What am I doing wrong??

[lizzywig]

I have spent a decade dieting and actually 10 years ago I was 3 stone lighter. No more.

I have for the last couple of years done slimming world quite successfully but my biggest failure is giving up at the weekend. Having kept a track of what I was eating I can tell you that on average I was eating approx 1200 calories a day 5 days a week and then on a Saturday I was eating around 4000 calories and a Sunday about 2500. Overall my weekly intake was 12500. Over Christmas I put on a stone!! Without fail when on slimming world I usually loose all of my post Christmas weight in 2 weeks.

I started the 5:2 diet on 6 January eating 500 calories on Mondays and Thursdays and 2000 each day the rest of the week. I bought digital kitchen scales and am using the MFP app on my phone accounting for everything and scanning barcodes on products where possible. I know I'm not eating more than that. I lost 6lbs in the first week (this is normal for me post Christmas after all of the indulgence) and since then I have put on 1lb!!!

I know I am not eating more than the 5:2 diet suggests but when I add up my total calories it's now 11000 per week which is only a 1500 drop from what I was previously having. If I'm understanding correctly the drop is supposed to be 3000 a week to loose weight.

Do I need to be more patient and see what happens or should I drop another 1500 (per week) from my diet? In addition to this I note that to maintain my weight I should be having 2172 per day. This is where 5:2 confuses me. Should I be having the recommended 2000 per day on NFDs or should I be having my maintain amount.

I appreciate that I'm probably being very impatient but I don't want to waste time doing it wrong and at the moment I don't feel like I'm doing it right. Last night I realised I still needed to use another 400 calories to make it up to 2000. I'm just not used to eating that much every day and so I ended up having chocolate mousse and forero rochers!! I KNOW that's not right but I don't know how to fit in more calories.

I need some expert words of wisdom. Can anyone help please?!

[afromom]

The 5:2 diet has been working really well for my Dad over the past year. He has been eating his 500 on the fasting days, but not counting to a maximum on the other days. If you are not hungry but still need to eat 400 calories it seems a bit of a waste to eat them for the sake of it.

I would try a week of 500 on the two fasting days and then between 1500/2000 for the other 5 days and see how that goes. It works for him.

Good luck.

[PrimalLass]

Look at what you are eating. 'All calories are equal' is nonsense for me. I have to ditch wheat to lose weight.

[Cat98]

I know this doesn't work for everyone but I have honestly found not counting at all on my nfds works best.
I don't mean go mad, but if I want something I have it. However I try and follow basic rules - drinking a glass of water before eating as I find I want less, eating slowly and savouring every mouthful. Plus trying to make sure I get plenty of fruit and veg. This sort of mindset doesn't come naturally to me so I do go easy with myself, but if I have a blow out I try and compensate at the next meal and eat a bit less.
Its worked for me, I've lost 10 lbs and I'm not constantly counting, weighing and worrying.
Good luck!

[frenchfancy]

Hello Lizzy Firstly 5:2 is not a quick fix. You are not going to lose a stone in 2 weeks. What you will do is lose slowly and steadily, and the weight will stay off forever.

In 2 weeks you have lost 5lb. That's great. Say goodbye to them, you won't be seeing those 5lbs again.

Now for your eating days. You could eat up to your TDEE, but to keep it simple use the 2000 figure, that way as your weight comes off you don't have to adjust your numbers. You DO NOT have to eat up to the 2000 every day. If you have eaten 1500 in one day and have had enough then stop eating. Bank those 500 cals and eat them at the weekend. As long as you have a good difference between your fast days and your non-fast days then you will be fine. Do that a couple of days a week and you will have an extra 1000 cals to eat on Saturday. Your weekly average will still be the same.

You will lose weight, but it will be slow and steady. The average is about 1lb a week but some weeks you might not lose any, and other weeks 2-3lbs. The overall trend will be downwards and you will learn to control your hunger so maintaining you new low weight will be easy.

[LaurieFairyCake]

Are you saying that in ten days you have lost an actual 6 pounds ?

Or are you saying you lost 6 pounds then put 7 back on ?

Because the bottom line is that 5 pounds in ten days is fantastic and I wouldn't change any of what your doing.

You always lose more the first week, then your body goes oh fuck there's less calories coming in, better conserve. Then it gets used to it and you lose gradually over a longer period of time.

There have been plenty of weeks where I've lost nothing and the next week I've lost 2 pounds - I'm aiming to lose a pound a week and over a long period of time I have done that it's just that some weeks it's nothing, some I've put on and some I've lost 3.

Keep doing what your doing

[MaeveWest]

I'd advise not to get too hung up on the scales alone.

YES they're a useful tool for monitoring but use a measuring tape too. ON another thread here, I was saying that after 6 fds over three weeks I hadn't lost any weight at all!! 9 stone ten when I started and I stand on the scales and I'm still nine stone ten so it would appear that I haven't lost a gram in three weeks! And, each time I do a fd I eat less the following day too. but I know my jeans are looser! I feel my tummy is flatter! so, scales aside, I can't figure that part out, but something is happening. I really don't know why it's not registering on the scales but my tummy is definitely flatter.

[BigChocFrenzy]

Yes, measuring your waist is important. Some folk on 5:2, like me, lose fat and build muscle without intentionally increasing exercise. Muscle weighs more than the same volume of fat. So, you could be losing fat and improving health markers, but not seeing much scale difference.

Also, the body stores more water some days (totm, eating grains, salty food, exercising ..) then loses it later.

[BigChocFrenzy]

Adding muscle is more likely to happen if you are already at or near a healthy BMI.

If you have a lot of weight to lose, it is normal in any diet to lose a lot in the 1st week, but this is mainly water.
Thereafter, you would probably lose more quickly than those with less to lose. However, what took several years to gain will take time and patience to lose in a healthy way.
Give any diet at least a month, to see if it suits you.

[lizzywig]

Thank you for your comments and sorry it's taken me so long to respond. I don't think for a second that this is a quick fix, i just don't want to waste time doing it wrong and i think from some of your comments that i wasn't understanding some of the principles.

Interesting that you say i don't HAVE to eat 2000/day and could eat less. I feel relieved now that i don't have to force in extra calories, I'd assumed that eating this amount would get my metabolism working properly and assist the diet? One question though, if i had say 1200 a day and 500 2 days a week, would my body not just go into starvation mode and hang onto everything?

To be clear, i put on 1 stone over xmas, so literally over about 3 weeks!! The 6lb i lost in a week is normal for me post xmas. In fact i usually shift all xmas weight in the first 2 weeks after xmas. This is the first time i haven't , and I'm doing 5:2 so assumed i must be doing something wrong.

After i lost the 6lbs i put on 1lb the following week, making a total loss of 5lbs. Any other time of the year i would be ecstatic about that, apart from post xmas when usually shift the lot! I do realise 5lb is amazing but when you're used to it dropping off it's a bit of a rubbish feeling.

I've now been doing it for almost a month and lost a further 1lb making my total loss 6lb. So that's a 5lb loss in week 1 and a 1lb loss over almost 3 weeks.

I'm feeling like giving up, i don't want to and will stick with it for a bit longer but i don't feel like anything is happening. I will measure myself though, Dh commented that i looked like I'd lost and that my clothes were looser. I do feel like they're looser but i thought i was just going nuts because the scales didn't show any loss.

Thanks ladies i really appreciate the advice :-)

[flightywoman]

You won't go into starvation mode, it takes a fairly lengthy period of serious starvation to do that and although the metabolism does slow it never slows to a rate that is lower than the calorie deficit.

This a really good explanation of why it is a myth www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/761810-the-starvation-mode-myth-again

And I would say that if you get to the end of a day and haven't eaten 2000 calories but don't feel hungry then just leave it - that's what a normal non-dieting person would do, no thin person would eat something just because...

You'll get there, just give it a bit of time...

[BigChocFrenzy]

Most of us try to cut down on sweet junk, as we see this as a WOL that also teaches healthier habits.
One rule: NEVER eat junk food just to boost your calories
Only eat sweet stuff mindfully and with enjoyment, if you feel like a treat.