Hi Olive I completely agree with you about using common sense and also Cathy’s wise words about listening to your body.
You probably already know this but there is something known as carb flu, where you can feel a bit flu-ey in the early days as your body starts to burn fat. So it could possibly be that, but if not then you may need to look again at what you are eating.
The beauty of this WOE is that we can adapt it to meet our own individual needs, whilst still sticking to the principles. Some like to have three meals a day, others to do some form of TRE and have two – or even just one meal a day. Others do longer fasts, but this is not possible (or even desirable) for everyone.
The key thing is to make sure that your body is getting all the nutrition it needs, especially if you have other health issues to consider as well. There was also something recently, either this series of threads or another, about us needing more protein as we get older. Not sure if that’s relevant to you, but you do need to listen to your body and make sure you are treating yourself with kindness.
Last summer I went through a phase of not being very well: nothing serious but lost of minor things one after the other. And I think part of it was that I just wasn’t feeding myself properly. I’d got into TRE, just eating within a 6 hour window each day, between 13:00 and 19:00. That wasn’t the issue in itself – and I actually found it very easy to do and to fit in with my lifestyle. The problem was that I wasn’t planning meals properly for within those 6 hours so ended up with my body not getting all the nourishment it needed. So you do need to be careful.
I’d say if in doubt, just stick to the recipes in the Fast800 book, then you can work out not just the calories and carbs you are eating, but also rest assured that you are getting all the other vital nutrients you needed. And be wise, if you have additional health or nutritional needs or are doing loads of exercise then you may need to have more than the 800 calories. It can also be good to mix up your routine a bit too. Once I get back below 140lb I want to try switching to 5:2 (or maybe 4:3)so that I can be really strict just a couple of days a week and eat “normally” (but not excessively) the rest of the time. I hope that by doing that I can gradually cruise to my target without constantly having to watch what I eat.
Good luck on your journey Olive and also you Cathy – great to hear your progress X