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Not losing weight?

Help us to help you! Please give us as much information as you can about your situation in order for us to be able to help you as best we can. For example, it's helpful to know your BMI/weight, how much you want to lose, any medical conditions which might affect your weight and (if you've started fasting already) how you do your fasts in terms of splitting up your calories, what you eat etc. Thanks!
Remember, we're not here to judge, we're here to help.

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Game over
26 Mar 2013, 09:52
A friend recommended that I watch 'Eat, fast and live longer'. I did and I thought it was just what my wife needed. She has been yo-yo dieting for years and this seemed to be the end of dieting. The clear message was "eat what you like on 5 days and fast for 2, you won't be able to over compensate anyway". I bought the book (fortunately it is cheap) and the message was the same, eat what you like on 5 days, fast for 2.

My wife was reluctant and sceptical. I convinced her that she should give up Slimming World, save herself £5 per week and stop feeling like food is her enemy. She fasted diligently and 4 weeks later she was a pound heavier than when she started. (I tagged along for support and I was also a pound heavier although I skipped a couple of fast days, my BMI is only 22).

I came on here to find out what could be going wrong and the message here seems to be "be on a diet for 5 days and be on even more of a diet for 2 days". So, my wife restricted her calories and lost half a pound. "Stick with it", I said. Week 6 brought a 3 pound loss, hallelujah! Week 7? A 2.75 lb gain. Overall loss over 7 weeks = half a pound.

Week 7 probably went wrong because we went out for an Indian meal with friends on Sunday evening. If we can't do that then this really is pointless.

Here's my conclusion, for what it's worth. If you "eat as you normally would" and fast for 2 days you are clearly going to lose weight. What you cannot do is come off a dieting regime and eat normally on 5 days and fast on 2. I have read here that there is no magic. I agree, it's just a shame that the TV program and book do seem to be selling something quite magical.

This is clearly working for many of you, may you continue to have success. My wife is going back to Slimming World where she will diet normally for 7 days a week rather than dieting moderately for 5 days a week and dieting severely for 2.
Re: Game over
26 Mar 2013, 09:58
I realise there is some dodgy maths in this post. She lost quite a bit of weight in the first week but she had just finished a week of Slimming World. She calculates her losses as half a pound, it's close enough.
Re: Game over
26 Mar 2013, 09:58
I would bet my bottom dollar that your wife is feeling under pressure to weigh less and going into this reluctant and skeptical was never going to work.

People like the community of SW.
Re: Game over
26 Mar 2013, 10:02
Actually BBT053, she wasn't enjoying the community side of it as she didn't have any friends there. She came round to the idea and got quite into it. Can being sceptical make you retain weight anyway? As for pressure, she has wanted to lose weight for the last 25 years, this seemed like the answer.
Re: Game over
26 Mar 2013, 10:07
Don't mean to sound harsh, but I get the feeling the whole point of this lifestyle has been missed it's not a "quick" fix diet but a lifestyle change that in the long run has large health benifits the weight loss is just an added bonus but not the main reason for this "diet".
Re: Game over
26 Mar 2013, 10:10
"be on a diet for 5 days and be on even more of a diet for 2 days".


I really don't think that is the message. I am certainly trying to get people to eat normally on the 5 days because for me the best weight loss is when I don't cut calories on my feed days. My losses have speeded up whenever I've had a weekend's indulgence and slowed when I was really careful. I have been out for meals, away to all you can eat hotels, eaten cake and drunk wine most feed days and have lost weight as well. I do think the fact that I hadn't been on a diet for around 10 years has helped.

Naturally you can't overeat every feed day without compromising the weight loss, but you definitely don't need to be on a diet every day unless there is some underlying problem, such as thyroid problems or fibromyalgia or ME. If you are very near your goal weight then it is entirely likely that the losses will be very slow and also if you have been dieting beforehand.

Nothing wrong with SW in that you will certainly lose weight and if you can keep the weight off for around 3-5 years afterwards there is even a chance it might stay off. Unfortunately most people don't have the dedication required to stick to the SW diet for 5 years.
Re: Game over
26 Mar 2013, 10:15
Really sorry that it didn't work out for your wife. As you can see, and as you say, it's working really well for a lot of us on this forum. Can honestly say that I personally don't feel restricted on my 5 days a week and the 2 days fasting, although difficult to start with, are now easy to do - importantly I don't feel "deprived" of any treat/goodies, just not on fasting days. This is not a quick way to shed weight, more of a life change/WOL. Wishing her well and hope that SW works out for her. Good luck.
Re: Game over
26 Mar 2013, 10:18
It doesn't sound harsh, TayTay. However, this is touted as a good way to lose weight and after 7 weeks the only benefit felt was a better understanding of hunger and a realisation that it's OK to have an empty stomach. We are grateful for that. Would we live longer and have lower levels of that growth hormone thingy? Maybe, but we would never know. My wife's main motivation is to lose weight so I guess she needs to be on a diet after all.
Re: Game over
26 Mar 2013, 10:24
carorees, I really am genuinely happy that it is working for you and that you can eat what you fancy. That is exactly how we expected this to work. It just seems that for many people it has to involve calorie counting on all 7 days. My wife has not gone mad. We went out for a couple of meals, ate chocolate a couple of times, a portion of chips. That was the eating normally that we expected to be able to do.
Re: Game over
26 Mar 2013, 10:24
Thanks, Suchard007.
Re: Game over
26 Mar 2013, 10:30
If you get the "It's OK to have an empty stomach" thing, can I ask if your wife snacks between meals on feed days? If the answer to this is yes, then maybe applying that knowledge to feed days and not snacking would help. If you still eat whatever you like at mealtimes but don't graze in-between that might stop you from seriously overeating on feed days.

That's the way I had already started eating prior to going on 5:2 and it had helped me to stay at about the same weight while still enjoying my food, eating out etc, but I'd failed to actually lose weight. The addition of 5:2 has helped me move from that position of stasis to a steady weight loss, and has brought me down from the edge of obese almost to a normal BMI in six months.
Re: Game over
26 Mar 2013, 10:39
I think the main thing about IF is to change the way you eat and your attitude towards feasting and fasting. I would say that the other five days maybe should be monitored in the first instance, until the subject's attitude to food changes - especially if they are very overweight. It's not a quick fix, and willpower, determination and dedication are needed, but the longer you carry on, the more it becomes life and the feeling of "diet" changes to simply the way in which you eat and view food.
Maybe your wife could join the board and get some support from everyone on here? That certainly helps me.
Re: Game over
26 Mar 2013, 10:39
insx wrote: carorees, I really am genuinely happy that it is working for you and that you can eat what you fancy. That is exactly how we expected this to work. It just seems that for many people it has to involve calorie counting on all 7 days. My wife has not gone mad. We went out for a couple of meals, ate chocolate a couple of times, a portion of chips. That was the eating normally that we expected to be able to do.


What a shame that you found this resulted in no weight loss. I wonder if you would be willing to participate in some research as I would really like to try to work out why some people lose so well and others don't? I have recently announced the forum weigh in day for April 6th and I am hoping that many of the participants will also answer my questionnaire that I am putting together (viewtopic.php?f=1&t=2661). It would be really helpful if you and your wife could participate.
Re: Game over
26 Mar 2013, 10:47
Is it possible that on the non fastings day your wife isn't eating enough?

I think without having a typical days eating listed it is very difficult to work out what has gone wrong.

I certainly haven't been on a diet my other 5 days, typical foods have been 3 - 3 course meals out, homemade lasagna, dominoes pizza garlic bread, egg benedict, cooked breakfast, steak and chips, wine, spirits etc
Re: Game over
26 Mar 2013, 11:24
Maybe the problem is that we don't drink :)
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