I don't really know what I'm asking so forgive me if this is a bit of a ramble.
So I used to do a 16:8 IF every day for about 4 years before I got pregnant with my son. He's now almost 2, we've been weaned since September and I want to try to reclaim my relationship with food. When I used to IF, I had such low food noise in my head and I found I craved healthy stuff more and genuinely enjoyed eating, instead of mindlessly eating and snacking.
I had a rough pregnancy and then breastfed and now I have a toddler who doesn't sleep which means I don't sleep either 😂 Suffice to say, I haven't been able to consistently IF since before I got pregnant - I have a bit of an all-or-nothing mentality and with constantly handling food for my son, and the sleep deprivation, my willpower just disappears. I've also fallen into a bad habit over the last few months of snacking on chocolate and sweets almost exclusively, whilst having healthy meals in between. I've definitely fallen into a dopamine reward relationship with candy.
So I thought maybe it would work for my personality better if I had no food days instead of no food hours. I'm 54kg and 5 foot 7ish (31F), so I don't really want to fast for weight loss purposes, I'm pretty lean as is and I get 10k steps in a day and do 2 strength training gym sessions a week. Whilst I have fat stores to lean on, it's not my goal to lose weight. I've never fasted for weight loss or fitness, but more for control over my eating/relationship with food.
I guess my question is really, is it worth it? Will I feel better doing a 24 hour fast or will I just feel starving? Should I bother trying this way or should I just try to get a grip on myself with going back to IF, maybe trying a different window like 20:4 instead? I've never not eaten for a full day, even when I've had vomiting bugs, so I'm a bit nervous. If it works out well, then I know turning it into a lifestyle will be the thing that helps my mental clarity long term - how often should I do a 24 hour fast? Should I ever bother thinking about doing 48hrs if I'm trying to avoid losing weight? (I don't mind losing a few pounds as I have some stores, but I'm not actively trying to fast for weight loss). What benefits am I really looking for if weight loss isn't an aim?
Sorry if this is garbled, I'm trying to learn (and the subreddit's wiki pages aren't loading for me) and don't really know how to ask what I don't know about 🫠