I started intermittent fasting again a couple weeks back and im kind of hitting that groove where im really into being okay with not eating immediately when i wake up and not snacking late into the night. I usually do 16/8 but today I was pretty busy so I pushed it to 19 hours and I felt great.
I love the feeling of waking up and not feeling full or bloated. I fell into really bad eating habits for the majority of 2022, gained almost 20lbs. so keeping getting back into healthier habits is making me feel better physically and mentally.
Currently on hour 15 of my daily 16 hour fast. I am consistently fasting from 8 PM to Noon and always break it with a big fat salad. I look forward to that daily salad more than I ever thought I would because A: it’s the first thing I am eating in 16 hours and B: I’ve learned how to make awesome salads at home thanks to some Instagram and YouTube chefs! Homemade dressing has been the biggest game changer so far, followed closely by roasting some of the veggies so I am not just eating a bowl of raw stuff.
So every day around noon, I eat my salad with chicken, tuna, or tofu. I usually consume 2 snacks between lunch and dinner: 1/2 cup 2% cottage cheese with 1 cup berries and a Premier protein shake. I will swap one snack for a hardboiled egg or two if I have them around. Dinner is typically a protein (chicken, tofu, salmon, etc.) + a green vegetable + a grain. I end my fast right at 8 PM with a Dannon Light and Fit yogurt for dessert!
Currently debating between fasting for longer (18:6) or cutting out one snack each day. Since I feel so great on this current plan, but would love to get my calories down further, something in my current plan needs to change. My maintenance TDEE is 1671 so it’s a challenge to get myself into a solid calorie deficit, even when doing IF.
Happy Fasting!
Started fasting 10 days ago.
Started with 14:10, thought anything more would be impossible. After a few days I switched happily to 16:8. Sometimes longer but that’s my minimum. I found ginger and lemon tea is awesome for blocking hunger.
As a bit of a sugar addict I’m really stunned at how quickly my body has gravitated towards whole foods. I always ate a lot of them but I ate sugary crap also. But now I’m almost turned away from junk… I just finished work and got a mini apple pie as a treat for sticking to it… ate half, spat out whatever else was in my mouth… how did I like this stodgy crap?! I hope this continues.
I also used to start the day yawning and groggy, now I’m alert from the get-to. It’s so weird… everyone at work has asked if I’m getting more sleep, nope, just fasting and loving it.