Bit of backstory, about 3 years ago some stuff happened in my life and I decided, on a whim, to fast for a couple of days. I’d heard about the mental and physical benefits and boy did I feel them. After just a two day fast I managed to break a routine of disordered eating and gradually made steps to live a healthier life. Lost around 60-70 lbs over the next year and kept it off until last April. I genuinely think that two day fast helped me tremendously.
Unfortunately due to lockdown, general stress and anxiety I’ve fallen back into old habits. I decided to try fasting again but after numerous attempts over the past few months I’ve just never been able to keep to it. I always end up waiting till around 7pm and then giving in and binging. I’m really struggling. It’s like I have all this willpower until a point where it breaks, I give in, then feel bad for failing again.
Does anyone have any advice? Anyone face a similar challenge?
It always challenge to start up a fasting lifestyle after u stopped the routines. Are u willing to share what kind of diet u have like how much animal products and processed foods you consume per week. Also are are you willing to explore alternative plant medicine. Lots of ways to breakthrough that barrier that’s keeping you from healing yourself. Don’t stress on it. Just envision a healthier and stronger you and write down what you are willing to do to change your path.
It’s normal to experience an emotional wall. It’s normal to face a struggle, and to give up from time to time. The antidote is to cultivate clarity of intention.
The challenge with all progressive physical practices, like fasting, is that we get our most dramatic experiences early and then our feedback and ongoing progress becomes ever more refined and subtle. We just don’t get the emotional kick as we initially did to encapsulate us and take us all the way through to the other side. Our progress demands we do that now through clarity of intention.
In order to sustain our progress we have to be consciously deliberate, methodical and focused in our practice. There is no shortcut or fast track, there is only the “chop wood, carry water” banality of just doing what we intend. This demands clarity.
Lee Walker, former CEO of Dell, told me the best definition of discipline I’ve ever heard:
“Remembering what you truly want.”
It’s that simple. And it gets easier with continued practice.
Best wishes on your path.
I’m personally not really convinced by the concept of willpower. To me, it’s mainly the materialization of what your body is able to endure.
What I think is that fasting is not a free process, you need energy (so fat must be released from your adipocytes which is not so “automatic”) and nutrients (think minerals and vitamins) available so that the fasting metabolism is optimal or even possible. If you are short of such nutrients, your willpower will be negatively affected.
Also, maybe the fasting setting you are doing is too much for you, increase the frequency of your meal (like eating in the morning and in the evening and dry fasting in between, or having a setting more like Ramadan).
in my experience especially when I’m dealing with my fasting I realize that when I have a breakdown it’s an opportunity to have a breakthrough. what I mean is that there’s something going on mentally or emotionally that needs to be looked at. what is going on with your thoughts do things need to be processed and do you need to have a conversation and let them all out and just say the things that you’ve been holding in? is there some lingering emotions that haven’t been processed. The emotion speak in the language of physicality meeting you need to cry them out screen them out or sleep them out or some other way that feels safe to you to express yourself. I know it sounds like a small part of things but truly it’s screaming out at you to be looked at and it’s always helped me when I have had a wall when I fasted. you got this!
How about eat once every day around 7pm? And instead of binging, have a reasonable meal that’ll satisfy you.
But I know that skips the important part, which is what exactly are those bad old habits? Sounds like classic stress eating, which won’t be cured by fasting, but by finding other outlets to let that stress go. Fasting can help you find that, but it’s not a miracle cure. Fasting is quick and effective, but you also need a solid exit plan to maintain what you’ve achieved.
I don’t mean to sound harsh. Just seems like there’s more to it.
If you aren’t already try going breakfast to breakfast. It’s supposedly the better way, you’re likely to burn that meal throughout the day but won’t feel that I haven’t eaten anything yet am I really gonna do this feeling. So your last meal is breakfast on the first day and you break the fast with breakfast on your last day.
Source is Dr.Filonov.
Fast till 7PM. And eat a low insulin index paleo/keto diet salad of arugula, fresh parsley, true EVOO olive oil, lots of spices for polyphenol, lemon peel for flavanoids, lemon juice or acv with salt n pepper. Keep your eating window short like an hour or 2. Keep it low insulin. Leafy greens are almost 0 insulin response. Shrimp also low insulin . Dry fast 3 days to kick start healing process and then 22/2 fasting. You’ll still be in fasting mode and ketosis, and your body will still heal itself just slower. Get your water in during this 2 hour window. When you heal yourself, you gotta stay paleo/keto and dont undo all your hard work by eating junk and going back to old habits