6 months of good fasting no change to scales

This topic contains 13 replies, has 8 voices, and was last updated by sassygirlie89 10 years, 4 months ago.

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ARKKICO

11:43 pm
8 Jul 14
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Hi I’ve been fasting for 6 months and have MAYBE lost 2 Kg (I was jumping around houses and scales when I started at Christmas time so not quite sure). I have 10 – 15KGs to lose.

I have inspired a lot of weight lose in others – my Dad 10KG since Christmas my Aunt 8 in the same time, a friend 3KGs in 3 weeks. I know I’m doing the same as them because I taught them what to do.

I enjoy the fasting so I don’t mind doing it and I can see a definite change in my appetite, I will only eat what I need (not everything on the plate/table) and stop eating without the great will power it used to take. Don’t want to eat rich food and have only small portions. Which is great and new to me. But I would really like to lose the weight and everyone around me is – anyone with any clues?

Thanks
Miriam

Amy C.

11:49 pm
8 Jul 14
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Since you have been following the plan very closely, you may wish to do a sanity check on what you are eating on the non fast day.

You say you eat “only what I need.” Do you know if the total calories on the non fast days is at or slightly less than your TDEE? You may wish to count calories for a few days to see what it is you are eating.

Does your food include a lot of carbohydrate? Replacing bread, potatoes and pasta with veggies may allow you to feel full, but provide fewer calories.

Alternatively, if you are not eating close to your TDEE, weight loss may be slowed.

You can’t really assess until you know what you eat.

simcoeluv

11:51 pm
8 Jul 14
Permalink

Hi Arkkico:

If you have been doing 5:2 for six months and have lost only 4 pounds, you are eating too much.

The answer is to get a good approximation of your TDEE, and count calories for a week. That will probably show you where (and what) you are overeating.

The way 5:2 works is you go to bed, get up, eat 500 or fewer calories during your waking hours, go to bed, get up and eat to your TDEE or less – twice a week.

Here is what TDEE means: http://thefastdiet.co.uk/forums/topic/tdee-for-the-curious-or-why-dont-i-lose-weight-faster/

Good Luck!

ARKKICO

11:56 pm
8 Jul 14
Permalink

Hi Thanks Amy,

I think what I eat on non-fast days is pretty sensible – its probably less than the TDEE rather than more. When I cook at home i have hardly any carbohydrates and not much sugar – its mostly veg and tofu or lentils.

I have used the 5:2 to let myself have some treats i have a small bag of sweets (which i eat all at once because i have no will power) and I do sometimes have a Macdonald breakfast or a takeaway lunch – but I choose the lower calorie options when doing that so if anything those are the days when i would meet the 2000 calories.

My plan is to try dropping the sugar altogether and to start walking to work – but it just seems strange that my friends and family can drop the weight with just 2 days fasting 🙁 – I looked at 4:3 and it look like people had mixed results do you think its worth trying?

Amy C.

12:00 am
9 Jul 14
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I still recommend you count calories for a couple of days. “Probably less than the TDEE” is not very precise.

You can try 4:3 as well. I did and lost some weight.

dlroseberry

3:57 am
9 Jul 14
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If it were me Arkikco, I’d increase my fasting, either by reducing calories on fast days, going more hours until breaking the fast, or going to 4:3 or a combo. I’ve done everything except restrict myself on non-fast days. I even did a 4 day fast. But I don’t eat sugar at all. I could be wrong, but that could be what’s short circuiting your efforts.

Sourcat

4:35 am
9 Jul 14
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I’ve had the same issue. I think my very clever body just adjusts my metabolism accordingly. I can tell my basal metabolic rate drops as I am always feel the cold on fasting days. I plan to try 4:3 for the next four weeks to see if that works. I am completely unable to track calories for more than two days in a row, so would really like this to work. Telling me to just eat less is really not helpful. If you want to do 4:3 with us, I’ve started another post for this: http://thefastdiet.co.uk/forums/topic/52-didnt-work-so-trying-43-on-fast-beach-diet-join-me/

ARKKICO

5:42 am
9 Jul 14
Permalink

Thanks everyone.

Just for the record I looked at what I ate yesterday, a typical non fast day (actually if anything I’d say I ate more than usual) it was 1900 Cals and I looked up my TDEE and it is 1900 cals. So I’m not over eating on my non-fast days.

Also I have increased my fast window I don’t eat until lunch on my fast days (which are from when I go to sleep till when I wake up the next day).

But I’ll cut the sugar and maybe try the beach diet.
I’ll let you know how it goes.

M

StephenReed

2:41 pm
9 Jul 14
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Unfortunately, the TDEE estimates from online calculators are nothing more than a ballpark guesstimate. You have to start with a calorie number, and then monitor progress over a couple of weeks.

Unless you have some severe metabolic issue, or hypothyroidism / hormonal issues etc, if you aren’t losing weight at a certain calorie number, you are likely eating too much.

What a lot of diets fail to address is protein, fat, and carbohydrate numbers. For someone with a lot of fat around the middle, a lower carb approach is generally a good idea, and fat loss tends to be better.

As insulin sensitivity increases, one can then handle extra carbs.

Ideally, knowing your WEEKLY calorie actual intake, and what sort of calorie deficit you are trying to achieve is what is essential to know.

Few people have a lot of success eating intuitively when they eat modern, processed foods. An unfortunate fact, but true1

Lulutiger

3:35 pm
9 Jul 14
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I’ve been doing the fast diet for over a year now. On my non fast days I eat about 1200 cals. I lost a few kilos at first and then nothing. I found that I’ve become too obsessed with restricting more and more food through this diet approach becasuse of frustration of the lack of weight loss. I am on meds for an underactive thyroid. To date I haven’t found anything that helps with weight loss. I was already on a low calorie controlled diet before starting this. I don’t eat sugar and very minimal processed foods. Perhaps this diet just won’t work for some people like me.

Amy C.

3:59 pm
9 Jul 14
Permalink

Lulutiger:

Unless your TDEE is 1200 calories, you may be eating too little on your non fast days. I discovered when I ate more on the non fast days (but not too much), I would lose weight.

Have you gone down that path?

Another idea, is to fast 3 days with lots of healthy eating on the non fast days.

Lulutiger

2:05 am
10 Jul 14
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Thanks Amy I’ve thought about thay I might be eating too little but I’m too scared to more. My tdee is 2000 but my doctor says I need to eat a lot less because of my thyroid. I thought that I might come off the fast diet for a little while so I can remember how much a “normal” amount of food is. It’s a real bummer though.

StephenReed

12:00 pm
10 Jul 14
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1200 cals will certainly be well below your TDEE, but 2000 is likely well above it, without knowing your height,weight etc, it is hard to know.

Most females would gain weight eating at 2000 cals a day, even though it is widely broadcast as the appropriate daily intake for females.

In the same vein, most guys would gain weight at the 2500 cals a day they are supposed to eat (hard training people aside).

I think the big problem with dieting / the diet industry / experts in general, is that normal folk jsut feel that they have to follow everything to the letter, without the need to assess and modify as they go along.

I’ve just been speaking to someone on the phone on this very subject, someone who has done 5:2 with little success, but has seen others doing well on it.

Intuitive eating is pretty much out the window these days unless you can make it work for you by eating whole, unprocessed foods for the most part. Modern foods are just not appropriate, and are so dense in calories, that overeating is a breeze.

As an example, if we take the generic 2000 cals a day TDEE for females to maintain current weight.

Fasting 2 days a week at 500 cals a day will result in less than a pound of weight loss per week, and only then, providing you are eating at the 2000 cals a day for the rest of the week.

And if you have a BIG Saturday night, you can wipe that hard earned 3000 cal deficit off in an evening.

There are some potential health and fat burning benefits of fasting, but these play a very small part in additional weight loss, when calories in vs calories out is the major factor.

Unfortuantely, the quicker you want to reach your goals, the more diligent you have to be with monitoring intake. A free for all 5 days per week won’t cut it 🙂

I hope this is of some use to you.

Regards

Stephen Reed

sassygirlie89

7:06 pm
14 Jul 14
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Hi ARRKKICO

I think what you need to do is try to strive towards consuming about 400 calories less than your TDEE on your non fast days because it sounds to me like you are consuming too many calories on your non fast days.

I know the 5:2 diet states you eat 500/600 calories on non fast days and up to or LESS than your recommended TDEE but I found (actually I got the tip from another person on this site)that eating 400 calories less than my TDEE helped me to lose the weight more effectively.

Think about it – the maximum calorie intake for women is 2000 calories and the maximum calorie intake for men is 2500 calories for maintenance – but that only accounts for the average woman and man, we are not all the same height and frame size!

So in order for you to lose weight quicker I would recommend you consuming a lot less calories on your non fast days.

But of course you have to look forward to one treat day during the week so in order for my body and metabolism to prepare for that treat day (always a Saturday)I consume 500 calories on my 2 non consecutive fast days (one 500 calorie meal in the evening) and I consume in and around 1200 calories maybe 1300 calories on one day (my TDEE is 1620 calories) and then I finally go all out and consume up to 3000 calories on a Saturday!

Ok I will admit I do go up to or slightly over my TDEE on a sunday but still consuming relatively healthy meals with no snacks in between just set meals; breakfast, sunday dinner and a dessert and something small for supper like a salad or a sandwich.

So basically my advise is to consume less calories than your TDEE on most days of your non fast days as it seems to me that you are consuming too many calories and you may need to eat a bit more sensibly and healthier as well.

Good luck!