Weight loss during the week, gain on weekends.

grandpoobah12

Hi, I`ve been doing 5/2 for three weeks now. I seem to lose one to two kilos during the week. And then gain it back on the weekend. Sure, you will think I eat too much on weekends. I keep counting my calories and stay under 2000, usually around 1800. My MFP daily allowance is 1650. To lose one lb a week. My weekly average is about 1400 cal per day.
To experiment this week i didn`t drink at all. I usually drink on the weekends and watch the scale go up a kilo each day. To my amazement I still went up a kilo each day, even without drinking.

After the first week, I added in exercise. I bike right now. This week I clocked 54 miles, this is including my usual activity.

This week my weekly average is 1200 per day. I lost 300 grams from last week.

Am I doing this wrong? Or is this what I can expect with 20 lbs to lose. My BMR is 1560 per day.

flumi_f

That's pretty discouraging :-(. Is your sodium intake higher? Water retention? Or what I sometimes notice is that my bowel works very regularly during the week and gets out of wack, with the changed weekend timeplan. This often makes for 1kg more on Mondays.

Try a few weeks longer though. Mosley states in his book, some bodies need more time to adjust to 5:2.

Good luck!

AmyRhubarb

With only 20 pounds to lose, slow and steady with a small deficit is the way to go. You said your BMR is 1560, but you're only eating 1200 a day, and exercising? My best guess without actually seeing your diary is that you're not eating enough. When you aimed for the 1650 goal, did you eat back exercise cals? Food is fuel - gotta feed that furnace if you want it to burn!

Lastly, if it's only been three weeks, just hang in there - your body is still likely adjusting to new activities and calorie intake, especially if you keep changing that around. It can take a good 4-6 weeks to start seeing steady progress, so stick with it for at least that long before making adjustments.

Log all your foods, aim for goal - your net cals should be at or close to goal each day, so eat those exercise cals. Do your best to stick with it on weekends too - work the goodies and drinks into your goals on those days, and make sure you're drinking plenty of water as well.

JessHealthKick

rule number one, don't eat under BMR for long periods of time. Yeah a week is OK (not the best), but if you are exercising a lot and eating 1200-1400 a day that is really not good.

Pick a number, eat at the number every day, weigh once per week and give it 4 weeks to see what happens don't restrict yourself of things you love, weigh everything meticulously, and be patient.

Good luck!

grandpoobah12

Thanks Amy, I will keep trying, I am always active and no, in all my years using MFP, 3 in all, I have never eaten back my exercise calories.
I used to be in the eat more to weigh less group but when I did, I just gained weight consistently. This week as experimentation (yet again) I am doing exactly what you say, eat the 1600 and eat back exercise calories up to my BMR at least.

So far same weight loss during the week. except today, Thurs. down only 200g. Usually down 1 kg a day till friday. Keep going over the weekend and see what happens.