Hiya kaybee24 & welcome to 5:2. Please don’t get disheartened, this is a long-term lifestyle change not a ‘quick fix’ diet and it sounds like you’ve started out pretty well. If you’re worrying about the weight more than the struggles of fasting then that’s a good thing at this stage I reckon – means you must be settling into fasting easily 😉

As everyone above has already said – it’s really nothing to worry about at this stage, give it a good month of no weight loss (or inches lost – you did take measurements didn’t you?) before you start to rethink what you’re doing.

The only thing I would suggest, if you aren’t already doing this, is to make sure that you are eating a little under your TDEE on non-fastdays (the 2000 calorie average will probably not apply to you – it doesn’t to me and I’m about the same weight and an inch shorter than you).

Hi kaybee24, I’m 5’4″ and started at 157 lbs. (11 st. 3 lbs.) last August. I’ve lost 38 pounds in 38 weeks so far by doing 5:2 plus walking a lot. But it hasn’t been an even pound each week. The scale will fluctuate a couple of pounds for who knows what reason — my weight has been going up and down the same 1.2 pounds all week, including going *up* 1.2 pounds after a fast day. I obviously did not gain 1.2 pounds of fat on a fast day, I just have to write off some minor weight fluctuations as unexplainable. And I have to realize that when I get to goal weight I should expect my weight to go up or down 2 or 3 pounds from that point for no particular reason, and not get concerned unless it stays up or keeps going higher. When I was annoyed with weighing scale madness, one member suggested only writing down each new, lower weight achieved, instead of weighing on an arbitrary day of the week and having to write down a higher number than the week before. That struck me as a good idea. Another thing is that I think the TDEE is unrealistically high for me, so I go with the TDEE for one activity level lower than what I think I qualify for. I really can’t eat very much any more without expecting to gain weight, age slows our metabolisms.

Yes, 5:2 is still hard work, yesterday I didn’t get enough sleep the night before a fasting day and had the hungriest fasting day I’ve had in a long time, but what works for me is that the hardest work of this plan is confined to 2 days a week. I can put up with pretty much anything for one day at a time, two days a week. Daily calorie restriction just results in me being hungry pretty much all the time, which is not a realistic long-term solution for me. Being hungry two days a week is much better. So hang in there! You can reach your goal 🙂

Hi kaybee
Just thought I would add a comment regarding posts, personally I do not think you have to wait till you have something ‘positive’ to say before posting.
Ultimately if you want to succeed with a new lifestyle and you are having problems/issues post and ask for support! Its sort of a family thing where potentially we can all help one another, learning from others experiences etc. I just think its good to feel supported by people who are on a similar journey to yourself.(Soap box rant over – lol).

My journey is to lose 44kilos by the end of the year. I have lost 18k so far but have stuck on a plateau for the past 5 weeks. Not a happy bunny at the moment!!

After losing 18kg, you might need to check your TDEE again and make a small adjustment there?

I have an A5 week to a page diary dedicated to recording my daily food intake for every day. I am by no means perfect at recording every meal but it is the same system I have used for the past 6 months. My fast days have been closer to 500kc and my target for non fast days is 2500kc or less. So to plateau for the last4 weeks was unexpected.

Hi All, I’m new to the 5:2, just started yesterday, I’m hoping to lose 3 stone and improve my health, I’ve got the book on order from Amazon but was just a little unsure about something before I’ve had chance to read it. Should I fast on 2 days together? I was hoping to fast Mon and Tues, or should I fast on 2 different days, say a Mon and Wed?

Thanks
John

pete:

I suggest your rate of weight loss expectations may be a bit optimistic.

You state you have been losing around three pounds a week. That is very hard to do on an ongoing basis. To lose three pounds of fat a week you have to cut 10,500 calories out of your diet – that is 1,500 calories per day below your TDEE. Most people can’t do that unless they eat what is best described as a starvation diet. You don’t appear to have been eating that little.

That means some of your initial weight loss was water weight, and that explains your plateau.

Here is some information on how TDEE works which will allow you to figure out how much you can expect to lose given whatever number of calories you choose to eat: http://thefastdiet.co.uk/forums/topic/tdee-for-the-curious-or-why-dont-i-lose-weight-faster/

While you may not be losing weight as fast as you would like, there is no way you can call the progress on your diet a failure. I guess it is a failure if you think it is, but if you think it is a failure you should examine the way you think.

Just keep on going. 5:2 is not a rapid weight loss diet, but many have lost more than you want to lose doing 5:2. It just takes time.

Good Luck!