Since discovering this sub, I’m blown away at the results some people have shown. Im curious how much of the process is down to sheer willpower? Particularly in the initial stages.
The first two - four weeks are the hardest willpower and white knuckling then it gets easier and easier. I am a month and a half in and I started with 16:8 and am doing great now on 20:4 without cravings for awful things and I don’t even get hungry til my 20 hour fast is almost over. Read or listen to Delay Don’t Deny by Gin Stephens, honestly IF is a lot of trying it and finding the right formula that works for you.
Right off the bat, you have to plant your feet and deal with an absolute barrage of hunger cues.
But, you map out your plan and there’s at least once a day where you know you are well fed / well nourished. So when your body tells you forty minutes after that you need a little goodie, you know it’s bull. And once you figure out that your body is lying to you and will give up, you can break habits and build willpower.
There’s lots of being hungry but pretty soon you can begin to understand that hunger is very often just a fleeting feeling.
All of it. There are so many habits and temptations that work against fasting. The first few days are a bit grim. But you get used to it and I now have a real problem sleeping with a full stomach. I am no fun socially anymore!
I’m 3+ years into my fasting journey and the worst white knuckling I experience is when I don’t fast cleanly. Fast with no flavors - black coffee, plain seltzer, plain water, plain tea. It makes a difference for myself, but you need to test it.
What you eat in your eating window matters. I’m often resistant to this, but when I eat less nutritionally sound I feel it the next day. I had a pumpkin donut and half of a coffee roll last night for dessert and today’s fast is more on the difficult side.
it’s harder if you make it hard for yourself - start slow and don’t set yourself up to fail. for many people this means beginning by eating whatever they’d like in a 14:10 fasting window. then as you get used to time restricted eating, play with 16:8 and cleaning up your diet. it all depends on your starting point. i think most people fail when they think they can just start IF w one meal a day, and that meal isn’t nutritionally balanced.
i started at 16:8 with a relatively clean diet already, but this helped me entirely eliminate urges for late night snacking. then i moved to 18:6, then 20:4. i feel as though i’ve now gained a deeper understanding of my relationship to eating and i’m not interested in moving to OMAD, even though it might help the weight move faster bc i just want to develop better long-term eating habits. i occasionally eat sweets and drink alcohol, and i also don’t carb count, although i try not to overdo the carbs. my weight is probably coming off slower than other people but this allows me to enjoy time with friends, while putting in guardrails so i don’t slide back into overindulgence.
i think for most people the more restrictions you place on your diet, and the faster you want to lose weight, the harder IF can be to maintain.
It depends.
Some days it is incredibly easy - and I don’t seem to get hungry at all. Some days I get a little hungry and I’ll have a cup of coffee which satisfies the hunger pains. And then there are periods where I am starving and I need distraction, will power, inspiration - whatever.
I like this site because everyone seems positive - and frequently inspiring.
So, to answer your question… I don’t know. But somehow I just keep moving on. And you can do the same.
I was the sort of person who would break down crying if I missed a meal by a few hours because of blood sugar level drops. Now I do OMAD23:1 without hardly blinking an eye and can relatively easily go multiple days without eating, most desire for food that does come up being psychological.
It might be hard at first but it gets easier, just ease yourself in. And honestly, being controlled by my blood sugar was way worse than any hunger pain I’ve had along the way.
Oh, and stay hydrated, you’d be amazed at what having a glass of water or a cup of tea can do to help you through.
Good luck!
Less about willpower and more about discipline. People IF and calorie count and work out. That’s quite the bill sometimes! Take it at your own pace and you’ll adjust yourself as you see fit and get results. You got this op!