Seeing stars! (Have you?)

[Rebecca Eichenberger]

I started my whole30 journey a week ago, and crossfit classes about 2 months ago. At yesterday's class, I worked harder than ever. I've never been strong or an athlete, but I had a lot of support during an intense workout, pushing me harder than I ever have been pushed. After the workout, I walked home (1/2-1/4 mile), started making some food and texting some friends. (I felt fine) All of a sudden, there were a couple of bright "spots" when I was texting on my phone. It was kinda hard to see. I thought it was due to the snow outside, even though it wasn't sunny. So I closed the shades. But the bright spots got more and more until it was all I could see out of one eye. I started to panic, wondering if I was having a stroke, never experiencing this before. My sis told me that I needed to eat, NOW, so I guzzled down some P90X recovery drink (bad, bad stuff) and immediately the stars started to clear.

I ate that morning before the workout, probably 2-3 hours before. Eggs, greens and a handful of berries. (not a ton, just maybe an egg and a half.) Obviously this was not right somehow. What did I do wrong? Have you seen stars? Trippy.

[Tom Denham]

You may have been under-eating during your Whole30 and then pushed too hard yesterday. Ideally, you would have had a pre-workout snack between 30 and 90 minutes before your workout and eaten lean protein and maybe some carbs like a baked sweet potato within 15 minutes of finishing your workout. You were apparently outside those windows. If you were already under eating, that could have been critical. Also, the fact that you felt better immediately after downing the P90X drink makes me wonder if you had been drinking enough water along the way and at the time of your workout. Being dehydrated is a quick way to see stars.

[Rebecca Eichenberger]

It's funny you say that, because I feel like I've been eating more than i usually do. I never was a "wake up and eat" kind of girl. I liked the intermittent fasting idea, and read that human growth hormone increases if you workout on empty. So eating anything before was quite different. But yes, I was definitely outside of those windows.

What could happen if a person sees stars and then doesn't get food? Does it get serious quickly? Just curious. But believe me, I will not make that mistake again.

Thank you for your help! I'm so excited about all of the changes I'm making.

[Tom Denham]

I have spent as much as 30 minutes lying on the floor of a locker room recovering after pushing too hard. Those days were so long ago that I honestly don't know how food was playing into it, but I had not eaten breakfast the last time I got into trouble in 1998. That time, I started getting dizzy and sat down on the floor of the gym. Then I decided to lie down. I apparently bounced a bit when I went down. Someone called 911. The paramedics came and it took me about 20 minutes to sit up. My blood pressure was okay, but I was white as a sheet. My wife, who was there, agreed I did not have to go to the ER as long as I went to my family doctor ASAP. He did an ECG and suggested I had had a heart attack. I was referred to a cardiologist for a full workup. After a stress test and ultrasound, he determined that my heart was completely healthy and that I had a weird anomaly during ECG testing. His last words to me were, "Eat breakfast before working out" and "Don't work out so hard." Since then, I have worked out a lot harder, but I know more about what I am doing and I eat better.

An important benefit of doing a Whole30 is to get your hormonal rhythms lined up beneficially. Intermittent fasting tends to mess up hormonal rhythms, especially for women. So basically, you cannot do IF and a Whole30 at the same time because they tend to work at cross purposes. I recommend that you experiment with IF only after a year of Whole30 eating and when your sleep habits are perfect.

[Susan W]

I sometimes see sparkly stars when I stand up from a particularly hard superset. They go away in about 3 breathes. What you describe reminds me of something that used to happen to me a few years ago. It had nothing to do with exertion or lack of food. I asked my doc and I forget the term she used but it was a variation of a migraine. She sent me to the eye doc since I hadn't been in years and he agreed. It hasn't happened in years.

[Susan W]

I agree with Tom too. I would have a hard time pushing myself through a hard session with so little food. I usually eat 2 HB eggs dipped in mayo right before my sessions.

[Collegegal82]

I had the same problem. For me it was a combination of not eating enough and not enough sodium.... Will you pass out, probably not but it can get scary when your out driving or crossing a street when that happens.

What I didn't factor in was that when you take prepared foods out you actually have to add a lot in to balance it out.