INTERMITTENT FAST – first few days

A huge part of being female is the uncontrollable urge to make lifestyle changes in split seconds. I could wake up one day and decide to go vegan or lose 100 pounds or to go bald. These changes are prompted by numerous interconnected factors.

For some weeks now, I have been seeing ads on social media about intermittent fast. At first, I felt it was one of those weight loss scams that never works (trust me, I have tried some, most were a total waste of time and money). By the way, I wasn’t planning to lose weight or looking for a strategy, but because I kept seeing these ads, I suddenly felt that losing a few pounds sounded like a challenge.

On Sunday, I finally made up my mind (after some research) to try the intermittent fast with the BodyFast app. One of the major reasons I made this decision was because, out of the many benefits that I kept seeing online, I saw that it boosts the immune system.

The immune boost may not have been a big deal or the hook a few weeks ago. but I recently lost a loved one, and you know how that makes you want to take care of yourself more. I figured taking up the intermittent fast challenge is a way of dealing with the grieve and taking care of myself (I am sure she would have wanted that).

So, I started the fast. Usually, you skip a meal and fast till the next day. While setting up the app, I made the choice to skip dinner. Lately, because of work and the fact that I am a night person, I eat very late which almost always means that my stomach gets bloated often. I figured skipping dinner as part of the fast holds two-fold benefits.

Day one fast – Sunday 2 pm to Monday 6 am was smooth. I had my favourite Ewa (beans porridge) with garri, and packed up for the day. I kept thinking about food (though I wasn’t hungry) but held back from eating anything (even a snack). I woke up feeling normal, I expected to feel unusually hungry, but I didn’t.

Day two – Monday 2 pm to Tuesday 6 am was uneventful too. But I noticed that in the morning my thoughts about food were less intense, but I suddenly felt very hungry at 8 am, which was unusual because I rarely eat breakfast before 9 am. After breakfast at 9 am, I couldn’t eat much because I got really busy, the next thing I knew it was 2 pm, time to begin my fast. I had second thoughts about continuing (it was a huge struggle) but decided against breaking the fast.

As I type this post, I feel light in a way that I haven’t felt in a long time. This fast is a real challenge, one that I am enjoying a lot. I hope that I can stay on course, complete the one-week plan, and see what happens next.

At this point, I do not care whether I lose weight doing this or not, I am just glad that my head is clearer and I am taking the time to care for my body and help it detox with this process.

Have you tried intermittent fasts? I’d like to hear about your experience in the comment box.