I have been on IF for about 3 months with 16/8. I usually have my last meal between 5-6 pm and then my first meal between 9-10am. It was going smoothly but the last couple of weeks were sort of not great. Headaches on one side of the head. Longer sleeping hours, craving for food. Initially, I thought it was because of sugar levels but that was not it. It turned out that I was low on electrolytes. My body had been back to ok once I started to add a bit of sodium to my water. I really dont like tracking and be diligent enough to include these minerals. Wondering how everyone else does it? Are there any changes I can make so that these are part of my lifestyle and not make a conscious effort?
I am actually surprised that the sodium/minerals I consumed in the 8-hour window did not last the next 16 hours. I do drink plenty of water during fasting. Would it make sense to do alternate days of 16/8 or reduce it to 12 hours?
TIA.
Answer
I drink water with sea salt before working out while I’m fasted.if your drinking a ton of water during your fasting window you just may be flushing your minerals out Try adding a bit of sea salt
Bone broths and coconut water could also be a cheat code for you first thing to break your fast or maybe even just to have if the sea salt doesn’t work