Im stuck

[woahthere]

Started at 14.3, quickly got down to 13.3. Keep working hard and expecting it to go down but can't seem to get down from there, I get down to 13.3 by today and then from today to Tuesday put back on, then repeat the cycle. Wondering if I should do 4:3 (but dont really want to ;)) ...maybe I'll do 4:3 every other week...funnily enough Ive done other diets and the same thing...I always get stuck at 13.3...I feel like if I broke that barrier it would start coming off more easily!

Rather than going to 6:1 I would take a look at your non-fast days. 5:2 works if you eat normally on the other days. The point is normal means eating your TDEE, not eating your normal diet that made you over weight in the first place. Count your calories for a couple of weeks (not restrict -just count) making sure you check the portion sizes (no point on logging 100g of pasta if you are eating 150g). Then you can get a true feel for your weekly calorie deficit.

6:1?

I think i will have to be more careful on my non fast days, annoying as I thought the whole point was that I wouldnt have to! thanks x

You may be overeating on your non-fast days and leaving yourself no calorie deficit.

sorry I meant to say 4:3 not 6:1 .

I know it is anoying, I've been there. But I think a lot of us don't know how much we are eating. Just look at the secret eaters program where they do a food diary saying they eat 1400 cals when they are really eating 4000.

The tricky part for a lot of people is to realise what they are actually eating on a normal day.

If you are overweight (say a BMI of 27), chances are that your normal day is TDEE + 30%
so you have to reduce "normal" by 30% as well as fasting to actually get down to and stay at a healthy weight.

My TDEE on a work day (when I'm sedentary) is 1500 - not the 2000 it says on the cereal packet

The best thing to do is to really accurately log what you eat on a "normal" day : do not alter it, just record it : every peanut and square of chocolate as well
and see what the numbers come out like
stopping snacking often brings people under their TDEE pretty simply

I once read that you need a 3500 calorie deficit in order to lose a pound. I'm not sure how true that is and I'm sure it's much more complex than that anyway, but I try to have a deficitof at least that much every week.

My TDEE is 2000 (I walk a lot). On a fast day I eat about 500. That means my fast days alone only give me a deficit of 3000, which is amazing, but I try to cut back on a few other days too to be sure of a loss.

Its about that.
When I was losing, I lost about a pound a week
which was two days at 500 calories rather than 2000