Primal Open Sorcery: Fasting

For my month of primality, I’m writing up some things here and there as they come to me about my weight loss journey and since today is one of my intermittent fasting days I figured I’d write about that. Top of mind -> top of blog.

I’m also hungry, and writing distracts me.

A quick set of clarifications: There is a school of “intermittent” fasters that skip single meals or even whole days’ worth of food. I say intermittent in quotes because sometimes it’s part of a plan to restrict calories or as part of a cleanse or something like that… which takes the intermittent part of it and makes it more of a regular thing. I don’t do that.

I usually fast by dropping out lunch. I actually believe that “most important meal of the day” thing for breakfast; plus it means I got two fasts in a row – dinner to breakfast and then breakfast to dinner! Here’s an example of my fast days — I didn’t eat lunch but we ate out for dinner and despite missing a meal I still got over 5 vegetable servings and got enough protein, and of course I was below my carb threshold. Today was a fast day too, and again I got enough veggies and protein. In fact, I tend to eat a similar amount of food on my fast days versus my normal days.

So wait… if I’m not restricting calories, what the heck is it for?

Maybe it’s just breaking up the timing of the food that’s making it work. I know that after a fast day I do feel more in tune with my hunger levels and I certainly appreciate the food I do eat even more. I’ve heard of some diets using a regular “cheat day” as motivation and the reaction makes people feel like they don’t need to touch their “cheat foods” during the rest of the week. I think that fosters too negative of an opinion of food in general. I like to enjoy the food, and that’s what I feel right after my fast. I don’t feel like I’m cheating if I eat foods that are less in line with the plan, I know that moderation just needs to apply. My main line is “moderation in all things, including moderation” which has served me pretty well. I use fasting as a way to break up any monotony of eating. It’s easy for me to set into a pattern of meals, and the occasional curveball works. Mark Sisson (The Primal Blueprint) talks about how Grok (the prototypical, pre-agricultural human) didn’t necessarily have steady meals. Having a good intake averaged on a weekly basis is a good way to do it for me.

I like to eat. I like to eat a lot! Fasting is pretty opposite my thinking there, and one of the key pieces of my diet is that it works because I enjoy the food making me lose weight. I don’t feel like I’m restricting myself when I eat — I eat until I’m full and I set up my food so I’ll enjoy everything I eat.