overlandflyer
Well-known member
i have been intermittent fasting for over 2 years now. admittedly, i was much more focused when i first started and lost weight and even into the first half year or so of maintenance. i still IF, but in the past year, every few weeks i skip a day... usually by eating a too-early breakfast. i try to lessen the damage by cutting calories on those days, but nevertheless, i do sometimes see a small bump. the closer you are to your lowest weight (for me, about a 22-22.5 BMI), the easier it will be for your body to store a bit of fat... as i have said before, your body is smart... fat stores are food in the bank.
this morning i was close to skipping a day. i have thought about when this happens and it's usually when i shift my eating window to late in the day on the previous day. i like the window of 6-8 hours after my last meal to fall into my sleep time, but when i eat late and get up early, it hits kinda hard some mornings. this morning i won, though. i made it through a very tough hunger period (hard, but not long lasting) and when it faded, it was noon before i had breakfast... 6 hours later. after that first hunger episode, i had no more throughout the morning.
so whether you IF or not, the challenge is to ignore your urge to eat the next time hunger hits. my suggestion would be to handle a hunger episode the first thing in the morning. they are not the easiest, but extending your overnight "fast" before breakfast is one of the best times for this challenge. if you make it, you will know you have more than likely burned fat calories JUST BY BREATHING right up until you have breakfast. the most important thing to remember... hunger is not physiological... it is psychological. it is your brain that makes your stomach growl and feel empty. even at a healthy BMI i know i am not going to pass out or harm myself in any way if i do not eat.
if you're game, let me know how it goes.
this morning i was close to skipping a day. i have thought about when this happens and it's usually when i shift my eating window to late in the day on the previous day. i like the window of 6-8 hours after my last meal to fall into my sleep time, but when i eat late and get up early, it hits kinda hard some mornings. this morning i won, though. i made it through a very tough hunger period (hard, but not long lasting) and when it faded, it was noon before i had breakfast... 6 hours later. after that first hunger episode, i had no more throughout the morning.
so whether you IF or not, the challenge is to ignore your urge to eat the next time hunger hits. my suggestion would be to handle a hunger episode the first thing in the morning. they are not the easiest, but extending your overnight "fast" before breakfast is one of the best times for this challenge. if you make it, you will know you have more than likely burned fat calories JUST BY BREATHING right up until you have breakfast. the most important thing to remember... hunger is not physiological... it is psychological. it is your brain that makes your stomach growl and feel empty. even at a healthy BMI i know i am not going to pass out or harm myself in any way if i do not eat.
if you're game, let me know how it goes.