Health and Technology
My AI Wellness Experiment: Day 2 - Understanding the Fatigue of Change
It's only been two days in my AI Wellness Experiment and I found myself feeling fatigued. Was this normal? I asked my AI wellness coach for advice.
At 61, Susan Williams was facing the uncomfortable truth: her health was sliding into the "not great" category. But her motivation to get healthier was different this time along with having a fascination and interest with AI. Could combining these two things be a winning wellness combination? These are the summaries from her daily reflections and conversations with her AI wellness coach and part of her series, "When AI Gets Personal: What I Learned in 30 Days with an AI Wellness Coach".
Day two brought some unexpected challenges that I ended up turning to my AI wellness coach for answers. Good news was it was able to help me understand what I was experiencing was completely normal. While I was expecting the journey to have ups and downs, I wasn't quite prepared for how my body would respond to the dietary changes I'm making and so fast.
Fatigue and the Adjustment Period
The most noticeable change today was feeling more fatigued than usual. When I checked in with my AI wellness coach, I learned this is actually a common experience during the first few days of changing eating habits. My body is essentially recalibrating on multiple levels - blood sugar stabilization, digestive adaptation, and metabolic shifts all happening at once.
Understanding that this fatigue typically peaks around days 2-4 before improving significantly by the end of week one was reassuring. It's not that I'm doing something wrong; my body is simply adapting to processing and using fuel differently.
Sleep Disruption: The Unexpected Challenge
What caught me off guard was how my sleep was affected. While I'm still able to fall asleep, I've been waking up after just 5-6 hours and struggling to get back to sleep. Even more concerning was the increased anxiety I've been feeling, particularly during these middle-of-the-night wake-ups.
My AI wellness coach explained this is actually a classic pattern during dietary transitions. The anxiety isn't mental - it's biochemical. When blood sugar drops during the night, my body releases stress hormones like cortisol and adrenaline to bring it back up. These same hormones that wake me up also create that wired, anxious feeling.
The 8 PM Eating Cutoff Connection
I had always believed that it was best to stop eating at 8pm and have been practicing that before I even started this experiment. I shared this with my AI wellness coach and learned that this cutoff might be contributing to the sleep issues. With dinner around 6-7 PM and no food after 8 PM, I'm potentially going 10-11 hours without fuel by the time I wake up at 3 AM. For someone adjusting to new eating patterns, that gap might be too long right now for me.
My AI wellness coach suggested that the solution wasn’t complicated: a small protein-rich snack closer to bedtime could help stabilize overnight blood sugar. This isn't about eating more calories, just redistributing them strategically to support better sleep.
My fatigue and sleep disruption are likely connected - poor sleep makes me more tired, and dietary changes can temporarily affect both. I'm essentially experiencing a normal adjustment period that should improve significantly by days 5-7.
The Bigger Picture
As weird as this whole process is, I have to admit I do like having AI on standby to answer my questions in real time instead of wondering if something is wrong or if I should quit. It confirmed that these challenges are temporary and directly related to positive changes happening in my body.
The Positive Side
Despite these challenges, I'm feeling pretty good about the other aspects of the program. The exercises continue to feel manageable and energizing, and my daytime energy (aside from the adjustment fatigue) has been stable. The nutrition plan is still keeping me satisfied throughout the day.
Key Learning
Day two has been a lesson in patience and trust in the process. I'm learning that my body is working hard to adapt to these positive changes, and the temporary discomfort is actually a sign that transformation is happening. With some strategic adjustments to my evening eating window and the knowledge that this phase is temporary, I'm feeling optimistic about pushing through to day three.
The journey isn't just about the physical changes - it's also about learning to listen to my body and understand what it's telling me. I did find that having an AI wellness coach available to help me decode these signals in real-time has been very helpful so far. So onto day 3 we go....
The journey is almost more important than the destination...
Check out day 3 where I try to figure out with my AI wellness coach how to navigate a wine and cheese party.
