What intermittent fasting taught me

Back in 2018, I came across an article on intermittent fasting, and I was pretty curious. My weight is something that I’ve struggled for the past four years. I was always pretty in shape, and then it just all went downhill.

I decided to do intermittent fasting for a few reasons. One was that it seemed like a great way to lose weight, which I was desperate for at the time. Secondly, I thought that it might fix my unhealthy relationship with food, and lastly because I wanted to.

If this is something that you have been thinking about, here is what it taught me.

My relationship with food did actually change

For me, food had become an emotional crutch. Feeling sad? Pizza. Annoying friends? Tacos. You name it, I used it as an excuse to just eat whatever I wanted. I was honestly eating even if I didn’t feel like it because I had an emotional attachment to food. Growing up in the South, I honestly never thought that was super strange, I had grown up thinking that cornbread would fix all of your problems.

When I was intermittent fasting, I wasn’t able to soak up my feelings with a loaf of French bread. In a weird way, it made me almost face my fears or whatever was bothering me that day. So while IF may seem trendy, it actually really helped me feel better about myself, and it had nothing to do with my weight.

I began to “respect” when it was time to eat

I know this sounds weird, but hear me out. Prior to trying IF out, I would eat whenever. It didn’t matter if it was close to lunch or breakfast if I wanted that Ferrero Rocher, I was going to have it. Intermittent fasting allowed me to realize how important it was to have set times to eat. What was making me gain weight was really just overindulging at all times. You don’t have to cut back on dinner or lunch, but you should be eating enough so that you don’t feel the need to snack, or at least that is how I’ve been viewing it.

I started to treat my body better!

I heard horror stories of intermittent fasting for years, and I was convinced that it was unhealthy. In reality, the contrary actually happened. I was able to start treating my body better. Even if I got hungry in times where I was in a fasting period, I would choose to drink water to satisfy any cravings I would have. This leads me into my next point!

On a side note, that whole “if you drink more water, your body will crave more water” thing is actually true!

What went into my body became a priority

I’ve literally never been one to care about what I was eating. As much as I hate to admit that, it is the truth. With intermittent fasting, I knew that when it was time to eat that I wanted to eat WELL. In an odd turn of events, it basically taught me the importance of selecting healthy food options that would not only fill me up but actually were good for me.

I’m happy to say that I have continued this even though I don’t always do intermittent fasting anymore. If you’re thinking about doing it, then I highly recommend setting a routine that works for you!

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