Gaining weight after 18 months on the diet

This topic contains 5 replies, has 4 voices, and was last updated by Turnip 9 years, 4 months ago.

Viewing 6 posts - 1 through 6 (of 6 total)

Inky

1:15 pm
18 Jan 15
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Hello everybody,

I’ve been following the fastdiet for 18(!)months now and I have lost quite a lot of weight. I still have 20 pounds to go. However, for the last 4 months or so i’ve been stuck on the same weight and when i weighed myself this week i’ve noticed that i have now PUT ON weight. I am still fasting on 2 days and watch what i eat on the normal days (although that shouldn’t be necessary according to MM’s documentary). I’ve also been exercissing enough,I take 1 hour walks everyday and visit the gym twice a week. I wonder if the crashdiet-effect hasn’t kicked in by now and i would like to know if there has been some research about that. I would also like to hear from people with the same experiences. And if you happen to read this Michael M and know what is going on, please respond! Thanx and love to you,

Ingrid,
Holland

Buttonboots

2:05 pm
18 Jan 15
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Hi Inky (Ingrid)

First of all, congratulations on losing the weight!

I know what it can be like to hit a plateau with weight loss – and have also known an unexpected gain – despite sticking to the plan!

On your non-fast days you DO need to watch what you eat! On fast days you have (up to) 500 calories …and on non-fast days you need to work out your TDEE ( Total Daily Energy Expenditure..the number of calories you should have as the upper limit for non-fast days….which you can do with the help of the handy calculator at the top right of this page!)….I recalculate this every so often, the more you lose, the lower your TDEE will be. If you are still eating the same amount now as you were when you started the 5:2 plan then you will need to recalculate your on-fast-day intake figure.

Other than that – just persevere! You have done well up until now!…Keep at it and the weight will start to shift again!

Good Luck…or as you are in Holland …veel geluk! (hope I got that right!0

buttonboots

Turnip

2:39 pm
18 Jan 15
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Hi Ingrid, you do know that muscle is much denser than fat, don’t you? A common effect of spending time in the gym is weight gain.

Have you tried to reduce carbs? This seems to work very well for many. Cut down on sugar and starch and up the fat part of you diet and see what happens.

BusyMummaM

1:29 am
19 Jan 15
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I’m in a similar boat at the moment – have been fasting for 18 months and lost a lot, but with only a few Kg to go I started exercising like crazy and now I’ve gained. I assume it’s muscle though as I’m a lot more toned now. Do you keep a log of your measurements other than weight? I’ve just started measuring my body fat % and that has gone down by 1.7% since I started exercising.

Otherwise, I’m hoping it’s just a waiting game until I start losing again. Fingers crossed and good luck!

Inky

11:23 am
19 Jan 15
Permalink

Hello fellow fasters, thank you so much for your responses!

I want to give you some extra information about my situation to get things more clear.

First of all, I eat much better now (less sugar, more veg etc) on my non-fasting days then I did half a year ago so I definitely should be losing weight.(Certainly not gaining it!)

Second; what I eat om my fastingdays is mainly protein. Almost no carbs. I’ve seen the documentary and have MM’s book so I know exactly what to do and it worked perfect for me, until now..

Third, I go to the gym but not excessive. I’ve always did that by the way and lost a lot of weight for the last 14 months or so, now suddenly gaining it seems really strange to me.. on the scale I see no shift in fatpercentage. Nothing happens, everything just stopped.

Fourth, I’m back on ketosis again on the fasting days. That is something that is only suppose to happen in the BEGINNING of the diet according to Michael. Which means I have no energy and a really bad breath and I also struggle to get through the fasting day which suprises me cause I’ve become really good in fasting!.

I have the feeling that it’s got something to do with my metabolism. It feels like my body is heavily resisting the fasting. I hope that there will be reasearch in the future about the effects of longterm fasting on the body. I will have my thyroid checked soon, maybe something will show up. I don’t think there’s anything more I can do now. I feel stuck and I’m really frustrated cause I still have 20 pounds to go. Maybe I start losing again, who knows. Let’s hope so cause it is very demotivating to get stuck after being on a diet for a year and a half!! 🙁

Thanks again for your responses and I wish you lots of luck with the fasting!

Love,
Ingrid

Turnip

2:33 pm
19 Jan 15
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Thyroid could very well be the culprit. I gained 25 kilograms when my thyroid stopped working and then I lost them again when I started on natural thyroid hormones.

Regarding ketosis I have been in ketosis for a year or more and I find it gives me so much energy. Have you tried low carbing? I do it because it is the best way to control my diabetes I have found and most people loose weight on it too. If they need to loose that is obviously. There was an article in the Daily Mail on Friday on LCHF.