I’ve been IFing for a month and if has worked well. I picked a sustainable schedule so I don’t feel the need for cheat days.
However this weekend (since Friday) I’ve messed up my fasting and I’m finding it hard to get back into the routine.
I don’t want this to lead to a complete breakdown of the habit. I need to summon my motivation and willpower back again.
Does anyone have any tips for dealing with blips like this?
Thanks
“Don’t beat yourself up” is my best advice. If you think you “messed up,” that could tend to make it easier to say “this isn’t for me.” I’d say one part of IF is that you can “mess up” and get back to it. Yesterday we had guests over. We ate and drank and my eating window was huge, and my fasting window yesterday and today will be much smaller. I just consider it part of daily life. Sometimes I’m right on my schedule, sometimes I have no schedule. The trend over time is the goal, not one, two, or five days. If I go on vacation or something, I plan on staying somewhat on IF, but if I don’t, I don’t. When I do get back on it, it will be back to normal. You sound like you were enjoying it since you said “found a sustainable schedule,” so don’t worry if that schedule isn’t adhered to every day. You’re not a train station, you don’t have to worry about being on time all the time.
Good luck getting back to it, but go easy on yourself no matter what.
What works for me is just giving myself permission to not fast and eat at maintenance. Funny enough I still manage to eat at a deficit and after a couple days I want to start up again. For me it’s more of a mental thing than a hunger issue.
One thing. If you have to make many decisions in a day that require willpower then it is harder to make a decision that requires willpower. So if you have had a tough day then don’t worry. You have become fatigued with decision making give yourself break.
You can’t avoid it, it’s impossible! We all fall off the wagon from time to time, and this is fine. I just accept it, do what I can to get back on and move on. As long as you are not neurotic about not falling off, you’re fine.
Cool thing about fasting is every day you can wake up and decide “ok I am not going to eat until noon (or whatever)”
Then, just do it. Stare at a clock, think of it like a job shift, or whatever, and do it.