NEW at 5:2 NEED HELP!

This topic contains 5 replies, has 5 voices, and was last updated by LJoyce 7 years, 4 months ago.

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Latitude30

9:40 pm
29 Jun 17
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My stats: 68, 177LBS, 5’5″, Active, Good Health, FT working woman __
I started 5:2 on 5/15/17 after returning from a trip where I met a physician and his wife on the program and raving about the multiple health benefits. I am enthusiastic as I find it very easy to eliminate food two days a week. (I only drink water on fast days.) I find the diet actually reduces my appetite on non fast days. I am not a person who craves sugar and considered by myself and others a healthy eater. I walk a minimum 4 miles two days each week and do weight training at a gym one day a week. It is shocking to me but I have not lost one single pound over these many (6+) weeks! I do not cheat. I do not eat excessively on non fast days. The only reason I have stuck with this program is that I feel so much better. I have greater mental clarity and increased energy which is fantastic. However, I REALLY would like to lose some weight. Can anyone offer advice that might help me?
Can anyone

fasting_me

1:32 am
11 Jul 17
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What are you eating and drinking on Fast and Non-Fast [Slow] Days?
Carbs turn to sugar. ‘not eating excessively’ means you don’t really know what you do eat. Try counting those calories to see what you are consuming. Everyone talks about the 2000-calorie daily intake. If I ate that I’d never lose weight! I used the Calculator from the Fast Website to determine how many calories I should consume on a Slow Day to maintain my weight where I want it. The number is 1400. I eat that, and I’m fine.
Find out your number and see how your diet stacks up. With a reduced appetite, 1400 calories is a lot.
I don’t count calories every day, and I pretty much eat what i want on Slow Days: wine with dinner, dessert once in a while, cookies [one of my down-falls!]. I just have less of those than someones else.

Good luck.

DorrisPower

10:40 am
5 Aug 17
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Does your weight training not account for the fact your weight stays the same? Not sure on the accuracy of this but I’ve heard muscle weighs more than fat. You can be of a heavier weight, but because of your weight training the amount of body fat is less.

LJoyce

11:40 am
5 Aug 17
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Hi Latitude30,

If you have lost no weight over 6 weeks then your body is telling you that the calories you are eating is the calories you need. If you are sticking to 500 calories or less on FDs then it must mean that on the NFDs (non fast days) you are eating more calories than your TDEE.

If you go to the tab at the top of the page “how it works” you can calculate your TDEE. It’s best to be conservative with your activity estimate. It may be worth keeping a count of calories on the NFDs for a week or so just so that you know whether you are staying under your TDEE on the NFDs.

As fasting_me mentioned, it is sometimes the calories eaten on the NFDs that can be the problem. My TDEE is also only 1400 calories and to have any hope of losing weight with 2 FDs per week I had to stay under this on the NFDs. I actually found the FDs much easier than the NFDs as even eat what I would consider a sensible normal diet it is rarely under 1400 calories. I had to adapt and make some cuts – more than I was happy about, but it had to be done if I wanted my weigh to reduce. I did lose weight, but have had to continue to be extremely careful on the days I’m not fasting.

simcoeluv

9:59 pm
5 Aug 17
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Hi Latitude and welcome:

You have to eat under your TDEE over a week to lose weight. You apparently have not been doing that. Short answer – you need to eat less on your non-diet days.

Here are some tips: https://thefastdiet.co.uk/forums/topic/the-basics-for-newbies-your-questions-answered/

Good Luck!

LJoyce

12:54 pm
6 Aug 17
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Latitude30

There was something else I should also have mentioned in my earlier response. The TDEE formulas, like the one used on this site, provide a rough estimate of TDEE. For many people they are close to reality and for some they are not. If you work out your TDEE and stick to it on NFDs and still don’t lose weight, then this ia another thing to consider.

When I used the calculator it gave me TDEE of around 1700, however if I eat this every day I gain weight and if I eat this for 5 days and do 2 FDs I maintain my weight. After working with a dietitian, and extensive record keeping for many weeks, I figured out that my real TDEE was actually about 1400 calories. If I use 1400 as my TDEE for NFDs then I lose weight.