Staying long enough to learn
Early on in my metabolic journey, nutrition was one of the first things I knew I had to get under control. To do that, I paired it with fasting protocols. I initially started with alternate day fasting, and what I quickly realized is that fasting is mostly a mental game.
Once you begin to understand your body — and more importantly, trust what it’s capable of — you realize that your body often knows more than you do. Our minds, our perceptions, and our beliefs tend to hold the body back from fully adapting and growing.
Through fasting, I started paying attention to how my body reacted. I pushed through some challenges, and most of those challenges weren’t physical — they were mental. Hunger was the obvious one. Learning that I could sit with it and push through it changed how I viewed discomfort. It wasn’t a signal to stop; it was something temporary that passed.
The other challenge surprised me more: boredom. Everything becomes very basic. Food disappears as a constant activity, and you realize how much of life — and identity — revolves around eating. When you remove that, you suddenly have a lot of time. And on the other side of that, you also realize how much socializing is tied to food and drinking. That part was difficult.
As I extended my fasting protocols, the intent wasn’t to chase results — it was to give my body room to adapt and see how it would respond. I think it’s important not to box ourselves into assumptions about what our bodies can or can’t handle.
I tend to track numbers because they help me quantify progress, but I’ve learned that numbers aren’t the whole story. If you feel good, and you can push through temporary obstacles, there’s value in giving your body time to breathe and heal.
I don’t know where this ends or what the final sustainable version looks like. But right now, where I am, it makes sense — and my body is responding well. I’m learning that it’s okay to pull different levers, try different techniques, and challenge yourself. You don’t really know what you’re capable of until you do.
What’s changed most is trust. I trust my body more now — not just to endure, but to tell me when to pause. I’ve learned a lot, from the social side of food and drinking, to learning how to fill the extra space in my daily life. And I wouldn’t trade that awareness for anything.
Moving forward, fasting will likely remain one tool in my toolkit — something I can return to as I continue looking for a balance I can live with and feel proud of.
