7 days ago I started IF and my fasts have been between 16 and 22 hours, however I’m mostly aiming for 16/8 overall. But I am so tired once I eat, and I’ve had headaches, mood changes and feeling cold. When should I start to feel more normal again? And any recommendations as to how to get through this hump would be greatly appreciated.
The only one of those that is good is feeling cold. That means you’re on the diet.
The lethargy is basically a crash because your body now is heaving so much effort into digestion that it hasn’t been doing. So you’re herky-jerking the machines around a little. You can allay this quite a bit by starting your eating window with a very small meal that has protein in it. Don’t go crazy with carbs, or you get that desire to nap. So like a 200 calories or less starter. Cheese, fruit, and meat, like that. Not a bowl of cereal that’s just sugar and carbs.
Headaches, you might need a little salt in your water. And better sleep.
It does come around and just start being a thing. I would recommend not trying to stretch it as long as you can every day. Get on a schedule. Be on 16/8 until 16/8 is a thing you’re familiar with, then stretch the hours. You can tinker with the diet during the eating window, but eliminate some chaos so you can calm down.
We could offer better advice if you gave us some examples of what you are eating during the feeding window. You should be eating at least one big satiating meal so that you can fast for 12 + hours without feeling like garbage, especially since you should be sleeping during most of those hours. I’m not saying you won’t be hungry, but feeling crummy is different and unnecessary.
I am on my day 8th but i am not feeling coldOr tired. Maybe you are eating less during non-fasting window. I lost 1.2 kgs in last 7 days and i did not follow any diet, i eat mostly carbs as i am vegetarian and drink loads of water during fasting window. No electrolytes no coffee just water.
Your insulin is too high and is preventing you from transitioning from catabolic to fat burning easily. It took me a whole year to figure that out and address it.
Listen to the podcast The Fasting Method. They’re talking about recovering from type 2 diabetes. What you’re experiencing is insulin resistance. It’s two stages before type 2 diabetes. Also, I recommend the app Zero. It’ll teach you about the stages of metabolism and how we move through them when fasting.
You may have to start with shorter fasts and eat less carbs to get your body use to producing fewer and smaller doses of insulin.
Edit to add: My ah ha moment was when I read that insulin is antilipolytic.