I think when you are in this sort of phase, there is some hormonal downturn going on somewhere in your body.

It could be seratonin. It could be something else but you can have sub clinical levels of seratonin which affect your energy and appetite. If you don’t think you need antidepressants, you could try eating more foods that have higher levels of seratonin in them. Believe it or not there are such foods. I don’t know what they are or if eating them translates to making your recoer but its worth a try i guess. Have a look at this good article on nutrition wonderland.com about seratonin. they have other goods articles about other hormones there too.

Secondly, Ditch the pills and eat better food. Instead of a fish oil, grill a piece of atlantic salmon and make a nice little salad to go with it and whatever else you feel like.

Do you really need to take vitamin D. Are you low? If not milk is high in Vitamin D and so is sunshine.

Increase your fibre foods. These are good for overall health and longevity. Fibre foods – fruit and vegetables, beans lentils chickpeas are all delicious and you can have fun cooking them into new ways with a little effort. Meanwhile fruit is easy you don’t even have to cook it. Add some seeds and a small number of nuts and some natural yoghurt and you have a delicious healthy meal or snack.

Are you eating enough protein?

GEt into cooking. I bought a beautiful cook book recently called mediterranean cookbook. And i’ve made quite a few recipes. All are easy and all are delicious. All are really healthy. well except for the desserts if you over indulge.

I’ve quit sugar. Try that. It will help you get on top of your eating. Count calories and just reduce them a little from your TDEE.

But read or look at something motivational. I suggest if you’ve seen the fasting program already, take a look at catalyst-gut reaction. That should motivate you to increase your fibre intake. There are two short episodes. Its a science show and is reputable. You can see it on your tube.

Or read The End of Overeating by Kessler. The first half runs through a number of little experiments to demonstrate that sugar and fat and fat and salt are a problem and how the food industry has been manipulating us all along. This will motivate you to quit your refined lifestyle. The second half is about strategies to overcome it. Most of the strategies he talks about things i’ve already worked out for myself but no one talks about usually. I can say they work because i have been using them all year.

I hope you feel better soon and will be ready to go for it by the time you’ve finished reading the book i recommend.

But there are other easy ways. One of my favourite diet books is called The Don’t Go Hungry Diet by Dr Amanda Sainsbury Salis. Her idea of dieting is not to go on a diet at all. She’s a scientist and has had big weight issues her self which she has solved by using this intuitive approach. I like the way she explains some important concepts and i use her approach to supplement my calorie restriction approach. She talks about the important of eating a wide variety of whole foods as well.

I was on the FD about a year and a half ago for about 5 months. I lost about 35 lbs. I lost about 10 lbs pretty quick and then leveled off to about 1 to 2 lbs a week. Not really sure why I got off but as a stress eater I have put it back on. I too am getting back on the FD 5 2 as of today. For me it wasn’t that hard on my fast days as I tried to keep my meals simple. At first I started out on low cal low card low fat foods and after a while mostly just started watching the calories. Monday and Thursday were my fast days and I would usually do two 300 cal meals a day with no snacks between. Would limit my beverages to water , unsweet tea and a diet soda or 2 on my days. On the other 5 days I ate whatever kinda foods I wanted but did not over eat on those days. This is also how I plan on starting back. Just don’t be to hard on yourself. Good Luck to ya !!!