I have been in this diet for three weeks now. I lost the majority of the weight in the first 4 days and my weight has fluctuated Ever since. Yesterday I started feeling light headed and dizzy and that has continued into today. I have tried upping my protein/iron intake as I started my period this morning and thought that may have something to do with it. Has anyone else experienced this? I am currently not loosing weight but have lost 7.5lb overall. I am seriously debating whether to continue.
Has anyone else experienced this?

Hi Vchuchman, you’ve probably lost a lot of fluid in the first few days, and that may be what most of the weight loss so far is. So make sure you are adequately hydrated, and maybe try bumping up your salt intake so that your body hangs onto more water as well. If you are not eating enough salt the water will go straight through you and will lead to lightheadedness and even headaches. If that doesn’t help you may want to seek medical advice.

Firstly, I usually gain nearly 2kg during my period, so don’t loose heart! It goes back to normal a couple of days later.

Yes I had this twice. Once about 3 weeks in during the end of a 10k – I drank a load of water and walked the last bit home and took it easy. I also had a sneaky salty drink when I got back – a low salt chicken stock cube in a mug of hot water. Yummy!

But this past fortnight (over 3 months in) has been really bad – dreadful sleep, zero energy, light headed and spaced out. I had to take a day off work! I also panicked and ate loads of spinach and red meat thinking it was an iron thing. But I think it’s more likely because I started to be more serious about getting carbs very low.

I have given up with that now because of the unworkable side effects and the restrictions (for me) on eating decent amounts of veg. After upping carbs a bit again I feel miles better and will go back to 1000 calorie a day, lowish carb, 16:8 fasting rather than very low carb fast 800. This seems more practical in the real world, where I have a physical outdoor job, and am very active too.

Thanks guys,
I think I am going to up my carb levels as I was also trying to get these lower as I was not loosing weight. My salt intake could also be an issue as I generally do add salt to my food so will try that also. Thanks for your advise.

Hi everyone….Thanks for this question and the replies. Just joined the site/forum.

I experienced the same ill effects the first time I tried the 800 (earlier this year) and actually gave up after about 7 weeks simply because I couldn’t cope with the dizziness. I gave it another go briefly but fell off the wagon in general and gained back the 12lbs I’d lost (and then some) by returning to manic carb scoffing!

Today I’m starting for the third time (lucky) knowing that I can perhaps remedy any unpleasant effects by adding salt, maybe upping the calories to 1000 if I need to, or just trying the 5:2 if things get too stressful again. This would definitely be preferable to giving up completely again.
I know I do feel better when I don’t eat more than 50gm carbs a day, but I had assumed the dizziness was because 20gm was too low for me. My weight loss stalled at around the same point also. (So disheartening!)

I’m in it for the long haul – I am roughly 100lbs overweight and at 59 very lucky to have avoided diabetes so far. I want to be free of carb addiction so badly! And have a slim and healthy body. I’m so tired of feeling unwell…25 yrs of it is enough!

Good luck, Lemons!
Definitely better to eat a bit more of the right foods than to give up completely. Weight loss will be a little slower, but it’ll be heading in the right direction.

Thanks Squidge!