It's been a while and I haven't been fasting as I've had many guests and found they wanted to go out for dinner every day. They have left so I will start again tomorrow. I drank a lot of alcohol, missed sleeping on two nights and now I have lost my voice!

On Friday the 20th I fasted all day and felt fine. Saturday I ate quite a bit and on Sunday fasted again. I felt great on Sunday but today don't feel as good. My sleeping is not quite what it should be nor are my energy levels but I expect this to improve again.

Update

Today I joined a group and I hope this group will serve the same purpose I had been looking for when I started this blog. I will no longer record my eating habits in my agenda but will post them online instead.

For the last week I have not followed IF but have eaten less food. I have also eaten poor quality food, drunk alot of beer and consumed some other substances not good for my body.

Interestingly my tollerance to the alcohol seemed to have improved! I now plan to continue with IF from tomorrow as I feel better using IF than CF.

All the symptoms (bloating, lack of energy, constipation, acne etc). have returned. I noticed if I have very small amounts of chocolate I don't have symptoms but if I eat too much everything, especially the acne, returns.

Two weeks of Intermittent fasting

I am now starting week three. My sleep has improved and, in general, I feel better. I have less constipation and fewer skin problems although I still have some outbreaks.

On Monday I ate an incredible amount of food. No matter how healthy the food it couldn't possibly be healthy to eat that much in one day! So what. I got back on track yesterday and, hopefully, today I will not eat so much.

I had negative thoughts about myself on Monday. Fears of rejection. Today I think screw all that B.S and enjoy healthy eating.

My friend thinks I will stop with this experiment after one month. I am curious to see what will happen and how I will feel. At the end of the month I will be in a more stressful environment - it will be interesting to see how I deal with that.

Comfort eating

I know what was causing the lack of sleep and have that problem sorted out. My diet was not in balance. Yesterday, a fasting day, I felt like eating a number of times. I only felt really hungry once the rest of the time it was that 'comfort eating' that I frequently have.

Until I started with this (IF) I had no idea just how much 'emotional' food I ate. I had always known that I was doing it but wasn't aware to what extent. I must find a replacement for the food, another comfort.

I have bad habits. When I feel, even slightly, uncomfortable I react by eating a bar of chocolate. Sometimes I have it done before I even think about it. Impulse. Now that I do not have such intense cravings for chocolate I tend to opt for other foods. I don't feel hungry just 'missing' something...

If anybody has figured out a way/ways to get rid of this feeling I would like to hear from them.

I started the Intermittent Fasting (IF) diet last week (28 March 2007).

The experience during the last week has been interesting and mixed. It has certainly been more positive than negative. I feel more alert and focused on the days I do not eat and more numb and tired on the days I do eat!

You might imagine I should stop eating altogether as that is when I feel best but then the cream cake fantasies creep in... and being a bit of a hedonist I'm not about give up food!

Oddly enough on the days I am not eating I do not feel as hungry as I thought I would. I do get some thoughts of 'I'd like to eat....' and then I tell myself 'I will have it tomorrow and anything else I want'.

Then when I do get to eat it isn't the gluttony you might expect (well not at first). I end up opting for healthier foods. Some paranoid voice, in my head, tells me 'you must get your nutrients now when you have the chance'.

I end up stuffing lots of carbs in at the last minute. I feel entitled. I have earned it but oddly don't really feel like it after eating all the heatlhy food. I hope I can get over this next week or the week after...