I’ve recently started the 16:8 fasting and been doing it a week, my eating window is from 12pm-8pm.. I usually sleep from 11pm til 7am.. i have a question , how do you deal with feeling irritable when hungry? I’d like to shorten my eating period to 18:6 but I struggle with feeling irritable when hungry, I also feel weak, tired and have intense cravings for chocolate/sweet drinks which I didn’t really have before I started fasting. Does anyone have any tips to feel less irritable and weak when I don’t eat? Thanks In advance
I found that the problems you mentioned lessened over time for me as I continued IF. So you may still be adjusting. While this doesn’t get rid of irritability, I would just say try to be aware of when you are irritable due to fasting so you don’t take it out on other people and know to apologize if you get snippy with someone. Recognizing you are irritable will help prevent it from controlling your actions.
I am a grumpy Gretchen even when I am full, so I get your struggle, ha! Something that has helped me is to find different teas that I drink during my fasting period. I was never much of a tea drinker before this, but my work had a bunch of different kinds and I tried a few. It turns out I love them AND they really help me feel less hungry, irritable, and just overall frustrated with my eating window. I usually have black coffee at home before I leave for work and then drink a cup of tea as soon as I get into work (around 9), and it’s usually followed by at least one more cup. This week I also made a goal to drink more water in between cups of tea and that actually helped way more than I thought it would.
Good luck!