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Appetite Dying Significantly

Hi, I (27F) am 45 days into IF, and I mostly do OMAD and average 20 hours fast. I get hungry when I am about to break my fast, but I cannot eat much anymore. I have been LEAVING food. Before fasting, I ate twice daily and twice as much in each meal. I am being regular with my multivitamins and trying to keep up with hydration. Should I be worried about this? I am also slightly more tired lately. I rarely eat sweets; I never take added sugar. My cravings are at zero at this point. I am anxious if I am invited out and can't get food down anymore or get excited about restaurants.Starting weight 153lbs - current weight 141.40

Answer

100% normal. You have now been doing it long enough that your body now only gets hungry when it’s the typical meal time. It is also hardly surprising that you can’t eat as much as you used to or that your eyes are now bigger than your stomach is. Not eating all day has this effect naturally. These are the same types of things I noticed in the early going, and you can hear essentially the same thing repeatedly over at r/OmadDiet from the rookies.

Believe it or not, nowadays since I have been at maintenance for a long while I have to quite intentionally select calorie dense foods to make sure I am getting enough. I need between 2500-2800 calories per day at my current activity level or I will still lose weight. This is hard to do in one sitting, so I have devised many ways to fill out meals with sauces, condiments, gravies, and of course desserts. In all honesty I probably should have switched to 2MAD long ago but I am a stubborn bastard.

Answer

Honestly, this is one of my goals for fasting.

I legit have one of the most insatiable appetite that I was able to fix last year with low carb. I made the mistake of deviating from this low carb diet that worked perfectly for me and got my insatiable appetite back in January. My insatiable appetite, no doubt, is caused by hyperinsulinemia, followed by some degree of leptin resistance.

Fasting should help reduce hyperinsulinemia and leptin resistance. And that’s why you’re not all that hungry anymore.

If you’re not underweight, I don’t think you have anything to be anxious about. Ride the natural satiety wave you’re experiencing and keep on keeping on.