By Chances are, you have probably mentioned to friends or family members how starving you have been at one time or another. Ghrelin is activated in the bloodstream when the stomach is empty. This triggers contractions and amplified rumbles. You’ve probably become very familiar with these symptoms, and often, they can become quite uncomfortable. Those who have fasted before have trained themselves not to be too bothered with it. Usually, at this time, we are busting to have something to eat and will almost always eat way too much than what we should. It may take the stomach some time to activate the brain that it’s had enough. By that time, it’s probably too late, and you may be nursing a swollen and perhaps bloated belly.
Fasting – the natural appetite suppressant
I chose to mention fasting here in this post because I practice fasting daily. When I first started to fast, I was ravenously hungry, and it did take a lot of self-control and commitment to stay the course. My first fast was 12 hours, as I wanted to start small and work my way up to the more significant numbers. The most I’ve fasted for was 24 hours – which was completely fine. I didn’t die, lol. Fasting allows us to work with our hunger signals, which most of us seem to be at odds with constantly. As hard as it may be, you are more than capable of going for long periods without food of any kind. What may be surprising to you is that hunger is a highly suggestible state. Remember the last time you smelt some delicious aroma coming from a friends house or a restaurant? Well, sometimes that one smell can start to ignite those hunger signals in your brain – urging you to have a craving and perhaps indulge in a little something. This experiment from Ivan Pavlov is an excellent indicator of how strong a suggestion is for dogs. The funny thing is, the same applies to humans.
Breaking the incorrect associations with food
Sometimes our association with hunger by different foods can ruin our weight loss or even our health! Wouldn’t it be amazing not to have any cravings or altogether abolish the constant need to eat and those mirages of food that seem to occupy your mind constantly? One option would be to make a pact with yourself, NOT eat anywhere apart from your dinner table every day. This can be hard on a working person, but perhaps it’s your best bet to disassociate yourself with foods from a fasting point of view. This is why I mention fasting so much because this is the very thing that breaks any associations with particular foods. No matter how strong the desire for it at first, when you fast, it will simply dissolve at some stage or another.
The reality of hunger
Humans can go for many hours and days without food of any kind. The real problem lies in our overindulgence of the wrong choices. As we know, obesity, cancer, and disease are always on the rise. Food is at our fingertips, and so many food companies lie about their ingredients. There was a time I believed I could not live without a specific type of food or eating during a particular time in the day. These beliefs are now fully dissolved because I decided to take my health into my own hands and try fasting. I rarely get any craving, and I’m not bothered by hunger pangs, and I’ve not experienced any adverse body effects from not eating. Not eating allows my digestion to relax and start repairing and my brain to become a lot more clearer in thought and focus. I write this as someone who used to eat every two hours – and that was wrong in my own opinion and experience. We do not need to eat that much, and it’s part of conditioning and habits drawn from old food pyramids and beliefs that do not serve us. Do stay hungry for longer than 2 hours; in fact, try 12, 16, 18, 20 or more if you are on a particular weight loss and health mission. If you do this, you will see instant results, and if you weight train, expect bigger lifts and more muscle mass. I don’t believe others who say that fasting eats away muscle mass. It increases it! I’ve seen the results in myself, clients, and the groups who incorporate weight training, fasting diet, and clean eating. If you are at all worried or have underlying health issues, please consult your doctor before starting. I do hope this has helped you. I would love you to upvote it if you did. Please also join me on my various social platforms and do go ahead and download your Empowering habit changer guide. I’m also on Instagram.