>I find it so difficult esp in morning when I crave coffee.
Sans the most strict clean fasters, almost everyone includes coffee. Preferably black, but if you’re only concerned with weight loss there’s an argument to being able to cheat a bit there too. If a little creamer and artificial sweetner keeps you going to the next meal, probably worth it. This would be dirty fasting.
>hubby does not support skipping meals (he believes exercise alone is enough).
My fiancée did not initially support IF either, but we were able to discuss that it was something I wanted to try for myself. Though I did agree to get some blood work done eventually to make sure I was being healthy.
As for exercise. It certainly helps, but driving weight loss through activity alone is tough. The body is remarkably efficient and the time to effort to calories burned is pretty dismal. Weight loss is almost always going to be driven by nutrition first because at the end of the day our own metabolism are what burn the most calories, so to lose weight we need to eat under that amount.
>I would like to hear your stories/tips & tricks of how you overcame the urge to eat constantly and start fasting longer. I may be addicted to food too.
If you really think you’re addicted to food then you should seek some help. You can have all the tricks in the world, but motivation and self-control are ultimately fickle and finite resources. I certainly didn’t start making lasting changes until I tackled the mental side of things first.
But stuff that helped me was breaking it down. It doesn’t need to be everything all at once trying to throw fasting, eating healthy, exercising, etc together. Pick one thing to work on for a few weeks, really hammer it home until it’s habit and routine. Make it like brushing your teeth, even if you don’t want to you do it anyways. Once it’s at that point it’s not something at the whims of motivation, it’s just part of you now. Then you can bring on something new.
I can relate to this. And although I knew about IF for quite some time, I needed another motivator to get me started. It was for me to address inflammation. It seems once you got started the last time, you were really successful. It’s unfortunate that your husband isn’t supportive. I’m sure he means well, but ultimately it is your choice. In the book Life in the Fasting Lane by Jason Fung, there is quite a bit about the difficulties we face from well meaning people around us. If he is interested in a more scientific overview, the podcast by Huberman Lab (YouTube etc) about IF might convince him.
I’m cooking all the meals at home, and even prepare the school lunches during my fasting window. It was a little tough in the beginning to not eat anything, but I’ve only done 17 hrs max, so I’m always eating dinner with the family.
Fasting helped me to get away from cravings. I look at a treat now and think it would be nice, but I don’t have to eat it, and that’s a huge change for me. I had been a bit of an emotional eater, usually plain dark chocolate, and it’s possible to recognize the difference for yourself. I read somewhere if the hunger originates in your body, it can be real hunger, but when it seems to be in your mouth and throat, it’s usually emotional and for example a search for dopamine. Find a few habits that can replace the search for food. It can be by kindness and validation toward yourself or an activity.
But I’m not denying myself everything. I make a few allowances here and there that keep me on a low carb diet. I never thought I could actually feel well doing this.
I wish you good luck! Let us know how it’s going.
ETA: exercise can make hungry. And it can be a challenge to not eat back what we loose through exercise.
Don’t try to overdo it. Don’t give up coffee if you really want it. Just don’t put any calories into it.
If you’re having trouble getting back into it, try to go back to how you first started doing IF. Try going 16:8 or even 18:6 at first. If that’s too much, just don’t do IF at all until you can just reduce your calories. Stop snacking, especially on sugary or high carb foods. Sugar will get me every time. It makes me want more. I can’t eat just one. Chips, raisins, even somewhat peanuts are dangerous to my willpower.
Sounds like you may have it tougher. Trying to do any kid of dieting with a family is tough. You end up buying/making snacks for them while trying to resist. I can just avoid buying them.
If you need it, take a weekly cheat day. This is why I can’t do keto. In keto, you can’t do cheat days without taking 2 steps back. With IF, you can.