Just finished my 2nd four day fast over the last 2.5 weeks. Dropped 12.5 pounds in the first one (250 to 237.5). Gained 4 pounds in the week in between on OMAD (237.5 up to 241.5). Then my second 4 day fast I went from 241.5 down to 228. Unbelievable numbers for me and super motivating to keep going. So overall in less than 3 weeks I’ve gone from 250 to 228lbs.
The mental battle has been something I’ve never accomplished before, super proud of this. The urge and boredom to eat is REAL, but I battled and just can’t believe how fast the weight fell off.
BUT THE MAIN REASON for this post is anxiety. I admit I don’t match people with life altering anxiety issues. But it does mess with brain, causes major sleep issues, and just is a nuisance 2 or 3 times a week. While fasting it is 5% of it’s usual monster. I don’t know if it a physiological issue or just that every part of my mental thoughts are spent battling to keep going. Either way, dropping the weight and my health are by far #1 as far as benefits so far… but a strong #2 is my lowered anxiety.
If you want to keep the anti-anxiety even when you’re eating, you could follow a ketogenic diet. When you’re in ketosis (from either fasting or restricting carbs) the glutamate-glutamine cycle is altered to allow more glutamine to convert to GABA.
What worked for me was writing about it in a journal. Every time I feel anxious and craving about food, I write down how exactly my body and mind feels in the moment, acknowledge the difficulties of overcome hunger and stated my reasons for fasting at the end.