The biggest issue I have while fasting isn’t cravings or hunger or whatever, it’s that I’ll be midway through a snack and get a notification from my fasting app and realize “Oh shit, I’m supposed to be fasting right now!”
I’ve got a permanent notification on my phone and watch, periodic notifications from the app, and yet I still genuinely forget that I’m fasting. Can anyone help?
Answer
So you can do a couple of things if you want.
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- Realize you have a choice in fasting, it is within your control only. No one here or there can make you fast or not. 1. None of us are bullies who want to see you fail, we just know how difficult it is to move past the mindless consumerism that we’re fed our entire life. It’s really, really hard to overcome this when everyone and thing around you is desperate to have you consume something for the sake of our society, it’s ok if you’re stumbling on this, you’re human after all.
- Every time you eat ANYTHING, all day, every day, every single time. Stop and check your fasting app/clock/whatever. Even while in your feeding window, stop and check. Get into the habit of checking every single time. If you aren’t hungry and are only eating due to boredom per your comments, checking every time should help you remember you are in your fasting window.
- Experiment with your window, move it up or down and around to find the best fit for your life. Not everyone has to follow the popular 12-8pm window, do what works for you.
- Plan out your meals and snacks every day that fit within your schedule and do not deviate from them. If this doesn’t help and you are still consuming in your fasting window then the mindlessness is still present and you need to just get over this combativeness and work on it. Mindfulness means being present in the moment, if you are consuming something contrary to your current goals, you aren’t living in the moment, that’s just the consumerist programming working, see point 1.
Personally I just look at the clock every time I’m about to eat and then make the decision if I want to eat or not. Or I have one big meal at the end of my window and that’s it. I hate tracking my food and calories so just looking at the clock is easier for me, but I also am very compliant with my window so until you are you may need the additional data.