Intermittent Fasting Experiment - Day #2 (Fast Day)

I am in my 22nd hour of this 24 hour fasting period right now.  As you can guess, I was obsessed by food and my feelings of hunger.  I found that the following has helped me get through the day (1) drinking a lot of liquids; (2) taking fast walks (all the exercise I can get in while at the office).  The liquids helped to alleviate the hunger, and the fast walks helped to get rid of some of the ridiciously high energy I had today (I was pretty antsy in the late morning and afternoon and felt the need to move).  Strange as it is, I have so much energy, I could probably go for a run right now, even though I'm so hungry, I could eat my shoe, and I'm a terrible runner.  I am actually craving intense cardio right now, and I feel like I could just go and go and go.  I may, if given the chance, go to the gym and give this a try before I eat at 6:30, but that may not work out with childcare and all.

 

If you are interested, here are my notes for the day.  Sorry if they are a little random.  Here goes:

 

 

10:45 a.m.  It is Day #2, my first fasting day.  Hunger struck at 10:30 a.m.  I realized, when the sensation hit me, that I can't recall ever feeling hungry before.  I am acutely aware of how my chest, belly and abdomen feel.  I am not queasy.  Instead, I feel clenching in my lower abdomen, and as if there is an empty path stretching down the front of my torso.   I feel tense.  I want two things right now: food and a quick walk to stretch out.  I will take the latter, and grab some more water.

 

11:00 a.m.  I'm back.  That didn't really do much, but it was somewhat distracting.  I did some research on the topic of how to make intermittent fasting easier.  See, Adam Steer's article, where he suggests that one of the biggest mistakes to make is to eat a huge meal before starting a fast to avoid "starving", because you may set off a cascading cycle of hormonal imbalance that causes you to feel "hormonal hunger" (as distinguished by true, physical hunger experienced due to need for nutrients/energy).  So there is more to hunger than I thought?

 

Noon: Just took a brisk walk to the other side of the office to grab a fresh iced tea.  Walking very quickly felt good.  I have a lot of excess energy at the moment.  I feel antsy.  Unfortunately, I don't have walking shoes on, so I can't very well go outside and walk briskly during lunchtime, as I would return to the office with my feet completely destroyed (these boots are made for strolling).  Next fast day, I'm definitely bringing my sneakers.  Also, I think that drinking the unsweetened iced tea alleviates hunger better than drinking water.  I noticed that I'm not as hungry as I was.  Maybe the hunger is dissipating and it is not the iced tea having an effect?  Or maybe flavor helps trick you into thinking that you're getting calories.  I wonder what sugar free gum would do?  Let's google that.  Okay, results are mixed.  I think that for my first try, I will avoid chewing gum. 

 

12:12:  Hunger feelings are gone.  It is almost 18 hours without food.  Is it the iced tea, or have I hit a point where your brain stops torturing you?  Am I just super awesome?  That may be the case.  I am planning my next iced tea from my office keurig: it will be caffeine-free lemon.  I have to be careful with caffeine, because it can make me jittery if I have more than 2 cups.  Plus, the lemon is super strong, so it won't taste as diluted when I dispense the tea over ice.

 

1 p.m.: Okay.  The lemon flavor sucks.  It tastes like faux-lemon, even ice cold and diluted… I imagine that it tastes the way lemon Pledge smells.  Sweet Jesus. 

I was just going to write that I still didn't feel hungry, but suddenly, I got an uncomfortable abdominal cramp, and now I may be hungry again.  Wait, I'm okay. 

 

2:05 p.m.: Still okay.  Just a little hunger, not too much discomfort.  Still have a lot of excess energy.  I am almost 20 hours in.  This is not too awful. 

 

2:50 p.m.: I am starting to feel uncomfortable.  I just grumbled. 

 

3:20 p.m.: Am I uncomfortable?  Yes.  Is it unbearable?  No.  I am trying to focus on other things, but obviously my mind keeps coming back to this, because here I am, typing away.  I can't wait until 6:30 rolls around, because I am going to eat the heck out of some food.  We're having wings.  Executive decision!!

 

4:07 p.m.:  I have started having some more intense clenching feelings in my belly.  I am somewhat uncomfortable.  It ha abated since 3:20 p.m.

 

Observation: I feel uncomfortable now, but not as shitty as I did on Saturday during the "Fat Fast".  I was miserable and mean on Saturday, and got a little lightheaded.  Today, no such issue.  What's the difference?  Today, no food, maybe the body realizes that it shouldn't give you too much heck because how can you accomplish the tracking, killing and eating of a beast if you feel horrible; Saturday, not enough food, but pretty regular grazing, maybe the body realizes that food is present but you're just not eating it, and you need a little push?  So strange.  Honestly, I had more to distract myself with on Saturday, by going to the gym, shopping, doing stuff, so that I didn't obsess about food the whole time – and I only did that for 7 hours.  Today, I am constantly thinking about eating, and I have some abdominal discomfort, but no writheing headache, hair-trigger temper, or dizzy feelings – and I've been at this for 21 hours.  How to account for this, I do not know.   I know this – if I am not in ketosis by 6:30 p.m., I am going to jump in a lake.  Honestly.  (I'm out of ketosis again due to taking cold medicine with HCFS in it… no conscious cheating).