Weekly Post 1.10 - 8.10 2017
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Lost .8 lbs today. I was thankful because I wasn't able to get in all my exercise this week and I got a tad out of control with my food last Friday so I wasn't sure what to expect.
Welcome @ryenday! Feel free to post any questions you have. We are happy to answer them. What I like about 5:2 is it helps keep the metabolism up which staves off the plateaus we have with just straight calorie reduction. I agree with @Meghan509 that 1200 is low and that could be why you are stalling out on your weight loss. Your body may be trying to conserve fat to keep you from starving to death. IMHO, you will want to bring your calories up for non-fast days so that you are eating enough. What I did is figured out the calorie level to maintain my first goal weight, 1800 cals, and that is what I am eating. You can decide what will work for you. Also strength training to build your muscles will also boost your metabolism because muscles need energy/fat to work (fat does not). I am not talking about looking like a body builder but just having stronger muscles. Just my two cents. I know as you go along in this plan you will figure out what works for you.
Wow! Congratulations @Meghan509! Losing 43 lbs. is quite an accomplishment! Keep it going, girl!
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Thank you both I’m glad to be here.
To be clear I’m short and post menopausal. 1200 cal a day should result in a ~1 pound a week weight loss according to an average person estimate on the prediction calculators. In actuality the six months I ate at that I lost less than 1/2 half a pound per week.
Also I do exercise – swim mostly – but not on any predictable schedule. Therefore I do not count exercise calories in my base calories. Rather I will have a post workout snack/meal where I eat back a portion of the exercise calories. Often fruit or oatmeal with chicken breast or beef jerky - something like that.
Starting out, I have planned to eat 1600 cal on non-light days. I will also continue to eat back my portion of exercise calories on non-light days.
Does that sound safe and smart?
Thanks.
(thank you for the suggestion about strength training. Currently strength training presents some issues for me. I hope these issues can be overcome, at least partially, in the coming months. I will continue to swim ( and walk!) in the interim.)0 -
Hello and welcome ryenday & rbschas. I’m also post menopausal and 58 as of yesterday
and I’m 5’6”. I started 5:2 two years ago this weekend with a 37” waist and was anxious for results so I did 1200 cals 5 days and 500 cals 2 days without eating back exercise cals. Rarely did I feel like I was under eating. I did have a few nights going to bed by 9pm to avoid getting into the cupboards, but with creative recipes from this forum, Pinterest etc I made quite nutritious meals and boy did I lose! I was down to 29 1/2” on my waist then started maintenance.... which is what got me complacent. What I lack now is the discipline to do that again, as I’ve gained 3 inches on my waist this year! This weekend is my “5:2 anniversary” sort of... so I’m hoping to kickstart good habits and repeat my loss in 2015! I am big on lifting weights too... even 2lbs to start if there are injury factors... it doesn’t bulk, it changes your shape and makes your bones stronger. It’s a good thing!
Cheers everyone!
Also Kate: I feel for you... but I can honestly say the only symptom I’ve had is the hot flashes! Other than that I’ve been just fine... not sure why, as every other friend I know has had the most difficult time and used meds etc ... I wish you well in this time of life!
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Thanks everybody!!
I know what you mean @RBXChas I am 5 feet 4 but my weight is pretty evenly distributed, so in the mid 170's I am feeling pretty good. I am a loose size 12 or a size 10 this time around. Last time I lost weight I was not a 10. I owe that to this type of WOE where I am burning fat! I feel much leaner and I am exercising more. I am looking to get down to 140 which for my height is a healthy BMI. Fingers crossed!
Good point @jknight001 on your advice to our new member, and congrats on your loss!!
Hi @ryenday thanks for getting back to us and giving us some more details on your journey! I think your plan sounds fine except for one thing that you said stands out to me. You said you are eating back a portion of your exercise calories and you plan to do that on non light days too. My advice is don't do that. Don't eat back any exercise calories, especially if it is hard for you to lose or you lose slowly at times. Use those exercise calories to your advantage and don't eat any of them back. Make sense? I don't eat any excerise calories back. See my example below.
I work out doing cardio six days a week (Saturday through Thursday). Two of those days are light days. On a typical gym day I burn anywhere from 500 to 600 calories doing a fast walk on an incline via a treadmill at the gym. I don't eat anything back any of those days. What I will do is on Friday and Saturday evenings I will treat myself to a cheat meal dinner and I will have beer / wine. Right back on track the next meal. Not saying everybody should do this but it is what has worked for me and it has helped keep me on plan and from cheating during the week.
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Best laid plans ... got the flu (thanks flu shot). Will certainly be below calorie plans yesterday and today. But I didn’t go to gym, either. Next light day is planned for Tuesday so I’m expecting I’m good to go by then. -lol I had plans for those calories but maybe next weekend!1
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@ryenday I wanted to revisit the issue of eating back exercise calories. For myself I do not eat back calories for a number of reasons (if you want interested see our discussion on eating back calories you can look at the old post exercising on fast days). However, like @Meghan509 I do have a cheat meal on Fridays. I realized as I was thinking about it, I would not recommend that for everyone since for some a cheat meal can turn into a cheat day, into a cheat week, into a cheat month... you get the idea. I do if for two reasons 1) I think eating a more for a one meal stokes the metabolism. I have no proof of this. It is just my intuition on the matter. Others may have more information on whether or not this is true. 2) Because it saves my sanity! After a week of weighing and measuring, it is so nice to have a meal where I can put that aside. When I read your post about eating back calories, I wondered if that might be the same for you? We really stress finding what works for you in this group. So my thought would be if you feel it helps you in your weight loss journey to eat back exercise calories, give it a try with 5:2. If it works, great! If you find you are not losing weight, then you can always revisit the issue and make adjustment.
I will be interested in seeing how 5:2 works for you. I did 5:2 a few years back and it worked great. I would say I was peri-meno at that time. When I came back a few months ago (now in meno) I wondered if meno hijacked my ability to lose weight. At first it was slow at first but it started working and now I am happily down 12 lbs. Since I am heading into post-meno, I will be interested to know how it works for you. Wishing you the best!
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Thank you folks, what to do with exercise calories is definitely something I am going to have to ponder. On 1200 a day, I felt very deprived and eating a portion of exercise calories back helped me stay sane. But on my 5 days I’ll have more calories to play with than I did even on exercise days before 5:2, so modifying my behavior may be warranted.
However, I am also wary of introducing too many variables at one time. October is an especially sparse social month for me this year, so it is a good month to continue a post-workout meal/snack as there are no special occasions in the offing where I might really want to indulge. November and December are very different stories tho, and if October goes well, it might be time for me to “bank” those exercise calories for occasions!
Thanks for all the input- the more I have to think about how this will work out, the better off I’ll be so I am grateful.1 -
Hi all!
Great post @jknight001
I agree that a cheat meal is good to help keep the body and metabolism guessing. They definately help keep us sane too. We like to have things we don't typically eat. Last night we had Italian / pasta.
I understand @ryenday about having a little more to keep you full. I think if you up your calories a little and don't eat back exercise calories you will be fine and you will lose.
So glad you have joined us.
Hope everybody is having a nice weekend. I am not off tomorrow for Columbus Day (US) boo... Hope our Canadian friends are having a great Thanksgiving.
Have a good one. See you later or tomorrow!1
