Not lost at all in first month!

This topic contains 7 replies, has 6 voices, and was last updated by SallyM 10 years, 5 months ago.

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SallyM

8:05 am
20 Jun 14
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I am disappointed – I have been on the plan 1 month now and have lost absolutely nothing at all. I am 56 and have about 10 lbs to lose. I do exercise ( walking and rock climbing) – usually get about 10 hours a week – rarely less, and depending what I’m doing it can also be 16 hours. I stick rigidly to my 500 on fast days, and I have got into the habit of doing 2pm to 2 pm which works best for me. I do eat treats on normal days but don’t stuff all day! I am really disappointed – I had so hoped I could dispense with calorie counting after being a Weight Watcher for the last 2 years, now I know that I will still have to count calories on non fast days to know what’s going on, and I don’t want to! The relief of the freedom on non fast days was immense. Now I’m wondering if I will lose anything at all, ever. Has anyone else had this experience? Should I keep going? Will it just take longer to lose weight if I am overeating? Nonetheless, I can’t believe I am eating an extra 3000 calories on non fast days each week! I am delighted that I can actually stick to this regime – the feeling of having control is great. But I really would like to see the 10 lbs go – however slowly! I can be patient! Has anyone else experienced this?

PeterC

9:52 am
20 Jun 14
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SallyM – I have posted this before. I found it interesting and it may be helpful.

http://www.metaboliceffect.com/weight-loss-plateau/

Amy C.

10:04 am
20 Jun 14
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On the day that includes your fast, you say you fast from 2 pm one day until 2 pm the next. On either of these days, do you eat only 500 calories total during the time you are awake?

You need at least two days a week where the total calories consumed for the hours you are up to be 500 calories. You must count the calories on the fast days.

This may not work for you, but I found success in fasting three days a week and eating pretty much what I want on the other days.

I divide the days up by waking hours. During the hours I am awake, I eat only 500 calories 3 days a week – usually a couple of snacks during the day of less than 100 calories and then dinner shortly before I go to bed.

To determine what you are eating on the non fast days, counting calories is only for a few days. You need some sort of verification of what you are actually eating. Then you can go back to eating when you are hungry on the non fast days without counting calories.

simcoeluv

5:26 pm
20 Jun 14
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Sally:

If you are eating before your 2 pm start, and after your 2 pm end and 500 in between, that would explain why you have not lost weight.

This might help explain: http://thefastdiet.co.uk/forums/topic/52-calorie-restriction-v-fasting-for-newbies/.

Good Luck!

SallyM

8:36 am
21 Jun 14
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Thanks for your replies all. I can only say that in the 5:2 book it specifically says that you can do what works for you – and it mentions planning a 24 hour cycle as I have done. Not surprisingly, I therefore believed that it was ok to do it that way. What you say makes sense but is not what it says in the book! I don’t know your authority on this simcoeluv – but you seem to have specific knowledge and be saying that the book is not really giving ( all) the right rules out. Obviously I wouldn’t know that as I have only read this book ( see page 102 the ‘two to two’).

Sounds to me as if the whole concept is just calorie restriction like any other diet in the universe and that I do in fact have to count calories despite all the hype, because the calorie restriction won’t happen unless I do! Not that this is news to me – I have spent my entire life controlling my weight by counting points, calories, exercise and perfectly well understand the equation.

I want to do it for the health benefits – it’s not just for weight loss.( And btw no I don’t stuff my face just before and after 2pm to answer your question) But of course I want to lose the 10 lbs too. Ok so I will have to re- evaluate. I am still disappointed though because this makes it no longer a very flexible regime as promised where calorie- counting becomes a thing of the past, and it is all worked into a routine to suit me alone. I think whole morning to night fast days are quite draconian really – and since clearly it is NOT possible to ‘eat as you want/ eat normally’ on the other days , and I at least – even if no one else – will have to count calories every other day too – then I am no longer wowed by the ease and simplicity of it!

Anyway, thanks for disabusing me of my illusion!

Wally

1:05 pm
21 Jun 14
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Hi SallyM

Sorry for late post. DONT GIVE UP!!!!!!!

You are correct every diet under the sun has got to be calorie related. What goes in and what is not used will be stored – simples. Like you I have done so many yo yo diets, counting calories day in day out. Human nature, unless you have OCD type mentality, you will fail. It is by it’s very nature all the time. This diet is very different and yes count calories on non fast days for a while until you get used to the right level, not excessive, but don’t cutback under what you should normally eat. Get some good cookbooks, I have mentioned a few in my other posts. It sounds like you are so close to being there with minor tweeks and trying to stick to 500 cals in one waking day, sorry but keep it simple, and a gap of at least 16hrs between the last meal on the non fast day, and the first on the fast day, or 16 hrs from the last on a fast day to the next, and try and eat both meals within 6hrs on the fast day, it does work! May sound harsh, if you find that difficult, work towards it, the wife did and it took her a couple of months, but she did and has lost 21lbs in six months. The health benefits are also really noticeable – frighteningly so! Someone has pushed a reset button on me. What about chilling out, do you relax enough? This really helped me. Early to bed on fast days. I’m also really busy, and I loathe gyms, I feel like a rat in a cage. But youtube and fast exercise, or HIIT routines can be done in front of a screen however big or small. Really effective on fast days.

I hope that helps you, but please don’t give up.

franfit

1:17 pm
21 Jun 14
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SallyM, I think it might be possible for some (a few) people to lose weight, although probably rather slowly, with the 2pm-2pm method. I think it’s just really hard not to over-eat (unconsciously) a little bit before and after 2pm. And it doesn’t give your body as long of a fasting window for repair at any point.

I was worried about how I would feel fasting all day long when I first started, so my first fast day was on a day off when I had no goal I had to accomplish, all I did was read and pay attention to how I felt. So I figured out I could fast when I worked a half-day without difficulty. I gradually fasted on more and more challenging days. Ten months later (and 40 pounds lighter), I can fast, work all day long, and walk 10,000+ steps all in the same day, while feeling fine. Sometimes I still get really hungry for a while on a fasting day, but my body really has adjusted, now that I’m in maintenance I actually miss fasting as often as I was while losing weight.

I didn’t count calories on my non-fasting days, either. What I did was look up the caloric content of favorite foods and calculate the calories per gram of favorite recipes and weigh my portions of the foods that are either high-calorie or that I know I tend to serve myself more of than I really need. So I had a ballpark estimate of what would be a 200-300 calorie breakfast, a 400-500 calorie lunch, a 700-800 calorie dinner. And I used the non-fasting days to find ways to eat the TDEE at my goal weight in a way that felt satisfying to me. I found that I can eat whatever I want, just not as much of it as I used to if I want to lose weight/maintain my weight loss.

Maybe I should mention that the last few pounds were the hardest to lose/slowest to come off. It seems like the smaller we are, the harder it is to get the fat off. For reference, I’m 5’4″ tall, 57 years old, and went from 157 pounds (BMI 26.9) to 117 pounds (BMI 20.4), am maintaining at 115-119. Not very athletic due to medical problems, have also been gradually increasing fitness. I lost 40 pounds in 40 weeks with 5:2; with daily calorie restriction I could only manage about one pound a month weight loss, and could not sustain it.

So I understand your feeling of disappointment, but hope you can find a way to make 5:2 work for you that feels comfortable and happy.

SallyM

9:02 pm
22 Jun 14
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Hi Wally and franfit – apologies for a late reply. Thank you both so much for your encouraging words and advice. I realise that it must be the case that I am eating too much in the non- fast periods, and that I should be doing whole days morning til night. However. I am in a difficult phase of my life at the moment and am very pleased that at least I am sticking to my own personal regime on-off-on any plan at all: it proves that I have control, and can apply self- discipline. I presume therefore that if I apply just a bit more control I will succeed in being able to go a bit longer on the fast days and will then lose weight. This might just be the ideal way to maintain my weight. I will continue to experiment and watch my eating of course. Thank you for your encouragement in any case. I doubt if I am the first person to have done it this way and got the same result. I just need to cut back a bit.