The FastDay Forum

Hi all,
I have been doing this for about 6 weeks. My weight loss has been pretty consistent and I am finding the fast days pretty easy to be honest. The feed days are a little harder to control and I am still to learn how to ease into a feed day slowly as opposing to jumping all in to congratulate myself on a fantastic fast day!
Celebration = carbs unfortunately!
I have noticed people talk about how sharp their minds seem to be becoming following this WOE.
My question really relates to the relationship between the fast, the reintroduction of food, the lack of sugar, then the reintroduction of sugar and how it would be effecting my mind/ brain.
I am a bit naive when it comes to the science of this stuff. I am aware of how glucose fuels the brain but are my on and off feelings of lack of clarity or spaced out feelings normal?
I have always suffered from head rush upon standing up, but feel like these are maybe more prevalent now?
Is the fast intake of carbs the morning after a fast really something that I should really be avoiding? I love this WOE but if it is going to do this to me I might have to rethink it.
Thanks.

[janeg]

Hello ejaykay
I'm not up on the science but...
it has taken an while for me to settle into the WOE and I haven't had the mental clarity that is reported by many. I felt truly awful, befuddled, wooly and drained on fast days. Now I'm ok, so perhaps it's judt going to take a wee while for you to settle.
What do you have for your breakfast after a fast? If it is something with simple carbs, that will go into your system very quickly and cause a rush of insulin. If the carbs are simple, they may be used up before the insulin has gone, causing a spike ( I think) Basically, it makes you feel rotten.
So, in answer to your question, maybe complex carbs with a bit of protein for breakfast would be a better plan- poached egg on wholemeal toast/ bacon and egg.
This is a good WOE and you love it, so playing about with it is the way forward. Hopefully someone more nerdy (in the nicest possible way) can explain it better.
Let us know how you get on please.

[carorees]

Hi there

The head rush you describe on standing up could be due to postural hypotension (low blood pressure on standing up which maybe just you being sensitive to blood pressure drops or some problem resulting in you body not regulating the blood pressure adequately). Usually doctors don't do much about hypotension unless it causes you problems with dizziness.

As janeg says, having simple carbs can cause a sugar rush and subsequent dip due to insulin over-reacting to the high sugar levels and so packing too much away.

The mental clarity thing may be indeed down to your body not fully adapting to fasting. Your body should start using your fat stores to produce ketones to fuel the brain when the sugar runs low. Some people find ketones increase mental clarity others get a bit of a euphoric effect. The brain actually runs better on ketones and they help with new nerve growth.

So, in summary I think that the change in fuel use from glucose to ketones plus a degree of metabolic inflexibility (unwillingness to change from burning glucose to burning fat on your body's part) will result in these mood and mental clarity changes. As your body adapts to fasting it should all get better.

So when I feel all bright and sharp, that means I am burning fat? That makes it even better!