Why am I loosing then gaining the same three pounds?

[Cupcakemummy85]

Hi all,
I'm so glad there is a whole section dedicated to the 5:2 as I've been following it for weeks and am in a real pickle. A bit of background info, I had a baby four months ago, she is my 2nd and the weight is taking ages to come off. I'm 5ft 6 and currently 10st 11lbs. I go from that, then I fast, to 10st 9lbs and then put it back on. I can't eat dairy because I'm breastfeeding ( daughter is dairy intollerant) so it's not like I eat loads of chocolate and ice cream. I want to get down to 9st. It's so frustrating as I'm normally really good at loosing weight. I feel as if I have to eat practically nothing to reach my goal. :( I try to keep active but I have two children under two so don't really have too much time on my hands.
Any advice/help would be so appreciated as I'm really working so hard and desperately want to fit into my clothes again and get my confidence back.

[coldfingersandtoes]

I've no advice i'm afraid but I am in the same boat as you! So frustrating. I am really careful not to go over 500 calories on fast day and am also careful on non fast days but still the same pound just comes and goes - really annoying. Hoping other people will come up with some good suggestions!

[dlk227]

Sorry, no good advice here, but thought I'd commiserate. I've also been bouncing around the same 3-4 lbs for the last month (about 1 1/2 lbs from my goal weight, which is just out of reach).

I'm also 5'6" and 9st 13.5 lbs, down from 11st from mid-Feb when I started. Happy with the weight loss and I haven't found the FDs to be difficult. For me, it's due to too much overindulging on the weekends - I think I'm one 'good' weekend away from my goal, but life has just gotten in the way (in a good way, though). Totally within my control if I choose to do it (and I will when I'm ready). In the meantime, I'm at the lowest weight I've been for 20 years, so I can't complain!

[piratecat]

it's weird isn't it.

i was doing mfp, was a year totally stickin to it, 1200 cals a day.

i am trying it again, keep losing 3lbs then putting them back on if i even SNIFF a bit of bread. 5ft3 and 10 stone, or 9stone 11 on a better day.

I feel as tho my body has got used to the new eating plan.

[GiraffesEatPineapples]

Some people have massive success at this and hopefuly you are still gaining the health benefits. Some people have plateaus which last a month or so then it starts to fall off again. 4 months post pregnancy is not long and your BMI is probably normal? I think you could legitmately just give it more time and maybe it will start to go down again in a few weeks. The other thing is that your tdee will have gone down if you have lost weight so you may need to adjust cals on non fast days.

For me though 5:2 wasn't working for weight loss and I have started doing primal/briffa. Fasting still interests me for health benefits though which is why I was looking on this section! The steady weight loss so far of briffa has been great, the up and down with 5:2 was getting tiresome but I wouldn't be surprised if weightloss begins to tail off now. like piratecat suggests I think my body will get used to a new woe and I will have to change things to start losing.

[GiraffesEatPineapples]

Reread your post and had a thought, app stress can make it difficult to lose weight as can lack of sleep and having 2 small children, one who is 4 months, makes both of those things likely factors. The other thing is you may be undereating on non fast days because you mention keeping cals very low?

[EhricLovesTeamQhuay]

I just didn't lose weight while I was breastfeeding. To be fair I wasn't trying hard but as soon as I stopped half a stone fell off within 2 weeks. I think some women's bodies hang on to fat stores while breastfeeding, annoyingly.

[EhricLovesTeamQhuay]

Also are you eating enough on eat days? Enough good fat and protein?

[littlemissnormal]

I had a nightmare trying to lose weight while I was breast feeding! Used to sneer at all the women whose weight just dropped off from it while eating what they wanted.
I stuck to MFP with 1500cals a day and didn't lose a single pound until I stopped feeding.

[Wowserz129]

I am another one who found it really hard to lose while breastfeeding and once I stopped when DS was 14 months it came off easier although I still have a bit to go!

[Cooroo]

I find that over a week the 3lbs on/3lbs off is pretty consistent. But currently my lowest weight in a week is 9st 9lbs and i'm pretty sure a couple of months ago it was probably 9st 10lb! So there is a gradual, gradual lowering.

However, a good weekend away or a birthday can wipe out a lot of good! I keep telling myself I'm not THAT far from my goal, and meanwhile I'm deriving all the health benefits. Pity they aren't more measurable though!

[Cupcakemummy85]

What I don't understand is that you have to fast for two days and the rest of the week only eat (for me) 1700 calories. If I was to eat 1700 I would loose weight anyway. It's so annoying all this calorie counting.
It's so hard loosing weight breast feeding. And she has a dairy intolerance. I've had to give up so much already. I just want to loose a few pounds a week. I feel like a have to eat like a little bird to do so :(

[Cooroo]

The original Horizon and book don't talk about restricting calories on the non-fast days, you're supposed to be able to eat what you want. But my experience (with perhaps half a stone to lose ) is that it makes a difference.

I'd advise you to forget counting on the non-fast days, try not to go mad, but relax. The whole point is to get rid of the calorie/point counting drag. And the health benefits may not show now but should be significant!

[Breadandwine]

Check out this thread, guys:

www.52fastdiet.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=27&t=1006

[Tortoiseonthehalfshell]

Cupcake, I didn't realise you were breastfeeding. There's no way your TDEE is only 1700 if you're breastfeeding! Have you calculated that into MFP (I don't know if it has that facility)?

[Talkinpeace]

THe original Horizon did not talk about calorie counting on non fast days because NONE of the people in it had a BMI of over 24
therefore their normal diet was OK already

here on Mumsnet we have people starting with BMI in the 30's
who can only have got that way because their "normal" is "excessive"

once you get the hang of what your TDEE looks like you'll not need to calorie count
BUT
for a lot of posters, working out their TDEE and putting it on a plate was rather a shock

OP the fastdiet forums that B&W linked to have whole pages on BF with 5:2 but basically it works out as the same demand as going to the gym a lot so work out your TDEE as if you were really active

[Flyingtree]

Breastfeeding makes losing weight harder. Immediately I stopped weight fell off.

[orderinformation]

What is TDEE?

[GiraffesEatPineapples]

something like Total daily energy expenditure - it refers to the calories you burn on a typical day.

[cerealqueen]

I am having the ame issues, it is really demoralising. I am breastfeeding too but Dd is 20 months so only 3 times a day maximum. I don't eat excessively on normal days, just eat normally. I walk for at least haf a hour a day and am generally active with two small children.

What gets me is that if I were doing WW I'd have lost at least 6-8lb by now (which I did when I did WW last year while BF). Grrrr.

How are you doing now OP?

[MelanieCheeks]

I know there are a few Mums on here who are 5:2ing and BFing at the same time, but official sources will say that's not recommended. I realise they're probabaly erring on the side of caution, and there's not enough research yet to back up any claims, but I think maybe this isn't the method for you right now.

[cerealqueen]

You may well be right melanie I'm doing one more week and if I see no change am going back to WW.
Its too hard without the incentive of regular weight loss.