my 2 day eating extravaganza last weekend, but it had started before that, and even careful eating and yesterday’s FD isn’t getting me out of the 62’s.
I’m not considering giving up on 5:2. It normally works very well for me. And I think sometimes there are other reasons such as those iWrite4u explains that may be involved. I’m being more careful of what I eat today on this NFD and hoping my weight will get moving downward soon!
I too hit plenty of plateaus when losing weight. I also have periods of gain (mostly due to inflammation and hormones). When you graph my weight loss journey it looks more like a roller coaster ride than a straight line. It has frustrated me for years, but it never changes, it’s just what my body does when I try to lose weight.
One thing to be mindful of when doing 5:2 is your calorie intake on the days you are not fasting. On these days you need to stay roughly at or under your TDEE to lose weight from the FDs. Your TDEE does not stay the same. Every time you lose a pound your TDEE decreases, every year older your TDEE decreases. So if you worked it out when you started 5:2 and didn’t keep adjusting it then you need to revisit this regularly.
When I started 5:2 someone recommended calculating the TDEE for goal weight and aiming for that on the NFDs. I thought that was excellent advice as it saves all of the recalculation and it also gives you lots of experience at knowing what your food intake needs to be to maintain that goal weight when you get there. The only thing you need to adjust for with this approach is age.
I have hit plateau in the past and it’s very frustrating so I know where you’re coming from. I might all the necessary tweaks but nothing would shift.
I did two things:
Training – completely changed my training. I didn’t do anything the same. Cycling hit to skipping rope, body resistance rather than lifting weights etc. I did no exercise the same as before. Even tried out gymnastics.
Diet – I ate totally different for a week, and badly at that! I introduced simple carbs, larger portions, basically being a bit of a slob. I gained slight weight over this week and felt my cardio and energy reduced.
I felt I needed to shake my body out of its routine. It worked.
Bare in mind that some may find it particularly hard to return to a strict diet after purposely ‘falling off the wagon’ for a week, but keep in mind WHY you are doing it.
This isn’t to say it worked because of the diet, maybe the exercise was more rigorous.
P
Hi there,
Those are all great methods for breaking out of a rut, indeed …
It’s always been a good idea to switch your fitness routines after some time period … Some say weekly, some say every three months, switch it up … To resist muscle adaption …
Regarding your ‘falling off the wagon’ … I actually view this as a good thing …
It is my every intent to go off diet if the situation warrants it … I don’t miss holiday dinners with family and friends .. I enjoy birthday celebrations and free meals at work (cannot pass that up) … But herein lies the beauty of intermittent fasting – it’s all good … It’s ok to change your fast day on the fly – just change to a different day … No sweat..
For holidays, I simply stop fasting and enjoy myself … Sure, I might gain a couple of pounds over a week of splurging, but I always have the tools to bring it all back to health weight loss …
In this way, I don’t really intend to ever stop using IF – it is a valuable tool to both enjoy your life AND stay healthy …
BTW – I just did a full 24 hour fast to try and spur greater weight loss, and it actually worked quite well … If you haven’t yet done a full day fast (nothing but water and black coffee for me), then it might also help you break through – I dropped two pounds below my previous low … It’s was not as hard as I thought it would be … You might try it if you don’t already …
Good luck!
do not give up, i think this tips will be help you . . .
happy diet
Hi there, I started doing the 5:2 about 4 yrs ago. I lost 12 kg really quickly and easily and then despite continuing on the weight started to creep back on. I then tried different diets – no carbs, keto, dietician, no sugar, hypnotherapy – nothing made any difference on the scales or to my waist band. I also tried the MM 800 cal (which did make a difference but I had a holiday and a broken relationship that put an end to it). I haven’t gone back to the MM 800 cal as to be honest I’m lazy but also because I have a lot of stresses at the moment and am pretty time poor.
I’ve since been back on the 5:2 & haven’t lost a gram. To be honest I feel fatter than ever but am 2.5kg under what I was when I started the 5:2 4 yrs ago. I have about 20kg to loose.
Anyone have any ideas or suggestions? I’ve keep going with the 5:2 only because by doing something I have an element of control / restraint.
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