Fasting Motivation: There Are Two of You
One of you wants to lose weight and get healthy, and one doesn't give a rip and just wants to eat all the things. The person who wants to get healthy better learn how to trick the other one.
Fasting Motivation: There Are Two of You
Have you ever noticed there are two of you: the one who desperately wants to lose weight to get healthy, and the one who doesn't give a rip about health and just wants to eat all the things. The one who wants to get healthy needs to learn how to trick the one who wants to eat like there's no tomorrow.
This truth is why Intermittent Fasting (IF) can be so wildly successful for so many people. You get to live out both of these personalities.
We've all had the experience of locking up that crazy, over-eater person for a period of time while following some calorie-restricted diet. The problem is that sooner or later, she escapes; when she does, it's like a Cookie Monster version of the Incredible Hulk. The one of us who wants to get healthy cowers under a desk while Cookie Monster Hulk undoes all the hard work of our previous months.
Enter the miracle of IF. Now, we get to switch between these two conflicting desires during different parts of the day (or for alternate day fasters, every other day.) And because our overeater self is only cooped up for only short periods of time, when she emerges after a day of fasting, she's only a tad pent-up, angry, and ready to go on a bender.
After I’ve been fasting for a good length of time, I eventually become hangry and cranky, and I sometimes think: "That's it! I've had it with this depriving myself business. I just want to eat all the things." Then I say to my overeater-self, "That's fine. No problem. In just a bit you get to eat as much as you want as long as you start with protein and veggies, and avoid sugar and highly processed carbs." I'm hungry enough that I'm willing to make any bargain. We shake.
When my eating window opens, I eat all the high-protein things and enjoy them like the best food I've ever tasted. I hardly miss the carbs. By the end of each meal, I'm pleasantly full and quite happy. My crazy, over-eater self is now tamed and mild. In fact, she's lazily snoozing away, not soon to be roused. My wanting-to-be-healthy self can then declare tomorrow another fast day, and the other self doesn't even notice until it's time to eat again. And so the cycle continues.
Here’s what happened when I learned how to trick that overbearing cookie monster:
First picture taken July 20, 2022 just before I started ADF on August 1st.
Second picture taken 2 weeks ago. Eight inches gone from my waist and down 40 lbs.
I just listened to your podcast episode with Gin and it was one of my favorites of all time. You have a gift for sharing! Thank you
I loved your interview on Gin's podcast that I listened to yesterday and am so happy to have found you on Sub Stack!
I have been IF and mostly meat based very low carb since 2017. I started with very low carb and then added IF quite by accident. I just wasn't hungry so I skipped breakfast and then started skipping lunch. I still can't believe how good I feel just by removing the sugar, grains, starches and seed oils and avoiding most ultra processed foods. My fasting window is also somewhere around 18 - 19 hours on most days.
I lost a total of 45 pounds. I went from 155 down to 118 that first summer and then dropped to 110 over the next 2 years. I have been able to easily maintain that weight loss with a 4 to 5 pound swing that I allow for myself. I wear a extra small shirts and a size 0 to 2 in jeans, depending on the brand.
Last fall I did get down to 108 due to being super busy at work and having several 24 hour fasts in a row. I felt fantastic, but was getting a little bony. LOL. For reference I am 5'2".
This way of eating is the best thing I have ever done for myself. I feel better at 51 than I ever did at 40 or even my late 30's. I used to suffer from severe sciatica, low back pain, hip pain, knee pain and foot pain and suffered from severe headaches. I was also diagnosed pre-diabetic.
I can happily say all those issues and pain are GONE! I wish I had known this in my 20's. It would have saved me a whole lot of grief and suffering. Sciatic pain and day ender headaches are no joke.
My lab numbers look great too. Triglycerides - 48. HDL - 135. HDL/ Triglyceride ratio .3
Fasting Insulin- 3. A1C 5.4 AST/ALT ratio .79
And did I also mention that menopause has been a breeze?
I could go on and on about this topic, but I'll stop there. I just really like talking about this stuff. It's so fascinating to me.