How do you know it’s time to go onto the 5/2 bit? I seem to be progressing well, but I can guarantee in a fortnight my pants will fall down because when I lose weight it drops off me (yes I know, I’m a cowbag!) Is it when you are officially at the bottom of the weight range for your height, or the top?

Background: very muscular woman in forties, very active, BMI currently 26.

Any ideas please?

I would say given your description of yourself as very muscular, that it should probably be top end. The important thing is to not push the body fat percentage too low. Anything under 15% body fat isn’t healthy long term. I am at the top end of my healthy BMI, in fact just over BMI 25 at the moment, but according to a Boditrax scan I am at 22% fat which is securely in the healthy band, and my body type was between very muscular and thin muscular. I have decided because of this that at maximum I want to lose another 1/2 stone to bring me to a total of 8 stone lost, and maybe a couple of extra pounds wiggle room. My most probable target for January will thus be 10 stone 8 pounds, still very much top end in BMI terms.

Thank you – that makes sense. In which case I only have about another four pounds to go. Yikes.

I know if I got to the bottom of my weight range I’m a size six and I look weird. I don’t want to be that thin – it doesn’t look healthy.