Hardest Day Yet with 5:2 Intermittent Fasting
Last Friday was my fourteenth fasting day, and it turned out to be the hardest one yet. I’m not sure what happened but from 4pm onwards it was a real struggle not to eat. I felt starving and almost gave into temptation a couple of times. I did make it until the end of the fast, but it wasn’t fun at all. I felt a bit crushed the next day because after all that effort my weight had actually gone up by 0.4 kg.
I am Starting to Have Doubts about the 5:2 Intermittent Fasting Diet
I’m no longer convinced that intermittent fasting is the best way for me to control my weight. This approach does seem to be working for some other people, but I’m now hitting diminishing returns. I could accept my weight leveling out at 77kg, but the fact that I’m starving myself for 48 hours each week and putting on weight is a worry. I don’t believe that I’m eating more than usual on my non-fast days. Other people have warned me that there is a risk that these short fasts could be putting my body into weight preservation mode, and this does seem to be happening.
While I feel less than overwhelmed by the weight loss effect of 5:2 intermittent fasting it has increased my interest of fasting in general. I do feel that my body gets a good cleanout on these fast days, and I’m convinced of the spiritual benefits of this practice. I find that I’m able to meditate more deeply on fasting days, and my dreams also tend to be a bit more vivid. I want to experiment with longer fasts – maybe trying to do 72 hours.
Where to Go From Here?
I’ve completed seven weeks of 5:2 intermittent fasting, and my original plan was to do three more. I don’t want to go through another fast like Friday if it is not going to produce any real benefits. On the other hand, I do want to see this thing through to the end – maybe the last three weeks can be as productive as the first three weeks. My next fast day is on Tuesday so I’ll wait and see what happens then. I could do with some encouragement at this point so if anyone out there is having success with the 5:2 diet please feel free to share in the comment section.
My Other Posts on 5:2 Intermittent Fasting
Ten weeks of 5:2 Intermittent Fasting
Second Week of 5:2 Fasting Diet
Week Three of the 5:2 Intermittent Fasting Diet
Changes to My 5:2 Intermittent Fasting Plan
Intermittent Fasting as a Spiritual Exercise
5:2 Fasting Diet Update Week 6
Have you considered daily IF in which you would skip say breakfast and then eat your two remaining meals withing like a 6 hour window? This seems to work very well for some people. I have done IF this way, although not every day of the week, but most at some points and in was effective for weight loss but as is sometimes true, caused increased sleep disturbance as seems to be particularly true with *women.* Also, how is your sleep? How many hours of sleep do you get each now? Short sleep and dysregulation that develops related to it is a beast for weight loss. Improving your sleep – going to bed earlier and sleeping at least a solid 8 hours, if not 9 in a COMPLETELY blackened room can make a huge difference. Studies also show horrible differences in fat vs lean tissue that is lost with poor sleep with people doing identical diets and intake. Also, what are you eating? As much totally unprocessed food as possible minimizing carbs like bread and starches can be very helpful as well. This also sometimes has excellent effects on mood. Are you intentionally *calorie* restricting? Over time this will really knock down your thermogenesis and can, as you lose weight decrease your fat metabolic rate by say 20% or more as compared to a person of the same weight who is not weight reduced, ie. who is naturally the same weight that you are. I would be very concerned about loss of lean muscle mass with the fasting you are doing. This will also slow mets. Just my opinion. also, if you are afraid of good fats,including saturated fats, don’t be. Get rid of all peanut, cottonseed oil, corn oil and soy bean oil and replace with butter or ghee and coconut oil. Eat very nutrient dense meals, not sparing flesh sources and lots of high water veggies – in abundance. They will fill you up and are nutrient dense. Just some suggestions.
Thanks Mary, I tend to wake up after 6 hours and then go back to sleep for two hours.I did have a problem getting enough protein last year when I was training Muay Thai full time so maybe that is something that I need to look at again. I’ll consider your other suggestions as well.
Alos, MSG which is also often in Asian food ingredients can act like sugar and also be an kind of excitotoxin in our brain. It is worth eliminating it as much as possible. Protein + good fat burn hotter and takes more cals to assimilate.Proven via science. Consider taking a quality probiotic like Garden of Life’sPrimal Defense which you can order if it is not locally available. Gut bugs are tremendously important – gut microbiota. Years of alcohol likely very much influenced your gut bugs. Consider a high quality multivit and mineral , magnesium citrate or glycinate 200-400mg at sleep time and zinc for a total dose of 40mg/day. These both affect insulin/glucose metabolism and 75% of Americans are deficient. Mag in particular also affects both anxiety and depression. I assume you get out in the sun alot so probably you are replete with Vitamin D.
Thanks Mary, Thai food does contain a great deal of MSG so that is something that I’ll need to look into. I’m sure I get enough sun, but maybe I need a good multivitamin.
I think you know that knocking sugar out of your diet as much as possible is a bedrock undertaking. 🙂
I eat sugary things much less these days, and I stopped putting sugar in my coffee. I do give myself treat days where I’ll have a couple of chocolate bars, but I tend to feel rotten afterwards. I’m easily addicted to sugar.
Coffee is another issue. This differs for everyone but there is alot of evidence that the right amount of coffee (max 4 cups a day) is good stuff for many people. I am highly caffeine sensitive and tolerate two medium cups in the am and on one or two days a week have one cup around 5P when I am teaching dancercise classes. Just the right amount speeds up metabolism and helps with lipolysis – fat burning. Going overboard will do the opposite and make you crash – push your blood sugar through the floor and make you hypoglycemic and miserable. It will also drive anxiety. So, you have to carefully experiment. Coffee in moderation in the am will enhance the fat burning in exercise if you exercise early. It will do the same in the afternoon. Just don’t get carried away with it or misery will ensue.
I’m probably drinking 4-6 cups of coffee a day. I do try to substitute green tea for Coffee, but it is one bad habit that I keep on slipping back into. I stopped drinking caffeine completely last year for about three months, but then I allowed myself one cup. I will try to cut down again – especially in the evenings.
My husband and I have been following the intermittent fasting diet ever since we saw Michael Mosley on TV. The first couple of weeks we ate our 500kcal breakfast and then just didn’t eat for the reat of the day, it wasn’t terrible, but it didn’t feel great. Then I read an article about the programme and realised Mosley did a light breakfast and a light supper (around 300 kcal each) on fast days, since we’ve done that we’ve both been much happier and are finding the weight drops exactly the same. Another thought – what did you eat in the morning on this last fast? One time I fooled around with diet and rationalised that donuts are 200kcal, so I could have 2 as my calorie allowance for the fast day. I have never experienced hunger like that evening, I thought it would drive me insane. I’m sure you wouldn’t do soemthing as dumb as shove a load of sugar in you, but maybe you went a bit carby? I find fast days have to be protein and fat to keep my blood sugar level enough. Encouragement? It’s a journey, but having battled with my weight for 15 years it’s the first thing that’s working. Food regimes are like faith or sport you have to find the one that suits you. Just thoughts…
Hi Kristy, I agree that it is finding something that works and then sticking to it. I have good results in the beginning with the different regimes, but I seem to just build a tolerance for them. Last year I lost 14 kg (and kept it off for six months) with just mindful eating, but it just feels harder for me to lose weight. When I first started I did eat twice on the fast day, and I was getting better results. I might go back to that.
i got Google alerts for any new IF content on the net and your site came up today. It was interesting to read your experience. The fact is your body simply HAS to lose weight if there is a consistent calorie deficit over time, it might not be reflected by an immediate linear loss and it will fluctuate but for sure it will go down. You must be clear on the values of the food items you’re eating. I have been doing 5/2 for about 12 weeks with great results having lost about a stone. I wasn’t in bad condition and my body was an averagely ok shape before but “soft” ie some torso fat and lack of definition – i wanted to change that for a long time! I must say it has been relatively easy to get quite lean and for my abs to show through nicely. After a recent health scare I was attracted to the IF lifestyle change primarily for the health benefits. You can virtually negate the possibility of getting diabetes,cancer and heart disease. (i prefer to call it that as the word “diet” to me suggests something temporary and the real benefits of this comes over time after fully adopting it as a permanent way of life)The health benefits are compelling but the swift and easy weight loss has been a wonderful bonus. I am 49 and i am now close to the kind of lean muscular shape i had during my early 20s.My waist is back to 30″ and i have had to pull my belt in two holes! People are constantly telling me how young and how good i look and how did i do it! 🙂 I do train hard though with weights and 2/3 cardio sessions a week, so i have had a good physical base to build on. I also follow a daily eating window, so i will eat only during an 8 hour period. This may have accelerated the results although it might not be for everyone. At the beginning it was uncomfortable to adjust. I got headaches and was really hungry on fast days. Now i enjoy the fast days and often train as hard if not more so in a fasted state with no problems. I love the heightened alertness during the latter part of the fast and this is the period when its most beneficial to you. I eat a great meal after training and i can feel my body loving the nourishment and the nutrition feeding my body and muscles rather than adding fat.I still eat a bit of chocolate and have a Danish pastry on the weekends! Frankly its the best i have felt for years. I would really encourage you to persevere with this and push through the resistance – great benefits await you! Try to eat healthily up to 2000 cals a day and no more than 600 on fast days -(600 calories is still a nice plate of food, i have 2 x 300cal meals) stick to it rigidly as a way of life and exercise. Use calorie counting sites to understand what the value of certain foods is, once you know. Being vague on this will lead to vague results. Also Google Leangains, as this is broadly the IF protocol I am following. The pictures of results of many people like you and I are fantastic and very motivating. All the best, Glyn
Thanks Glyn, I am now thinking about combining the 5:2 diet with juice fasting to see if that makes a difference. I will look into Leangains.
I have been following the Michael Mosley/BBC 5:2 Health plan for 4 months in that time I have lost 12 kilos (76kg-64Kg) and achieved a good BMI index rating. I still have a problem with my waist which though reduced, is still not within healthy bounds. The whole idea of this particular plan is to achieve optimum health, it is not a “diet”, it’s a lifesyle. During this time I have been working in a full time job, which requires both phisical and mental effort. I have more mental clariity over this time and my physical ability has not deminished. Actually losing the weight has made me able to move more easily and balance is improved. To put it crudely this partcular plan lowers a hormone called IGF1 which has bad tendancies in overweight people. The lowering effect activates the hormone into repair mode on a celluar level, which over a period of time optimises just about all parts of your body and their function. I personally think this is to do with our stone age ancestors and the Summer/Winter Feast/Starve cycle. If you go without food after 12hours the beneficial effects start to kick in, so in the MM/BBC version of the 5:2 diet after the evening meal I eat less tha 600calories of “healthy” food” the following day, and start back by eating breakfast the next day after that. Thus achieving a 24 hour period in Starvation Mode. In actual fact I rarely feel any real hunger and mostley have 2-3 peices of fruit over the day, lots of water to keep hydrated.
Sorry ladies 500 Calorie limit for you.
The results in the long term seem to show better cardiac health(lowers high blood pressure, cholesterol etc)lower blood sugars/optimised insulin function, less cancers etc etc plus the prospect of an extended life in overall good health. That’ll do me.
Thanks Peter – your experience is inspiring. I sort of rushed into the 5:2 diet half cocked, so it is hardly surprising that it didn’t work out for me. It is good to hear how well it has worked for you.