What I Have Learned From Fasting
In 2020, a lot happened in the world and with me personally. I lost my job in the early days of COVID and found myself at 58 years old, overweight, looking for a job, and also looking at losing my insurance. It was a distressing time, to say the least.
I needed to make some changes and addressing my weight was one of the changes I tackled first. I heard a lot of promising information about intermittent fasting, but I didn’t know that much about it. I got the book The Obesity Code by Dr. Jason Fung and started learning. Incorporating fasting as a part of my lifestyle was one of the best things I’ve ever done.
I adopted this as a lifestyle that I have found maintainable, and that has taught me a lot about my relationship with food. I lost 60 pounds and have maintained that easily. This lifestyle does come with a learning curve, but here are some of my biggest takeaways.
Hunger is about hormones. There are hormones that make us hungry and hormones that make us feel full. In his blog, Dr. Fung explains: “The main satiety hormones are peptide YY, which responds primarily to protein and cholecystokinin, which responds primarily to dietary fat. The stomach also contains stretch receptors. If the stomach is stretched beyond its capacity, it will signal satiety and tell us to stop eating.”
You can’t will yourself to not be hungry. By addressing the hunger and fullness hormones, fasting is much easier. If I get off track (which is a choice), I can adjust easily with a short fat fast (eating eggs, olives, avacados, bacon, fatty fish like salmon, etc). This gets rid of hunger and allows me to be able to fast much easier.
Sometimes I eat even when I’m not hungry, however, now I know the difference. As I have strengthened my fasting skills, I have realized that sometimes I eat for reasons other than hunger, and it is interesting to explore those reasons. In some cases, it is because of an event or for convenience. That doesn’t mean it is necessarily wrong, it just means that I need to make adjustments. In order for this to be a lifestyle, I have to be flexible.
I still enjoy food. I’m much more conscious of what I eat, and I like to make good choices. For the most part, I choose whole, unprocessed foods, which are yummy. I occasionally will make a choice to eat something that is not good for me, but it is a conscious decision and I realize that I will have to adjust accordingly.
For instance – at my mother’s 85th birthday party, she wanted a hot dog cookout. I knew beforehand I would be eating a hotdog, chips and cupcakes. I enjoyed the celebration and ate all the things. Afterwards, I fasted for a day and was back on track.
Sugar and processed food mess me up. As I mentioned in the example above, I do sometimes choose processed foods and sugar, but since it is rare for me to do so, my body is not happy with me when I do. I generally feel sluggish and bloated when I indulge which makes me really look forward to fasting because I know it will make me feel better.
It is all in my mind. I think this is the hardest thing about the fasting lifestyle. After a time of fasting, sometimes, I just want to eat. It is not that I’m hungry or at an event. It is just in my head that I would like to eat something. I think sometimes, it is just to have something to do, it is just habit. At these times, I have learned to just get busy. Taking a walk is usually my go to choice. That is also a strategy for riding out a wave of hunger if it does occur.
There is no such thing as cheating. What I eat or don’t eat is always a choice. For me, an all or nothing mentality would lead to failure. For me, it is a matter of perspective. Yes, there are bad foods that I should avoid. There are also a lot of good foods that are good choices.
The more you do it, the easier it gets. Fasting was definitely harder in the beginning. It gets a lot easier as you get used to it. Over the holidays, this year, I have chosen to enjoy food with friends and family. This has meant eating more often than usual. I have been able to maintain my weight, but I actually get tired of eating so often. I really look forward to starting the new year and continuing with this lifestyle that has helped my physical and mental health.