Bernard.Sg's Journal, 26 Mar 21

Bernard, do you get hungry on your EFs? if so, what do you do to keep it at bay? 

Hey Eidetiker, I get occasional hunger pangs and I just ignored them till they disappear within 30 minutes max. The placebos that worked for me are: 1. Sparkling water (feels like drinking a real soda and subsequent bloat & burps are fulfilling) 2. Warm water (the warmth in tummy feels like having drank a soup) 3. Inhaling cooked food or snacks in the kitchen and walking away (incredibly the aromas energised & filled me up instead of making me hungrier) 4. Read books on Fasting or Longevity to remind myself why I am doing this and there are countless people who succeeded before me and many more after me (who will be a living example for them all). Have faith and looking forward to see your breakthrough! ;) 

Thanks for sharing your coping mechanisms. I've been mostly IF with an occasional OMAD thrown in there sometimes. I'd like to venture into Extended fasts but my hunger cues are messed up. I'll have to try sparkling water. I already drink tea and warm water and I know smelling food is just going to make me think about eating more. I'll have to check out the local library to see if I can find some Dr. Fung books. Do you work out during EFs? 

Yes, working out has become a daily longevity habit for me. Gotta close 'em rings on my Apple Watch too haha. I feel that best exercises are the convenient ones: Running at the 200m circular concrete track below my apartment, walking up the stairs if it's raining or simply move along to the exercise videos on YouTube. In his books, Dr. Fung also mentioned about Mineral Water for quelling hunger. I didn't try this method as it's hard to find reasonably-priced mineral water in Singapore. Since Fasting is meant to save me effort, time & money, drinking Evian or the likes doesn't make sense to me haha. 

I have tried to choose more active routes like stairs vs elevator. That's something my mom taught me :). I am pretty lazy so I've just recently gone walking to get somewhat of a routine. I'm slowly easing into more activity but I've had a mental block for years. 

For overcoming mental block, a safe & effective book to check out is Instant Self-Hypnosis by Forbes Robbins Blair ;)