Hello I’m 25 F maybe 165CM I’m not sure and maybe 75KG (we dont have a weighing scale at home) I started IF on a whim just last Tuesday (it’s Saturday today) so i’m not even a week into my IF journey. I ate 2 sandwiches earlier because i felt so hungry like my stomach was churning and it still is tbh and i feel bad now.. i went on with 16hrs of fasting and i didnt feel THIS feeling back then. I’m also using Simple as a tracker app for my fasting and it said my body was going into “fat burning” mode in less than an hour as I broke my fast :(
So my question is how do you guys stop yourselves from eating? Ive read that there’s emotional hunger and real hunger but i felt like what im feeling now is still real hunger. Should I just drink water everytime I’m hungry?
Hunger is controlled by hormones. Typically passes after 30 minutes or so. If you can just hold tight, drink water or a tea or black coffee, it’ll pass. Personally I noticed long ago that reducing carbs specially on my last meal of the day causes me to not be hungry at all the next day, making it easier to go for 18, 20 or even longer hours fasting.
Consider scaling back to 14:10 for a few weeks. It takes a while to get used to IF, and many people don’t find success if they immediately try to fast too long. Also, increase your water intake during your fasting period.
I saw a comment on this sub about how most people have never experienced “real” hunger and the hunger we experience in our first world society on a day to day basis is just our bodies trying to keep us from using fat stores (which is the point of IF). They read this in a book by Dr.Fung which a lot of people in this sub advocate for.
Everyone who starts IF has to get over food cravings. Eventually your body will get more used to it. Also don’t freak out too much if you slip up sometimes– if you freak out and stress if you break fast early you’ll just get frustrated and burn out.
A lot of people have cheat days or have 1-2 days of the week that they just eat at whatever time, so if you slip up you can just tell yourself that was your cheat day and try to do better for the rest of the week.
Also you may want to start with an easier IF schedule like 14:10 as someone said. I see IF like exercise– if you’ve never done it you might want to start easy/light.