HEALTH
This Is What It’s like to Eat Only Once a Day
I have been only eating one meal a day for about a year now and many people ask me how I do it.
I thought I share what a normal day looks like.
For many people, the idea of going hungry is something that they will never try. Most of us work way too hard in our lives already, to add on the stress of hunger is just unfathomable.
I get it, I was in that boat too. I already work so hard to get paid and now I have to work even harder by being hungry?
No thanks.
But there is a good reason for the “insanity” that is staying hungry which I will explain in another article, later on. For now, I would like to share what it’s like to fast for 18–21 hours a day.
Let’s start in the morning.
On a normal workday, I usually get up at around 7 am. I brush my teeth and get dressed for work. I then make a cup of coffee and I take that coffee with me to work.
I consider myself lucky to enjoy coffee without sugar and milk. Making filter coffee helps eliminate a lot of the bitterness that is often associated with black coffee.
I arrive at the office — or my desk, if I am working from home that day — at around 8:30 am and start work. My stomach starts to growl at me at around 9–10 am and if I am not too busy at work, I would go make a cup of tea to help soothe it. A cup of peppermint or ginger tea.
But I hardly make that cup of tea because I am normally decently busy in the morning to distract me from the growling.
Fast forward to lunchtime where the smell of food starts to make its way into the office. So to avoid all of that, I head out of the office for a bit. I normally either take a walk or I bring my Ipad with me to the park or a desk nearby and get some writing or whatever small task done.
It feels pretty good to do some work at this time. While everyone is eating or relaxing, it feels good to be doing some work. Not to mention, there are a lot fewer distractions around.
I head back to the office around 2 pm and resume work. It is around now that I feel the hunger kick in again, I find this hunger pang to be the most intense one throughout the day. Its intensity seems to be controlled by how much sleep I actually get the day before. The less sleep, the more intense. It’s a great motivation for me to sleep early.
It used to take all my willpower to fight this intensity but after doing this for a couple of weeks. I have to since learn to just acknowledge it and soothe it with another cup of tea or drink more water.
At around 5–6 pm, I pack my things up and leave for the gym or park for some exercise. Now, depending on how work went and how I feel, I would either break my fast at 6 or 7 pm. I usually would break my fast with a protein shake and some biscuits.
I find that because my stomach is empty and so sensitive to food. The sudden intake of protein and sugar gives me a huge energy spike which is great for the gym and also great for giving me more energy if work was very tiring.
I then have dinner, relax and go to bed.
Final Thoughts
My main goal for this is to share that fasting isn’t as scary as it seems. That being hungry isn’t something to be feared and that the hunger intensity does not get worse. It leaves you alone if you just give it a bit of time.
Surprisingly, I get hunger pangs at 9 am and 2 pm but it goes away after 5–10 minutes. It is hard at first to resist it but after a while, you will be able to just acknowledge it and let it go.
I believe fasting is a very simple and effective way of living that can improve anyone’s health and there is a fair bit of research and science that proves this too.
I do think it is the more natural and healthier way to live. Not to mention, you save a decent amount of money and time by not eating as much.
Thanks for reading.
Full disclosure: This isn’t professional health or fitness advice, I am just sharing my daily feelings and thoughts while fasting. Please consult your doctor and seek professional advice, should you have any existing health problems before attempting to fast.
