5:2 DIET - INTERMITTENT FASTING AND THE HUNGER SWITCH

Since I began practicing intermittent fasting 16 months ago, I've discovered quite a lot about the body - and, in particular, how the appetite works. 

When I began, I struggled to explain why I (and others) feel more hunger on feed days (very) than on fasting days (not at all).

The more I thought about it, the more I came to an insight into the possible cause of this phenomenon - and it relates to the way our bodies have developed over the millenia:

As far as the body is concerned, it recognises two states - famine, and feast.

When we don't eat, our bodies assume there is no food available - famine situation - and it suppresses the (for want of a better term), 'hunger switch'. Feeling hungry all the time would just be a distraction for someone who is hunting for the next meal - so hunger is suppressed.

Which is why the days when we fast are much easier than when we don't

(I use the term, 'hunger switch', because it really is like flicking a switch - which is easy to turn on, but takes time to reset to the off position.)

When we do eat, our bodies assume there is food available - feast situation - and goes into hunger mode. So, we eat breakfast, then a short time later, the body says, "There is food available, this must be a feast day - I will kickstart the appetite so that I can build up reserves against the next famine." The trouble is, in this day and age, in our society, famine never comes!

There are some things you can do about managing the appetite and controlling the hunger switch:

Recognise the danger times. If you don't eat, the switch doesn't get flicked on. If you have more than the slightest bit of food, the hunger switch goes on and you want more food throughout the day. In fact, after you've eaten, your hunger switch slowly resets itself - until you activate it with more food. Check this out next time you prepare a meal. If you haven't eaten through the afternoon, your hunger switch is 'off'. Leave it until just before you serve up the meal before tasting anything and it will remain off. Start tasting as soon as you start chopping your veg - and you'll want to pick all through the meal preparation.

Wait for 20 minutes before having seconds (works for your youngsters, too!). It takes this length of time for the food to travel through the large intestine and activate the satiety hormone, leptin.

So set your kitchen timer for 20 or 30 minutes when you've finished eating, and, more often than not, you'll feel your appetite subside.

For me, the danger time is when I make myself a hot drink - I want to constantly nibble while I'm drinking something. So, to hold this at bay, when I've made myself a cup of coffee, I set the timer for 10 or 15 minutes or so - I can't have that first biscuit/bit of chocolate/whatever, until the alarm goes off. By then I'm halfway through the drink and I nibble a lot less than I would have done. Or, if I don't want to eat anything, I'll set the timer for 20-30 minutes. This only applies on a 'feed' day - I'm never tempted when I'm fasting because I don't activate the hunger switch.

If you do over-indulge in the afternoon/evening, have a 'mini-fast' the following day. I've always got something on the stove (the kitchen is my office!) and I often nibble away at this in the evening. If I think I've gone overboard, I'll just miss out breakfast - or I won't eat until dinner time when I'll have a normal meal. I justify this to myself by saying 'Well, you had your breakfast and lunch last night'.

In the past few weeks, to combat this, I've instituted a 'No Evening Snacking' rule (NES). I eat nothing after my evening meal, and this has been largely successful. The one time I broke this rule I woke up in the night and was violently sick (after picking up a tummy bug from my granddaughter)!

Now I'm much more aware of how the appetite works, it has become a mind game - once I declare myself to be 'in the zone' - as in my fast days and with the NES rule - I am remarkably strict with myself.