I have a hard time figuring out when I’m hungry, just bored, or thirsty. When I feel anything from my gut I just need food and I love to eat. With this nasty little habit, it’s easy to overeat. I’m not the only person according to Walden Eating Disorder over 2.8 million Americans binge eat. One of my goals for my wellness journey is to create healthy eating habits. For me this means not only controlling what I put in my body but why I’m putting it there in the first place. I chose to do intermediate fasting because it gives a window of when I can eat so I have to be mindful of what I’m putting into it.
Fasting gives me time to prepare, and think about my meal. I chose a 5 day 12-hour fasting plan because it fits closely with how I want to eat in the future. The last meal is around 7 or 8 pm first meal is around 1 or 2. This might seem intense to some but 8 of those hours I will be sleeping so it’s not as hard as it sounds. I’ll show you how I did my fast and maintained my sanity. Keep in mind I have fasted multiple times before so I know what my body can handle. Please consult with a health care professional before taking on any new diets.
Day one was the most difficult as it usually will be. In the morning I made a large cup of coffee with zero-calorie sweeter. You want to ensure that the liquids you drink don’t have any calories in them whatsoever. Mainly you want to stick to water, teas, or black coffee. When it came to lunch I made myself a rice bowl with a lot of veggies. This was my blunder because after fasting for 12 hours it was too heavy. I forgot rule number two ease back into eating. By dinner, my stomach still wasn’t fully back so I just went to sleep.
Day two. I woke up starving. Something I love about fasting is as long as you hit your hours it’s fine to eat. I did keep it small with a large coffee and some eggs and toast. For lunch a smoothie then for dinner I had a smoothie. Boom 💥 day 2 is complete.
For the next 4 days, my meals went like this.
Breakfast: coffee
Lunch: fruit smoothie with fiber supplement to keep me feeling full.
Dinner: bowl or salad
During the first few days, the only thing that kept me up was the coffee. I made sure to get plenty of rest and did not exercise so I wouldn’t push myself too hard. I like jumping back into my healthy lifestyle this way because it makes me more aware and it helps me learn my body signals better. During this time if it wasn’t my eating window and I felt hungry I would take a few sips of water and be fine. I try to make this a habit especially if I had just eaten and still fill hungry. I hope this finds you well and I look forward to updating you next time.
