Fast-5 Diet and Lifestyle: [fast5] Re: Low energy on Fast-5

Tuesday, December 15, 2009

[fast5] Re: Low energy on Fast-5

I haven't posted for a while, but I'm a long-termer at this WOE (about a decade, off and on, but mainly on). I found that when I was transitioning to fasting during the day (though at the time I didn't know that this was going to be the outcome) I got through the day quite handily by eating fruits and raw veggies, and drinking water, whenever I felt hunger pangs. My reason at the time was to lose fat while avoiding hunger, so I would eat like this during the day, and "normally" at dinner. It worked. Then I found that I just ate less and less during the day, until eventually I found I was fasting - usually something like 21/3. I didn't push it - it just happened over time.

I'm also an enthusiastic exerciser - 30-40 minutes most days, sometimes longer if my weight is creeping up through over-indulgence. I train in the morning, and often do quite intense intervals as well as endurance work. This means of course that I need plenty of muscle glycogen as well as good fat metabolism. I'm not sure I could get enough of the former without some carbs in my diet. I'm lucky enough not to have any sensitivities and I'm pretty eclectic in my source of carbs. This may be fantasy, but I can almost feel my muscles sucking up the carbs at night after my fasted efforts earlier in the day - a bit like the carb-loading that some endurance athletes do. It certainly gives me heaps of energy, not just for my workouts, but also for day-hikes, biking , ski-trips etc, almost always without any extra eats before sundown. For years now, I've found that the only reason I eat outside my window is social - for example a family event, or when in the ski-lodge my inner gourmand thinks "well, a beer and a few fries with the guys would be fun and of course I'll just ski it off". However, usually, my performance suffers.

I can still gain weight at times, for all the usual reasons - eating too much in my window (I'm a tremendous glutton by inclination), or being less than regular with my exercise. About 6 weeks ago I decided to repair the accumulated damage by losing a stone (that's 14 pounds to you) before my 60th birthday next March (as a sort of birthday gift!). So far I've lost 6 pounds (of fat, according to my Tanita scale) by a combination of 60 minutes of exercise most days, and restricting myself to fruit as a dessert or snack after dinner. Dinner itself might be a nice portion of fish or meat with potatoes, rice, pasta or bread, and salad or cooked veggies. Oddly, I don't feel any hungrier than usual - the fruit ploy (I just eat a piece anytime in my window if I feel hungry) seems to be working again.

I don't know exactly any of this might apply to your situation, but I suppose I'm wondering both about the speed of your transition to Fast-5 (it's the destination that counts, not how fast you get there)and also about your ability to access enough glucose from muscle and liver stores during the day, as others have mentioned. The Fast-5 WOE seems to modify some of the received ideas about carbs, at least in my experience, especially if one is physically active.

All the best

David

--- In fast5@yahoogroups.com, "dfriede67" <david.friede@...> wrote:
>
> Hi all,
>
> This is my first post, so sorry for the long rant.
>
> I have a problem I hope someone can shed some light on. But first a bit of background. I'm 42, 5'6" and 148lb and healthy (as far as i know! no diabetes, normal lipids, BP etc etc) so not overweight, but I'm trying the Fast-5 WOE as a way to lose a little bit of the belly flab and "love handles".
>
> 12months ago I shifted to a paleo/low-carb diet and have had great results with it. I've had way more energy and have had great improvements in my general health and well-being by eliminating wheat. I discovered that I have a sensitivity to gluten (not celiac) as lots of issues cleared up when I stopped eating wheat.
>
> I've seen a lot of intermittent fasting going on in the paleo community so I thought I'd give it a shot. The Fast-5 method seemed the way to go as it fit my lifestyle. I started Fast-5 cold turkey on 24th Nov. It all started well and I love the way I'm starting to look as I can see some real improvements around my mid-riff which is what I wanted - BUT...I hate the way I feel!
>
> i've started on a window of about 12noon-7pm as it works for me, so I basically have lunch and dinner. I find it very hard to go much further than 12 noon as I start to feel nauseous and shaky and just have to eat. I've been on this for about 2 weeks and most days I seem to get a "crash" of sorts after my break-fast meal at 12noon. I get really really tired and lethargic and I don't pick up till after i have my dinner at about 6:30pm.
>
> It's very debilitating especially at work having to be on the ball in meetings etc. I love the way I'm starting to look, but hate the way i feel. Anyone got any ideas??
>
> Thanks in advance...
>
> Cheers
> David
>