Psychological Tricks while Fasting

[Anonymous]

So I have all of the physical tricks down (gum, tea, etc.) but I would really like to know how you handle that voice that tells you don’t need to fast, that what you really need is that sandwich right now…

Basically, how did you handle your inner voice trying to sabotage you? You make the decision to fast for more than 24 hours, and how to just keep saying no when food is right in front of you? I know many of you have fasted despite your kids eating dinner right in front of you. How do you keep up your resolve despite people eating around you?

I would really like to know because I am doing a 72 hour fast this week and I need all of the tips and tricks I can get to keep my willpower from dissolving. Thank you in advance for your help!

[Janet]

I’m interested in this too since I’m doing a 36 hour fast right now. One thing that seems to work for me sometimes is when I’m getting that super hungry feeling or a little light-headed and I start thinking “Oh, my body needs to eat right now,” I try to focus on the fat that I don’t want to be on my body anymore and I tell myself, “That fat is excess energy that you have on your body and you are using at this moment. You don’t need any actual food. You’ve got plenty of energy to keep going.” And I sort of picture the fat melting away.

It helps… sometimes

[Amy]

I’d like to know the answer too. My biggest problem is I have to make food for, and feed, my children at least 4 meals a day. It gets hard when I spend at least 1/2 hours each time preparing food and then sitting with it in front of my face while they eat.

[Anonymous]

Well it’s good to know there is lots of interest!

I drink tea all day, and I really love the flavored teas. Diet soda, sugar free gum, and Vitamin Water or Sobe Life Water are all good options if you need flavor but no calories. Sugar free jello is also awesome, because the calories are super low. I think a serving is 20 calories maybe?

My favorite trick to get rid of the hunger is a glass of red wine in the evening. It warms you up if you’re cold, and completely kills the hunger while giving you just the slightest buzz. I’ve also successfully cut the hunger by sipping flavored vodka if I didn’t have wine.

I tried this once accidentally (my mom wanted to try a new bottle of wine, and I poured myself a little just to sample it). I found out some of the other girls have tried it as well. It is a few calories (100 for 4 ounces) but it really does just eliminate the hunger and makes it easy to sleep. I look forward to it as my reward for sticking it out all day. And when I have done it in the past, I have lost at least two pounds over night, even with the wine.

Walking around or some sort of movement is also good to distract you. I like cleaning when I’m fasting.

[Anonymous]

Fasting is a 99% mental game. I find it helps to break it into segments and work on each segment as I go along.

Rituals like morning coffee and tea are one part. When I’m at work it’s easy since I work in an environment where no food is allowed. I drink a lot of water during that time. I like to do a glass of water every hour before noon. Then when I go home for lunch I drink some more coffee and maybe tea plus more water.

I also take 3 Fiber choice sugar free tablets a day and I think that helps a little with the empty stomach feeling especially if you take them with a hot liquid (tea or coffee). Once I get home at 5, I get busy taking the dogs for a walk and various chores. I don’t have kids but I have an elderly mother so I make sure she has something to eat. She likes those Marie Callendar microwavable TV dinners so I don’t have to do much food prep. For some reason once I’m home in the evening I am less hungry and can just relax and read the paper or watch TV and catch up on things. Once I’m past the 24 hr mark it gets easier.

Obviously if you have kids or have to prepare food for others that makes it more challenging. But I think you need to have the mindset that once you commit to the fast you have to just keep going and that’s it. Like Dory in Finding Nemo: just keep swimming, swimming, swimming.

I’m doing a 72 hr fast right now. Since I’ve don’t quite a few 48 hr fasts I decided to take it to a new level. So this means 2 nights of not eating dinner and working out in the morning on a 60 hr fast. Expresso always helps with the workouts. Also I drink Powerade zero so I don’t get leg or toe cramps (which really suck, BTW). You really can do it, it just takes sheer stubborness to get through it.

I actually find fasting easier than eating tiny little meals which leave me feeling deprived. At least when I’m fasting I have a end time and can eat a normal meal. And the thought that I’m really burning fat is helpful. If you look at the natural world a lot of animals (us included ) go for prolonged periods without eating. When they find food the eat up. Then they go for more time without eating. That’s what our fat stores are designed for. Like money (energy) in the bank.

[carol]

I struggle with this too. I am highly suggestible, wanting to eat whatever looks or smells good, even if I’m not hungry or know I don’t really like it. So no TV outside my eating window. And I have sworn off the food porn on Food Network, Cooking Channel and Travel Channel. I remember when I was a pre-teen and required to do religous fasts. I would hide in my room in the afternoons and read Nancy Drew novels. But I’d be tortured by descriptions of homey cooking served (something about pot roast and gravy) and I’d start getting really cranky.

I don’t drive routes where I might get a whiff of something tasty…which can be quite troublesome since there’s a General Mills plant and the town smells like Cheerios or Lucky Charms several days a week. I can’t walk downtown when I’m hungry. Have to shop only after I’ve eaten, or the cart is magically filled with all sorts of things not on my list!

My sons are old enough to make their own meals, so on fasting days, that’s what they’re going to be doing. I too use Dory for inspiration! I also visualize Ms. Pacman eating a$$ fat when the initial hunger pangs strike.

There are times when I get hungry for emotional reasons. I want comfort. For those times, I know I’m upset or edgy about something, so I actually use something called a cravings zapper. It takes a little time to do this. I work through an emotional housecleaning. Am I angry, afraid, sad, frustrated, etc. I try to figure out what’s eating me and try to address it. Do I have unrealistic expectations? What’s a more realistic expectation? What do I need (besides food) at the moment? If I can do this for about 10-20 minutes, I can work past the craving and go on.

I guess it’s something to do to get past a hunger pang. Those will go away in about 20 minutes, and then Ms. Pacman can take over from there.

I LOVE the idea of wine, but it makes me sleepy initially and then messes with my sleep cycle. Perhaps if I went with a much small portion than ususal…always willing to experiment with wine.

[fredda]

My trick would be drinking white tea. I find that it really suppresses my appetite and kills the cravings. Plus it’s a natural diuretic too, which is great for getting rid of the bloat. Other than that, it’s keeping yourself busy. I agree that 36 hour fasts are easier, once you just accept there will be no eating for that specific day. Once your mind accepts this, there is this weird freedom! And the next day, you eat normally like nothing happened.

It does get easier the more fasting days you get under your belt. But there might be the odd day when it’s just not possible. You’ve got to listen to your body, but the biggest part is definitely the mental block.

[nancy]

I have a very hard time falling asleep on long (27+hour) fasts. The wine helped for a little while, but lately with my heart condition, I always have a tachycardia episode in the middle of the night if I’m in a long-fasted state. Something to do with the extra adrenaline your body produces while fasting, I assume.

So, for the time being at least, I’m always eating at least a little something before I go to bed… even just an apple and a few slices of lunchmeat seems to help. But for the most part, I eat a 500-800 calorie dinner on my fast days.

[ruth]

I started doing whole day (ie ~36hr fasts) since last summer 1x/wk. Usually a monday – being able to sleep in (don’t have to make breakfast or ready a lunch) make a Monday a little better. Plus work keeps me busy – then straight to the gym.

Keeping busy is the biggest thing about getting through a fast. Find the stuff you like to do – where u can loose yourself for hours & do it. Surfing online, blogging, watching a movie, walking the dog, going to an art gallery, reading a book, … hell take up knitting!

I like to think “no worries, the food will be there tomorrow for me to enjoy”, “doing this makes you stronger”, “you control what you become” & I remind myself “you’ve done this before – you can do it again.”
I bought myself a ring-like necklace pendant & I like to touch it for a reminder of my own strength…we all got our things.

Also I find to get to sleep – PGX appetite control blend (or just simple psyllium fiber mixed with crystal light) helps. Also Progressive Greens (blueberry flavour) has little to know kcals. Chai tea with its spices is soothing to go to sleep with (as would Chammomile or Lemon Balm).

And hey – getting busy on your own or with a partner before bedtime is also a pretty good sleep inducer!
Just letting the pink elephant out of the bag….god I love mixing metaphors!

[Gloria]

I find that if I’m in the right mindset for fasting, it doesn’t matter how much tempting food is around me, I can and will resist. If I’m in the wrong mindset, I will end up breaking my fast early even if there is no food in sight and I have to go search for it. It’s like the idea of food has already permeated my mind, and so I’ll convince myself somehow that having the food at that moment is more important than sticking to my plan. I’m finding going a full day without food is SUPER helpful for this so I don’t have that late night meal to tempt me.

I’m currently almost 25 hours fasted and going strong. I just need to get myself to bed and hopefully not wake up fully alert at 3am (which has happened in the past). It really hasn’t been too bad today, and I even went to Costco with my husband and had to smell the hot dog he was eating in the car AND the roast chicken he bought for dinner.

TIP: Sometimes if there is food around me that smells especially delicious, I won’t try to resist the smell, but instead fully breathe it in and enjoy it. I tell myself that just the smell of the food alone is giving me energy (as if I’m absorbing some of it through my nose) and so I don’t need to actually ingest any of it. I know it sounds really weird, but sometimes it helps!

[Jean]

I’ve got a new “pyschological” trick to help me through fasting…

I wear bangles/bracelets.

Since I start my fasts typically around 6pm, when I awake I’ve only 12 more hours to go & thus put on 12 bracelets.

As the hours tick on, I take 1 off each hour. Since I like to keep busy (which is the biggest help to getting through a fast) throughout the day when i notice a sense of hunger I now look at my bangles & often feel a sense of accomplishment as I can likely take another one off. This really helps me to partition the work into manageable chuncks.

Perhaps someone’s already using this technique too, or has already posted it.
Just thought I’d post this if it hasn’t been thought of yet.

[Author]

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