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Feeling cold while losing weight

Goonergal

Master
Retired Moderator
Messages
13,461
Location
London
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
Posting this in the general weight loss forum as want to get a range of views.

I’ve been following LCHF for about 10 months now - at 20g or less of carbs a day - along with some intermittent fasting since May (no breakfast plus two or three 24 hour fasts (dinner to dinner) a week. Weight loss is 5 stone.

All good, but I have transformed from the person who was always hot and opening windows to the one freezing in the corner and objecting when others open windows! Is this common, and is it to do with reducing body size (far less padding these days), or to do with restricting food intake? I should stress that in general I am not unreasonably hungry, am getting all my vital nutrients.

Would be interested to know if others have experienced this. Interested in all opinions, but tagging a few people that have been experimenting with various diets recently (hope you don’t mind). @Chook @Fleegle @Peerless67 @marathonmona @CherryAA

Thanks.
 
Your coldness sounds like one of my underactive thyroid symptoms but if blood test came back excellent I wouldnt like to send you on a goose chase for more T3 as I'm no thyroid specialist.
I'll tag @Indy51 as she did have a great video explaining the thyroid mechanisms. She may be able to tag it for you to have a watch, just in case?

I remember years ago my mum's 2 very very slim friends were always complaining of cold hands and feet due to lack of padding but I don't think they were medically tested for anything and just told people they had bad circulation. Also they weren't diabetic.

I don't suppose you've had a calcium score scan to check your calcification in your arteries? A very good scan but once again no evidence of huge influence on how you percieve temperature.
I believe hypothalamus is controller thou.
 
I too was one of those always hot people and I've lost weight and now I'm cold and having to wear socks. Normally I wore crocs and no socks all winter. I changed from hot to cold quite quickly after starting to lose weight.
 
Me too. Gone from being the warm one to feeling the cold.
I am not so sure it is the weight loss though - possibly the speed of the loss. Some time ago I lost a lot of weight and was still super warm.
 
Hi @Goonergal ..
Feeling cold .. particularly hands and feet .. is a fairly common side effect of LCHF or VLC. The key points to consider are:
# Have you lost too much weight (or padding) too quickly
# If you are not getting sufficient calories, you won't have enough energy to keep warm and your body's priorities shift to supporting your core organs and brain, not warming your body extremities
# Underactive thyroid
# Possible deficiencies of: iron, magnesium, Vit B12, niacin

If it's any consolation, my hands and feet are also cold .. I don't really notice this but my better half does
 
Hi @Goonergal

It's not just you - I'm generally cold a lot of the time nowadays (especially my feet).

Before low carbing I was more than 4st heavier than I am now and generally felt on the warm side (wanting windows open / air con on in the car) even in cold days but, since losing weight by low carbing, I'm now generally cold most of the time (needing to put on socks or a jumper or turn on heating). If I eat a meal with more carbs than I usually do I temporarily go back to being very warm - which then wears off as my body deals with the carbs..

However at other times - usually somewhere around 22-23 hrs of fasting - I get spells of being extremely cold which come on very quickly and at those time I find it really hard to warm up - a hot shower sometimes will help - or if that doesn't work I will just stay cold until I break my fast which always gets rid of the cold spell within a few minutes.

I think it's two different things - the cool all the time seems to be because of the weight loss and is with me all the time unless it's as hot day but the extreme cold spells are definitely to do with fasting and start even if it's a hot day.
 
All my weight loss has made no difference to me - still have windows open in winter and thin blouse on - I'm always warm everyone else freezing. The only time I get really cold and can't get warm is if I've gone too low (mild hypo) but then I feel **** all round.

All this could be my age though I'm 2 years into menopause and still coping with hot flashes etc
 

As far as I understand it , coldness happens because when you eat food that is insufficient for your needs for long enough , your metabolism starts to shut down and it does that by the easiest routes first , hence starting to get cold hands feet etc when on a very low calorie diet. In turn that makes it ever harder to lose weight because no your base metabolic rate is even lower.

This is one of the reasons Dr Fung recommends that dieting should be interspersed with feasting to ensure that you do not lose underlying BMR.

From a personal perspective, one of the things that has characterised my last few dieting days which I describe on my thread , has been extreme heat.

I knew that I would be recording very high ketones simply because my body seemed to have turned into a furnace in those first few days. I will post my ketonix readings on my diet thread
 
Wow. So many replies so quickly. Thanks all, and a few thoughts in response.


Thanks. I’m thinking it’s not thyroid as I have no other symptoms of that. Haven’t had a calcium score done.

woodywhippet61 said:
I too was one of those always hot people and I've lost weight and now I'm cold and having to wear socks. Normally I wore crocs and no socks all winter. I changed from hot to cold quite quickly after starting to lose weight.
Click to expand...

Interesting - seems to be a common theme in the replies here!

Fleegle said:
Me too. Gone from being the warm one to feeling the cold.
I am not so sure it is the weight loss though - possibly the speed of the loss. Some time ago I lost a lot of weight and was still super warm.
Click to expand...

Ditto!


All worth considering - don’t think I’ve lost too fast (although sped up since May). Might have to get vitamins checked, but I’m eating a variety of foods.


Definitely colder when fasting too. Eating has not warmed me up tonight! I only really started noticing the past few weeks but have had to buy fingerless gloves to wear in the office!!


Bucking the trend!


I was worried about BMR/metabolism shutting down - one of the reasons for not fasting constantly - previous 5 day consecutive 24 hour fasts have resulted in stalls, which were ended by adding in feasting days. I’m continuing to lose weight even though I’m closer to my target weight and was hoping that means underlying metabolism is fine, but I don’t know much about that. Need to do some reading I think.

No2D said:
When calories and activity are low my nose, feet and hands get cold. But, if I get busy moving those limbs, work outside & around the house my temp picks up and Viola!!! I'm burning fat. Warm and getting thinner too.
Click to expand...

Even when out walking (briskly - I am averaging over 15000 steps a day) my hands are cold!

All this is so puzzling as it’s never been an issue before.

Realising this is becoming a very long post - had thought it would be better than a string of responses.

Thanks again all. I’ll report back if I find a solution.
 


Check my latest post on my dieting thread below. I've posted my ketone numbers now reading 40 odd (nutritional ketosis range 4-30 ) no wonder I feel hot- I've turned into a furnace !
This may explain why the diet has resulted in 6.8Kg weight loss and 7cm off my waist in 12 days flat ( after a 6 month stall)
I am now down 7% of my starting weight 12 days ago and 26% since diagnosis.
For me the key is fasting/ feasting with 100% nutrients as per the diet outline - no clue how long ii will last !
 

Thanks. I’ve been following with interest. Will check it out.
 
@Goonergal - I would suggest you go and see your Doctor to discuss this and hopefully he'll run a raft bloods for you, but certainly to include a thyroid panel and other hormone levels.

Is there any routine to when you feel the cold, or is it at absolutely all times?

I wouldn't want to hang my hat on any root cause at the moment for you.

A couple of years after stabilising my weight and blood sugars in the very slight build and having been removed from the diabetes register, I started to feel cold at times. I have literally had scores of tests done, without revealing anything, and am in the process of switching disciplines from Endo to Rheumatology.

Thus far everything shows me to be in pretty decent shape. I have no worrying markers whatsoever.

As it feels like everyone pipes up either, You've lost weight" (yes I did, but why was I still thermostatically comfortable for a couple of years of maintaining my weight, before feeling cold? Or, "You spend too much time in the heat, of course you feel the cold". I have stayed away from the heat for longer than I wanted to to try to knock this on the head.

I eat 2000-2500 calories a day, so I'm not starving, and I have a circadian rhythm to the symptoms. In order to challenge that aspect, I have tried switching main meals and all sorts of things to pin things down.

My Endo has asked me to write to him when I have a diagnosis, such is his frustration.

On the upside, I have a very large collection of sweaters, socks, jackets and gloves. Yes, I am that eccentric woman from No X.

@Goonergal - feeling cold is horrid. Do try to find out your root cause.
 

Thanks @DCUKMod

I had just associated this with weight loss as that’s the only major change (aside from controlling blood sugars) and hadn’t considered that anything else might be going on.

I am cold a lot of the time - and in particular my hands. It’s worse in the mornings and when fasting - on days when I eat lunch I definitely warm up a bit in the afternoon, but am wearing far more clothes than others at work. I am eating a varied diet, but I’m still losing weight at a reasonable pace and averaging between about 900 - 1200 calories with the odd day quite a way above that (but still under 2000 a day).

Definitely food for thought and may well drop in to see the doctor.
 

It may be weight loss related for you, but if it's particularly your hands, have you considered or looked at Reynaud's Phenomenon?

All I'm saying is don't just assume what is or isn't going on.
 

I used to be warm all the time - and now feel the cold much more - but seeing as I've lost over 6 1/2 stone of fat/blubber/insulation - to be honest I just think that now I'm experiencing normal - and previously I was very well insulated. Thinking back to my younger days when I was previously my current size - I'm pretty sure that this was how I felt then. I'm not worried - but I have invested in some jumpers
 
I'm another ex always-too-hot-must-have-all-the-windows-and-doors-open fiend. I've assumed my coldness now is a combination of loss of my thick layer of insulation, getting older and much less active, and having a husband who previously went around shutting things up after me to being one who now seems to prefer living in a semi permanent wind tunnel with all the heat turned off...

I'm certainly eating plenty and still carry more than enough surplus fat to burn off for the next century or so...but I am blooming cold and dreading next winter!

Robbity
 
Hi. I did the Newcastle diet a year ago and boy did I feel the cold. Last winter I bought thin jumpers to wear under my shirts ( so at least 3 layers) and it did the job nicely. I also found use for all those gloves that had been given me over many an Xmas, oh and a nice proper weather proof coat and hat......... A year on I'm happy to wear all that stuff on a chilly morning walk but I'm defiantly not as sensitive to the cold. So my advise is to wrap up well and stay with the program for a couple of months. Best thoughts ..................
 
I am low carbing. I have lost minimal weight so its not the weight loss. Low carbing has made me feel the cold. Even after my menopausal hot flushes, I then get the cold flushes and feel chilled.
 
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