11 maneras de facilitar el ayuno intermitente

Mi experiencia

I’m all for a holistic approach to health, so besides emotional and relationship health, I also like to research and practice taking care of my body. Intermittent fasting has gained significant attention over the last ten years or so. Reading about all the enticing reported benefits, I had to try it out. About eight years ago, I started my intermittent fasting with the 8/16 schedule and slowly increased it to 5/19 over the course of a few years.

It’s easy and fast to write or read about it! Not quite so easy to practice it over the course of years. Most promoters of intermittent fasting make confident claims about how easy it becomes after the first two or three weeks. Unfortunately, I can’t say I found it at all easy. I found both morning and evening hunger quite difficult to bear, even years into the practice. Sharp hunger often wakes me up in the middle of the night. About a decade earlier, I tried longer fasts a few times (10 and 12 days) and felt utterly miserable throughout the whole ordeal. If you find intermittent fasting difficult, in spite of all the promises you read online, you are in good company.  🙂  It did become somewhat easier after the first few weeks, though, even for me.

My difficulties weren’t due to the kind of food I was eating, because I was already practicing a healthy diet and avoiding processed food for many years. Perhaps the 5/19 schedule was too extreme for me. According to some authors, las mujeres están biológicamente menos adaptadas al ayuno en comparación con los hombres, debido a que históricamente pasaban más tiempo con la familia y menos en expediciones de caza (o guerras). El ayuno puede, supuestamente, estropear equilibrio hormonal femenino.

I decided to stick to my 5/19 schedule anyway because I wanted all those sweet benefits. I did lose a few stubborn kilos, but I often felt low energy (in spite of the regular physical activity in my garden), and many evenings I couldn’t think of much except food. My blood tests also showed increased cholesterol levels, which confused me a lot. Then I read that an una tiroides hipoactiva puede elevar los niveles de colesterol en la sangre. Empecé a preocuparme de que el ayuno hubiera ralentizado mi metabolismo y, por tanto, mi tiroides estuviera menos activa.

Not wanting to make things worse, I decided to stop intermittent fasting for a while (by then I had been practicing it for roughly six years). My body reacted with glee, like it got to feast after famine, and I quickly regained the lost weight. For almost two years after, even the thought of starting intermittent fasting again would get a “no way in hell!” reaction from my body. Recently, however, I found out that el aumento del colesterol podría ser uno de los síntomas de la perimenopausiatambién. Eso redujo algunas de mis preocupaciones sobre el ayuno intermitente.

A few months ago, I went back to intermittent fasting, this time with a mild 10/14 schedule. I find it makes me tolerably mildly hungry before bedtime but doesn’t send my body into panic mode. I might gradually go back to 8/16 with time if I can feel good enough with it. I don’t think I’ll ever go back to 5/19, though. It might work for somebody else, but for me it just doesn’t.

Estrategias para facilitar el ayuno intermitente

¿Cómo llevé un programa de ayuno tan estricto durante seis años, a pesar de que no era del todo adecuado para mi cuerpo? He aquí algunas estrategias para hacer más fácil el ayuno intermitente. Siéntase libre de elegir las que funcionen para usted. No todos los cuerpos funcionan de la misma manera, así que no todo lo que funciona para mí puede funcionar para usted. Sólo puedo hablar desde mi propia experiencia.

I also advise using these strategies for reasonable goals only. Don’t risk your health with extreme practices if they don’t work for you.

1. Adapte su horario de ayuno a su biorritmo

Some authors say breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Many proponents of intermittent fasting suggest skipping breakfast and focusing on lunch and dinner instead. Who is correct? It depends on your body. I was always an early riser and desperately hungry by 6 am or so, but I never ate much for dinner. I also know a number of people who say they can’t eat breakfast because their bodies don’t tolerate it. Many people are somewhere in between. Don’t try to force your body into a rhythm it never felt comfortable with just because someone else suggests it. It adds extra stress to an already stressful practice.

2. Considere cómo adaptar el ayuno a su horario de trabajo

Do you forget to eat when you are focused on something else? Or do you find it easier to be hungry when you are resting, and can’t focus when you are hungry? Keep that in mind when deciding when you want to fast.
In addition, consider when you have time to prepare meals. Are you so hungry after work that you can’t postpone eating until you prepare a healthy meal? Then you are likely to throw yourself off balance with some fast food. You might want to prepare food in the morning and keep it in the fridge for later, or perhaps break your fast with a small healthy snack while preparing a more substantial meal.

3. Preste atención a su ingesta de calorías

Uno de los peligros del ayuno es que puede darse la libertad de comer en exceso durante el periodo de ayuno. Otro peligro es reducir demasiado las calorías y hacer que el cuerpo entre en pánico. Explore qué cantidad de comida le parece equilibrada y cíñase a ella.

4. Preste atención a la calidad de sus alimentos

When we do something good for ourselves, it’s very easy to tell ourselves we deserve an “outlet” or a reward and end up eating less healthily. That way, you receive fewer nutrients, which can again make your body panic. Besides being nutritionally poor, junk food throws our bodies off balance, especially our hunger hormones. That can greatly increase the sense of hunger and cravings.

5. Distraerse

Si el trabajo le distrae del hambre, planifique pasar hambre durante las horas de trabajo. Si divertirse le distrae del hambre, planifique actividades interesantes para su tiempo libre. La mayoría de las personas son más conscientes de su hambre cuando están solas y aburridas. Si no es el trabajo, piense en qué otras actividades podrían distraerle. ¿Tal vez dar un paseo, jugar con los niños, salir con los amigos, ver una película interesante o leer un buen libro? Asegúrese de no descuidar el ejercicio.

6. Prueba a beber té caliente

I find this works for me—warm tea makes my stomach calm down and feel fuller, and I can drink as much of it as I want. If you find it stimulates your stomach too much and makes you hungrier, then don’t do it.

7. Observe su hambre y sus antojos con interés

Cuando trabajo con emociones, encuentro que cuanto más se intenta luchar contra ellas, más difícil resulta. En cambio, si se observan las emociones con aceptación e interés (pero sin creer en ellas ni rendirse ante ellas), resultan mucho más fáciles de soportar. Lo mismo me ocurre con el hambre y los antojos.

8. Espere 15 minutos

Hunger comes in waves. Well, for me around breakfast time it’s constantly intense until I eat, but at least at other times it subsides after a while. If sharp hunger wakes me up in the night, I’ve learned I need to wait 15 minutes or so. Then the hunger goes away and I can go back to sleep.

9. Reconocer y prepararse para los momentos de debilidad

Everybody has some weaknesses and triggers that undermine their willpower. Many people, for example, feel increased cravings in times of stress. A common self-sabotaging excuse is, “I’ll just cheat a little today, and from tomorrow on I’ll be disciplined!” Somehow that disciplined tomorrow comes rarely or never.
Fíjate en qué situaciones y excusas pueden hacerte ceder a viejos hábitos. Piensa en cómo quieres afrontarlos en el futuro. ¿Cómo puedes consolarte, distraerte o sustituir los hábitos no deseados? Por ejemplo, preparando un té con antelación. Haz una lista de pensamientos motivadores. Planea alguna actividad divertida. O llama a un amigo, como en el párrafo siguiente.

10. Find a “Fasting/Diet Buddy” for Venting and Emotional Support

I have a friend who has to follow a strict diet due to health problems. She has another friend who is dieting to lose weight. She says the two of them call each other whenever they find cravings difficult to bear. Then they give each other space to complain and vent to their heart’s content. For example, “I hate this so much!” or “Why me, it’s so unfair!” It helps them release stress and feel better. Of course, you can also share your successes with your buddy. Joy shared is multiplied; pain shared is divided.

11. Darse apoyo emocional

You can also be your own friend. Food is not just nutrition, it’s strongly associated with security and love. Hunger can therefore trigger feelings of insecurity and abandonment, probably lingering from our childhood. Consider how you can talk to yourself and what you can do to help yourself feel safe and loved. That should give you more emotional strength to deal with fasting.

I hope this advice can make intermittent fasting easier for you! Remember, no extreme is ever healthy. Don’t torture your body. Listen to it and cooperate with it to find a balance you can maintain long term.

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