I have always been a breakfast skipper, not because I don’t enjoy eating breakfast foods, but because I absolutely love sleeping in until 12 pm. That plan switched up really quickly in January of this year. Since January 2022 I’ve been on an in-person coop term at an accounting firm. Sounds great, right? Getting amazing experience, meeting new people and most importantly, getting free lunch every Friday. Sure, it’s all fun and games, but it also entails waking up at 6 am, being in the office until 5:30 pm and, you guessed it, working on the occasional Saturday. Though the job is extremely stressful at times, working on a regular basis has allowed me to stick to a strict schedule and make lifestyle choices to improve my health.
Intermittent fasting, with a strict schedule like mine, has improved my mental health tremendously as well as my relationship with food. Throughout the pandemic, being at home 24/7 has often led to bored eating and stress eating, and though I am no doctor, I found that the simple concept of fasting has allowed me to eat intuitively. Being outside of the house for over 12 hours a day, combined with my newfound motivation to be healthier has led to my own version of intermittent fasting.
Simply put, intermittent fasting involves eating during a set number of hours a day and fasting during the rest. One of the most popular practices is the 16/8 method, which means fasting for 16 hours and eating for eight. After watching some YouTube doctors and reading some articles, I can confidently say that there are various health benefits to intermittent fasting, so I thought I would try it out for myself. Though I can’t comment on the direct health benefits, I have no doubt that this practice has reduced bloating, improved my mood and significantly improved the taste of food.
Since I never really ate breakfast, the only transition for me was reducing the amount of snacking I did throughout the day and trying to eat between the hours of one and eight. I live for midnight snacks, but thanks to my co-op job I am locked up in my bedroom by 10 and knocked out by 11. I’ll be honest, the first few days were quite tough, but drinking over two litres of water throughout the day diminishes any trace of hunger. I am not very strict with myself in terms of what I can and can not eat, as for me, it is more about listening to what my body wants and understanding what it really needs. I have also noticed that I no longer experience extreme food cravings as I used to, but I can say that when I feel like eating some French fries, having a donut or drinking an iced cappuccino, there’s absolutely nothing stopping me.
This experience with intermittent fasting is mine alone, so I recommend speaking to a doctor before making any drastic lifestyle changes and answering any questions, concerns or doubts for emotional or physical health purposes.