I’m new to fasting and am still trying to figure out the best way to approach it. I’ve been consistently doing 16:8 and 18:6 every day but am wanting to explore longer fasts this week.
My longest is about 24 hours, but here’s where I’m a bit at a loss. Is it better to have a small ~200 calorie snack at 24 hours then keep on going or does that defeat the purpose and should I just call it and have a full meal? I’m fasting for weight loss, so obviously there’s the issue of calories in/ calories out, but I’m trying to establish a lifestyle and I don’t want to slip into an unhealthy mindset where I just never eat or only eat very very small quantities because I’m always trying to fast. For context In the last 4 days, I’ve had 2 full, clean meals and about 3 “snacks” consisting of 100-200 calories each.
I am noticing feelings of failure and shame when I eat, even if it’s in an eating window, so I’m really keeping a pulse on this and holding it loosely— don’t want to develop an unhealthy mindset. Anyone have any advice or thoughts?
Answer
In my experience it was easier to power through the difficulty a couple times and get used to it than too eat 200 cal and stop there (plus dealing with the knowledge that I wasn’t truly fasting anymore.) It gets easier after the first couple times!
Answer
Don’t be too structured. Just give an eating window a shot. If you feel genuinely good, keep going. If you are genuinely hungry, eat. The question you’ll need to ask yourself is if the sensation you’re feeling is genuine hunger or just periodic stomach growling.