Hi everyone! Looking for some motivation to start fasting again.
Some background about me: I used to fast pretty regularly, 3-5 days every month + OMAD in between. Last 2 years turned out to be a hell of a stress, so I kinda returned to a vicious habit of eating carbs for quick comfort. I gained lots of weight, screwed up my nutrition behaviour - confusing appetite with hunger again, strong cravings for sweets even though I understand that it’s really not necessary for my body and avoidable if I get back to keto. The saddest part is that there isn’t much less stress in my life, but now I’m also more clumsy and more fatigued because of all the extra weight I have to carry and general non-fitness.
I did a couple of tries to fast for relatively short periods: 48 hrs, 24 hrs but the fake hunger just drives me crazy.
I absolutely admire people in this subreddit: those that do regular fast, or crazy long (as for me) ones or those that maintain OMAD. But I’m pretty sure there were at least a couple of kind-of-such cases of breakdowns and then come-backs as well. Please share what help you to come back, what motivated you. Also general cheer ups are of course welcome ;)
It is really more a matter of self discipline than motivation, at least initially. Hell, most days when I wake up I am not particularly motivated. I carry on anyway. Though to be honest I am to the point now that fasting is just what is “normal”. To do otherwise would be unthinkable. It’s as deeply ingrained as breathing.
Where I had all of my back and forth, yo-yo, lose 20/gain 30, etc. type of things happening was all prior to fasting entering my life. That prior time period comprised all the calorie counting, keto, nutrisystem and every other bullshit some yahoo dreamed up that I tried and failed at. You name it and I tried it.
So why did fasting work and why am I at a healthy weight for the first time in my adult life? Fuck if I know in many respects. I suppose that for me it was just easier for me to restrict time instead of restricting food or types of food. Doing OMAD every day is much more bearable when you have a wife like mine who can cook her ass off and I know that I will have a marvelous dinner waiting for me after work. And I can eat a man sized portion and not have to worry about trying to weigh shit or have to avoid certain foods or macros. OMAD was my life hack basically.
That being said, I still frequent numerous fasting outlets online because I also know me. I am a true fatty at heart and I have to stay forever vigilant if I want to keep what I got. I have a lifetime of never taking my foot off the gas if I want to stay this way. That is just my cross to bear I guess, but it sure as hell beats the alternative.
the relative difficulty of a 30 day fast was more than enough motivation for me to never, ever regain. i kept it all off and lost more, now in a very healthy range. its been a few years since this fast and its not possible for me to regain because the experience trained me for strong self control, as i had been practicing that behavior well passed the 21 day mark said to form new habits.
“relatively difficult” is the operative phrase, as my month fast was overall brilliantly easy because i spent months fat adapting with keto-OMAD, and made sure i was nutritionally stocked up, as much as this restrictive preparation could offer.
during the fast itself, i kept busy and mentally stimulated, which demands energy, therefore creates energy. i only had 5 days of 0 energy, usually because i overspent on the days previous. the end of the fast, smooth as it was, was relative hell with urgent thoughts to eat, which gave me an energy surge to do yard work and kitchen rearrangement. i could have run a marathon with unreasonable vigor, lol.
i cant stress it enough: take time to fat adapt before fasting. it makes the difference between comfort and energy, and being miserable and lethargic.
It’s really hard, especially when you’re at home. The temptation to just go eat is overpowering sometimes. Best tip that helped me is to get rid of all the snack foods/quick meals. So if I wanna eat, I’m.gonna have to make a full meal. Being a lazy slob that’s enough motivation for me to not eat for a few days. But even then that’s not enough
Like Even last night i was about 24 hours into a 48 hour fast and felt like absolute shit, ran to the shop and got some snacks. Felt disgusted with myself before during and after eating but we’re only human, it’s ok to eat and try again. That was 15 hours ago, so currently 15 hours into my 48 hour goal. It’s tough, but you just gotta find distractions.
I have a lot of social commitments that I can’t get away from. This weekend we had an epic football weekend and dungeness crab was on sale($599/lb). And the homies bought a case of new beers that were delicioso. So I ate waaaay to much food this weekend but that’s OK since I’m gonna fast for the week as I’ve been successful in my last few fasting sessions.
Well most of the week unless we have an unexpected dinner popup, wich I may or may not be able to skip. Too much good food…..first world problems I suppose.
So to answer your question start anytime. If you fail you can try again. No biggie.
Personally I still have 15ish pounds to go but I don’t mind a cheat day periodically where I eat everything and the kitchen sink. It’s amazing!
Good Luck!