Hi everyone, newbie and happy to be here, with such a great bunch of supportive and knowledgeable people. I have an issue I’m hoping you can help me with, even if it is along the lines of “Why aren’t I losing any weight?” Except it isn’t about my weight exactly.

Bear with me.

I’ve been doing 5:2 for 11 weeks now (along with my husband, who’s moved a whole five notches on his belt in that time!). I haven’t had my bloods done yet to see how they’re progressing, but in that time, I’ve lost 62cm from the three key areas. And no… I don’t weigh. Not only do I not want to submit myself to the weight fluctuations, but during a long-ago youth trying every diet known to womankind I developed a pretty dysfunctional relationship with the scales, and I don’t want to revisit that again.

Which brings me to my issue. There are MANY posts here about 5:2 and “weight loss”, and how “weight” doesn’t equal “fat” or “size”, but what happens when the tape measure stops moving?

I measure once a week. Last week the decrease was minimal, but I (sorta) shrugged it off because it was coming up to TTOM, but this week… NOTHING. And I can’t find the reason.

Here’s my rundown, complete with anything that’s changed lately:

– I’m one of the heretics who don’t count calories. This has been perfectly OK up until now and not affected my loss. In any case, because I have a lot of weight to lose, my TDEE is quite high, and I guarantee that I’m not eating past it on non-fast days. I couldn’t.

– I was exercising 150 min pw until about 5 weeks ago, when I tore all the ligaments in my left ankle. I’m slowly coming back to this level of activity (I have to be VERY careful still). Right now I’m managing 90-120 min pw.

– About 5 weeks ago – both because my level of activity dropped, and because I read about the benefits of a 16-hour break between meals – I decided to up the ante by doing 16:8 on the days I’m not fasting. It has not made me lose fat any faster that I can see. (It is, in fact, slower than it was before, but I don’t know whether it’s that, or my body just adjusting to a slower but regular loss.)

– I’m a 48-year-old female. Although I don’t think I’ve entered perimenopause, things may have started changing: this week I had my first abnormal cycle ever, with my period five days overdue. (To clarify: an abnormal cycle for MY body, not anyone else’s. I’ve been so regular all my life that any disruption is worth noting.)

And there it is. I have no idea what’s been going on these two weeks. I don’t know whether fluid retention can affect the tape measure, or whether my body has decided that it needs those 150 minutes of activity and no less or it will give me no loss, or whether this is temporary, or WHAT. It’s just been two very disappointing weeks and I’m flummoxed about what is, or could be, going on.

Any thoughts? I’d appreciate them!

Thanks, everyone. I was SO down and flummoxed by the whole thing that I really appreciate you all reaching out. I guess that after 10 weeks of steady loss, I just assumed that fluctuations only happen when weighing… or maybe that I was immune to them! I am definitely not put off IF and am committed to continuing, but I’d be kidding us all if I said that I didn’t want it all to be fast and easy like it’s been until now.

Fitnfast, thanks for asking. On fast days I skip brekkie. Lunch will be some sort of light brothy soup (eg. miso) with maybe some sort of protein added and a little veg, and dinner is always some sort of protein/veg combo. It sticks to the ribs. I’ve been skipping brekkie on non-fast days too, although I still love “breakfast food” so often have it for lunch! No refined carbs for brekkie or lunch ever, but dinner, sometimes. Once a week or so I do eat pasta, which I adore (although I do not overeat it any more). Non-fast days I also have “dessert”, which is an enjoyable ritual for me: a nightly cup of tea and a bikkie, or a couple squares of chocolate. I don’t overdo this, either. So yes, while I do have some processed carbs and sugar on non-fast days, I haven’t increased them these last couple of weeks; I’m having them in the same quantities that allowed me to lose all that fat the first 10 weeks.

I’d like to keep those small quantities refined sugar/carbs. They may not be great nutritionally, but psychologically, they prevent me throwing the “I’M ON A DIET!!!!” switch in my brain, and this will be important for me in the long run.