Intermittent Fasting is miserable

[Slowontheup]

Why would you spend half your waking hours feeling dizzy and sick with zero energy.

opt out of breakfast, the best meal of the day.

or, opt for a life that couldn't include eating dinner in a restaurant.

I don't get it but every health thing says to do it. Does it actually work (I don't need to lose weight anyway just health driven)

how long until it's bearable?

I gave it up because when I broke my fast I would almost immediately experience intestinal distress of an epic nature which confined me to the bathroom for hours.

If it's miserable it's not sustainable so sack it off.

I guess metabolisms are different. I don't eat between 9pm and 2pm, because I'm genuinely not hungry. V. light lunch, toast etc, normal dinner. But I guess my body naturally used to it. BMI 22

I eat 1 meal per day. Everyday.
Meals out etc I join in.
I'm unsure whether humans need 3 meals daily plus upf snacks.

I love it. I feel like I've got more energy before I eat. I prefer to excersise before I eat. I normally only eat in the evenings and have much more productive days if I fast all day. I still go out for brunch etc, I just don't fast that day.

I love it!!

I have much more energy now, my brain feels sharper and more focussed, I get stuff done.

I used to love breakfast too but now a cup of tea on waking and then a coffee at 11 keeps me going till 1 or 2pm and I don't feel hunger as long as I keep hydrated.

Controls my weight like nothing ever before, in my eating window I have whatever I want, including chocolate, cake or wine if I want it, and still never gain any weight from that.

If you feel dizzy and sick and no energy because of fasting then you have a blood sugar issue. That's not normal.

And I don't do it at weekends or on holidays or any other day I choose to break it - but overall 75% of the time I'm IM from 9pm till 1pm or 2pm

I love it because it has helped my immune system so much. I do love breakfast so I just eat it at 12. Been doing it for over 10 years.
Why can’t you eat in a restaurant?
I swear by hibiscus tea to help get through the morning. I am also not doing it for weight loss, but it does help me to eat more ‘mindfully ‘ as I am actually hungry when I eat instead of just eating because it’s breakfast time.
I couldn’t handle the 5:2 version of fasting though.

It suits me. I eat at 11 30 and last meal at 6.30-7pm

I have read that it doesn’t always agree with women, and a lot of the research is based on male fasting.

However, after 3/4 days I find I slip into a rhythm with it, and genuinely feel better. The first three days can be hard going though, breaking the cycle of raised blood sugars and cravings.

If you don’t enjoy it, then I wouldn’t force it.

I quite enjoy it. It's a simple way to lose weight. My eating window is 11.30-7.30 ish, so I have an early lunch and then dinner with my family.

Having said that, I have no problem eating breakfast if I feel like I need it or I know I have a very active day. I don't feel dizzy, and I am not particularly hungry until food time.

I don't get it but every health thing says to do it

No...every "health thing" doesn't say to do it.

It obviously doesn't suit you so don't do it.

You can lose weight without intermittent fasting obviously.

Personally I like it but like all diets, it won't suit everyone

I do IF and it’s the only thing that works for me in terms of losing weight and keeping it off. I have a genetic predisposition to diabetes, high blood pressure and heart disease so that’s why I do it, to prevent these things for as long as I can.

You can ease yourself into it, start with 12 hours fast, then 14, then 16 and build it up while eating good nutritious food that should keep you going. I find I need to occupy my mind so I just distract myself. I have water, black coffee and green tea during a fast. Apparently you shouldn’t have herbal tea or earl grey (it was on the zoe podcast). I am on a 24 hour fast today and it’s hard but I cycle them up. Tomorrow I will do a 16 hour fast instead.

I also love it sorry OP! Human's haven't evolved to eat 3 meals a day, we've just been conditioned to it. If I slip back into the habit of breakfast (like over Christmas for example when it's a social thing) there's always a week or so when it my body 'expects' food and I feel hungry, and a bit yuk, then it becomes normal and it feels good. Have you pushed through or just in the early stages? That's the hardest part for me - getting out of the habit of breakfast, then it's a really easy way to lose or maintain a healthy weight without feeling starving hungry all day.

I actual love intermittent fasting and feel much better when I’m doing it. Great for losing or maintaining weight, suits the way I like to eat, helps me to sleep better …

Over the past few years my 16:8 has involved fasting from 4pm to 8am when I’m at home. It would be mad to extend that to evenings at a restaurant or days when I can’t manage a proper meal in the afternoon - so I don’t. And recently it’s all gone out of the window for Christmas / virus / other reasons. But I’m really not enjoying the weight gain and poor sleep so cannot wait to get back on it.

(It took about two or three weeks at the very start for the routine to become bearable and then easy. So find a routine that works for your life, then it won’t be hard.)

It works - just have your last meal just before 8pm. And start again at noon following day. Keep it up and it'll become easier

I love it too - I eat my first meal of the day at 1pm - if I know I am having a takeaway or something at night I don't eat all.

I have lost nearly 2 dress sizes in a year, it's made me feel 100x better. I used to eat for the sake of it/boredom eat a lot.

It doesn't make me feel dizzy or sick and I eat out a lot. I just skip breakfast and sometimes lunch. And I don't feel hungry. If I feel really hungry I eat.

I think it might not be working for you. That's ok. Listen to your body.

Like others, I find it works really well for me. While I found there was a little adjustment period when I first started, or if I stop for a few days then start again (e.g. if I go away on holiday and don't bother with it), it never made me feel dizzy or sick. I think that that's probably a sign it isn't the right thing for you.

On the breakfast thing specifically - I also love breakfast food, but fast until about 12/1pm. So I tend to eat breakfast food at lunch time.

Breakfast for lunch 🤷‍♀️

I don’t do it but more of the time I eat out of habit rather than actually being hungry. I do have my breakfast later now where as before I would feel dizzy leaving the house without having eaten. But that’s because my metabolism had been trained to expect food at 7am. Now it expects food at 10 and after the first couple of days no more dizziness.

When reading into this I realised I’ve always done this naturally, I can’t eat in the mornings I’ve never been able to, so my eating window has always been 12-6pm, I’m not a snacked either just eat 2 balanced meals.

If you don’t feel you could do it everyday, have a listen to Diary of a CEO podcast on fasting, you could try and just do one day a week but for longer hours and see good health benefit - it’s not just about weight loss.

https://open.spotify.com/episode/6fFbMQIz49YAUj4j9ubPqm

Likewise. I'm short and 64, I just can't eat three meals a day. If I'm on holiday and we're going to be doing a lot of walking then I'd have breakfast but normally I don't need to eat till lunchtime.

But if it doesn't suit you, OP, then don't do it.

How is that enough calories for health though?

If you try to jump straight to 16 hours fasting then you will quite likely feel shit. Just push breakfast back a bit later each day and ease into it.

personally, I realised I accidentally intermittently fasted nearly all my life. Never could stomach breakfast, by lunch I wasn’t hungry as was too busy to resister being hungry, and by dinner I finally was and would eat a big meal. I still do this. On the off chance I eat breakfast then I end up hungry the majority of the day, and I personally dislike feeling full early in the day. It can be easy and far from miserable. I fast 24 hours and have for over a decade, I am not underweight and have a normal BMI with no health issues.