Been practicing IF for over a year. 22F, 5’6”, CW 200 lbs GW 150. Think 2016 Adele for reference for build.
I am a full time university student and I work after classes. My days are often out the door by 6:30am and in bed by midnight. Full day of classes, work, and studying, barely any breaks. I also walk everywhere I go, ~8 miles a day.
I practiced IF for a solid 6 months and it was going really well until all my classes went back in person and I secured a job. I was doing 16-8 before that and I lost about 20 lbs in that timeframe. I’m trying to stick to that schedule, but I’ve gained nearly double that weight back since this new schedule of classes + work began.
With my new schedule, it’s been extremely difficult managing IF without getting light-headed throughout the day. I always eat in the mornings to get enough brain fuel for classes, but I feel like my IF schedule is too short to get me through my job without getting the shakes. My job requires me to have very steady hands - I work with biohazardous material and cancer causing chemicals so it’s critical I am smooth and steady in my work. However, sticking to my IF schedule has made me very shaky and foggy. I’ve been breaking my IF schedule to make sure I don’t eff up during work :/
I’m not sure if IF is feasible for my lifestyle anymore, but I truly want to be in better shape. On my days off, I do work out at the gym for at least 2 hours (weights, running or cycling, heavy ropes, etc). My meals are always properly portioned and high in protein with a variety of fruits, veggies, and whole grains (I can post my usual meals if needed).
Is there somewhere I’m totally lacking in? I did speak to my doctor and she just told me I’m not working hard enough (bruh). I keep a food journal, calorie log, workout stats, and they’re all appropriate for my lifestyle, abilities, and body. My genuinely healthy + fit med school friends think that I’m doing more than enough, and yet I’ve plateaued and regressed in my progress.
Anyway, maybe IF isn’t the right thing for me at this time. I just don’t want to yo-yo anymore and crash my metabolism if I haven’t already :/ Advice or thoughts? Many thanks in advance.
IMO, these “shakes” you feel when you don’t eat is from sugar/carb addiction. What’s your diet like? IME when I’m in a fasted state I’m the most alert and the most energized, but I did switch to a low carb diet, I also had a phase where I would get weak when hungry but now its the opposite.
This may seem counter intuitive to you but try switching your meal time to after you finish with school and work. It may take you a few days to adjust, and you might get withdrawal symptoms from not getting your carbs in the morning, but I’ll bet money that after a week you’ll start feeling a lot more energized during the day (assuming you switch to low carb diet). You will have to deal with some waves of hunger, but those pass and with persistence the hunger pains really just come in short burst maybe 1-2 times during the day for 2-3 minutes. Knowing they pass in a few minutes helps.
Just as a side note, you dont need to eat to fuel your brain for the day. Your body has plenty of nutrition in it to support your brain for several days if not weeks. Also if you do switch to eating after work/school, than you will be in a fasted state during that time, which means you will be ketonic and the brain works better on ketones than on glucose (which is what it uses as fuel during a fed state).
I suggest you watch “fasting for survival” on youtube if you have an hour to spare, its fascinating.
Just a small comment: sleep is also important for a healthy body (and mind) and helps maintaining a healthy weight. You say you are in bed by midnight and are out the door at 6:30. Which sounds to me like you get around 5-5,5 hours of sleep every day. It seems like sleep deprivation is part of your schedule and it could be a small part of your weight issues.
I might get down voted to hell because this is a diet subreddit - but honestly if you feel like this isn’t currently working for you, there is no shame in extending your eating window - or if that also doesn’t work, taking a break from IF entirely.
You’re a full time student and you work with biohazards, and you’re walking eight miles a day. You are using up a lot of energy in the day in concentration and brain power alone, and working with biohazards is no joke, you are absolutely right you need to do whatever is necessary for you to be alert and in control. And stress, especially for women, makes it absolutely hell to try to lose weight.
Weight loss is not a race, and it’s not linear. Some months are going to be awesome and some are going to feel like they drag. As long as you are making healthy choices and staying active, you are making progress.
The big over all point I guess I’m trying to make - is that if this was working before you had in person classes again , it means that without the extra school work in the picture , this DOES work for you. You can come back to 16/8 eventually. Do what you need to do to keep yourself healthy and safe at your work. Taking detours is apart of life and isn’t the end of your journey.
So, right now what do your daily macros look like? How is your consistency? How long have you been plateaued at your current weight? Are you cheating often or at all? Do you have any history or family history of diabetes? Do you know what your blood sugar normally sits at? Are you paying close attention to electrolytes?
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I know that’s a lot of questions up above but it’s hard to diagnose the problem without actually seeing the data. I ask about the blood glucose/diabetes thing because of your symptoms of having the shakes. Could also be an electrolyte issue, especially since you’re super active and a lot of people make the mistake of NOT getting enough electrolytes while dieting, throw in work, school, walking 8+ miles a day and truly those symptoms could be very debilitating.
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Anyways, if you’re interested in delving deeper into this respond back with your daily foods/macros, weights and measurements for your body and anything else that may be pertinent and let’s see what we can figure out. This COULD be a really simple fix, or it could mean you might do better with a different eating protocol. Let’s see.
I didn’t notice your pronouns in your post but… IF Works different for women than men. I had no success and had the opposite effect when I tried it as a woman. My nutritionist says that hormones signal what sort of fat stores we need. So if our bodies are scared of the next starving period on the horizon it may store extra fat.
That being said I think it’s great for a lot of people and wish it was for me too because I found it easy to stick to.
If IF has become too much, focus on calories. It all comes down to calories anyway (barring medical conditions). 2088 calories sounds like it may be your maintenance if your weight isn’t budging. You don’t need to kill yourself in the gym. I am 4 inches shorter than you and through counting my calories+IF/OMADlite I’m down 50lbs in 5 months, I was able to really take control once I got my food in order. Weigh everything on a food scale. Try and eat high volume foods to keep to full. I focus on protein and fat and dont really have much room for carbs but I do eat oatmeal daily! You can do this! You are working so hard, it doesn’t need to be this hard! Lower your calories by 500 and you’ll be losing .5lbs a week