Eating is definitely something I use to subside my anxiety and get my mind off things. I also feel amazing when I finish a long fast. I have been trying for months now and can’t get past 60 hours. What do you do to push yourself?
You work on your anxiety.
Anxiety management is the most successful branch of cognitive therapy but few people are aware that anxiety is high treatable. Studies show that even basic cognitive therapy can drastically lower anxiety levels.
I’d pick up something like the Anxiety Handbook or Anxiety and Depression Workbook and try a few of the exercises. The nice thing is that they won’t just help with fasting. Easing your anxieties just frees up so much mental energy.
(If you don’t want to buy books, there are a ton of free pdfs available online as well from mental health resources.)
My suggestion is to keep your hands busy if you can. I highly recommend knitting, not only does it keep your hands busy, but it can induce a calm, almost meditative state, and has been a proven stress/anxiety reducer. Bonus: you get to make something cool and learn a new skill!
One of the things you could aim to work towards is increasing testosterone. It seems that people with higher testosterone have lower anxiety. It’s not particularly easy to boost, but something to be aware of.
i can recommend Meditation.
it trains your “muscles” to observe, let go, and other things that i dont remember. after a while of practice you can observe and have an emotion without being overwhelmed by it. you let it happen without resisting the emotion, without keeping it alive. emotions have to be felt at some point. there is no way around it.
and be getting better and better at observing, there is a good chance that you understand why you feel and do what you do. and then you can choose to make a change.
change is not easy for many people. but everyone can learn and grow.
humans have limitless potential to become whatever they truly want to be. the question is are you willing to put in effort and are you willing to let a part of you die to create it in a new way.
are you a anxious person. or are you a person that feels anxiety?
Have you tried not being anxious? /s
Seriously though, this is a big part of what causes obesity in some people in the first place. The hormonal changes from chronic stress (or anxiety which is just another flavour of stress) can directly lead to fat gain and obesity.
How to solve it? By actually targeting your anxiety. Meditation, calming music and CBT are all good options. This is something you have to explore with a medical professional.
If you’re trying to fast and find yourself breaking it due to anxiety overwhelming you then at the very least make sure the foods you are consuming don’t contribute further to the hormonal imbalance. Eat good clean whole foods, leave the processed stuff in the store. It might even alleviate the anxiety knowing you’re eating clean.
And don’t give yourself a hard time either. Going through this sub it’s easy to think that fasting is easy. It’s not, you’re fighting against your programming and trying to rewrite it.
Playing a video game works for me, so does getting on the treadmill or exercise bike and just going easy while watching something.
It’s okay to not get past 60 hours. However, a way that works for me is to stay distracted, busy.
I will say meditation has done wonders for my mental health (and so does exercise). Look into Jack Kornfield and just listening to him is nice, Tara Brach as well.