A strange thing is happening and I’m just trying to find out if it’s normal or anything to worry about.
I’m doing a 20:4 schedule (primarily for weight loss). I eat right when my window starts and then I wait until two hours later and decide if I want to eat again or not.
When I eat the first time I am definitely hungry, no confusion. For the second meal I always spend an hour and a half debating with myself if I’m actually hungry or just afraid I’m going to be hungry later during my fast.
When I do eat a second time, afterwards I’m never really sure if I needed to or not and I am preoccupied with thinking about it.
Try running a little experiment. Just for one day, try not having the second meal. Just see how you feel. Remind yourself if you do get desperately hungry during the next fast, it won’t be the end of the world to break the fast slightly early that one day. You won’t be trapped in a situation where you need to eat and can’t. You can take the time to listen to your body and pay attention to its signals about hunger.
You seem to be worrying a lot about what will happen if you don’t eat that second meal, even if you aren’t hungry for it. My suggestion is — find out what happens! Then it won’t be a big scary unknown anymore.
The answer might be that yeah, you do get too hungry during the next fast, so you do need to eat that second meal. Then you’ll know for sure, and can stop wondering.
Or the answer might be, actually, you feel fine during the next fast! Then you’ll know it’s OK to skip that second meal if you’re not hungry for it.
Just my 2 cent because of similar experience, maybe to switch to the OMAD protocol (23:1) and switch to 20:4 on the days that you feel like you are truly hunger after the hour of your meal. That way you can use the 20:4 to expand your eating window if and when you are still hungry and want a 2nd meal.