Not losing weight on 5:2

[iismum]

I've been doing 5:2 for about 12-18 months and have been really pleased with it. My routine is to eat sensibly on Mondays, Wednesdays and most of Fridays (no sweet things, no alcohol, minimal snacking, etc.), fast on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and be pretty relaxed about food/drink on Friday evenings, Saturday and Sunday. I also skip fasts when I'm travelling, for special events, etc. - maybe once per month on average.

I found that on this routine I lost weight slowly but consistently, I felt great, people complimented me on my weight loss, etc.

Over the summer, it went a bit to pot - I was away a lot and got out of the habit, and more or less gave up any kind of sensible food routine for 2 or even 3 months. Unsurprisingly, I put on a few kg, although less than I'd expected.

In early September I got back into the routine outlined above, and have been following it consistently since, so for about two months now. I'm just not seeing consistent weight loss as I did before. I feel like my eating patterns are the same, I'm exercises reasonably (about the same), but the weight just isn't shifting. What's going on?

I don’t know what the reason is, but I find this too. It seems that at certain times your body decide what weight you will be, regardless of what you eat. I wonder if it some sort of inherent self preservation gene.

Hopefully someone will come along with a solution.

Have you used MFP to check your average intake over the week and see whether your portion sizes have crept up?
or has your alcohol intake crept up?
or are you adding back exercise calories (never a good idea) ?
and are you drinking enough water (as water rather than in any other drink) ?

Look for Thyroid issues with a GP. Other than that, check if you are getting the diet right.

I had to go down to 4:3 for it to work for me. That, exercise, no alcohol and being watchful over weekends meant I could lose about 3lbs each month (although I would sometimes plateau and the lost a bit more the following month). Otherwise, I got into a rut of losing a lb during the week and putting it back on over the weekend. That was obviously better than gaining weight but it wasn't achieving the goal of weight loss.

The days you don't fast, try eating very less for dinner, say just fruits.

I did 5:2 for 4 weeks and lost no weight so feel your pain OP

Thanks for your reply SlimySlittery I am seeing doc again re vitamin deficiences and affect on thyroid. Hoping for a B12 shot.

Have gained weight :(

May be a way to edit, not sure. Had a complete fast on Monday; up to 1200 other days.

Some people genuinely have changed circumstances which make loss much harder than before:

• New medications, including hormonal contraceptive
• Onset of pre-meno, which can affect hormones 10 years before meno
• Having a baby - each one has the potential to change hormones , e.g. affecting insulin metabolism longterm
• Onset of preT2, thyroid or other comditions
• Shift work of other job / family / life circumstances disrupting sleep , meals and / or exercise patterns

Otherwise, not losing properly is almost always due to

• either the NFDs e.g. averaging above TDEE, hence eating back the FD deficit
• or eating back exercise calories - forbidden on FDS and usually overestimated on NDs
• yoyo dieting

On any WOL, not just 5:2, it can become difficult to lose weight after regain, if you have spent many years dieting on and off.
This is because insulin resistance and a "set point" at a higher weight depend on the total time over your life that have spent at that higher weight.
At some stage, the cumulative time at higher weight means your body reacts to stay at that weight, e.g. turning down metabolism, increasing appetite.

Fasting is proven to reduce insulin resistance and set points, but it takes patience and persistence
Main tip for everyone: eat meals, no snacks between

On the main 5:2 threads, I keep recommending everyone should have a definite maintenance plan,
precisely because at some stage nearly everyone who repeatedly has to tackle regain will find it much more difficult

if you return to your old WOL, you will return to your old weight & waist - and eventually stay there

Lots of support that has helped even "hard losers" on the main Thread # 72 - why not join us there

I gained on this diet. I foolishly took the ‘eat what you want days’ literally and are what I wanted which was bloody everything!