I’ve been going on and off of IF for a while. This is mostly because of fear. I used to be vegetarian, then vegan, then back to vegetarian again. I started eating poultry and fish during this past year so that I wouldn’t feel so weak. Plant based protein isn’t bad at all, I’m just terrible at knowing when, what, and how much to eat. I will eat what I believe to be a reasonable amount (with an emphasis on nutritional value), feel as though I’ve eaten nothing, say “oh, it will pass,” and then nearly black out soon later. I don’t really ever feel full. I have to eat probably three servings worth of a meal in order to feel like I’ve actually eaten. Working out makes me incredibly dizzy and weak as well, and my weight puts pressure on the already weak muscles around my joints so my knees and hips feel terribly painful, if not at risk of slipping out of place entirely if I move wrong. I really want to fix this. Everything is hurting and is in turn damaging my mental health, which leads to a lack of motivation. The cycle continues ad nauseam. I’m not sure if it’s a deficiency of some sort or what is happening, though a huge part of it is stress. I’m a college student and therapy is essentially useless to me now. I’m going to see my doctor about it soon, but I was wondering if anyone else has had any experiences like this and what they did to alleviate it.
Hey, I just read your post and I can relate to when you said you fell dizzy and weak after working out. I find if I just stick to light cardio on the days when I’m not eating before a workout it helps me not feel dizzy and weak. If I’m doing strength training, I have to have some slow digesting carb like oatmeal before that workout. I also take vitamins for lack of iron and try to eat more steak. Hope that helps, best of luck on your journey. If is LIFE CHANGING, even my skin is glowing now.
That’s exactly the feeling I used to get in my vegetarian attempts, one of which lasted a year. Perhaps I was doing it wrong, I don’t know, but I found I needed animal protein. I know others do fine as vegetarians. I love vegetables, btw, and eat much of them.