I have tried fasting by skipping breakfast and I have mostly failed because I am unable to endure when hunger strikes. I am interested to learn the mental methods you use to over that struggle.
You have to wrap your brain around the idea that hunger isn't pain to be avoided but a natural feeling that comes in waves. It's not you that's hungry, it's your gut microbes and they can be annoying but they don't really hurt you. Hunger is the sensation that one has when some of their gut microbes are running out of food an experiencing stress.
I recently did a significant amount of caloric restriction, from probably 2500/day down to more like 1500/day. The first day was awful. The second day wasn't so bad. By the fourth day this new amount of calories feels fine. I had to give myself permission to do basically nothing for several days though because I just didn't have it in me.
It's been pretty simple for me: just get busy. Wake up, get ready for work, and go. It's tough with kids though because we make them breakfast here and the temptation is real but if I put time boundaries on myself (up at 6, out the door at 6:30) then the fake stress forces me to get out the door. Once I'm on my way to work I really don't think about it. The only thing I consume before lunch is black coffee, and that seems to fix any hunger pangs.
This. Coffee with a teaspoon of coconut oil or butter if preferred. The oil increases satiation (feeling full). Then get at it.
Whatever you need to do or narrative to tell yourself why you don't need to eat, do it. Keep busy, work, clean the house or volunteer. By keeping occupied, the mind will not seek food out of boredom and ritual.
Eat once a day. Typically I "reward" myself with the evening meal after fasting through the day. There are different kinds of fasts but the one which seems to work best for me is 1-big-meal a day type fast. The rest of the day, I can drink water or black coffee.
1) Remove from your mind the idea that huner is suffering. It's all in your head. It's merely a mild discomfort.
If you ate last night and woke up in the morning, you are not hungry. You are just used to eat in the morning. Your body will not suffer any thing from skipping breakfast. It alerady has more than enough energy storage. It was designed to tap into it.
2) Surround yourself in a virtual environment where fasting and accepting hunger is the norm and expcted and obvious thing to do.
Read blogs about fasting. Watch youtube videos about fasting. Read books about fasting. Watch how people who consistently fast are healthy and fit.
3) Understand that there are two types of pleasure. Fleeting pleasures, and lasting pleasures. The fleeting pleasure are the sensual. They are momentary and quickly go away. If you spend your life chasing fleeting pleasures, you will be miserable.
Lasting pleasures - if you can call them so - are mental states. Contentment. Feeling in control of your life. These don't come from things. They come from what you value and the way you conduct yourself in the world. If you have no value, you will be controlled by your desires.
Some people think this is freedom: to do whatever you desire. To me, it's slavery. Because when you follow this path your life will be miserable.
Some people try to cheat by pretending that their misery is actually happiness. You see it in the people who insist that fat is healthy and beautfil and hot!
4) Understand that your mind is distributed. Even if you resolve to fasting, there will be some component of your mind that really really wants to just keep eating. Sometimes it might come out and win. Accept that such a thing could happen. When it does happen, don't be too hard on yoruself. Try to understand why it's happening. But anyway, go back right away. Understand that many other components of your mind want to continue doing the right thing.
One small thing I learned is that a lot of what I thought was hunger was actually thirst. I have been eating one meal a day (with some exceptions) for the past 3 or 4 years. If you're hungry during a fast, drink something. This will put something in your stomach and that helps and then after a bit the hunger goes away if you ignore it long enough. When fasting you need to up your fluid intake anyway.
The biggest thing that helped me aside from trying to change my mindset, is black coffee and black tea without anything added. Coffee in particular seems to have a hunger suppressant quality and helps with perceived energy loss, but black tea seems to do the same for me. Whenever I am feeling hungry I just drink tea or coffee. There are so few calories involved that I believe it doesn't break a fasting state. Some may consider it breaking the rule, IDK.
I recently did a significant amount of caloric restriction, from probably 2500/day down to more like 1500/day. The first day was awful. The second day wasn't so bad. By the fourth day this new amount of calories feels fine. I had to give myself permission to do basically nothing for several days though because I just didn't have it in me.