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I thought if I title this thread as "Fasting" it might come across differently, so instead I listed the things that I've suffered with for years and know its absolutely not uncommon.
I also don't want to come across evangelical, or anal about what could be perceived as a fad, but also know from previous threads that others do this - so nothing new or groundbreaking. However...
I've been trying fasting for the past 4/5 weeks and am honestly astounded by the results. Nothing extreme, other than restricting all calorie consumption to an 8 hour window every day. I don't particularly change what I eat, although I'm starting to reduce simple carbs, increase vegetables in particular. Eggs & beans are my friends.
I've never felt so mentally unburdened day-to-day. I don't feel tired in the mornings, I'm not struggling with brain fog, when I go running at the end of a fasting period I feel strong, light, without trying I'm hitting PBs on runs. I don't bonk. I always bonked before.
The simplicity of it is getting used to feeling hungry and separating that from perceived tiredness/lethargy/weakness.
As a bit of a control, I was away last week staying in a hotel and went back to a "normal" regime of breakfast, lunch and dinner. Felt awful - tired and lethargic, to the extent I couldn't motivate myself to go for a planned run. Went back to fasting once home and immediately reversed that feeling.
Maybe I do want to get evangelical about it, I can honestly say nothing has had such a profound effect on how I feel and perform on a day-to-day basis in all of my 46 years.
If you suffer from these symptoms for no apparent reason (<span style="text-decoration: underline;">I am not a doctor / physician!!</span>) I'd recommend giving this a go.
As we get older I think we need to cut carbs down anyway ! Certainly 3 meals a day kill me. I commute to work on an empty stomach, possibly just a coffee. Get to work and it's a porridge pot (dead handy as no milk needed) and some fruit. Light lunch then not too much for tea - I often make too much and that's then 'frozen' for a lunch. I would say I eat within a 10 hour window.
Also your training may have been better as you are being more disciplined overall. All factors contribute and being in a hotel and 'not' running won't have helped - you should have pushed to do the running despite all the food.
I tried it for a few weeks in 2020 to see if it helped with my long COVID. It didn't make any difference unfortunately....
Sounds a bit like you were having blood glucose problems before and have inadvertently fixed them.
@molgrips - yes, maybe / probably. A pal who is also an advocate has signed up for the Zoe programme (gut & blood health). First step in that is eating provided muffins and doing a blood sugar test. I'm really keen to do that.
For weight loss for Bike racing I've been on high protein low carb and a 7pm/7am fast regime. As a rule I don't enjoy the feeling of being quite hungry which I do at 8pm and on the 50yo pee-awakening at 4am - at 4am I can feel quite uncomfortable, thats exaggerated by 400-750 cals lost on a Turbo at 6:30pm although I do have slightly extra food to account for some of that. I do have a protein only shake post workout even though it finishes after 7pm, but nothing else.
Other than being miserable during the hungry periods I feel no different at all but have gone from 77.5KG on Jan 1st to 73.6KG this morning.
Certainly 3 meals a day kill me. I commute to work on an empty stomach, possibly just a coffee. Get to work and it’s a porridge pot (dead handy as no milk needed) and some fruit. Light lunch then not too much for tea
Is breakfast, lunch and tea not three meals then? Surely all you're doing there is cutting down?
A pal who is also an advocate has signed up for the Zoe programme (gut & blood health). First step in that is eating provided muffins and doing a blood sugar test. I’m really keen to do that.
Cheaper and quicker to just buy a FSL direct from Abbot!
https://www.freestylelibre.co.uk/libre/
NB I've done both (Zoe and bought the monitors direct).
you should have pushed to do the running despite all the food.
Maybe, but "Training" is a strong word for it. I just could not be arsed, despite wanting to get out (this is the story of my life; wanting to be out doing something but crippled by lethargy).
As a rule I don’t enjoy the feeling of being quite hungry which I do at 8pm and on the 50yo pee-awakening at 4am – at 4am I can feel quite uncomfortable,
Agree with this. Its acceptance of hunger rather than enjoyment. But if I was exercising in the evening, I'd eat before bed and adjust the fasting window. As it is, 830pm > 1230 pm seems to work well. A snack (bowl of cereal) at 830 staves off the bedtime hunger, missing breakfast isn't a problem.
I try to eat a low carb diet most of the time with varying degrees of success and I definitely feel better, more energy and less fatigue the less carbohydrate I eat.
When I'm working away I often go all day with only a few coffees in the morning and then an evening meal and I feel great and never hungry. I go out on fasted rides with no I'll effects, I did a 100 mile road ride recently with nothing other than two coffees in the morning and two bottles of orange squash on the bike.
I do tend to eat earlier in the day when I'm at home but not normally before lunchtime, and it's more through greed/opportunity/weakness on my part rather than being hungry.
A snack (bowl of cereal) at 830 staves off the bedtime hunger,
I've found that just drinking a glass of water when I feel hungry can do the job, even at 4am.