Doing IF and passed out

Kalikel

When you are shaking, it's not working. When you're passing out, it's really, dangerously bad.

You have to do what you have to do, but if you keep it up, you could seriously hurt yourself..or even hurt someone else when your unconscious body falls and trips them.

If you're hungry, eat! When you're full, stop. Try that for a week. See how it goes. (Think of it as a new, fad diet, the Eat-Stop.)

thursdaystgiles

Sorry again, but no - again, from your original post, it is common you have the "shakes" after your workout on a regular basis.

That's still hypoglycemia. So essentially you're every (workout) day teetering on the edge of blacking out due to inappropriate fueling. It eventually catches up with you but you maintain it works. Hint - when you underfuel consistently, your glycogen reserves get smaller - and the opposite happens too: with proper training an athlete can increase her energy reserves from say 1 hour work capacity to 2 or more. Which is part of the reasons why a couch potato can't run a marathon but a trained runner can.

But you're right - it's simply my opinion and everyone here is an adult. You're not my friend or relative so I have no stake in the matter. Please carry on (but don't forget to post! This is entertaining and educational).

I can't help but wonder if you're a troll, so indulging you is probably a stupid thing to do. I feel like you're intentionally being a jerk, but maybe I'm wrong, in which case I'll try to explain a bit better. First of all, I am not underfueled. I eat a base of 1800 calories, then generally half of what I've burnt through working out. This is much higher than what MFP suggests for my height and weight, but I'm losing regularly and I feel comfortable with this, so that's what I'm doing.

Secondly, I have ALWAYS gotten the shakes at the end of a very strenuous strength workout. Even before I was overweight, when I ate normally (breakfast, lunch, and dinner, plus 2-3 snacks, plus protein smoothie after workouts), I did Body Pump or something similar 3x a week and by the last 5 minutes, my body was quivering. I ate a banana and granola bar about an hour before workout and a smoothie directly after, and this was towards the end of my day, so I'd already eaten breakfast, lunch, and at least one snack.

While it is true that blood sugar can be the culprit, there are also a lot of other explanations for shaking--primarily fatigue, or postural tremours. I think what I experience is the former. Body Pump is combines strength and cardio to work each muscle group very hard for about 5 minutes each. The quivering is usually confined to my quads (thanks to 5 minutes each of squats and lunges, with lots of bottom halves or 3/4 squats where you never completely rise from the squat) and my abs (since they're pretty weak and planks especially kick my but). By quivering I mean the muscles sort of work on their own. My strength exercises are intense for me--I'm constantly working to up my weights. I always take 2 days between my strength workouts to give my muscles time to rest. I don't injure myself and until today never had any issue--that's right, I've worked out this same way for YEARS and today is the ONLY time I've ever passed out.

I think it's interesting you assume that I haven't looked into blood sugar issues--my partner actually has a glucose testing machine where you prick your finger and put the blood on a test strip. My blood sugar is normal. My blood pressure tends to be on the low side of normal, but is fine, too. I've seen my doctor twice since starting to work out in January, and he's been fine with everything I'm doing.

Finally, you're being willfully ignorant of what I'm saying with your asinine "carry on" comments. I've explicitly stated that I'm NOT going to be doing IF until I figure out what's going on with my body, and why this happened. I want to continue doing it if I'm able, but I don't want to put my health at risk, so until this gets sorted out, I won't. Which I've said, several times, in plain English.

3laine75

"Are you, Alice, menstruating right now?"

MichaelVRenner

Honestly, I would be more worried about a cardiac event than your IF. I would seek a professional ASAP.

thursdaystgiles

I am definitely not pregnant. On BC for hormonal issues (cysts in breasts) and married to a woman.

To the snarky comments, I wonder if you're reading everything, or just think you're being clever. When I say it's worked for me, I'm referencing two months of NOT passing out and NOT feeling hungry during fasting, and losing weight.

My normal fasting blood sugar is in the mid 90s.

3laine75

Check your sodium levels for the day (or day before if you hadn't eaten) you passed out. Low sodium can cause low blood pressure.

IsaackGMOON

I'm sorry but this is stupid.

If you "pass out" due to lack of food, then IF is NOT working.

This.

Go and see your doctor, your BP could be interfering with IF. Don't try IF until a doctor has checked you out.

*intermittent consciousness*

chrisdavey

I would say you should see a doctor.

The only thing is that most doctors aren't trained in nutrition specifically so will probably just tell you to eat more frequently anyway.

I also do IF BTW but if I passed out after training I would be evaluating the possible reasons for that to ensure it doesn't happen again.

The only time I've passed out from training was during BJJ. I didn't tap quick enough. :laugh:

PikaKnight

I would say you should see a doctor.

The only thing is that most doctors aren't trained in nutrition specifically so will probably just tell you to eat more frequently anyway.

I also do IF BTW but if I passed out after training I would be evaluating the possible reasons for that to ensure it doesn't happen again.

The only time I've passed out from training was during BJJ. I didn't tap quick enough. :laugh:

Errr...:laugh: I'm sure that's not what I'm thinking it is. I'm sure..but...still :laugh:

chrisdavey

haha. I forget other people don't follow mma. Brazillian Jui-Jitsu

dbmata

Just eat when you're hungry, meal timing means nothing.

Myhaloslipped

I am definitely not pregnant. On BC for hormonal issues (cysts in breasts) and married to a woman.

To the snarky comments, I wonder if you're reading everything, or just think you're being clever. When I say it's worked for me, I'm referencing two months of NOT passing out and NOT feeling hungry during fasting, and losing weight.

My normal fasting blood sugar is in the mid 90s.

I think that some people are indeed glossing over parts of the original post and just chastising you for the passing out as if it happens all the time ( you clearly stated that it happened only once). How long have you been on the BC? I am thinking that maybe you should talk to your doctor about it.

gmallan

I am definitely not pregnant. On BC for hormonal issues (cysts in breasts) and married to a woman.

To the snarky comments, I wonder if you're reading everything, or just think you're being clever. When I say it's worked for me, I'm referencing two months of NOT passing out and NOT feeling hungry during fasting, and losing weight.

My normal fasting blood sugar is in the mid 90s.

I think that some people are indeed glossing over parts of the original post and just chastising you for the passing out as if the happens all the time ( you clearly stated that it happened only once). How long have you been on the BC? I am thinking that maybe you should talk to your doctor about it.

I agree, there are other potential things that may have caused her to pass out. She does state in her original post that she has been doing if for a while and it was working fine UNTIL reccently and now she'd not doing it any more. Sounds like a pretty sensible thing to do.

OP - a visit to the Doctor is probably in order. Are your overall calories high enough? What time is your last meal of the day and is it big enough? Any changes to this reccently? Do you have low blood pressure? Are you adequately hydrated? Something must have changed to bring on the response you've had reccently, the key is to figure out what.

I know for fasted workouts it reccomended that you take BCAAs so once you sort out what the issue is, if you end up going back to IF then this might be a good idea.

tycho_mx

Sorry again, but no - again, from your original post, it is common you have the "shakes" after your workout on a regular basis.

That's still hypoglycemia. So essentially you're every (workout) day teetering on the edge of blacking out due to inappropriate fueling. It eventually catches up with you but you maintain it works. Hint - when you underfuel consistently, your glycogen reserves get smaller - and the opposite happens too: with proper training an athlete can increase her energy reserves from say 1 hour work capacity to 2 or more. Which is part of the reasons why a couch potato can't run a marathon but a trained runner can.

But you're right - it's simply my opinion and everyone here is an adult. You're not my friend or relative so I have no stake in the matter. Please carry on (but don't forget to post! This is entertaining and educational).

I can't help but wonder if you're a troll, so indulging you is probably a stupid thing to do. I feel like you're intentionally being a jerk, but maybe I'm wrong, in which case I'll try to explain a bit better. First of all, I am not underfueled. I eat a base of 1800 calories, then generally half of what I've burnt through working out. This is much higher than what MFP suggests for my height and weight, but I'm losing regularly and I feel comfortable with this, so that's what I'm doing.

Secondly, I have ALWAYS gotten the shakes at the end of a very strenuous strength workout. Even before I was overweight, when I ate normally (breakfast, lunch, and dinner, plus 2-3 snacks, plus protein smoothie after workouts), I did Body Pump or something similar 3x a week and by the last 5 minutes, my body was quivering. I ate a banana and granola bar about an hour before workout and a smoothie directly after, and this was towards the end of my day, so I'd already eaten breakfast, lunch, and at least one snack.

While it is true that blood sugar can be the culprit, there are also a lot of other explanations for shaking--primarily fatigue, or postural tremours. I think what I experience is the former. Body Pump is combines strength and cardio to work each muscle group very hard for about 5 minutes each. The quivering is usually confined to my quads (thanks to 5 minutes each of squats and lunges, with lots of bottom halves or 3/4 squats where you never completely rise from the squat) and my abs (since they're pretty weak and planks especially kick my but). By quivering I mean the muscles sort of work on their own. My strength exercises are intense for me--I'm constantly working to up my weights. I always take 2 days between my strength workouts to give my muscles time to rest. I don't injure myself and until today never had any issue--that's right, I've worked out this same way for YEARS and today is the ONLY time I've ever passed out.

I think it's interesting you assume that I haven't looked into blood sugar issues--my partner actually has a glucose testing machine where you prick your finger and put the blood on a test strip. My blood sugar is normal. My blood pressure tends to be on the low side of normal, but is fine, too. I've seen my doctor twice since starting to work out in January, and he's been fine with everything I'm doing.

Finally, you're being willfully ignorant of what I'm saying with your asinine "carry on" comments. I've explicitly stated that I'm NOT going to be doing IF until I figure out what's going on with my body, and why this happened. I want to continue doing it if I'm able, but I don't want to put my health at risk, so until this gets sorted out, I won't. Which I've said, several times, in plain English.

Not intending to be a troll, and yes - I recognize being harsh. For me the issue is obvious. When you work out it's not just nutrient totals that matter, is nutrient timing. You seem to be underfueled for the workout you're attempting. If you were just sitting down and reading or other light activities probably you'd be fine (you don't report being unwell the rest of the day). Maybe you're getting better at your workouts fitness-wise, which means that now your limiting factor is your available nutrients. Intense strength and cardio can't use fat for fuel, they rely on glycogen (or ATP/phosphocreatine for truly maximal efforts) so they are sensitive to low stores. The catch is that on an otherwise healthy individual once the intensity goes down your fat reserves get converted into glycogen. So barring a true health issue, it's not that you're starving yourself overall, it's just that you're trying to do a dragster race on diesel fuel. It is a short event. Besides blacking out (which is pretty extreme), hypoglycemia also gives you the shakes, cold sweats and general malaise and lack of coordination.

It is really neat that you have glucose-testing equipment. Again, obvious to me but why not try this: test your glucose before, during, and after a typical workout. If it comes all clear in all the phases it's not a nutrient availability issue and you need to keep digging. Maybe there's something wrong otherwise. If it is then yay! - the solution is simple, have an appropriate workout snack and you can go back to have quality training sessions. Like I said, you're not the first or last person to bonk during a workout - it's just not common to see it in short training sessions (1 h or less). Unless you're already depleted from a fast.

Nutrient timing has relatively little bearing on weight loss. It has huge implications for athletic performance.

thursdaystgiles

Thanks to all the helpful comments, I mean it sincerely. For the time being I'm going to stop doing IF, until I can find a new GP. It might have gotten lost in the thread, but my regular GP just up and retired very suddenly mid-June. I got a letter in the mail asking me to sign a waiver so my info could be passed on to other doctors. I'm looking at who is taking new patients right now, but I still have to pick one and then wait to get into the office, so it might be over a month before I can actually be seen.

As for BC, I've been on it for about 9 months--I developed cysts in my breasts after breast-feeding for a year and my hormones were out of wack. The BC was to regulate my period which had disappeared (not related to exercise, as I wasn't working out at the time). The cysts are mostly under control now, only causing pain/getting bigger right around the time of my period, so my DR had discussed taking me off BC.

Anyway, I appreciate those of you who have taken the time to actually read the whole post and respond to that. Thanks!

thursdaystgiles

Sorry again, but no - again, from your original post, it is common you have the "shakes" after your workout on a regular basis.

That's still hypoglycemia. So essentially you're every (workout) day teetering on the edge of blacking out due to inappropriate fueling. It eventually catches up with you but you maintain it works. Hint - when you underfuel consistently, your glycogen reserves get smaller - and the opposite happens too: with proper training an athlete can increase her energy reserves from say 1 hour work capacity to 2 or more. Which is part of the reasons why a couch potato can't run a marathon but a trained runner can.

But you're right - it's simply my opinion and everyone here is an adult. You're not my friend or relative so I have no stake in the matter. Please carry on (but don't forget to post! This is entertaining and educational).

I can't help but wonder if you're a troll, so indulging you is probably a stupid thing to do. I feel like you're intentionally being a jerk, but maybe I'm wrong, in which case I'll try to explain a bit better. First of all, I am not underfueled. I eat a base of 1800 calories, then generally half of what I've burnt through working out. This is much higher than what MFP suggests for my height and weight, but I'm losing regularly and I feel comfortable with this, so that's what I'm doing.

Secondly, I have ALWAYS gotten the shakes at the end of a very strenuous strength workout. Even before I was overweight, when I ate normally (breakfast, lunch, and dinner, plus 2-3 snacks, plus protein smoothie after workouts), I did Body Pump or something similar 3x a week and by the last 5 minutes, my body was quivering. I ate a banana and granola bar about an hour before workout and a smoothie directly after, and this was towards the end of my day, so I'd already eaten breakfast, lunch, and at least one snack.

While it is true that blood sugar can be the culprit, there are also a lot of other explanations for shaking--primarily fatigue, or postural tremours. I think what I experience is the former. Body Pump is combines strength and cardio to work each muscle group very hard for about 5 minutes each. The quivering is usually confined to my quads (thanks to 5 minutes each of squats and lunges, with lots of bottom halves or 3/4 squats where you never completely rise from the squat) and my abs (since they're pretty weak and planks especially kick my but). By quivering I mean the muscles sort of work on their own. My strength exercises are intense for me--I'm constantly working to up my weights. I always take 2 days between my strength workouts to give my muscles time to rest. I don't injure myself and until today never had any issue--that's right, I've worked out this same way for YEARS and today is the ONLY time I've ever passed out.

I think it's interesting you assume that I haven't looked into blood sugar issues--my partner actually has a glucose testing machine where you prick your finger and put the blood on a test strip. My blood sugar is normal. My blood pressure tends to be on the low side of normal, but is fine, too. I've seen my doctor twice since starting to work out in January, and he's been fine with everything I'm doing.

Finally, you're being willfully ignorant of what I'm saying with your asinine "carry on" comments. I've explicitly stated that I'm NOT going to be doing IF until I figure out what's going on with my body, and why this happened. I want to continue doing it if I'm able, but I don't want to put my health at risk, so until this gets sorted out, I won't. Which I've said, several times, in plain English.

Not intending to be a troll, and yes - I recognize being harsh. For me the issue is obvious. When you work out it's not just nutrient totals that matter, is nutrient timing. You seem to be underfueled for the workout you're attempting. If you were just sitting down and reading or other light activities probably you'd be fine (you don't report being unwell the rest of the day). Maybe you're getting better at your workouts fitness-wise, which means that now your limiting factor is your available nutrients. Intense strength and cardio can't use fat for fuel, they rely on glycogen (or ATP/phosphocreatine for truly maximal efforts) so they are sensitive to low stores. The catch is that on an otherwise healthy individual once the intensity goes down your fat reserves get converted into glycogen. So barring a true health issue, it's not that you're starving yourself overall, it's just that you're trying to do a dragster race on diesel fuel. It is a short event. Besides blacking out (which is pretty extreme), hypoglycemia also gives you the shakes, cold sweats and general malaise and lack of coordination.

It is really neat that you have glucose-testing equipment. Again, obvious to me but why not try this: test your glucose before, during, and after a typical workout. If it comes all clear in all the phases it's not a nutrient availability issue and you need to keep digging. Maybe there's something wrong otherwise. If it is then yay! - the solution is simple, have an appropriate workout snack and you can go back to have quality training sessions. Like I said, you're not the first or last person to bonk during a workout - it's just not common to see it in short training sessions (1 h or less). Unless you're already depleted from a fast.

Nutrient timing has relatively little bearing on weight loss. It has huge implications for athletic performance.

We have the equipment because of her blood sugar issues, and she has glucose tablets she has to take for her hypoglycemia, so I'm actually pretty familiar with the condition. As far as I know from her (and others) description of it, what I experienced had some differences. Primarily she talks about the air going fuzzy looking and "whiting" out, a sort of gradual thing, and often times she can have some amount of control over herself to keep from completely falling over. Mine was more of a very sudden blacking out. The only time I've experienced anything like it in my life was when I was a teenager and went from a very hot hot tub into a cold pool and nearly passed out. I've done a few fasting tests and it's usually in the mid-90s. I've had a few in the 70s and 80s when doing a longer than 12 hour fast. I believe those are still within the normal range, at least for fasting. It would be interesting to take one post workout and see. Right now since I'm not going to workout immediately post-fast it won't be the same, but might still be informative.

I understand that there are a lot of people on here who are just doing things willy-nilly in a desperate attempt to lose weight without regard to what they're doing to their health. I'm trying to get healthy as well as more slender. I've done a lot of research along the way and since I restarted this past Jan I've been working hard to find the balance that's right for me--not working myself too hard (I was working out 6-7 days a week on a 1300 cal/day diet and it was definitely having negative effects). I was hoping IF was the right thing for me, and I still am, but until I can get to a DR and figure this out, I'll be eating regular meals.

aliakynes

Have some chocolate milk before workouts to avoid the shakes. It should help with the fainting too .

tycho_mx

Have some chocolate milk before workouts to avoid the shakes. It should help with the fainting too .

Well, I should have said that instead of being so dismissive

The hot and cold thing is more related to vasodilation issues - in other words, blood pressure going low for a moment or two. I am familiar since I have a very low heart rate (<40 at rest) and when severely fatigued I sometimes will do something that will catch me between heart beats and make me woozy but pass very quickly. Handy for shooting sports, but not for catching your toddler from his high chair.

Athijade

ETA: Since people don't seem to be getting it, this is the FIRST time I've passed out, and I immediately ate my shake and lunch after this happened. And I don't intend to keep doing IF until I've figured out what the problem is, and how to correct it.

Oh well, at least it's only the FIRST time. I probably wouldn't be concerned until at least the seventh or eighth time. *facepalm* Skip IF and all the other unhealthy fad diets. The end.

IF is not unhealthy. That is just a silly statement to make... just like the rest of the post. Many, MANY people do IF without any problems. Is it for everyone? No. It's not a fad diet though.

Honestly, it doesn't seem like the IF may be the culprit as the OPs diet and schedule have not changed any. It may have contributed if there was another change in something (such as BP, blood sugar levels, or hormonal fluctuations). The only way to be sure as to what may be the cause is to see a doctor which the OP has already addressed and is attempting to do. They have also already said they will stop the IF until they are sure about their health.