thanks for joining in Fast for life, felt like Iwillbe12st and myself were the only ones with this problem. Must admit when those cravings came back after 3 months of cruising along it was a shock and I worry that i will end up back where i started,
Your sister’s theory doesn’t work for me iwillbe12st–I’m in NZ so we have just had our first day of autumn ( ahh i am a squirrel preparing for winter!!)
this week have decided to admit I hate lettuce however much I try to dappier it up–so going back to the cook book to find new recipes and really up the tastes. and thinking I am overeating because I am tired so yes up the protein. Have now eaten all treats that were in my cupboards so strategy 3 is not to buy any more this week (if visitors pop in then its a plain cup of tea no munchies.)
let’s see how we go– and all the very best. keep me posted on anything you discover to keep us off the naughty kids chair.

I think that it is psychological. I’ve been fasting since mid november without much trouble and am now only 3 kilos off my healthy weight range.

While I haven’t had problems with the fasting and normal day eating, it does sometimes feel like a bit of a chore to get done. I really enjoy cooking and eating.

My body is now at the point where I feel pretty darned good about it. I no longer see myself as fat, and have had a compliment or two on how fit I am looking (one from a random stranger on the street).

It is at this point with every diet/exercise program that I have ever done that I find my committment slips and it becomes so much easier to eat the treats, to miss the gym, I stop weighing myself religiously and the scales start creeping up and the body fat builds and the gym membership slips.

The health benefits of this way of eating don’t keep me committed to it. They are hard to see and realise so I am afraid that I have to admit that in a large part it is vanity that keeps me going.

This time around I am working really, really hard to try and stay committed to making it into the healthy weight zone (I haven’t made it there in the last ten years), to keep this up through the coming autumn and winter so that I may actually have my fit lean body for summer – rather than getting it respectable as we roll into winter with it’s bulky clothing and stodgy comfort foods and losing the benefits of all that hard work and having to start again in Spring or summer with trying to get back to where I am now.

So try to find what motivates you and keep it front and centre.

Iwillbe12st yes I’m an Aussie living in Sunny Melbourne 🙂 with our not so cold and not so dark winter soon approaching. Looking forward to doing more soups for fasting day dinners. How many hours of sun would you get on a winters day in far north Scotland winter?
What I do love about looking good for me at the moment is that it is built on being fit, strong and healthy. It is hard work staying that way, and unfortunately the body very quickly depletes the fitness levels if you stop using them.
I would love to be motivated by improved blood sugar and cholesterol levels and the IGF1, but all those things would involve blood testing and I hate needles so they stay as theoreticals for me. Yes I’m a wimp.
I did however pull the pushbike out for the first time in way too long last weekend and found that the rolling hills on one of my local rides no longer intimidated me. Being 10 kilos lighter makes riding up hills so much easier – so another tangible/vain benefit from this way of life for me to keep dangling in front of myself.

This is such a good and timely thread–we can get there as a team. I had a successful fast day yesterday and no cravings at all, that got me thinking back about triggers over the past week–that saw the fridge and pantry doors worn off their hinges ! one trigger is glasses of wine that maybe start up a sugar craving.
The other one can be no planning on non-fast days, get home too tired to think and cook–so need to address that.
I agree that there are emotional reasons for eating, that can be a high mountain to climb so thinking having really tasty food so we are eating very satisfying meals–out come the recipe books–I’m going to spice up my life. Here in NZ I see a new range of spiced couscous packs (Alexanders) so I now have a few of those in the pantry. figure having a good base for a meal could help.
Thanks for the mention about multi- vits, it’s a reminder to eat a balanced diet–and not cheese and crackers and wine every non-fast day.
My next strategy is to give away–made a yummy date loaf for friends visiting–the half left over went to my son–in–law (so saved my hips and gained brownie points )–though I did regret it at 10 ‘clock that night–had an image of myself going to their place knocking on the door and asking for a piece.
let’s hear from each other about our successful strategies and small achievements each time the binge comes a calling–it’s not going to define us!!