Consistency in My Fasting Plan

​Consistency. Consistency. Consistency.  

That's the message I keep hearing and reading over and over again. And it's telling me that this where I need to get it together!  I'm all over the place since I began this journey in March, like I have fasting ADD--squirrel! I want to stick to my 7-day EFs, but then I read about how 3x42s offer proven physical results.  Then I remember my reasons for fasting are emotional healing as well as physical healing, and then I just can't make up my mind.  This is most likely reflective of my my overall mental state as my life is in such huge flux right now with coronanity, and not know what/where/how even into the next month.  The wind is blowing, my sails are up and full, but the rudder is dismantled. 

I want to be consistent--and not just in fasting... I can't seem to find it with my yoga meditation practice or in exercise, either.

If I can do 42s I might as well go longer, because those first days are hard anyway.  But then, I miss eating on longer fasts, and that's when I decide to break the fast at 7.  Emotionally, 7+ days would be way more beneficial. 3 x42s would offer adequate weight change, but not the deep healing I seek (autophagy/physical/spiritual/emotional).  Then there is the whole 5 day fast/2 day feast cycle which sounds appealing.  

Ultimately, I know what is right for me, but I should stop looking at it as all-or-nothing.  I don't have to do a 7+ day every week or so. I could complete a 7-day WF, and then move to 3x42s for one week. Re-assess and see if I should continue the 42s or change.  For me, it's easier to commit to one method, because all the options make me dizzy. I have difficulty with follow-thru and finishing-- in fasting and in life. Maybe that's what I need, a plan for the month, instead of for the week or a few days. 

The longer fasts have also changed my digestion and GI activity: I get fuller on much smaller meals, and it's easy to overeat when I'm hungry.  Even a child-size meal of keto or LCHF is filling, and a few bites over, my stomach hurts all day and night, resulting in poor sleep. I definitely have to eat before 6pm or I feel ill when I go to bed (9-10pm).  I'm noticing feelings of lack/doing without/deprivation when eating such small meals, though I am eating foods I enjoy and am sated.  The amounts seem so small, and I forget that I can eat again later, that I am not deprived, and to stop when I am full.  This is where the emotional healing needs make themselves known--in a loud yell as a matter of fact. My living situation makes it difficult: my friends cook daily (high carb, high fat), and though they are very supportive of my fasts, the smells can be overwhelming.  I have to figure out how to be mentally and emotionally sated with smaller meals, eaten less frequently.  With keto and lCHF, OMAD is definitely plenty, and for me, eaten around 12-1pm.  This puts me at odds, too, with my friends, who eat very late dinners, and we trade off with cooking duties.  I eat lunch, then cook later in the afternoon for them, but then we don't eat together, which feels a bit awkward to me, and then I miss the social aspect of shared meals. But with the physiological changes due to fasting, when I eat with them at 7-730, I feel really awful physically all night long :frowning:  

This week, after my last EF, I've had trouble sticking to any particular fast.  I've tried to stay keto/LCHF but have had a few slips due to it being a weird off-week, hormonally and emotionally. I'm stopped up which never happens and my body does feels like it's digesting food very, very slowly, and the food seems stuck in my intestines, remaining uneliminated. The increase in meat and fat, with less veggies is taking a toll.  I've been mainly vegetarian for years...