— My experience in Nov – Dec 2018
Half the times I come home without the doomed, fatalistic mood about my impending need for a big dinner. I often eat fruits/veg anyway. Even after 9pm I am often free of that dreaded urge. I don’t use the word “hungry” since my system is actually not in need to calories, thanks to all the recent snacks. The psychological trigger kick in sometime after 10pm. I basically can’t fight it once it starts. But why wait for it to start?
The appetite is like an approaching train coming in to crush me, so over the years I have developed a deep fear for it, but in reality, I am bigger than it. I need to keep accumulating positive experiences to combat the negative ones. Sleeping early is arguably the #1 strategy.
Daily battle, as Alex puts it
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I believe if I managed to fall asleep before the appetite kicks in, then I may not feel wanting. Next morning I might feel genuinely “hungry”, but it’s easier to manage than at night.
May need to break the “not-hungry,don’t-eat” rule
During a very low-stress period, on 21 Dec 2018, I tried this technique for the first time and it worked
- I don’t remember any real breakfast
- lunch meeting with CSDoctor was nothing but chia
- snacks consist of 1 tiny brownie (office treat), no other starch; tomato, persimmons, grapes, carrot
- Around 8 to 10pm after coming home I had a half avocado with honey, and a big persimmon
- Before the urge kicked in, I decided to sleep.
- I fell asleep fairly soon around 10.30 and didn’t feel hungry and was not feeling afraid of the impending “need”
- In the morning I felt completely fine. So I went to gym and took a 20 minute boot camp, without negative symptoms
- I guess this is intermittent fasting, which is widely practiced and proven safe for many people.