Day two of my intermittent fasting experiment was certainly harder than day one! But I got through it and felt really good! I woke up at 6 a.m., hopped in the shower, and drank my first cup of coffee around 6.45 am. This started quite the morning of hot drinks. I decided to maintain a 7 hour feeding window for the first few days to ease myself into the 20/4 Warrior Diet pattern. I usually eat my breakfast (Shakeology shake) around 8 am, but yesterday, I didn’t eat it until noon.

On Sunday (day one) my tummy was barely grumbling. In fact, I was LESS hungry during the church service than I usually am. However, Monday was a bit of a struggle. To keep my mind off of my rumbly tummy (Emma’s words) I drank … a TON of tea and water. This was GREAT because I usually don’t drink any water until the afternoon (bad I know). Hydrating really did help to satiate my appetite. Did you know that often when you think you’re hungry, you’re simply thirsty? Try drinking a glass of water before you eat.

Yesterday, I felt focused and energized all morning in spite of a hungry tummy. I usually have my most productive hours between 6.15 and 8 – BEFORE I eat anything. But yesterday I was fairly productive all morning. I wasn’t low on energy at all. I am nervous about today (it’s 7 am now) because I am going to a coffee shop and then the gym for a few hours and won’t break the fast until 1.30 pm. We will see how it goes! I will also be doing fasted cardio today for the first time ever.

Here’s a huge benefit of Intermittent fasting for me even at this early stage in my experiment. I have a ton of food sensitivities. I am sensitive to wheat, gluten, dairy, eggs, etc. There may be random ingredients in new food items that I try through the morning, and then it shoots the rest of my day. I was allergic to eggs a year ago, then got over my allergy, and then developed an allergy again – crazy. The last time I had eggs, it landed me on the couch for 9 hours, ugh. With this new lifestyle experiment, there is nothing that can upset my tummy all morning – I don’t have to stress over packing a million snacks and mini-meals for myself at the gym, or open the pantry every single morning and remark that “there’s nothing for me to eat.” It takes the pressure off for sure.

Here is a listing of the food I had yesterday during my feeding window.

Raspberries – 1 cup
Vanilla Shakeology – 1 scoop
Almond Milk – 1 cup
Red Grapes – .5 cup
Creamy Peanut Butter – 2 tbsp

Banana – 1 medium
Creamy Peanut Butter – 2 tbsp

Caveman foods bar – 1 bar
Vanilla Creme protein powder – 1 scoop
Creamy Peanut Butter – 2 tbsp
Banana – 1/2 medium

Salmon – 4 oz
Sweet Potato – 1 medium
Green Beans – 1 cup

Strawberries – .5 cup
Blueberries – .5 cup
Cool whip – 2 tbsp

Yesterday was a high-carb day – 49% carbs, 32% fats, and 19% protein. According to MyFitnessPal, this was spot on for my goals. Since I usually do a modified Paleo lifestyle, this felt high in carbs, but that’s ok! I am excited to have a lot of energy for the gym today, and I will likely do a high fat/protein day — I usually do carb cycling.

I am SOOO curious to see how I feel after several days and weeks of intermittent fasting. Honestly, I think I am eating MORE now that ever, but the window of time that I eat has changed from 8 am-8 -pm, to 12 or 1.30pm-7pm. I am NOT trying to lose weight, so I am maintaining a 1900-2000 calorie range (probably sounds like a lot for a 5’3” 115 lb little lady, haha). However, I am very active, so I need to compensate by eating enough calories and nutrients.

My relationship with food has been good over the past year or two, but while I am living a Paleo lifestyle, I always still feel a little “guilt” when I eat foods high in carbs or calories (processed foods and treats). It will be fun to enjoy some of my favorite foods “if it fits my macros.” I will keep you in the loop with how things are going! XO