The Power of Fasting: What Happens When You Stop Feeding Your Hunger

From 'I need 3 meals a day' to effortless 36-hour fasts - the step-by-step approach anyone can follow

💡 In today's edition:

The Evolution: From "I Need Three Meals a Day" to Finding Freedom in Fasting

The 36-Hour Protocol: How To Make Fasting Feel Effortless

How to Build Your Fasting Muscle (A Step-by-Step Approach)

For years, I was that person who'd say "I get hangry if I don't eat on schedule" and truly believed it. I'd wake up thinking about breakfast, count down to lunch, and plan dinner before I'd even digested lunch. The concept of skipping a meal felt like punishment – something you'd do only if you were desperate to lose weight.

What I've learned through my own 80-pound weight loss journey and from working with countless patients is something surprising: our body's hunger signals aren't actually telling us we "need" to eat right now. They're just reminding us we usually eat at this time. And that insight changes everything about how we can approach weight loss and metabolic health.

Trained Hunger vs. True Hunger:

Why Your Body Has Been Tricking You

Ever notice how your dog knows exactly when it's dinner time?

Humans work the same way. When I talk with my patients about this, most of them have this "aha" moment when they realize their hunger is largely based on habit, not necessity.

Here's what's happening:

Your body releases ghrelin (your hunger hormone) because you've eaten at that time before – not because you actually need nutrition at that moment.

Why it’s happening:

You've essentially trained your body to expect food at certain times, just like my dog who gets confused on school half-days when my kids come home early.

One of my patients recently had a profound insight when her doctor recommended an appetite suppressant medication.

She told me: "Rather than suppressing my appetite, I'd like to know it better and work with it. Maybe it's just more humane to live with the body's feelings as they are."

That's what fasting is really about – not depriving yourself, but understanding your body's signals and working with them instead of fighting them.

From 12 Hours to 36: Your 8-Week Fasting Blueprint

I like to think of fasting as a skill – like strength training for your metabolism. You start light and gradually build up your "fasting muscle." Here's how I guide my patients:

Step 1: Define Your Eating Window

Start by simply deciding when you'll eat and when you won't. For most people, I recommend beginning with a 12/12 split:

• Choose a 12-hour window for eating (like 8am to 8pm)

• Fast for the other 12 hours

• That's it! No calorie counting, no food restrictions

The key here isn't even the length – it's just establishing the concept that there are times for eating and times for not eating. Most of my patients find this doable, which is exactly the point.

Step 2: Gradually Extend Your Fasting Window

Once 12/12 feels easy (usually after about two weeks), try extending your fasting window:

• Move to a 14/10 split (perhaps 10am to 8pm)

• Then to 16/8 (noon to 8pm is common)

• Pay attention to which meals are easier for you to skip

This is very personal. Some of my patients, like my wife, are breakfast people – they wake up hungry and can easily skip dinner.

Others, like me, enjoy dinner with family and find it easier to skip breakfast. There's no "correct" window – find what works for you.

Step 3: Experiment With Longer Fasts

For those interested in accelerated weight loss and deeper health benefits, here's where it gets interesting:

I've created a specific protocol for my patients that builds up to either one meal a day or a 36-hour fast once weekly. If you do a 36-hour fast once a week and maintain regular strength training, you'll lose about a pound a week – and it will mostly be fat, not muscle.

Warning Signs: Skip Fasting If You're Building Muscle or Have These Conditions

I'm careful about who I recommend fasting to. It's not appropriate for everyone:

• If you have a history of disordered eating

• If you're pregnant or breastfeeding

• If you're on certain medications (especially for diabetes)

• If you're actively trying to build significant muscle

For those focused on muscle building (which is my current goal), extensive fasting can work against you. That's why I now fast less than I used to – I'm prioritizing protein intake and recovery to support muscle growth.

I'm also cautious with women in perimenopause or post-menopause, as fasting can sometimes raise cortisol levels, though this varies by individual.

The Hidden Magic of Not Eating

What happens at the cellular level when your body gets a break from food

Here's what I find fascinating: even if weight loss brings you to fasting, the benefits extend far beyond that. Research from Stanford's Dr. Sachin Panda and others has shown that a 14+ hour fasting window can trigger:

• Autophagy (your body's cellular cleaning process)

• Improved insulin sensitivity

• Enhanced mental clarity (many patients report this as a surprising benefit)

• Better metabolic flexibility (your body's ability to switch between fuel sources)

I've seen this repeatedly with patients: once they get comfortable with fasting, they often report feeling more energetic and mentally sharper.

The initial hunger pangs that seemed so urgent become background noise, and they develop a new relationship with food – one where they're in control, not their habits.

A Simple Way to Start This Week

Don't overthink this. Start by paying attention to when you feel hungry this week. Ask yourself: "Is this true hunger, or just my body's trained response?" Simply observing without judgment is the first step to changing your relationship with eating.

Try pushing your first meal back by 30 minutes, or ending your eating 30 minutes earlier. That's it. Small steps lead to big changes.

Until next time...

Live well and RAK ON, Dr. Rak 👊🏽

**The information provided is for general knowledge and informational purposes only, and does not constitute medical advice**