About a week ago, I started intermittent fasting after it was recommended by a user on this subreddit to read The Slight Edge. The only other thing that I've done outside of intermittent fasting which has to do with making small, seemingly insignificant changes, to improve my life was with reading the book. At first, I said to myself that I would read the book in two, maybe three, days. Reading a large number of pages ended up becoming the reverse of what the book was preaching because it then was taking up a significant amount of my time. So, I stuck with the ten pages a day and timed it.

Results:

  • Reading 26% faster since the first day (I guess since the first day, I lacked the enthusiasm, interest, and concentration)

  • Higher interest

  • Higher enthusiasm

  • Better concentration

It's been around a week and I'm at 100 pages through the book and I spend less than half an hour reading the book a day.

Intermittent Fasting

I will say it's not as hard as I thought it would be. There are some challenges, of course.

Challenges:

  • Drinking tea - plain tea (I don't drink tea, much less plain)

  • I don't do much more than remedial tasks while fasting. I don't do anything that involves creativity or any sort of heavy focus. Maybe it's just the first week, but yeah, I'm still hungry. I'm hoping my body becomes more acclimated and I'm able to do more tasks that are heavier in substance.

Benefits:

  • I noticed the next morning that I was waking up better. I don't have the urge to go looking for my first meal in the morning, which is great.

  • I noticed that I'm sleeping better. I just turn off my phone and immediately fall asleep. I'm not staying awake meandering over things.

  • I'm eating less. I know I'm supposed to go "feasting" as soon as my fasting time is complete, but after a few days, I've just been eating less and less.

  • I'm cooking more and my body is searching for more healthier options.

I don't think I'll mention any visual differences because it's only been a week and saying that my waistline is thinner would most likely just a contribution to this idea that I'm not eating so I feel like my waistline is thinner. Also, I didn't start intermittent fasting because I was trying to look better. I really just wanted more time to do things and less time thinking about where my next meal will be.

Breaking the fast - Beer:

I will say that I have broken the fast to drink beer. It's not an everyday thing. It's on occasion.

Other than that, everything's doing swell. It's a lot easier than I thought, and it's made things a lot easier. I'm not going to make updates a weekly thing. If I'm still doing this after a month, I'll throw out an update.