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Fasting has become a very popular weight loss method. There are so many different types of fasting, some include reduced calories, and some are based on time restricted eating or a combination of both.
There is the 5:2 method where you fast for 2 days per week whilst still consuming a small amount of calories (500 for women and 600 for men or the newly adapted 800 for everyone) and eat normally for the other 5. The 16:8 which is a time restricted method where you eat all of your calories within an eating window (8 hours) and you fast for the remaining 16 hours. Other time frames can be utilised with longer or shorter fasting windows. Some people even do OMAD (one meal per day) or fast for more than one day at a time.
A common pattern I see when male and female couples embark on a fasting lifestyle together is that inevitably the male body sheds more weight, fasting seems to biologically be better suited to the male body. Female hormonal systems and other biological drivers often mean that even though the same and sometimes more restrictive process is followed the results are slower. Unfortunately, this can lead women to double down and assume they must have ‘not done it properly’ so in an effort to realise their weight loss goals they start to push the fast longer and be more restrictive on the calories.
This can lead to disruption in hormonal, thyroid, adrenal and or digestive systems. Results of dysregulation of these systems can vary enormously from person to person however some examples are hair loss, crazy periods, worsening PMS, mood changes, failure to ovulate and sometimes skipped periods altogether. You may think that you don’t care if you skip a period or don’t ovulate, however a healthy menstrual cycle is not just about fertility, it has many flow on effects to other body systems and can ultimately impede your ability to release excess weight.
The fasting trap as I like to call it is more common than you might think. Does your day sound anything like this? You exercise first thing and you do this in an overnight fasted state and imagine that even though you are hungry it’s a good sign as the energy you use in the exercise can come from fat stores. You finish exercising and realise that the hunger has disappeared for a while, good you will continue your fast as you know if you eat now you will just be more hungry by 10am. You know you can have coffee without breaking your fast, so you have 1 or 2 coffees, black or bulletproof of course and you push on. You get busy with your day, ignoring any waves of hunger that creep up knowing that the longer you can fast for the more you can eat in what will be a shorter feeding window. Depending on the day, whether you are experiencing any stress and where you are in your hormonal cycle you can feel very much in control and quite powerful. Eventually though you crack and eat. Sometimes once you start eating it can be hard to stop and you find yourself eating more than you planned or sometimes you will eat very little. As time goes on though, and the weight loss results are not what you were hoping for, it can be a hard cycle to break out of. The part of the day where you are feeling in control and riding high whilst pushing your adrenals through a combination of stress and caffeine can become addictive.
Now I am not against all forms of fasting, it can be a very powerful way to address insulin resistance and to manage weight. However, it is often when it is done every day or too many days per week and the fasting window is too long that it places unnecessary stress on your adrenals. The irony is the stress hormones that are produced via this process, cortisol I am talking to you, are in actual fact blocking your ability to lose weight.
Your body is not betraying you even though it can feel that way, it is simply trying to protect you from what it perceives as a threat (starvation). It may not be obvious to you that other changes in your body, whether it be with your periods, PMS, mood, constipation, IBS, hair loss and skin breakouts to mention a few could actually be the unintended side effects of your weight loss efforts. As a person who has tried every diet going around, and fallen into this trap, I can tell you that you are not going crazy and you are not alone.
Every person is unique and therefore not every method of weight loss will work the same for everyone. Calories in calories out, fasting windows, exercise, keto, paleo etc all have their place, however getting to the bottom of your particular health history and circumstances and working towards wellness can be a very good place to start. Your body needs to feel safe and in balance to be able to release excess weight.
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