You’re not alone, FailedAgainJenny… err, maybe it’s your discouraging, self-deprecating username? Haha j/k (But maybe?!) 🙂

I’m in the same boat here – stalled after a few months. I fast Mondays, Wednesdays & Fridays. There were a couple vacations this month that did not help and I probably need to count calories on my off days… *sigh* Boo.

No gain, though! Hope is not lost!

@failedagainjenny, unfortunately, your history of weight cycling (a.k.a. yo-yo dieting) has in all likelihood made whatever metabolic derangement that you might have suffered originally much worse. The 5:2 worked well for DrM and Mimi, but both were near ideal weight and didn’t have a history of weight cycling. I haven’t read all of Dr Varady’s research, but I don’t recall any mention of weight cycling. It’s possible that her lab has selected for subjects with less of this in their past, as it’s well known to make subsequent weightloss efforts significantly more difficult.

You might be better off seeking out an endocrinologist who specializes on metabolic issues and weight management, rather than trying to work this out on your own. If your cortisol levels are already chronically high, if you’re (pre-)diabetic, if you have impaired thyroid function, etc, you’re likely to make yourself sicker, and ultimately fatter, by trying to lose weight through calorie restriction. Dieting is a major physical stressor all by itself.

Losing weight to get healthy works for a lot of people, but many people need to get healthy in order to lose weight. You might be one of the latter, but you’ll need individual, professional attention to sort that out.

I too have to “count” calories on my normal days. I say “count”, but after a while it’s easy to guess/remember how many calories are in certain meals. However, this is NOT the same as dieting or calorie restriction – it’s just to make sure I don’t overdo it. As I am a petite, middle-aged and fairly sedentary woman I accept that my BMR may be much lower than average. So take heart if you have to do the same as we are not all average. After a few failed experiments, I now allow myself up to 1400 calories on normal days and 350 calories on fasting days and I find this formula works for me and maintains my weight loss. It also encourages me to eat healthier, more filling foods. I don’t ever go hungry on normal days and I eat sweets, chips etc – just in smaller portions. I agree with some of the comments on here that calorie restriction and deprivation just do not work long term! I think you just have to experiment and find a balance that works for you.

The average weight loss for women doing 5:2 is 1lb per week. Extra fast days will increase the rate of loss but it takes a deficit of more than 3000 calories to lose a single pound. Weight can vary by several pounds in a single day and it stands to reason that you will weigh less the morning after a fast day when there is less food in transit, and as soon as you eat it can go up by several pounds. Weight can also vary for numerous other reasons, constipation, water retention and medication are but a few. This variation has little to do with weight loss. You’ve lost 12lb in two months which is an excellent result. I think that all you need to do is be more patient and less concerned with what the scales say on a day to day basis, but take note of the overall trend which will be in a downward direcrion. Weight loss is not always regular either and you might lose a few pounds and then nothing for a couple of weeks. This WOE is a marathon not a sprint and it works.
You’ll get there.

@failedagainjenny, while I’m *generally* in agreement with fitnfast, I think *you* should be extremely cautious about self experimentation of the sort that I’m doing.

I really wonder if you have come clean to your endocrinologist about your intermittent fasting and overall caloric restriction. (I know that I’m often a little reticent about my lifestyle experiments when dealing with doctors.)

From what you have said, your average daily caloric intake is 843 calories = [(2*450) + (5*1000)]/7

850 calories per day, average? Even allowing for your limited mobility, that’s well below what the longevity oriented, chronic CR people recommend.

I think that Dr. Fung’s stuff at his Intensive Dietary Management Blog is pretty good, but you should keep in mind that he’s a nephrologist who specializes in treatment of Type II diabetes. From what you’ve said, your situation is quite different from that of his primary audience. Even very ketogenic diet friendly experts, such as Dr. Peter Attia, do not advocate ketogenic diets for everyone under all circumstances. Specifically, carbohydrate restriction, caloric restriction and intermittent fasting are *all* known to (independently) suppress thyroid function. In combination, it sure seems like something that might not be ideal for someone with a pre-existing thyroid issue.

A collection of links to primary sources can be found here: http://bjjcaveman.com/2013/04/28/the-effect-of-a-ketogenic-diet-on-thyroid-hormone/

I still think you should consult with you endocrinologist, and fully disclose what you’ve been trying with your diet. There are lots of great sources of information available online, but there is no substitute for an actual doctor who can examine you and your lab results personally.

We both lost weight but ‘bottomed out’ when we got down to our teenage/twenties weight. Luckily we are happy with that. (I don’t like people talking about ‘plateauing’ – you go UP and reach a plateau)

Normal reduced calorie diets fail because the body reduces your metabolic rate to match your reduced calorie intake. The thing with the 5:2 diet is to reduce your calories ONLY on two days each week and eat normally on the others. This fools your body into thinking that food is plentiful and there is no need to reduce the metabolic rate for the occasional shortage of calories. If you reduce calories on your non-fasting days as well, your metabolic rate will go down and you will stop losing weight!

Be aware that your weight will vary a lot due to all sorts of things. To understand what is happening you need:-
– A good pair of scales that can measure to 0.2 or 0.1 pounds
– Weigh every morning, after going to the loo, before eating or drinking anything (ie empty), wearing the same things eg pyjamas
– Plot the weights on a graph & calculate a 7-day average.

If you don’t want to mess around with graphs & 7-day averages, weigh yourself the morning BEFORE fasting and the morning AFTER fasting and write them down in two columns. There will be 3 or 4 pounds difference between the two columns, but they should both reduce about 1/2 pound for each fasting day. However, there will be lots of variation due to other factors.