just weighed myself after 1st week of fasting and only lost 1lb - gutted

[Katnisscupcake]

Am I doing something wrong. I was 11 stone on Monday and I've weighed myself this morning and I've only lost 1lb after fasting on Monday and Wednesday. Both days I managed between 400 and 500 calories and below 1800 on the other 2.

Have I weighed too soon? Will I not just put it back on now on the non-fasting days between now and the 1 week mark on Monday?

With weight watchers I would never weigh too soon as it didn't show the true weight loss until the week mark, but as my fasting is already over for this week, I am not going to lose anymore am I, this week?

How much did you expect to lose?

If you just look at calories in/calories out, a 500 calorie day is a deficit of about 1500 calories. two of them is a deficit of 3000 calories. A pound of fat contains around 3000 calories. The maths say you should lose a pound.

Fasting is supposed to have other health benefits too, and it is supposed to be easier than having a 500 calories deficit every single day, but don't think anyone has claimed that it makes you lose weight faster than any other diet.

I guess because on all the other diets that I've done (weight watchers, slimming world) I've always lost around 4-5 lbs in the first week because of losing water and then it slows down to between 1-2 lbs a week, I expected this diet to do the same. There are quite a few of us doing it and everyone else has lost between 2 and 5 lbs this week, except for me .

I will stick to it though because even if I only lose 1lb a week I will have lost nearly 2 stone by xmas I guess!

Katniss
(cool name by the way)
5:2 is a way of life that happens to bring you down to a healthy weight.
Read the tips and hints and then come and pull up a chair in the big thread as there is NO MORE SUPPORTIVE place to be as you start out.

1 lb a week is good and steady. You might lose 4lb in the first week of WW but I'm betting that 6 months later those 4lbs are back with avengence. If you stick with this then that 1lb is gone for good, you will never see it again.

Op a pound a week is fine. I've been doing this since March and have lost only half a pound a week. I could have lost faster but it's been a hugely busy time and I've used food to cope on my non fast days - I don't recommend this but it's just the way it is right now - and yet I am now nearly a stone down. And I know it's not going back on because frankly if I can lose under the current conditions, I can do it forever......! If you see this as a permanent change to how you eat, a pound a week lost is great.

Thank you so much, that all makes absolute sense and has made me feel soooo much better! I will definitely hop over to the other thread!

Remember that with a lot of diets you lose water or muscle mass, hopefully on 5:2 you are losing fat instead. Imagine a string of 8 sausages around your tummy- that's what you've lost if you've lost a pound .

I started 5:2 last Thursday. I've been doing 1200 cals 5 days and 500 on 2. I have lost 2 lbs so far and it has given me a real boost to keep going, although it would be nice if it could be a quicker fix! Keep going and good luck!

Make sure you are eating your tdee on non-fast days otherwise the weight loss will be slower as the body retains more fat (the switch between low/high cals is part of the health benefits as well as preventing 'starvation mode') - read the tips thread as the explanation is there. For example, I am 5'4 and currently weigh around 10 1/2 stone, and my tdee is approx 1800 cals so I try to achieve that on non-fast days.