IF Update: 20 Days In

 I have made it 20 days!  Fanfare!

I aimed for 16:8 my first week, and then tried to increase it to 17:7 the second week.  I've gotten a few 18:6 days in there, but I won't try to go longer than that for now.  Some days I don't want to try to push past 16 hours for various reasons, and other days I can comfortably extend the fast.  Mostly going with the flow.

So far I don't have amazing changes to report, but I wasn't expecting any necessarily.  That said, there have been some surprising and pleasant discoveries.  Here's what I've noticed after 20 days. 

1) No hangries

I was legitimately concerned that at first I'd be short-tempered and incredibly hungry.  That just...never happened.  I do get hungry, but it generally comes in waves and it's not that hard to push past.  Hunger is not an emergency.  That is an almost revolutionary statement for me to make.  Previously, if I wasn't eating something every 2-3 hours, I was constantly hungry or grumpy about it. That said...

2) Food quality matters

 I have discovered that my hunger levels are directly correlated with what I eat the day before.  I'm not doing too much to change what I eat (looking for sustainability and not too many changes at once), but if I have a decent, solid dinner with protein and vegetables and carbs, I do much better.  One day I made the mistake of having fast food for lunch, junk for snack, and a Mod pizza with cupcake for dessert.  I was starving the next morning, and the rumbles didn't go away.  After listening to my stomach growl for 3 straight hours, I broke my fast two hours early and made Ben make me an egg sandwich while I sat on a church conference call.  

Mistakes were made.

3) Tastes changing?

This will require more time to see if it's actually happening, but I do feel like some of my food preferences and tastes are changing.  When I was counting calories, I knew I needed to cut down on soda, but it felt impossible.  I'm still drinking soda, but I've gone days here and there without it, and when I do drink it, it's not as good.  This is both excellent and very sad, haha.  Also, some artificial things taste more artificial.  I make bags of microwave popcorn sometimes for snack, and lately it leaves me with a weird, unpleasant aftertaste.

4) Small children complicate things

File this under: well, duh. 

Small children eat. A lot. All the time.  I think the morning fasting would be a lot easier if I wasn't having to make the kids breakfast and snacks.  It's stupidly hard not to toss a few bites of whatever they're having in my mouth.  Goldfish, pretzels, cereal.  I mean, Lucky Charms are practically made to be eaten out of the box! And the pandemic means we're spending a lot more time at home, where all the food lives.  So that's not been super easy.

Also, I felt a little weird explaining to Anna why I wasn't eating breakfast anymore.  I explained that adults don't need to eat as frequently as kids do.  She is still growing and it's important she is eating often enough to fuel that growth.  (Fasting is obviously not recommended for children).  I don't think she cares all that much, but I don't want her to end up with a disordered view of food or eating. 

5) Random observations

- I get full quickly.  When I break my fast with lunch, I can't eat as much as I initially want to because of how full I feel.  Then I get really sleepy for a bit.  

- My sleep hasn't really been impacted, except for two nights about a week or two in when I couldn't sleep AT ALL.  Apparently that can be a thing that happens in the adjustment phase, but I'm very thankful it didn't last.  

- I've been getting a weird taste in my mouth in the last week.  Is it keto breath? Is it something else entirely?  Who knows, really. 

- I continued counting calories during the beginning to double check that I wasn't over or undereating.  I can fit plenty of food into a 6-8 hour window, so no worries there.  I'd say I was averaging 1700 calories a day, which I feel comfortable with.  I'd love to never count calories again.

I'll hold off on any kind of "official results" until 4-6 weeks in.  I have lost a little bit of weight, and I feel less bloated, but I'd rather wait until I've gotten a full monthly cycle out of the way since I always have weight fluctuations associated with that.  This has been long enough!

One last thing: if you like podcasts and are curious about IF, you may like Intermittent Fasting Stories with Gin Stephens.  I've been listening to them in the car and on walks, and really enjoying hearing the variety of other people's experiences.