HiKateOnADiet, my weight fluctuates day to day, I only write it down every Saturday. I have lost 40 pounds in 40 weeks on 5:2 plus increasing my walking to 10,000 steps per day.

First thing to do, make sure you are doing the fasting days correctly, sometimes people misunderstand the instructions. Eat your evening meal the day before, go to bed, wake up, eat 500 calories in the course of the day, go to bed, wake up the following day, then eat again; so the whole process is over a 36-hour time span.

If you’re managing that and not losing, then most likely over-eating on the non-fasting days. While it’s true we can eat whatever we want, we may not be able to eat as much of it as we’re used to and still lose weight. Under the ‘how’ tab at the top of the page, you can calculate your TDEE, the number of calories per day that you theoretically need to eat to maintain your weight. You pretty much need to average under that amount on your non-fasting days if you want to lose weight. If you want to lose a little faster, calculate your TDEE for the weight you want to be, and use your fasting days to practice eating at that number of calories, so you’ll have a good idea of how you’ll need to eat in order to maintain. I pick one activity level lower than I think I qualify for, to be on the safe side. It’s not necessary to count calories every day, but can be a real eye-opener to keep a food diary for one week, then sit down and analyze where most of your calories are coming from. Then you know the approximate caloric values of the foods you eat most often. I find it helpful to weigh out my portions of the foods that I tend to get carried away with.

Hope this helps.

I feel weight fluctuations are normal, and they happen to everybody. They can be caused by many different factors, such as consumption of a big meal, excess salt intake, water retention, constipation and hormonal changes.