Second week but have gained weight!

This topic contains 3 replies, has 4 voices, and was last updated by Nika 10 years, 5 months ago.

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Mayski

10:04 am
19 Nov 13
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Hi everyone

I’m on my second week of the 5:2 and enjoying it very much so far. I’ve found the fast days relatively easy as I skip breakfast, have a 100Kcal bag of baked crisps for lunch and a microwave meal for dinner that’s 400Kcal or below.

My first non-fast day in my first week of the fast diet, I won’t lie, I pigged out massively. However since then I’ve been eating normally on non fast days – not the healthiest of food but I always stay well below the 2000Kcal limit.

I was stupid and I didn’t weight myself before starting, so I’ve only got my weight from after the first week to go on by. I can’t compare till my next weight day (Thursday) to see if I’ve lost anything. However, I just feel much bigger in general. My stomach feels huge and my clothes feel tighter. I’m worried that I’ve actually gained weight!

Has anyone had that feeling before? I assume it’s to do with the fact that I’m always now full on non-fast days (previously, I was permanently hungry as my last diet was limited to 1200Kcal a day every day) and perhaps its psychological? I’m worried because I desperately don’t want to gain weight on this. Is it even possible to gain weight? If not, then why do I feel so chunky?

Any advice welcome.

Mayski x

Cathyork

10:18 am
19 Nov 13
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Hi Mayski,

It must be disappointing to feel that you have gained weight – although I guess you don’t know for sure.

I don’t pretend to be an expert, but I see it as simple maths – that is you need to create an overall calorie deficit each week so that your body uses up fat stores. Therefore calculating your own TDEE is essential so you know for sure how many calories you need to eat to stay the same and then make sure you eat less per week. I say this as someone with a particularly low TDEE (1760)due to being short, chunky and sedentary whilst awaiting a hip replacement!

I am not advocating that you spend lots of time and effort on calorie counting – but if you have been sticking to a 1200 calorie diet for some time then you must be well placed to do a rough count on non-fast days. Maybe just try it for a couple of weeks and see if this works.

I hope this helps

Cath x

mcfast

12:16 pm
19 Nov 13
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Don’t focus on your weight, think about it another way.
I suddenly came to realise by the 3rd week along that what I’m doing is giving time for what’s already there inside to get used up or move on out!
I just think of the fast days as making room for normal days and the odd excesses, the thought of piling food on undigested food freaks me out a bit now. But I love my food even more now and it tastes so much better!
Weigh in first thing boxing style, day after your second fast of the week, no clothes, no watches or jewellery etc the scales are kinder that way!
good luck

Nika

3:33 am
20 Nov 13
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Hey May!
If you ask me, eating baked crisps and a microwave meal isn’t the best course of action on a fast day. Why not cook your own food? Or at least eat whole foods that haven’t been processed? Fruits, veggies and meat are perfect for a fast day. If you still pour junk down your system on days that are supposed to be healthy cleanup days, I’m not very surprised you’re not seeing the results that you want!

5:2 is an amazing tool to eat what you want on non-fast days – but within boundaries! You can’t expect to pig out on 2000 calories of chocolate and feel healthier. (Of course this is an extreme example 😉 )

If you want to lose weight fast, you’ll have to give up certain things like unhealthy foods. You may want to incorporate exercise and cut out carbs on fast days. Stuff like that can help you along!