Any other females intermittently fast?

[Charlotte]

I've been intermittently fasting for months now. One thing I've noticed is my libido has vanished  It pops up now and again (rarely) 

Anyone else noticed the same that fasts? Or could this be something completely different? 

[alea]

You may have lost an unnecessary libido, and will gain the real one.

[Charlotte]

Define unnecessary please @alea

[Michael569]

Not a female opinion here but just wondering, do you currently have a lot of stress in your life? Sometimes it may happen that your body stops(or limits) producing sex hormones in favour of cortisol or other steroids to counter stress, disease or any ongoing issue. 

 

[Charlotte]

At this present time @Michael569  I'd say issues have risen but I'm not stressed about it ?

Very interesting though. Thanks for your reply.

[Future GOAT]

Intermittent fasting may not be good for your individual constitution. One big blind spot in the fitness industry is they sort of view everyone as the same and make one size fits all lifestyle and dietary recommendations. I know for me personally if I skip meals I feel absolutely horrible, and it's not possible for me to be horny if I feel bad. I just want to sleep, mindlessly browse the internet and get into arguments in my head. 

I recommend looking into Ayurveda and figuring out what your constitution is and following the lifestyle recommendations that ayurvedic practitioners recommend. fitness gurus are great for some people, but they have done nothing but given me information that made me feel like crap. I had to look elsewhere for health advice and I stumbled across ayurveda.

[Aquarius]

I tried IF, it's the coolest and easiest diet imo. I think IF is supposed to raise your libido, so it's strange reading this on your post. Maybe you overdosed on turmeric? Have you been using turmeric at all? Or any other supplements?

[Charlotte]

@Future GOAT Thanks for your reply. I've been IF for around 6 months now. I don't get hungry at all. It honestly works for me. 

@Aquarius Nope  I also don't view it as a diet personally... I just eat when I actually need to ?

[Aquarius]

3 minutes ago, Future GOAT said:

One big blind spot in the fitness industry is they sort of view everyone as the same and make one size fits all lifestyle and dietary recommendations.

That's actually true.

[Aquarius]

@Charlotte Yeah it also worked for me, but I think I made certain mistakes. For example one day I ate too much carbs and then things snowballed aggressively down the road.  After successfully having it as a diet for almost a month, I started eating lots of crap, binged on every food I found in the house for a whole week, and probably ate more than 4000 calories a day (I never count calories though, just an estimate). I think I'll try it again, but maybe I'll have a day or two per week where I binge on unhealthy stuff to balance it out. Sort of like the 4h body diet plan lol.

[Charlotte]

15 minutes ago, Aquarius said:

That's actually true.

Yeah fully agree. I've experimented with IF. Some days (maybe like one day out of 2/3 week's) I might not feel like doing it at all and I might break the fast in the afternoon instead of evening. I also eat whatever my body is craving... I don't necessarily stick to what I 'should' eat. 

 

@Aquarius I wonder why you felt the need to binge? Did you deny yourself certain foods? Or maybe you where just hungry ? I don't get hungry anymore unless I sit and stare at a picture of a flawless Vegan burger or something ? 

[Emerald]

3 hours ago, Charlotte said:

I've been intermittently fasting for months now. One thing I've noticed is my libido has vanished  It pops up now and again (rarely) 

Anyone else noticed the same that fasts? Or could this be something completely different? 

They say that intermittent fasting isn't good for women, because it throws off our reproductive cycle. Because growing a child is a huge tax on nutrient stores, intermittent fasting give the body the message that food is frequently scarce in your life. The body doesn't know that you're doing it on purpose in a very controlled way. So, it can put a damper in your libido and even stop menstruation, because your body is telling you that it's unsafe for a child to grow there. Also, it will stimulate more testosterone production to give you the extra aggression to find your own food in the wild if you were in pre-historic times. 

Studies have shown that across the board intermittent fasting is good for men on many different levels. But it's not recommended for women because of how much it messes with hormones and the reproductive cycle. 

If you do, as a woman, want to do intermittent fasting, it is recommended that you skip a day or two between each intermittent fasting day. That way, your body doesn't register a pattern of prolonged starvation as it would with everyday intermittent fasting.

[Aquarius]

@Charlotte I think it was denial of food, even though I was never hungry when I "denied" it. Then my body just took its revenge I guess.

[Charlotte]

@Emerald massively appreciate your reply. Has this been proven? My period was short this month I noticed ?

Can't say I've been aggressive at all though to be honest. 

I keep seeing this word 'starvation' popping up also, I have to disagree with the use of that word. I don't feel I'm starving myself ? I eat a good solid large portion in the evening. So I'm not hungry until the following evening. Also my meals (the majority of the time) are super nutritious and healthy ?

@Aquarius They do say IF fasting isn't for everyone so maybe your just one of them it isn't good for? 

[Emerald]

13 minutes ago, Charlotte said:

@Emerald massively appreciate your reply. Has this been proven? My period was short this month I noticed ?

Can't say I've been aggressive at all though to be honest. 

I keep seeing this word 'starvation' popping up also, I have to disagree with the use of that word. I don't feel I'm starving myself ? I eat a good solid large portion in the evening. So I'm not hungry until the following evening. Also my meals (the majority of the time) are super nutritious and healthy ?

I don't mean that you're starving yourself. I'm sure that you're eating a normal amount. What I mean is that the body registers the intermittent fasting as a sign of potential starvation. Women's bodies are especially sensitive to it and produce more of a compound (called Ghrellin... if memory serves), because we have to maintain an eco-system that a baby can grow in. 

So, the body goes into protection mode and makes it to where you can't get pregnant, so that you can monopolize on the food you eat without having to provide food to a child growing inside of you. So, it's your body's way of protecting you (and your potential fetus) from starving. And it gives you extra ability to be able to go get food on your own through increased testosterone production. So, it may not come off as more aggression, especially if you haven't experienced complete cessation of the menstrual cycle yet. But it's basically, your body gearing up for the pre-historic male role of hunting by giving you the potential for extra aggression that the testosterone supplies. 

But I don't know to what extent this has been studied and proven. I know that there's a ton of information on the internet about intermittent fasting and women though, and it all says the same thing. 

I was interested in intermittent fasting a year or so ago, and I looked up information about it. And I found a source that was talking about the dangers of intermittent fasting for women. And I was like, "GoshDangIt!" And I found a lot of different sources that echoed the same information. 

[Emerald]

@Charlotte I was looking around for the sources that I found before, but I couldn't find them. But this one had a lot of good information, even though it's written blog-style... https://www.precisionnutrition.com/intermittent-fasting-women

[alea]

You know, instant gratifications kill your senses, instead, give you addictions.  Your old libido could be an addiction, unnecessary, not real. With a diet/intermittent fasting your body may be becoming more natural.

[Samra]

I do intermittent fasting 5 days a week from 7 pm to 11 am. But if I feel like I have to eat before 11, I will. So that's around 16 hours. Plus I go to gym at 7 30 am for about an hour. My libido is very low compared to my twenties, but I don't think that has to do with fasting. I used to date a lot more sexually active men than I do know. I'm just not bothered with sex anymore. I enjoy much more subtle things now. My period is super irregular, but that has always been the case. I like fasting. I think it works fine for me. Just listen to your body if it needs food.

[Charlotte]

@Emerald Honestly can't thank you enough for your input. It's a new perspective to investigate. I'm not planning on having children so I don't think I'm bothered to much about it. I'll still look into it regardless as there might still be some truth in there. Thank you again lovely  ?

@Theta  This is literally my stance on IF also. I gravitate towards it. Thanks for your input, really appreciate it ♥️

@alea Very true! If I look at how I look at sex as a whole now... My perspective has changed a lot. I used to look at it as a thrill seeking instant gratification activity but now I see it more as a connection based, deep intimate way of showing love. So maybe that's why my libido has done a runner ? literally just realised this. Thank you! ✌️♥️

@Samra Thanks for commenting Samra. Helped a lot ?♥️