Hello to all. This is the 3rd week of 5:2 for me and I am experiencing very strange fluctuations in weight. I have put on 0.3 kilo overall but when checking weight after fast days am losing. The rest of the week I am doing Weight watchers more or less. I lost 3 stone from January to August but then it stopped and I tried 5:2. I felt awful so abandoned it but decided as I have a wedding in May to try again. I have M.E. and low thyroid treated with Thyroxine. What is happening?
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Hi Gailie & welcome to the forums.
Sorry to hear that this hasn't seemed to be working for you so far. I'm sure there are some folks here who may have a better idea than I do as to why this is happening. My guess would be that the WW is interfering with things and causing your body to be in starvation mode & therefore store extra fat.
It might be helpful to know a bit more about how you're doing 5:2. What are your days & how do you split your calories? What sort of foods do you eat on fast days? How many calories roughly do you consume on a feed day? How often do you weigh-in?
...and perhaps most importantly, given your medical conditions, have you consulted your GP?
Sorry to hear that this hasn't seemed to be working for you so far. I'm sure there are some folks here who may have a better idea than I do as to why this is happening. My guess would be that the WW is interfering with things and causing your body to be in starvation mode & therefore store extra fat.
It might be helpful to know a bit more about how you're doing 5:2. What are your days & how do you split your calories? What sort of foods do you eat on fast days? How many calories roughly do you consume on a feed day? How often do you weigh-in?
...and perhaps most importantly, given your medical conditions, have you consulted your GP?
Hi there. Thanks for your reply. Fast days are Monday and Thursday. I tend to try to lavoid eating until 2ish and then have a small banana and then at 6-7 pm have a fillet of salmon with 100g each of mushrooms, broccoli and half a red pepper. Saw this on a 5:2 recipe site. I stick to this for the fast days and then have WW menus plus a bit extra protein. I don't feel I am eating too little. GP not at all informed re diets. Just say poor you and thyroid probs are possibly to blame. So sympathetic but not really helpful.
Hi Gailie
There are quite a few people in the Facebook groups with thyroid problems who are doing 5:2. They have managed to lose weight though a bit more slowly than others perhaps.
Have you measured your waist? You might find that you are losing fat but not weight! Some strange changes in the amount of water and muscle in the body occur when you start the 5:2 which can hide the fact that you are losing fat (both water and muscle weigh more than fat).
As Moogie says, if your calorie intake is pretty low on all days then that could be slowing things down...I know it doesn't seem to make sense but why not try eating your recommended daily allowance on feed days for a couple of weeks and see how you go?
It is still early days so hang in there...
There are quite a few people in the Facebook groups with thyroid problems who are doing 5:2. They have managed to lose weight though a bit more slowly than others perhaps.
Have you measured your waist? You might find that you are losing fat but not weight! Some strange changes in the amount of water and muscle in the body occur when you start the 5:2 which can hide the fact that you are losing fat (both water and muscle weigh more than fat).
As Moogie says, if your calorie intake is pretty low on all days then that could be slowing things down...I know it doesn't seem to make sense but why not try eating your recommended daily allowance on feed days for a couple of weeks and see how you go?
It is still early days so hang in there...
Thanks for getting back to me Caroline. Much appreciated. I am feeling very bloated and think I am hanging on to water. I didn't measure my waist prior to diets but have tended to go by how my clothes feel. I will stick with it for another couple of weeks in the hope that I do start to see and feel a difference. I have increased the Thyroxine and will eat a healthy , slightly higher in calorie diet for the two weeks and then review. Such a shame as I was doing well on WW until August but I like the idea of the health benefits on inflammation etc from 5:2. Thanks again and take care
Gailie11
I would be careful and would suggest that if you were doing well on weight watchers you revert to that. I don't want to put you off but fasting does decrease metabolic rate (mainly because you are not digesting food). Also overall metabolic rate has been shown to drop in response to strict calorie restriction. So if you are fasting and doing WW you may be reducing your daily calorie requirement.
Along with that you have a disease that affects your metabolism and causes muscle weakness, which presumably means you fatigue very easily and therefore are not very active. Again this reduces your daily calorie requirement.
I think you are reducing your daily calorie requirement so low that you will struggle to lose weight at all. If I am right then you would be better to eat more, this would increase your metabolism, allow you to move a bit more and potentially burn more calories.
I'm not suggesting that you eat freely and waste your efforts but personally I don't think you should fast. Even Mosley has said that the 5:2 diet is only safe for people who are healthy. Seen as you have done so well on the WW diet maybe you should maybe stick to that. Also seek a medical opinion.
I would be careful and would suggest that if you were doing well on weight watchers you revert to that. I don't want to put you off but fasting does decrease metabolic rate (mainly because you are not digesting food). Also overall metabolic rate has been shown to drop in response to strict calorie restriction. So if you are fasting and doing WW you may be reducing your daily calorie requirement.
Along with that you have a disease that affects your metabolism and causes muscle weakness, which presumably means you fatigue very easily and therefore are not very active. Again this reduces your daily calorie requirement.
I think you are reducing your daily calorie requirement so low that you will struggle to lose weight at all. If I am right then you would be better to eat more, this would increase your metabolism, allow you to move a bit more and potentially burn more calories.
I'm not suggesting that you eat freely and waste your efforts but personally I don't think you should fast. Even Mosley has said that the 5:2 diet is only safe for people who are healthy. Seen as you have done so well on the WW diet maybe you should maybe stick to that. Also seek a medical opinion.
I don't believe fasting reduces your metabolic rate if you only fast for one day. In fact Dr Mosley specifically says in his book that short term fasting does not affect resting metabolic rate, and he quotes scientific experiments to prove it. However, if you are fasting and also calorie restricting on the other days, then it might result in a slow down.
Echo is right, however that it is best to consult your own doctor.
Echo is right, however that it is best to consult your own doctor.
I've read load of articles that suggest that resting metabolic rate will be decreased if you are not processing food. Just a suggestion.
Echo, see this study: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15640462
They looked at ADF and found:
"RMR [resting metabolic rate] and RQ [respiratory quotient] did not change significantly from baseline to day 21,"
This is the study that Dr M quotes in his book.
They looked at ADF and found:
"RMR [resting metabolic rate] and RQ [respiratory quotient] did not change significantly from baseline to day 21,"
This is the study that Dr M quotes in his book.
I know there is research that looks at both and I've read papers that report a reduction and no difference in RMR. So many things have an effect on metabolic rate. The thing that has the biggest impact on metabolic rate is how active we are. So most of the studies will be flawed because activity levels haven't been monitored.
Are you talking about studies of dieting and RMR or fasting and RMR, Echo?
Hopefully the above study at least shows that fasting every other day does not result in slow down. In that study the subjects had no food for 24 hours on fast days. They were tested at the start and end of the study...once after a fast and once after a feast day. The subjects had different levels of physical activity: 7 were sedentary, 3 were moderately active (exercised 1–2 times/wk), and 6 were quite active (exercised 4–5 times/wk). They were told not to exercise for 24 hours before the testing day. At the end of the study absolute and relative resting metabolic rate (adjusted for fat-free mass and fat mass) were not significantly different from baseline.
Interestingly, they found that
subjects who described themselves as being big eaters maintained their body weight, while those who described themselves as being careful what they ate lost weight. So although this study was in normal weight people, it looks like over eating on feast days is more likely to impede weight loss than changes in metabolism.
Of course this does study cannot be applied to people on a daily calorie restriction.
What do you think Echo?
Hopefully the above study at least shows that fasting every other day does not result in slow down. In that study the subjects had no food for 24 hours on fast days. They were tested at the start and end of the study...once after a fast and once after a feast day. The subjects had different levels of physical activity: 7 were sedentary, 3 were moderately active (exercised 1–2 times/wk), and 6 were quite active (exercised 4–5 times/wk). They were told not to exercise for 24 hours before the testing day. At the end of the study absolute and relative resting metabolic rate (adjusted for fat-free mass and fat mass) were not significantly different from baseline.
Interestingly, they found that
subjects who described themselves as being big eaters maintained their body weight, while those who described themselves as being careful what they ate lost weight. So although this study was in normal weight people, it looks like over eating on feast days is more likely to impede weight loss than changes in metabolism.
Of course this does study cannot be applied to people on a daily calorie restriction.
What do you think Echo?
The fact that they asked people not to exercise for 24hrs before testing shows that they are trying to overcome the effects of exercise on metabolic rate. However they are not measuring it, which means they are going on trust that people have followed their instructions. Also people's idea of what exercise is differs. Some will sit all day; others will walk their dog or do the gardening and the house work. Occupational activity levels will differ too.
This might not have an effect but it also might.
I think is an worthwhile interesting study and adds to the wealth of knowledge.
I think it pretty much shows that normal weight people can't stay on a fasting regime forever as this study shows a significant weight loss in people who don't need to lose weight.
This might not have an effect but it also might.
I think is an worthwhile interesting study and adds to the wealth of knowledge.
I think it pretty much shows that normal weight people can't stay on a fasting regime forever as this study shows a significant weight loss in people who don't need to lose weight.
Mind you they were fasting every other day! Guess 5:2 or 6:1 would have been more sustainable.
Hello and thanks to both Carorees and Echo for your valuable comments. I will read the study you highlighted Carorees tomorrow. All info helps with making choices. I plan to keep going with the 5:2 as I said earlier plus an increase in the amounts of WW foods, mainly protein, for another week and then review. I am keen to derive the anti inflammatory benefits it seems to help with as well as improving insulin balance. I think the increase in thyroid meds will eventually help as well. I am getting remarried in May and so have a goal to work towards. Thanks again
Congratulation, hope you have a lovely wedding day.
Hope your diet brings you some benefits.
Hope your diet brings you some benefits.
19 posts
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