Fatigue after eating

(Elizabeth Barrett) #1

I started keto in January. The first few months were amazing. I was strict, and I’ve lost about 32 pounds since then. In the past few months, I have admittedly been a bit lazier and have cheated a lot with spring gatherings and parties.

One thing I have noticed is severe fatigue after eating. I do intermittent fasting a few days a week and other days I eat a light breakfast and bulletproof coffee and then eat dinner.

When I am in a fasting state, I feel great. Energetic, focused, etc. But as soon as I eat, I’m done. And it’s almost instantly! My eyes will start feeling heavy as I’m finishing my plate. And it doesn’t matter if it’s strictly keto or not. I started adding carbs back in to experiment and no matter what, food=sleep.

It’s annoying because I am a business owner and mom and the few hours after my kid goes to bed is incredibly important for getting caught up on work, but I can hardly make it past 8. I’m foggy and useless and have zero energy. Any ideas ??

(Ron) #2

Sounds like maybe your -

binges have maybe kicked you out of adaption (as you were so new to it) and the body is sugar burning again.
I would suggest going back to the basics and start again. I would thing it wouldn’t take as long to get adapted again.

(Chris W) #3

Well share your stats, and dysfunctions, macros and a daily meal plan. That may aid in helping you.

IF is a daily fast not normally over 1 day of fasting typically a window is used like 18:6 or 20:4 were you are eating 4 out of 24 hours in the case of the last one. It sounds like you are EF(extended fasting) a few days a week and barely eating the others which would be IF then. If your BF(body fat) is too low you may not be able to support the amount of energy you need, and may just need to eat more, in particular fat. Refeeding after going more than 24 hours is a shock to your system and you need to make sure you have your electrolytes in order or you can harm yourself esp if you go a longer period of time or do it alot.
or
If you did cheat a lot you may have delayed fat adaption, in which case you are still relying on the liver to do most of the work for your energy needs. As Ron suggests you may need to take a step back and audit your intake and see what is happening.
or
Another likely cause is not getting enough salt, which aids digestion, and energy transfer, and about 100 other things your body needs.
or
You are eating the wrong type of food and its causing a spike in insulin which can cause you to become tired although not normally that quickly. If you eat too much protein, or higher amounts of carbs this can happen. If you are not eating enough fat in general this can happen as well.

#4

My immediate thought is you are burning the carbs and and getting a insulin spike and not using the fat.