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Disclaimer: Intermittent fasting is considered a controversial topic by some AND depending on your health may not be a good idea- so you are responsible for checking with your doctor or medical professional before doing this. I am not a medical professional and the following are just my opinions based on my own experience and the research that I've done. There are quite a few books that expound on both the history and proof of the efficacy of fasting and I firmly believe in it's use, when done the right way, myself.
How You Treat Yourself On A Fast
I know we are all different in how we respond psychologically to things, so this may be something wouldn't be effective for you, but if you're like me, it will be important key to fasting successfully.
I always tell myself I HAVE A CHOICE. I CAN totally break my fast and eat if I want to. Any minute of the day, I am perfectly free to do this and there are always other days. When I feel like it's a rule or that I don't have a choice, I find myself feeling trapped which brings out the panic/need-to-escape feeling in me. Which then makes sticking to the fast mentally very difficult.
By reminding myself that this is my choice and that I'm CHOOSING to do this today to benefit my body and that I can abort it anytime I want, it makes me feel empowered like I'm really the one in charge here - and since I'm in charge, I feel more relaxed now, so, I think yes, I'm going to finish out my fast today.
You want your relationship with fasting to be a positive one. Not something where you feel trapped and stuck.
For me the connection I have with fasting is like, "Man, this is my easy way out to being able to eat a little more of what I want at other times and also a doable way for me to make weight corrections when needed, without having to be on a diet for weeks on end."
It's kind of about deciding what you as a person find more doable. Do you find 1 more extreme day here and there of cutting back and then eating at a maintenance level (where you won't have any hunger any of the other days) more appealing, or do you feel like you'd rather eat a few hundred calories less per day every day for a few weeks to avoid the 1 more extreme not eating day?
Neither way is the right choice, they are just different.
The one different thing is that there are some major hormonal things that happen when you fast that don't occur when you just cut back on eating a little bit daily.
Fasting causes a drop in insulin - which a lot of us could use -
causes a sharp rise in Human Growth Hormone (HGH, not hCG- I know, easy to confuse the two)
Like I said, for some of you this line of thought process may not work and maybe it will get you to quit too easily- perhaps for you need to make that commitment in some way - you'll have to figure that out for yourself.
I have tried steak days twice and both times my I had a slight stomach ache and so I ate some celery on one occasion and a small amount of boiled ham on the other. I still dropped 3 pounds each time – think it is okay to do this if necessary?
Hey!
When you ate the celery and ham was at the end of your fast or during it? I couldn’t tell if it was part of your dinner meal when your fast was over or if you ate it much earlier I the day. Definitely good to avoid stomachs aches for sure! Let me know and I”ll respond again.