Large meals make me tired

#1

So I’ve been playing around with IF and doing Omad or T(wo)mad. A lot of it has come from working at a place that makes stopping for lunch difficult most days (we also have no fridge). So I’ll either fast until supper (but still have coffee with cream) or try to eat breakfast before I leave and eat again when I get home (if I’m hungry). First of all I can’t seem to figure out if it’s ok to fat fast during these times - I thought if I’m not increasing insulin that would be a good thing. Also large meals (over 800cal) seem to make me tired, at least until I digest. I don’t want to go to work tired.

When I first started keto I just ate when I was hungry and sometimes that would be small meals and snacks throughout the day which seems to be frowned upon usually a larger supper as long as I didn’t eat too much before hand. I like the idea of fasting, but don’t really like taking in all my calories at once.

#2

Quit a few foods don’t have to be refrigerated and can be quick to grab on the go.

If I OMAD I’m usually lunch to lunch; my lunch consists of Spinach as it’s base salad; but of course you can add lots of things which will easily last until lunch without refrigeration. Examples; Hard Cheese (I’m Edam or Red Leicester, Eggs (hard boiled), Pre-cooked fatty meats…I also have sprays of Extra Virgin Olive Oil; spray quite a bit on my spinach (10 sprays is about 5g) (fat and takes away bitterness if raw).

There are probably loads of other easy to grab non refrigerated foods you can pre-prepare and don’t need refrigeration if you really think about it. Or just take half what you are eating for breakfast with you for lunch?

#3

Don’t follow fads; eat in a way that works best for you. I’ve lost significant weight (and maintained that loss for 10 years) by eating at least 3x a day–small meals. I am a relatively small, ‘senior’ woman, and I’ve found that large meals don’t agree with me at all. I do best eating small meals more frequently, so that’s what I do–regardless of what any ‘experts’ advise.

#4

I might take your advise. I’m not diabetic or insulin resistant so it could be that I don’t need to worry as much about increased insulin “spikes” throughout the day. I heard one doctor (not a low carb doctor mind you) speak of having many small meals to help battle adrenal fatigue. Maybe I’ll do a n=1 of that and see how it goes.

#5

Thanks for the reply, some good ideas. My thoughts on skipping lunch was to try and keep the amount of times I raise my insulin levels to a minimum by only eating Omad (simpilest for me is to do supper because I’m home). I just find that such a big meal often makes me feel tired and sluggish until I digest for a while. Not as bad as a big old carb meal, but worse than if I eat throughout the day (3-4 times).

#6

I find that eating very low carb, we avoid insulin ‘spikes.’ I think the idea that we have to completely avoid eating because of insulin is an exaggeration. That’s what low carb eating is all about—minimizing insulin.

#7

Thank you for this! This is what led me to keto to begin with and I think you are right.

(You've tried everything else; why not try bacon?) #8

Every meal raises our insulin level, even if insulin doesn’t spke, and the more insulin-resistant we happen to be, the higher insulin rises. Insulin also needs time to return to its usual level.

Eating the right things and not eating too often are techniques we can use to keep insulin from rising too much or too often, so that eventually we can become insulin-sensitive again. You are right that we don’t need to be obsessive about it, but the longer we can go between meals, the better for our insulin level. I try to take all this into account without worrying too much about it.

#9

Not to mention we will always have glucose, and base insulin to be begin with as the liver doesn’t seem to want to let us die! :sunglasses:

#10

I think this is where the difference comes into play for me personally as I am not (to my knowledge) insulin resistant so restricting the number of times I eat per day may not be necessary or helpful in my case. I do see how it might make a huge difference when one is in fact dealing with insulin issues.

One of the reasons I started keto was because I wanted to feel better in general. I’m tired all the time, eating is one thing that makes me tired. I assumed it was due to carbs (and mostly I found this to be true) but also any large meal seems to trigger a nap response (I just made that term up). I’d rather not be tired. So I don’t mind trading off the benefits of eating less times per day if necessary. It’s still early days for me, and I’m still within the 6-8 week window of which I may not be fully fat adapted (though I think I am).

(You've tried everything else; why not try bacon?) #11

Good luck, and please keep us updated on your progress, or lack of it. It’s all grist for the mill.

#12

Well it all seems to be a moot point right now. I’m doing an involuntary fast as I’m in the midst of a depressive episode and have no appetite. Fun times.

#13

Appetite returned this afternoon so fasted for about 24hrs (drank some iced coffee in between). Just had lettuce wrapped burger with bacon, egg and guacamole and I’m tired again. I don’t think there was any hidden carbs. Still feel blah too.

#14

Ok seriously. Lots of energy but a little jittery from my fast yesterday had a small meal at around 11pm last night but was totally full (not overly so)
Just drank a bullet proof tea (caffeine free - because of that jittery-ness) and now I want to go lay down. I figure the bpt had 337 cal. 41g fat and .6 protein.
So maybe it’s not large meals that make me tired maybe just digesting fat, so am I not fat adapted yet. I’ve been doing this about 7 weeks I think.
Or is this a bodily habit from back in my carb days?
I can tell you bpc never seems to keep me full all day like some people claim. But eating a normal Keto meal does.