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If you did the fast days properly, it probably didn’t work because you ate too much/ the wrong types of food on the non-fast days.
When it says ‘eat what you want’ on non-fast days that is, of course, up to TDEE only…
You can’t expect to lose weight if you overeat.
Check out the how it works tab, or read the book. It does work, if you do it properly.
Hi Loveartist,
Hang in there!
One measurement on a pair of scales isn’t a good indication of how you are going.
Keep on with your fast days.
Best not to call the non fast days ‘feast days’, a feast is something to have every now and then.
The non fast days are normal days, where you have normal sized portions of a normal healthy diet.
I don’t bother with scales or calorie counting, I just keep on with 5:2, and find it just as the book and documentary says. I don’t know how many pounds I have lost since I began last July, but I have had to renew my wardrobe several times. I was size 16, now I am size 10. It is great fun!
Scales are a mean spirited contraption with a nasty sense of humour, don’t count on them too much!
Well the basic truth is that unless you can stop overeating you will not even maintain your current weight, let alone lose weight.
The book and the documentary sold the message that you can eat whatever you want – not however much you want – on NON-FAST days.
If you want to continue overeating, then alternate day fasting might allow you to do so while still losing weight.
Intermittent fasting is not like any other diet, since it relies on intermittent (not daily) calorie restriction. On non-fast days you are only restricting calories to what is the appropriate quantity to meet your daily energy requirements. Intermittent fasting also results in lowering of insulin levels which, as you may know, is the hormone that drives fat storage. Also many people over time report a reduction in portion size and altered food preferences away from carbs and sugar towards healthier foods.
As Cinque says, hang in there. Give it a month. Try and rein in your eating on NON-FAST days. In particular have a look at your refined carbohydrate and added sugar consumption. The reality is that you have to make a lifestyle change to reduce your weight.
Its not a magical bullet that will work regardless of how much and what ever you eat Loveartist. You have to take some responsibility for your actions. Work out your TDEE and place that amount of food in front of you so you get an understanding of how much your TDEE amount looks like. Then eat up to that amount for your non fast day. If you want to make it easier on yourself I would avoid all sugars and simple carbs. No pasta, bread, pizza, rice, chocolate, cakes, ice cream, sugared soft drinks, fruit juice etc. Simple carbs and sugar is a sure recipe for failure.
It works but you have to give it a genuine try. I lost 44 pounds over the course of 2015 and have been in maintenance mode since March this year.
I’m glad you will keep at it for another month at least Loveartist. The scales will buckle down eventually!
There’s a good story Simco wrote about his trousers, I’ll find it for you.
Here it is: https://thefastdiet.co.uk/forums/topic/really-no-weight-loss/
Cheers
Dear Loveartist,
Please, please, please hang in there! We are all different – that is what makes the world exciting and interesting! And you don’t want to be setting yourself up for failure – that is so depressing.
May I suggest that at least part of your apparent gain is due to an increase in body hydration – that is that your body is holding onto some extra water? Look at a 2L bottle of juice or milk – that’s all that 1.8kg is – a bit less than that amount of fluid.
As time passes, I would also suggest to make sure you are sitting looking at something beautiful and choose music you like to listen to – yes, even for breakfast! I live under a mountain – well, its a big hill really 🙂 – and listen to music while I’m eating. It gives me a peaceful environment to eat so I take my time and actually eat less.
I’m having trouble with bingeing on the sugar at the moment but I reflect that I have lost a significant amount of weight (nearly half way to my goal) and I am battling a few demons, so I am still way ahead of where I was.
And I will get past this!
Please don’t compare yourself with anyone else – you are you, special, and the only one who can be you as beautifully. Weight is important in terms of good health and energy, but it doesn’t define you and it would be a shame to let it stop you.
Don’t know if you grow your own herbs but parsley in eggs is one of my favourite things and home grown parsley in omelette made with eggs from my own chooks is a great source of joy & pride.
Enjoy the simple things and congratulate yourself for starting the journey – please don’t criticise yourself for how much further it is to your destination. You are worth more than that.
Look forward to hearing positive news from you soon – good luck!
Sorry if I came across too blunt. Just want to make sure that what youre expecting from 5:2 is realistic. It works but like everything in life you have to work at it if you want to be successful. Its not going to come to you, you have to go out and chase it. Lotions and potions sold by snake oil salespersons are just that. The beauty of 5:2 is it costs nothing, in actual fact it saves you money, and it works!! Look at all the success in the posts on this forum.
Just give it a red hot go for a month. After that it gets easier.
You might find these two links helpful. They explain a little bit about fat conversion and have some graphic examples of things that can sabotage weight loss. Although they are related to low carb dieting, the principles apply none the less if you are on a standard lower cal or TDEE based diet on your non fast days.
https://proteinpower.com/drmike/2008/05/27/low-carb-and-calories-2/
https://proteinpower.com/drmike/2008/06/18/low-carb-and-calories-part-2/
HI! Don’t stop! My first week I weighed myself daily ( prob not the best idea ). I initially lost what looked like 6lbs the first day but went up 3 lbs over the next two days. At the end of the week I had lost a total of 3lbs. It’s all relative. 3lbs is great but seemed less fantastic wen I thought I had lost 6 initially. Now, had I not stepped on the scale until the week was over I would have been ecstatic!
Our mindset has a lot to do with all of this. I would say don’t look at a feast day as a day to eat but to eat normally and keep within your allotment. You WILL see a difference. Remember that water weight can fluctuate pretty widely especially for women. Give your body some time to adjust. And I know it sounds funny but our bodies hear everything our minds are saying so be KIND to your body and tell it you are going to get health together! Good luck :))
Don’t give up Loveartist. I know it can be discouraging to gain even a small amount. Weight always fluctuates for various reasons. Maybe too much salt was eaten and there’s some water retention, etc. I had to laugh when I read that you thrashed the scale a bit. Some mornings after not losing weight for a while I feel like throwing it across the room. Just hang in there. Keep trying and you’ll see the numbers go down.
It’s hard to determine if you actually gained weight by 1.8 lbs from a single reading of the scale. There is about 5-10 lbs worth of weight swing between your weight the morning after a fast, and your weight after a day of normal eating. It may be in fact that you did gain weight, but in order to really know, you’d have to weight yourself every day for a week, and look at the lowest numbers. If you start to see numbers that you never saw before, then you lost weight. I find it unlikely that you’ve gained weight though, especially if on the non-fasting days you didn’t deliberately eat more.
The reason that the water varies so much is that on average a person will deplete glycogen when they fast, and along with that three times as much water. As soon as they re-feed, the glycogen will restore, and the water with it. Because there is such huge swing in water/glycogen weight, a person would never easily detect a 1 lb loss or so from any given reading of the scale.
I would suggest trying to be patient, wait for the results of about 3 weeks, and try to steer clear of sugar, and any processed foods that have sugar in them, and lower the carbs in general as much as you can.
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