4:3 – Week 2 regained 2 pounds I lost! HELP!!!

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QD

2:12 pm
24 Sep 14
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Hi!

I am new here and I need help! My starting weight was 141.6 lbs/64.2kg. I started my 4 fast days in a row (Monday-Thursday) and 3 non-fast days last week. I only exercised once last week by walking to light yoga class and walking back (2 miles altogether). I weighed myself on wednesday morning and found I lost alot of weight (137.8 lbs/62.5kg) then on Friday morning before starting my non-fast meals, I was 136.2lbs/61.7kg. Losing 5lbs in total on week 1 ! I was elated. I get discouraged very easily and like fast results so first week was very encouraging. I know by being on countless diets that weight for me drops off easily in the beginning. I was thinking I might lose maybe 2 to 3 lbs this week but I’ve just weighed myself and I’m 138.6 lbs! I exercised on monday morning walked at least 3 miles and did some light exercises to the point that i ached the next day. HELP! What am I doing wrong?

I have a few suspicions :-

Should I just do 5:2 ? I was hoping 4:3 would help me lose weight faster. Reading through the forum it looks like it does not. I read that 4:3 helps to kickstart or when one plateaus. I did 5:2 last year with slow but good results (2lbs every week) but I also exercised 3/4 times a week then. I went on a 2 week holiday, christmas came quickly after that and never got back to my 5:2 !

Did I overeat on my non-fast days ? I was conscious not to binge. I did obsess about food on my fast days and mindful to not go crazy. I didnt have 3 meals or 4 meals a day, stuck to only 2 meals but snacked like I normally do. I even felt so full so quickly on my fist non-fast day, I didn’t finish my meal!

In case you’re wondering my TDEE = 1482 and I have not been calorie counting on my non-fast days.

What do you think I should do now? Please anyone, please let me know what you think. I am so discouraged and demotivated right now. My chocolate chip cookie is beckoning me !!!! Sigh…

simcoeluv

4:07 pm
24 Sep 14
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Hi QD and welcome:

I’m sorry, but you are a victim of overenthusiastic expectations.

Starting at the beginning, I’m not sure why you did 4 diet days in a row as it has nothing to do with 5:2, but if you just wanted a jump start, fine.

Second, with your TDEE, you might expect to lose a little less than three pounds a week if you ate no food at all (1482 x 7 / 3500). As you ate food during your week, you would lose less fat weight than that. The remainder of the five pounds you lost was water weight. You gained some of it back when you drank water. In addition, your food in transit weight increased when you began eating again.

I think you should read this, #4 on TDEE: http://thefastdiet.co.uk/forums/topic/the-basics-for-newbies-your-questions-answered/. This will explain how much weight you can reasonably expect to lose on 5:2, or any other diet, over time. Given your TDEE, long term losses for you of over a pound a week will be very hard. As a short hand explanation, you have to cut 3500 calories out of your diet each week, or 500 calories a day, to lose one pound of fat. With your TDEE, that would mean averaging only 1000 calories a day to lose a pound a week. To lose two pounds, you would have to eat only 500 calories a day in food, a true starvation diet.

It is sad but true that people with low TDEEs only lose weight slowly over time.

In addition, if you are adding exercise to your program, so much that you ‘ached the next day’, your body is retaining water to repair your damaged muscles. This will also mitigate weight loss – see #5 in the above post.

As you asked for my advice, I would suggest you read about TDEE and exercise in the post above (and the Warning post, also). I would then decide whether the difficulty of weight loss is worth it for you. If it is, I would readjust my expectations downward and do 5:2 expecting to lose about a half a pound to a pound a week over time until I reached my goal. The numbers are the same for any diet you might consider, so you can expect the same difficulty in losing weight over time with any diet you might choose to try. As you have demonstrated, a large initial weight loss is possible for you, but it cannot be sustained.

Good Luck!

QD

6:09 pm
24 Sep 14
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Thank you simcoeluv!

I was so disheartened by this bump to reality but it is true I have difficulty sustaining my weight loss but no problem losing initial weight. I did think 5 pounds was just water! :/ I have been yo yo dieting for years and I have UK dress sizes ranging from 8, 10, 12 to 14! I still keep some favourite 8 and 10 clothes but have not worn them for years! I get depressed about this and photos. I hate photos of myself and determined this time to do something permanent about it. I like the idea of 5:2 as it really sound like it is possible to manage my weight to never having any chippy ever or that big chinese banquet for my birthday. I also have trouble sticking to exercise as I find it hard to find a good dance class which is the only exercise I love.

I read the link you gave me and on TDEE & exercise and understand it better now. I guess it will have to be slow and easy wins the race but I am so afraid of life events that usually derails me and I throw in the towel! Sigh…. It has happened so many times.

Thank you for taking the time to write to me and make such kind efforts to help me. I am so grateful.

QD x

simcoeluv

6:24 pm
24 Sep 14
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QD:

Events only derail you for a day or two, and you can’t gain that much weight in that little time (see #7). Just add an extra diet day or two after an event (not necessarily in the same week) and you will be right back on track.

You will see results over time, and even not gaining any more weight is usually better than scrapping the diet and getting even heavier.

Good Luck!