Extreme sleepiness on fast days

This topic contains 4 replies, has 4 voices, and was last updated by bigbooty 7 years, 5 months ago.

Viewing 6 posts - 1 through 6 (of 6 total)

kazda

8:32 am
2 Jun 17
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Hi I have been doing 5:2 for 8 weeks now with a slow 6lb loss but I’m happy with that. I have no problem with fast days and rarely feel hungry. The problems I do experience are headaches and extreme tiredness, not physically tired just want to sleep, but with a part time job and 4 kids not possible. I can sleep ok at night I just can’t wait till bedtime. On fast days I have one meal and water and black coffee in between. I did try a light lunch but that made me hungry and less calories for tea. Any suggestions would be appreciated thanks.

Big_Bill

10:07 am
2 Jun 17
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I drink extra coffee, that’s about all I can suggest.

I find that staying low carb on most non-fasting days helps keep my blood sugar more steady when I do fast. If you are having a single high-carb meal on your fasting day, or if you are eating a lot of simple carbs on your non-fasting days, you might be having a blood-sugar crash.

bigbooty

10:19 am
2 Jun 17
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Give it some more time. The tiredness/fogginess is your liver struggling to convert stored fats into ketone bodies at a fast enough rate. Your liver has become VERY lazy. Give it some time. It took me 6 months before it became easy. My liver cranks out the ketones now. I water fast, no problems.

Floridag1rl

2:16 pm
2 Jun 17
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Thanks bigbooty…I really hadn’t much noticed, but husband commented that I was very lethargic on my fasting days…glad to know that it will get better.

Big_Bill

2:41 am
5 Jun 17
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Thanks bigbooty,

That probably explains why I’ve found the transition to 5:2 relatively easy. I’ve been doing low-carb on-and-off for a couple of years now.

bigbooty

7:19 am
5 Jun 17
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As long as your carbs are coming from whole foods rather than processed foods I think youre more than half way to winning. Carbs locked up in vegetables, nuts, legumes etc. are typically not a problem. Carbs from refined grains such as bread, pasta, pizza, cakes are another story. Add sugar into the mix and you have a recipe for disaster.