Hi I’ve been doing the diet for 3 weeks now. My fast days are getting easier and I can now go until lunchtime without eating. I still have one problem though. I always get ravenous in the afternoons between 1-4pm no matter how much/little I eat. On fast days I have a very small snack and large drink, plus a good dose of mental imagery to keep me going. The problem lies on the non-fast days. I eat everything in sight! I just can’t seem to muster the willpower. I’ve lost 3lbs so far, so I’m not going disastrously wrong. Just wondered if anyone has any ideas of how to curb the feeling of imminent death from starvation! Lol. I should also point out I’m not eating junk food, as I make all foods myself (bread, butter, yogurt, baked beans, fruit compote…) so I mostly tend to go for carbs. I tried having protein like eggs, chicken or yogurt but then ended up having toast or hummus as well!

Thank you for you reply! Veggie patties sound like a good idea, I’ll try that. I’m currently on a no-processed food regime and making absolutely everything from scratch, so that helps a little because I don’t have any junk food in the house. My daughter has her daddy’s appetite and constantly bugs me throughout the afternoon, which I think is fuelling my hunger pangs. I keep berries in the fridge at all times to appease everyone! Today (fast day) I made a huge batch of Mediterranean veggies and had a big heap with a chicken breast and a little couscous. It has helped me to stay fuller for longer and although I feel hungry now, I’m not about to consider raiding the fridge. I agree with holding off eating breakfast and just wait until lunch. I seem to feel hungrier if I do eat breakfast??? For supper we’re having scallops, sautéed potatoes, poached egg and asparagus. It’s quick to prepare and more importantly, won’t heat up the kitchen too much (it absolutely boiling hot in here today). I’m wondering if some homemade oat/bran muffins might help? You know, the kind with ground almonds in for protein and sweetened with applesauce. Or perhaps I shouldn’t snack at all. I wonder if I’ll get used to not snacking like I got used to not having breakfast. If only I didn’t eat so much pizza, chocolate and red bull in uni then I wouldn’t have so much trouble! Lol.

Having just read another thread discussion, eating within an 8 hour window every day not just fast days seems to be the way forward. That way I guess I can eat what would have been breakfast’s calories as a healthy snack between meals. I’ll try it anyway. With regards to things like muffins, I will make with something like quinoa rather than using a flour base. I only use flour for making bread and eat only a small amount as it seems to bloat my tummy otherwise. I certainly wouldn’t have anything like that on a fast day! I find it rather amusing that I love cauliflower but really don’t like it as a rice substitute. My mum told me about it a while ago because her slimming club recommended it, but I just couldn’t get on with the texture for some reason. I did successfully make a garlic bread substitute with it but was a bit of a faff to make which put me off making it again. I have a huge cookbook by Nigella Lawson from the library which has tons of nice recipes for comfort food that isn’t too naughty. I think the most important thing is to retrain my brain though.