Hi Princess2206,

“4 weeks ago I also started my running training and I do it 4 times a week.”

There you go – that’s your reason. You’ve started a pretty intense sounding exercise regime at the same time as taking up 5:2. Your body will be changing shape and composition (did you measure before you started? If not, do it now as you’ll more than likely notice measurement more than weight for a while yet).

I lost 4 stone in my first 18 months on 5:2 but I did not change my exercise regime at all (actually probably did less). I then upped my exercise by 400% in order to improve fitness and tone and I have not lost more than 4lb in the past 6 months (despite still being 1 stone away from the ‘not overweight’ end of the BMI scale AND following 5:2 just as closely as I had for the first 18 months). I do LOOK slimmer though apparently, as I get more comments now than I did when I dropped 1 stone in 2 months right at the beginning of 5:2.

Exercise is not BAD and it does not necessarily cause you not to lose weight (some people still manage to lose even when they do change up their exercise) but if you are not losing (yet) and have just taken up something new then that is more than likely the culprit.

Hiya, No worries and good luck on the rest of your journey.

Just please don’t let weight be the be all and end all of what keeps you going. Really pay attention to your body and notice the changes happening. After a few weeks on 5:2 I had already noticed an increase in energy on fastdays, noticably better skin, improved menstruation cycle, my eczema was disappearing and I was noticing that my lung function seemed improved.

A month or so on I finally noticed that my trousers were getting looser and weighed myself for the first time but the BEST thing was that at about the same time I also discovered that my BP had gone from the high end of normal to ‘perfect’.

These are all amazing reasons to stick with this WOE on their own. The weight loss is a happy (and to me at the time, pretty unexpected) side-effect. Try to think of it that way and notice the other positive changes rather than worrying unduly about just the weight. Give your body a chance to sort itself out and replace the fat with nice lean muscle, if that is what it’s currently trying to do.

I’ve been only having one small meal a day and drinking water and herbal tea. I lost 12lb over six weeks but now I’m stuck. I don’t seem to be able to lose any more weight. I exercise twice a week and walk most days. My thyroid has been checked and is fine. Please can anyone help?