Doing IF and passed out

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thursdaystgiles
thursdaystgiles Posts: 98 Member
in Food and Nutrition
I've been doing IF for a while now, and it has been working great for me. I naturally don't eat a lot, and go long periods of time without eating. When I first started trying to get healthy, I was trying to do the eat often and small portions and it wasn't working. IF fits with my natural hunger cues--I don't get hungry for hours after waking. So I get up, have a glass of water, have a cup of matcha tea with a tbsp of almond milk, do my strength workout (various weight training workouts), then have a protein smoothie, followed by a big lunch. Since I started (almost 2 months) it's been awesome and I've been losing about 1-1.5 lb a week. Only for the past 4 days I'm suddenly STARVING in the mornings. On my off day I just went ahead and ate within an hour of waking, but today was a workout day. I was shaking by about 20 minutes in, when normally I do an hour and I only get shaky at the very end. Then I was filling up my water pitcher and the next thing I know the pitcher was spilling all over the place and I was on the floor. I'm trying to figure out if my metabolism is changing or what, because I really love IF, but it's suddenly not working :/

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.
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Replies

  • rprussell2004
    rprussell2004 Posts: 870 Member
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    "Are you, Alice, menstruating right now?"
  • tycho_mx
    tycho_mx Posts: 426 Member
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    I'm sorry but this is stupid.

    If you "pass out" due to lack of food, then IF is NOT working. Unless you and I have an opposite definition. The condition is called hypoglycemia.

    I am not a doctor, but in my uneducated opinion I'd say "duh, so yeah, that's what happens when people don't fuel sufficiently". The answer for me it's obvious - eat more frequently. And yeah, I've had the shakes and bonked too (most endurance athletes learn the hard way) - the answer is almost always get some simple sugars in quick, like juice.



    Or you can just suck it up. After all, if you're passed out on the ground you're not eating and not breaking your IF regime.
  • AllOutof_Bubblegum
    AllOutof_Bubblegum Posts: 3,646 Member
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    Listen to your body. Eat when you're hungry, don't when you're not. It's not rocket science. :wink:
  • Riffraft1960
    Riffraft1960 Posts: 1,984 Member
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    If you are passing out, it is not normal. You really should see a Doctor, it could be so many things, particular since you say you have been doing the IF for awhile and haven't passed out before.
  • hookilau
    hookilau Posts: 3,134 Member
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    I'm sorry but this is stupid.

    If you "pass out" due to lack of food, then IF is NOT working. Unless you and I have an opposite definition. The condition is called hypoglycemia.

    I am not a doctor, but in my uneducated opinion I'd say "duh, so yeah, that's what happens when people don't fuel sufficiently". The answer for me it's obvious - eat more frequently. And yeah, I've had the shakes and bonked too (most endurance athletes learn the hard way) - the answer is almost always get some simple sugars in quick, like juice.



    Or you can just suck it up. After all, if you're passed out on the ground you're not eating and not breaking your IF regime.

    :laugh:
  • FIT_Goat
    FIT_Goat Posts: 4,224 Member
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    Passing out would never be considered normal.

    Here is my thing. In general, I do I.F. fairly often. But, if I wake up and am starving, I am not going to wait until my normal window to eat. I will eat right then. I will typically eat as much as I want. It's usually not too much. But, it could be 1/2 my calories or more for the day. If I end up going over my calories later, when I eat again, that's just the way it is. I listen to my body first. Long term, it all tends to average out.

    If you find that you're always hungry in the mornings, maybe do a 2 meal plan... one after you get up and one in the evening. But, most of all, listen to the cues your body gives you. There's no magic to I.F. and if it seems to be causing problems beyond its utility for helping control consumption, then dump it. There are no prizes awarded for hurting yourself in pursuit of weight loss.
  • thursdaystgiles
    thursdaystgiles Posts: 98 Member
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    I'm sorry but this is stupid.

    If you "pass out" due to lack of food, then IF is NOT working. Unless you and I have an opposite definition. The condition is called hypoglycemia.

    I am not a doctor, but in my uneducated opinion I'd say "duh, so yeah, that's what happens when people don't fuel sufficiently". The answer for me it's obvious - eat more frequently. And yeah, I've had the shakes and bonked too (most endurance athletes learn the hard way) - the answer is almost always get some simple sugars in quick, like juice.



    Or you can just suck it up. After all, if you're passed out on the ground you're not eating and not breaking your IF regime.

    I don't need a smart *kitten* comment. Obviously after I passed out I made sure to get my shake and lunch in quick order and I feel much better. I also realise what I'm doing so this doesn't happen again.

    What I'm trying to figure out is WHY I suddenly passed out. I've been doing this for almost 2 months and haven't had a single issue until the past 3 days, when nothing about my activity or diet has changed. I'm trying to figure out if my metabolism has changed, and if so how I should change up my eating schedule to fit with it. I was hoping some others with more IF experience might be able to tell me if this is a fairly normal thing, where after a couple months doing it, the body's response changes. Your comment was entirely unhelpful, so unless you have something to contribute, you don't need to respond.

    Also, I am not on my period, and I do plan on seeing a doctor soon. I last saw mine 4 months ago, but since then he very unexpectedly retired to Florida in mid-June so I am searching for a new GP. I have some other issues unrelated to diet and exercise, but I will be asking about this, too.
  • thursdaystgiles
    thursdaystgiles Posts: 98 Member
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    Passing out would never be considered normal.

    Here is my thing. In general, I do I.F. fairly often. But, if I wake up and am starving, I am not going to wait until my normal window to eat. I will eat right then. I will typically eat as much as I want. It's usually not too much. But, it could be 1/2 my calories or more for the day. If I end up going over my calories later, when I eat again, that's just the way it is. I listen to my body first. Long term, it all tends to average out.

    If you find that you're always hungry in the mornings, maybe do a 2 meal plan... one after you get up and one in the evening. But, most of all, listen to the cues your body gives you. There's no magic to I.F. and if it seems to be causing problems beyond its utility for helping control consumption, then dump it. There are no prizes awarded for hurting yourself in pursuit of weight loss.

    Thanks for the info. I have been doing IF every day because it's what has worked so far, but I know people sometimes do longer IF once or twice a week and eat normally the rest of the time. Obviously since I don't want to pass out again, I'll be eating earlier in the day, and I'll see where the rest falls. I don't want to give up IF, but the passing out has stop.
  • Springfield1970
    Springfield1970 Posts: 1,945 Member
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    I can't remember where I read it, but it was suggested that women shouldn't do the recommended hours, and do 10/14 or even 12/12. Our hormones act differently or something. Sorry I can't remember....I did do it for a long while, and had the most terrible grouchy mornings, but kind of high at the same time.
    Just my theory, but maybe males are better adapted at the one big meal thing, as they would have been out hunting all day.

    Women would have been knocking around the settlement nibbling you know...maltesers and Doritos and stuff all day.
  • Romyarts2014
    Romyarts2014 Posts: 201 Member
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    I've been doing IF for a while now, and it has been working great for me. I naturally don't eat a lot, and go long periods of time without eating. When I first started trying to get healthy, I was trying to do the eat often and small portions and it wasn't working. IF fits with my natural hunger cues--I don't get hungry for hours after waking. So I get up, have a glass of water, have a cup of matcha tea with a tbsp of almond milk, do my strength workout (various weight training workouts), then have a protein smoothie, followed by a big lunch. Since I started (almost 2 months) it's been awesome and I've been losing about 1-1.5 lb a week. Only for the past 4 days I'm suddenly STARVING in the mornings. On my off day I just went ahead and ate within an hour of waking, but today was a workout day. I was shaking by about 20 minutes in, when normally I do an hour and I only get shaky at the very end. Then I was filling up my water pitcher and the next thing I know the pitcher was spilling all over the place and I was on the floor. I'm trying to figure out if my metabolism is changing or what, because I really love IF, but it's suddenly not working :/

    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.
  • Romyarts2014
    Romyarts2014 Posts: 201 Member
    Options
    I've been doing IF for a while now, and it has been working great for me. I naturally don't eat a lot, and go long periods of time without eating. When I first started trying to get healthy, I was trying to do the eat often and small portions and it wasn't working. IF fits with my natural hunger cues--I don't get hungry for hours after waking. So I get up, have a glass of water, have a cup of matcha tea with a tbsp of almond milk, do my strength workout (various weight training workouts), then have a protein smoothie, followed by a big lunch. Since I started (almost 2 months) it's been awesome and I've been losing about 1-1.5 lb a week. Only for the past 4 days I'm suddenly STARVING in the mornings. On my off day I just went ahead and ate within an hour of waking, but today was a workout day. I was shaking by about 20 minutes in, when normally I do an hour and I only get shaky at the very end. Then I was filling up my water pitcher and the next thing I know the pitcher was spilling all over the place and I was on the floor. I'm trying to figure out if my metabolism is changing or what, because I really love IF, but it's suddenly not working :/

    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.



    maybe its the calories your eating ?
    change in climate?
    or maybe your bodies fighting flu of some sort. Your body should be used to IF by now.
    I am doing OMPD IF 22 hours fast 2 hours eat
  • thursdaystgiles
    thursdaystgiles Posts: 98 Member
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    I can't remember where I read it, but it was suggested that women shouldn't do the recommended hours, and do 10/14 or even 12/12. Our hormones act differently or something. Sorry I can't remember....I did do it for a long while, and had the most terrible grouchy mornings, but kind of high at the same time.
    Just my theory, but maybe males are better adapted at the one big meal thing, as they would have been out hunting all day.

    Women would have been knocking around the settlement nibbling you know...maltesers and Doritos and stuff all day.

    lol, yeah, we just got our nails done and ate bon bons.
    I did a lot of research when I started out and read a lot about the differences between men and women doing IF. I did learn that it takes a shorter amount of time fasting for women to get the same benefits of men, so I guess it even outs. I've been doing mostly 12/12, sometimes 14/10.

    maybe its the calories your eating ?
    change in climate?
    or maybe your bodies fighting flu of some sort. Your body should be used to IF by now.
    I am doing OMPD IF 22 hours fast 2 hours eat

    Oh, man, I couldn't do 22. I did 16 hours when I first started, but only for about a week and half before enough research told me shorter was better for women, in general. I'm thinking I might need to up my calorie intake later in the evening to carry me through, so we'll see what happens!
  • DavPul
    DavPul Posts: 61,406 Member
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    If you've been doing IF for several months with no issues and are eating the same now as you normally do, why are you suddenly attributing this week's problems to IF? I'd be more inclined to look at something that changed recently, like, you know, in the last week or so.
  • supnicole
    supnicole Posts: 23 Member
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    I also practice IF and my first assumption is that your electrolytes aren't balanced. Are you getting enough sodium, potassium and magnesium?
  • mommyrunning
    mommyrunning Posts: 495 Member
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    The best thing to do is see a doctor. Food could be the issue but it may not be. Passing out can be caused by a number of things including blood pressure issues. This could be caused by a serious issue and it's important not to blow it off or assume you know why it happened. Have a doctor check you out to rule out other issues.
  • stealthq
    stealthq Posts: 4,298 Member
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    If you've been doing IF for several months with no issues and are eating the same now as you normally do, why are you suddenly attributing this week's problems to IF? I'd be more inclined to look at something that changed recently, like, you know, in the last week or so.

    This. Did you sleep well last night? Lack of sleep can sometimes really mess with your energy levels.

    Could also be you're coming down with something. You'll know that soon enough.

    Another possibility is that you've been eating too little all this time, and it is now catching up to you. Or not - I don't see your stats anywhere, so I can't judge whether a 1-1.5 lb/wk loss is a 'normal' or 'fast' rate of loss for you.
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
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    "Are you, Alice, menstruating right now?"

    Putting that comment in quote marks makes it seem really creepy...
  • thursdaystgiles
    thursdaystgiles Posts: 98 Member
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    If you've been doing IF for several months with no issues and are eating the same now as you normally do, why are you suddenly attributing this week's problems to IF? I'd be more inclined to look at something that changed recently, like, you know, in the last week or so.

    Mostly because there is nothing I can think of that I'm aware of that's any different. I'm not sick, I haven't done any unusual activity, I've been sleeping normally--I really can't think of anything. I'm not saying there isn't something, but if there is, I don't know what it is.
    I also practice IF and my first assumption is that your electrolytes aren't balanced. Are you getting enough sodium, potassium and magnesium?

    I'm not sure on this. Is there a way to look it up on MFP? I do take a daily multi-vitamin plus vitamin D and iron, eat at least one banana a day (often 1.5 because I put half of one in my smoothie). But I'll look at that. I've been considering I might have a mild form of malabsorption syndrome (which I why I'm scrambling to find a new GP to see me asap), but that's been going on for several months, so it isn't a new thing.
  • thursdaystgiles
    thursdaystgiles Posts: 98 Member
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    Another possibility is that you've been eating too little all this time, and it is now catching up to you. Or not - I don't see your stats anywhere, so I can't judge whether a 1-1.5 lb/wk loss is a 'normal' or 'fast' rate of loss for you.

    Sorry, I'm 30, 5'7", current weight is 226 (down from 262 at the beginning of Jan.)
  • H_Factor
    H_Factor Posts: 1,722 Member
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    One possibility: Perhaps your blood pressure is going too low and that's what caused you to pass out. There are a lot of reasons that blood pressure may go to low, but one possible outcome of low BP is passing out.

    Notably, I do 24 hour IF, 1-2x per week (usually 3x every 2 weeks is how it works out). On one occasion, I felt quite dizzy and had to stand still to gather my bearings for a bit. The sensation lasted for a little while and I ate something and began feeling better. My BP normally runs on the lower side so I did some research to figure out what might have gone wrong that day. I can't remember the exact reason I started doing this, but based on what I read (it was something about BP dropping as a result of not having enough of a certain hormone, which is generated by carbs...I think), I started to carb load a bit in the 12 hours before I began my 24 hour fast. Since that time, I've had absolutely no issues with the fasting. Soooo...if your BP tends to run on the lower side, you may want to try to eat more carbs during your eating period.

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