Feeling bad on low-carb days

FlexinHenrique94

Hey again guys, how's it going?
Sorry if this question has been answered a couple of times...

I've been doing intermittent fasting following the leangains protocol for about 3 weeks... My name's Henrique, I'm from Portugal and I'm 19 years old. I'm 1.77m (5"9) and right now I weigh 73kg (~161 pounds), I'm cutting and I workout 5 times a week, mainly intense resistance training (I do some cardio every now and then after training, it's not recommended but I actually enjoy it sometimes) I'm eating about 2600 calories on workout days, I do 18-20 hour fasts everyday and I'm seeing results... (my main objective is to lose that stubborn belly fat, which I'm having a hard time dealing with, but man I've been seeing some strength gains).

Thing is, I have two low carb days (resting days as well), which I only eat about 50-70g of carbs, and they are from fruits and vegetables. I consume 2000 calories on those days, consisting of mainly proteins and fats... I feel like crap in those days. I'm sleepy all day, even if I'm in front of the computer for quite a long time, I get tired of standing for too long and/or walking for too long (I tend to go shopping with my mother on these days, because they tend to be on saturday and sunday). I tried drinking more black coffee (I love it), and some energy drinks, but it doens't seem to work (caffeine has never done anything to me... I think I really need high doses of it in order to feel some changes) At night, I go to bed earlier, and sleep like a rock.

Do you guys have any solutions to this? Maybe it's only psychological. Thanks a lot, and sorry If I wasn't very clear or my english wasn't very good

Take care, and good luck achieving all of your objectives

_Zardoz_

As carbs provide energy the obvious answer is have a banana. It sounds like this way of eating is not working for you. IF is not for everyone

FlexinHenrique94

Hey fatdoob. Thanks for your answer. I have considered that, thing is I don't really wanna stop doing it because I've seen more results in a week with IF than I have seen in a month with the diet I had before (textbook weight loss diet... caloric deficit, 6 meals a day... got really tired of that).

FlexinHenrique94

I used to weigh 86kg a year ago too... at about 75kg I hit a plateau and just couldn't lose weight anymore.

tennisdude2004

IF can be quite difficult if you are normally on a medium to high carb diet, as you are reliant on glucose for energy and possibly not as efficient at switching to ketones!

If you just focus on eating your normal diet but in a deficit 7 days a week you will probably find the same weight lose result.

Good luck.

cranberrycat

Try eliminating processed carbs completely and eat those veggies and fruit. Try for a week without sugar or grains. Once your body adjusts, it is amazing. Then you wont feel crappy on the low carb days!

SunofaBeach14

Try eliminating processed carbs completely and eat those veggies and fruit. Try for a week without sugar or grains. Once your body adjusts, it is amazing. Then you wont feel crappy on the low carb days!

^ LOL

FTF2014

Try eliminating processed carbs completely and eat those veggies and fruit. Try for a week without sugar or grains. Once your body adjusts, it is amazing. Then you wont feel crappy on the low carb days!

Fruit has sugar but yes eat fruit its good for you.

FlexinHenrique94

I eat 3-5 pieces everyday, including apples, bananas, tangerines, kiwis and strawberries. But yeah thanks for the tips. More tips would highly be appreciated :P

SunofaBeach14

I eat 3-5 pieces everyday, including apples, bananas, tangerines, kiwis and strawberries. But yeah thanks for the tips. More tips would highly be appreciated :P

You're a 19 year old male, you work out 5 days a week, and you are tired on 2000 calorie days? This isn't a hard one to figure out.

Just by way of comparison, my 41 year old, 125 pound wife cuts 1850. Just something to think about when you're tired and lack energy on 2000 calorie days. It's not carbs, it's not fat, it is calories. You need them. Bump up slightly on those days, try an extra 150 calories, and see how that works out for you. IF is great for a good number of people but not for those of us who see serious dips in energy levels if we don't eat regularly.

cranberrycat

My earlier post wasn't well-written (difficult to move those fingers on a small mobile device). So, I will try this again.

Processed carbs are what causes the ups and downs of our blood glucose levels. If you eliminate the processed carbs, then you will be able to maintain your glucose levels and not have those dips.

Not saying low calorie. Keep your calories up by eating foods that we humans were meant to eat.

By eating processed carbs, these foods are very easy to digest and takes very little calorie expenditure to digest. However, eating more complex carbs from natural sources, like veggies, it takes more work to digest and therefore you actually burn more calories just digesting the food. Hmmm, burning calories while you eat, I like that!

mycupyourcake

I eat 3-5 pieces everyday, including apples, bananas, tangerines, kiwis and strawberries. But yeah thanks for the tips. More tips would highly be appreciated :P

You're a 19 year old male, you work out 5 days a week, and you are tired on 2000 calorie days? This isn't a hard one to figure out.

Just by way of comparison, my 41 year old, 125 pound wife cuts 1850. Just something to think about when you're tired and lack energy on 2000 calorie days. It's not carbs, it's not fat, it is calories. You need them. Bump up slightly on those days, try an extra 150 calories, and see how that works out for you. IF is great for a good number of people but not for those of us who see serious dips in energy levels if we don't eat regularly.

This! Try eating more on your 2000 calorie days and if you still want to stay under 50 carbs on that day eat higher fats or more protein. I don't think a low calorie diet is part of the lean gains protocol. I'm actually pretty sure that the creator eats high cals.