How Intermittent Fasting Changed My Relationship with Food

You may have heard about Intermittent Fasting and some of its associated health benefits by now.  From cognitive benefits to weight loss, decreasing risks of type 2 diabetes to heart health, many studies have show Intermittent Fasting (IF) to have powerful benefits.  

I was drawn to IF because of all of this research supporting it as a way to promote health and aid weight loss, specifically the way fasting has been shown to trigger autophagy, which is simply the body’s way of cleaning out damaged cells in order to regenerate newer, healthier cells.  Because autophagy can lead to repair and recycling of older or toxic proteins, it’s main benefits seem to come in the form fo anti-aging principles, which definitely caught my attention.  Although my initial interest was focused on the health benefits associated with fasting, I soon came to discover it has many other benefits, particularly in regards to my relationship with food.

Food has always had some sort of control over me.  I’ve been counting calories and planning and tracking meals for years.  My mind would easily get consumed with thoughts about what I’ve already eaten, whether or not I should have eaten that, and what I should eat next.  For years I have been told that for optimal health and fitness, we supposed to be eating 6 small meals, with breakfast being the most important of all these meals.  I would finish a small meal, not quite satisfied, already thinking about what I would eat next.  I never realized was the amount of space all this thinking and planning was taking in my mind, and the way food often consumed my thoughts.  I lost the ability to eat intuitively because I was always trying to eat according to a plan and a schedule.  The problem was, I never really felt quite satisfied after any of my small meals, and I found myself constantly struggling with snacking and cravings.  I realize now that I never allowed myself to experience real hunger, and I never learned to listen to my body and the signals it would naturally give me telling me to eat because it truly needed the nourishment, not because it was "time" for a meal.  I had grown accustomed to always needing to eat, and never gave myself the opportunity to truly experience hunger and then eat until my body felt truly and naturally satiated.

Fast forward 5 years, and my eating habits look vastly different.  I now follow a 16/8 pattern of Intermittent fasting, which simply means I consume all food and meals within an 8 hour window of time, and refrain from eating the other 16 hours.  I usually have my first meal anywhere between 12-1:30, depending on my schedule, and I eat dinner with my family around 6:30.  I absolutely love having 2 larger meals a day, rather than smaller meals that never seem to quite leave me satisfied.  Sometimes I’ll have a snack in the late afternoon around 3:30, but not another full meal.  It took a bit of time to adjust to a 16/8 IF style of eating, but it was actually a much easier transition than I would have expected.   I simply pushed my first meal a bit later over time, and gave myself a few months to work up pushing my first meal back to the afternoon.  Prior to IF, I would eat breakfast around 7:30 before work.  When I began IF, I pushed breakfast off until about 9:30 at first, and then back by about another hour or so at a time until I was able to reach the amount of time I wanted without eating.  

By far, the greatest challenge I faced during this time was mental opposition to not eating.  I feared being hungry and I feared not being able to function properly or have enough energy to get through my morning without eating.  Once I realized that I would not only be OK, but would actually feel great, fasting became a no-brainer for me.  I had more time in the morning, enjoyed two large and satisfying meals, and not only felt clear-headed and energetic, but noticed I felt slimmer as well.    My workouts and energy levels haven’t suffered at all.  I am an early-morning exerciser, so following a 16/8 pattern of eating works perfectly in my schedule.  

I would say fasting improves my workouts rather than hinders them.  Once I’ve had a little coffee, I’m ready to get my blood flowing, and having a meal in my stomach would only slow me down.  I just about always follow my workout with another cup of coffee, and then I’m set for the first half of my day.  Granted, there are times that I might feel particularly hungry or not in the mood to fast, and I eat on those mornings.  I never force a fast, but I find that I just about always prefer the feeling of fasting on my body.

Intermittent Fasting has changed the way I view food and eating. I am now confident that I can control my food and food does not control me.  When hunger strikes, I can acknowledge it as a feeling, have some water or tea, and know that the feeling will pass.  When my body is ready to eat and I choose to eat, I can enjoy a larger meal and eat to satisfaction. I no longer allow so much of my time and thinking to be stolen away by thoughts about food, and in that regard, feel like I’ve been given the gift of time and headspace.  Intermittent fasting might not be right for everyone, but it has brought many positive changes to my life, and I’m definitely sticking with it!