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Question about sluggishness after a large meal.

Hello!

I’ve been doing time restricted eating for a few years now. I’m a big fan but there’s one issue I’ve been having. Wanted to get some feedback.

My day will typically look something like this:

Small-ish breakfast around 4pm:
yogurt, banana
some dry roasted edamame, one or two rice cakes
a tablespoon of nut butter
water

A workout (mainly cardio) around 6pm.

Main meal around 9pm:
salad (leafy greens, chopped broccoli florets, blueberries)
2 eggs, hummus, low fat cheese
rice noodles, some plantain chips
some dark chocolate, pitted prunes, large tablespoon of nut butter
water

I find that after my main meal the last 3ish hours of my day revolves around digesting that meal. I get pretty sluggish/tired and my main focus is staying upright before I go to sleep to help with digestion. I find it’s pretty hard to focus on anything (e.g. reading, my wfh coding job) so it’s hard to be productive. I usually just watch youtube, tv, a movie, etc. If I do my big meal earlier in the day, this same thing happens and usually lasts about 6 hours (probably don’t have the best metabolism). Side note: I’m 6’1 and pretty active so need quite a bit of calories.

My question is this: For folks who are doing a one-meal-a-day type thing - is it just a given that there will be a long stretch of sluggishness/brain fog after the meal? Is there anything I can do to help mitigate this?

Any feedback is much appreciated!!

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Answer

Would it be possible for you to have 2 medium-sized meals a day instead of a small and big one? Since you’re technically not doing OMAD (restricting yourself to an hour eating window), I don’t see the necessity in having to squeeze majority of your calories all around 9PM.

I also used to do OMAD and would literally have to nap right after every meal. Now I have 2 well-portioned meals doing 18:6 and I’ve been able to avoid feeling super heavy after eating

Answer

I started IF only a full week ago. This was an immediate one meal per day kind of fast with weekends “off”. The first few days / hrs were terrible. Feeling hungry and fatigued.

From day 3 it went MUCH better. My mind is very sharp and I feel good. The focus is better than before tbh. Had to get through the rough patch and am now reaping the reward !

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