Have you ever experienced the following in the initial weeks of starting a new diet:
- More mental clarity – you’re completing more tasks at work and feel like you’re mentally sharp
- Boost in energy – you all of a sudden don’t need that second cup of coffee during the day
- Less pain – you start to notice less pain and inflammation
- You just feel amazing
All of the above are normal outcomes of the “Honeymoon Phase” of dieting.
So what is the Honeymoon Phase?
It is a length of time where we feel great, yet it’s not because of the diet, rather it’s because we’re running off of adrenaline.
The honeymoon phase typically lasts 8-12 weeks. Within this timeframe our bodies are producing adrenaline as a stress response to the lack of calories (energy).
When we enter a calorie restricted diet our brain and body have to find other avenues to produce energy – this can come from ketones (a substance the body makes when glucose is low and our stress shortens like adrenaline and cortisol.
The reason why we feel so great in the honeymoon phase is because we are living off of adrenaline.
Adrenaline helps:
✔️Deliver more blood to the brain and muscles
✔️Makes your brain more alert
✔️Raises sugar levels in the blood to give you energy
It’s an essential stress hormone that helps keep us safe and alive and/or alert and energized.
However, the brain and body cannot sustain long periods of relying on adrenaline because adrenaline is meant to serve as a short boost in alertness vs. anything long term.
Therefore, the longer we are restricting calories and depriving the body of energy (calories) the worse we can start to feel when adrenaline starts to drop.
The “I feel amazing, but then I started to feel terrible” symptoms are expected. This is what your body is designed and hardwired to do as a safety precaution.
Please stay tuned to learn more about this brain based perspective on dieting.
