Today we are continuing our discussion of June’s Diet of the Month, The Complete Guide to Fasting: Heal Your Body Through Intermittent, Alternate-Day, and Extended Fasting by Jason Fung and Jimmy Moore. As part of our in depth look at what this diet plan has to offer, I am putting intermittent fasting to the test for an entire week to give you an honest look at the good, the bad, and the ugly.

So let’s take a look at how Day 2 of my intermittent fasting (IMF) regimen went. Day 2 will be a repeat of Day 1 in which I skip breakfast, have lunch and dinner as usual, and no snacking after dinner. I will also continue, per Dr. Jason Fung’s recommendations, to focus on whole, unprocessed foods, natural fats, and limited refined grains.

Breakfast: Skipped. I drank a couple cups of coffee with half and half. I woke up pretty hungry and making breakfast for the boys didn’t help…that cinnamon toast smelled soooooo good.

Lunch: Today I made a BELT salad–bacon, egg, lettuce and tomato–with honey mustard dressing. Added some shaved Pecorino Romano for good measure, too. Yesterday I realized that I really needed to shift more calories to lunch to see if I could prevent the relentless hunger I’d experienced Wednesday. Doing so really helped!

Snack: Almonds

Dinner: Firecracker Zoodles! This was my first time using zoodles (spiralized zucchini) in place of pasta and they were alright. I definitely think they need a strong sauce to keep them palatable after the first few bites. This spicy sauce fit the bill perfectly! I think a lemon cream sauce might also work nicely. I’ll be sharing the recipe for Firecracker Zoodles soon, so stay tuned!

I should also note here that I ate less at dinner than anticipated. Given how hungry I’ve been, I thought I would once again want more than I had served myself, but I actually ended up eating less. I felt really full about 3/4 of the way into my plate of zoodles and couldn’t finish.

Once again, I carefully measured and journaled my food intake using the SparkPeople app and ended up eating 1386 calories with 59% from fat, 21% from carbs, and 20% from protein. Using this 6:18 intermittent fasting regimen in which I have a 6-hour window for meals followed by 18 hours of fasting, I continue to consume an amount of calories appropriate for weight loss without particularly trying to do so. This is, of course, one of the benefits of IMF offered by Dr. Jason Fung in his book.

In addition, because I am putting down such a high percentage of fat, I do believe that this has contributed to my feelings of fullness at mealtimes. Though I certainly still struggle with feeling super hungry throughout the morning and halfway between lunch and dinner, I am surprised by how quickly I feel full when I do eat.

As for weight change, today’s weight was down 2# from yesterday. Given my low carbohydrate intake, I really am not surprised. Most of this is likely water weight due to the low-carb nature of this fasting plan. What will be interesting to see is how my weight will fluctuate in the coming days and to what extent the scale will pop back up once I resume my normal eating routine.

Onward to Day 3…my first 24-hour fast! Technically, my fast has already begun since I will be fasting from dinner on Day 2 to dinner on Day 3. I have to admit, I am definitely nervous. I’ve already been struggling with hunger and I’m pretty sure tomorrow will be no cake walk. But we shall see! Check in tomorrow to see how it goes!