How to Start Intermittent Fasting and Keep It Up

My intermittent fasting journey This space normally features conservative political commentary. But something major happened in my life that has nothing to do with politics, and I wanted to share it.

Why I Decided to Start Intermittent Fasting

I got serious about my health, my body, and my future. My trip to the Mayo Clinic to talk about my anxiety took me away from everything I'd ever known. I was exhausted. My anxiety was out of control. I'd been having panic attacks for years, but they'd become increasingly difficult to control. The worst part was that they were starting to interfere with my job. I couldn't focus, couldn't do my job, and I was losing out on work I needed to make money. Here's how I got over the worst of the anxiety. Before I started intermittent fasting, I wasn't taking care of my body. I didn't exercise, and I barely ate. I didn't enjoy food anymore. I wanted to lose weight because I was tired of being tired. I'm not exaggerating at all.

How I Started

At the end of July, I quit smoking and started intermittent fasting. I've written about intermittent fasting before, but I decided to get more specific. It's still a bit of a rough outline, but I'll update the post in the future with more details.

Some Challenges I Faced

First of all, this was an experiment. I was only on day three of IF. I did not work up to this goal lightly. I eat very healthily. I’ve been dedicated to physical fitness for the last decade. I’ve run competitive races and been a gym rat. I’ve been on a quest to figure out how to eliminate sugar and processed foods from my diet. I’ve been vegetarian for over four years. I love my family and friends and I care about how I treat them. I was not about to jeopardize all of this because I was looking for a way to lose a few pounds or have another excuse to avoid cardio. I would actually be damned to Hell if I tried to cheat on my quest for true health and wellness. And yet, as I went deeper into the fast, I was facing challenges I hadn’t anticipated.

Why Intermittent Fasting Works

The biggest reason I decided to try intermittent fasting is because I thought it might reduce my appetite. I realized that I eat nearly every waking moment of my life. I wake up and want to eat. I go to work and want to eat. I go to the gym and want to eat. I go to bed and want to eat. Plus, I am the type of person who has the hardest time skipping meals—especially when it comes to coffee. Why This Mindset Is Necessary for Permanent Weight Loss If you suffer from cravings or find it difficult to stop eating, then you are probably already experiencing a reward mechanism in your brain. When you are rewarding yourself with food, it activates your reward circuitry and makes you want to continue eating, even if you are full.

The Benefits

I have had intermittent fasting in its various forms since I was 13 years old. My family had a strict religion, and most of the adults in our lives were from another country. My dad didn't like my mom talking with the men in the church, so he put the kibosh on me doing anything that wasn't exclusively male. Because my body had gone through puberty, I began to experience the telltale signs of teenage girls: bloating, acne, yeast infections, hormonal imbalance, and more. To top it off, I was now expected to learn a different religion, the Hindu faith, at 13, so there was no chance of having my normal sex life. I did what all teens do: I starved myself. This diet went on for the better part of my childhood and adolescence, until I finally went through puberty.

How to Make Intermittent Fasting Work for You

What about my secret sleep weapon? Why do I mention cayenne pepper in almost every picture I take? I eat it right before bed, and it's crazy to me that everyone else doesn't do this. What are my favorite meals on fasting days? Spicy salad for dinner. I know some people won't even touch spicy food, but for me it tastes great. Plus, I know it'll taste even better when I'm less hungry than usual. What you need to know before trying intermittent fasting I haven't done the typical reading on intermittent fasting, nor have I done it for long enough to do a thorough review of intermittent fasting's merits. However, I have read about intermittent fasting, and the following points have stayed with me. Let's say you're wondering how intermittent fasting works. What do I mean by that?

Conclusion

I know intermittent fasting isn't for everyone, but I do believe it can help a lot of people in many different ways. The only one I can promise is that it won't make you superhuman. You'll still be human. But you'll be a better human. Or maybe the way to get the most out of intermittent fasting is to just avoid telling people you're doing it. Because they'll just judge you and call you a hippie, and that's not really the reason you're doing it.