So, today is the end of my first recorded week of fasting. I maintained a strict 18-hour-a-day fast. Actually, a few times, I fasted longer. A hundred hours of rest for my body. I don’t know exactly how much rest my digestive system gets during an 18-hour fast, but it is significant.
What Happens While Fasting?
I know that insulin levels drop after 4 hours, and after 8 hours, blood sugar begins to normalize. Supposedly, fat burning begins after 10 hours. I’m not sure how accurate this information is, but I think it’s in the ballpark. After 12 hours of fasting, the body begins ketosis. Ketosis is a metabolic state that occurs when your body burns fat for energy instead of glucose. And then something called autophagy begins after 14 hours. Autophagy has to do with cells being broken down and abnormal proteins being destroyed. It’s supposed to be good for you.
Difficulty
It was not difficult. I didn’t experience much hunger. Maybe I lost a couple of pounds. I don’t expect the weight to fall off quickly. I did make a considerable effort to make better choices when eating. There were no fried foods, fast food, sweets, or alcohol. I also incorporated some exercises at home. I didn’t use any weights. It turns out I have more than enough weight on my body. So, the exercises without weights were quite enough.
The right headspace
I am 1 hour into the 2nd week of recorded fasting. As I said, fasting is not difficult. It is a matter of making a choice to do it each day. In the same way, eating the right foods is a matter of choosing correctly at each meal.
It does help me sometimes to make a plan. I won’t shop for a week’s worth of food. I usually end up letting something go to waste when I do it that way. I can shop for maybe two days of food without anything going to waste. I usually go to the grocery store a couple of times a week.
This year, I’m trying to stay in a particular head space. I believe I will succeed as long as I stay in that head space. That headspace is a place where I am determined to change my life, my body, and my health by making the right choices.
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