Hi everyone! I have been under an incredible amount of stress for a number of days (work 14+ hour days, nuisance acquaintances, family death). First couple of days I was distracted eating, but I realized this is a very ineffective avenue for stress management. I decided to start fasting for weight loss and for autophagy. Now I’m not we’ll versed on technical aspects here - but wouldn’t times of high stress be a great time to fast-? (Assuming stress isn’t food/nutrition scarcity related). Stress damages cells, autophagy recycles them. Any opinions?
I would be interested in hearing what folks have to say about this. I believe that releasing cortisol (stress hormone) would tend to suppress the appetite, at least it does mine. I’m not an expert but have spent the better part of 2021 eating low to no carbs, IF and losing about 70 pounds as a result. I relapsed on sugar a couple months back and got very sick as a result … skin rashes, fevers, joint pain and scalp & face infections … so I’m working on cutting sugar again but wow the withdrawal is no joke.
It sounds like I used to be in a similar work situation as you. Before things turned that bad I did a 3 day fast, then after the rough stressful days started I could barely do intermittent fasting anymore and I was losing weight (already at a low but healthy bmi)
idk, i tend to want to stress eat when i have crazy work weeks. i find fasting kills those impulses after day 1, and i also find my overall stress to be lower while fasting. im more focused and mellow, less prone to getting flustered etc.
it works well for me! sometimes just hard to start when already in high stress mode
IMO, this is an incredibly individualistic question that can probably be better answered by reflecting on your past experiences.
Have you fasted while stressed before? How did it go? How did you feel?
For some people fasting exasperates stress and, on top of life stress, can lead to bingeing. If that’s the case for you, CR/CICO may actually be easier.
I don’t know the biology of it, but I’ll say I tend to be less hungry when I’m stressed (because usually high stress=really busy). I’ve been trying to be more mindful of what I eat even when I’m not in a fasting window, and take advantage of the lower hunger/appetite when it happens by not eating then.