It does get easier. Initially, you’ll notice you’re getting hungry at the times you’d normally eat. But after a few fasting rounds, those hunger signals will get quieter and quieter. Just try to ignore them for 1-2h, as they come in waves and go away shortly after. After a little while, you’ll notice that even if you do feel some hunger pangs, they’re very mild and easy to ignore, especially on OMAD. Try drinking teas, coffee, sparkling water, etc when you’re feeling the hunger - they help a lot. Also, if you’re feeling weak, drink some electrolytes. Good luck, you can do it!
For me, it depends on what you mean. Will the hunger be reduced / go away with time and experience. For me, yes.Will you stop wanting to eat out of habit / for pleasure? For me, no. I think about food more and more the farther into fasting I go. Distraction is key for me.
One upside is that (at least for me) after the first few fasts, I feel way better while fasting than I do when not fasting. No lame keto flu stuff, just nice steady energy with no afternoon crash.
Ive started omad again today after doing 16/8 for a while. Its a struggle especially as my usual eat time is coming up. I find drinking stock cubes help with hunger and electrolytes. It does get easier as your body gets used to it. Try to reduce carbs at your meal as they will make the next day harder.
In my experience when fasting was new and I didn’t know what would happen it was so much easier. I did two weeks water only with no prep or planning. That was my only successful 2 week fast (before 2020).
After recovery my mind really resisted anything with less than a 6 hour eating window with Sundays off. Then I started having a health issue that is resolved/treated effectively by water fasting 3 days every month. It works so I do it.
Now it’s a non-event, I’m rarely hungry before 1pm and usually have my last meal before 7. I’m settled in my meal coordination so I’m not hungry or snacky between meals. And when it comes time for my monthly food abstinence, it’s like doing chores; I don’t wanna, I could put it off, but it’s gotta get done and once I start (definitively commit) it’s normal. I’ve even accidentally gone 4 days because it was a long weekend.
5 days seems to be my upper limit to water fast and I cannot bring myself to do more, but I recognize that it’s purely psychological. Habit makes it easy but going the extra mile, for me, hasn’t gotten easier.
Of course it’s harder to eat nothing for a period of time than stuffing yourself with the nice smelling/tasting unhealthy food that you crave. There’s a reason so many people in the world are overweight.
But in the end you’ll get the reward of a healthier body and mind, and therefore probably a longer life.
It does get a little easier, because you get used to it, the hunger decreases a little and your friends/colleagues will see it as a part of you.But you will still need some will power to do it.
For reference: I do ADF (I eat only every other day) and every fasting day i need to remind myself why I’m doing it to stay strong. There is times (especially before my period starts) where I sometimes have to break the fasting day in the evening because of INSANE cravings but that’s ok and I don’t stress too much over it. That just shouldn’t become a consistency.
With OMAD it’s usually easier because you can eat a lot in the early afternoon and feel full till you go to bed - and then just do work / something productive in the morning until your next meal. Just choose the right foods, for example a lot of protein, whole grain bread, etc so that you don’t have to go to bed on a „empty“ stomach. :) hope that helped
For me it’s gotten easier. Going low carb and cutting out sugar helped so much. The sugar addictions are real. And of course the fast food industry spends billions trying to trigger consumers to eat because it will taste good, not because we need it.
Once I got the added sugar foods under control I found I could fast longer. Staying out of the kitchen and fighting boredom was another thing that helped me. Working from home when I wanted a break or a meeting ended early it was too easy to walk over to the fridge and see what was inside. Now I have a couple exercise machines I can hop on for 10 to 15 minutes instead of fixing a snack and I specifically do not open the fridge for anything except when I am going to fix myself a meal.
At this point the addictions are pretty much under control. I’ve done extended fasting a couple of times so I know what to expect and how to avoid certain triggers. Drinking lots and lots of water is super important.
I have a visual board which shows me at my heaviest and a couple of inspirational items to keep me motivated. The best quote I have is - “Nothings tastes as good as fit feels.”