One of the reasons that I went (and still go on) food ‘experiments’ is because I struggled to stick with that ‘one way’ of eating that I knew I could stick with for the duration– for the rest of my life.
You name it– paleo, vegan, south beach, low carb, high carb, gluten free– seriously name it, and I tried it.
I’ve been a bit of an experimentation-whore one might say.
Trying everything under the sun.
Taking the good, leaving the bad, and not worrying about the rest…
I was determined to find a way of eating that was ‘perfect’ for me and my life.
One of the most powerful and important experiments I conducted was Intermittent Fasting. If you’ve never heard of it, it’s a protocol for eating that incorporates a period of fasting (no food at all) for anywhere from 14-48 hours. I’ve played around with it on many occasions and would usually throw in fasts anywhere from 16-24 hours long.
The reason it proved so powerful for my food-obsessed self was it’s ability to teach me the difference between true hunger….and just conditioned hunger.
Keep in mind that whenever we ‘feel’ hungry, that feeling is simply based on our perception of hunger. Intermittent fasting didn’t allow me to rely on my perception of hunger– it taught me what true hunger felt like– and in turn made me realize how many times I was eating and I wasn’t even really hungry.
Fasting isn’t for the “faint of heart”– it’s definitely a challenge– but for anyone who struggles with the “I’m always hungry” struggle, I highly recommend taking a look at Intermittent Fasting (IF).
There are a zillion ways to experiment with IF, and you can learn more about it simply by typing it into Google. But if you really want to a science-backed smorgasbord of information on the topic, Eat Stop Eat by Brad Pilon is the holy grail of all things IF.
