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Listening to your Body

Still a newbie here… going from eating whatever/whenever lifestyle to IF has been amazing & I am loving this structure & benefits. How did you guys learn how to “listen” more to your body: I’m feeling like heartburn/reflux recently but not sure what to do. What types of cues do you look for knowing you need certain electrolytes or do you just regularly take certain vitamins/electrolytes? What are signs you look for if you would potentially need to break a fast early?

Answer

I would just take whatever you’d normally take for those things, gasx I guess. Are you feeling it during fasting or your eating window? I, by no means, am a professional IFer, if that is a thing, but I normally start my eating window with vitamins and supplements then wait maybe another hour before I eat “food”. I take Vit C, D3 and a multi. Then I also take bioten and collagen in a protein shake. An hour later I might start with something light, like cashews, then move into a light meal. Later I’ll have dinner. Not sure how much I listen to my body (maybe ignore it is more accurate) but I drink a lot of water throughout the day. Start everyday with a big glass of water then hydrate throughout. I workout during my fast as well to keep the burn going. As far as ending my fast early I try not to but never had a real “medical” reason to. I think after a while you just get used to the routine and it just becomes your schedule. I just focus on things I need to get done that day and the next thing you know it’s time to eat, I sometimes forget to. I do 16:8 regularly (3:p-11:p but sometimes 5-9) and mix it up w omad, if I feel I need to shock the system a little. I also cheat on weekends as I like that monday morning pang. Best of luck!!

Answer

I take the same multivitamin and salts every day when I break fast. As far as heartburn, I’ve just identified the types of foods that trigger it. For me that’s bread and other similar carbs. Once I reduced things it made it easier to see that when those were part of the equation it was more likely to set it off. So I don’t have that as much. But if I feel like having it I’ll just add an acid controller to my supplements. But I mainly avoid the foods.

Answer

Although my body has adapted well to fasting by now (I’ve been doing it a few years) I too have experienced acid reflux recently. Not sure why because I don’t notice it correllating with specific foods. I don’t do long fasts anymore (usually just 18 - 20 hour fast every second day) if I find myself feeling really groggy I take water with some salt. If that doesn’t help I will breaek the fast early with some vegetbles like carrots and celery. usually I can go 20 hours no problem.