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Hello Fasters!
Yesterday’s fast brought me back down to within 1 lb of my pre-feast weight. I’m still in shock that I don’t have the desire to just keep eating. I can’t remember a time when a feast day didn’t turn into days.
Jade – Hope your FD is going well. Thinking of you as I drink my lemon water.
Stay Strong Fastes!
Remember Fresh & Healthy
Ah…I succumbed to fumes. Not yummy food fumes but chemicals, while doing some home reno – bleach + degreaser + exertion = nausea. The kind that is cured only by eating and certainly not with enjoyment…. No catastrophe, just basically had my FD dinner in the middle of the afternoon. Followed by dinner at dinnertime 🙂 Well, we’ll call that a tdee shall we?
But Michel, I’m sooo pleased for you! You must be “normal”! I will set out the normal silver when you come for cave tea :). Seriously, this is wonderful news.
And again I have to thank you – your post reminded me that lemon water might make me feel better (not to mention get my snout out of the fridge). It worked! Little victories are…victories.
How are the rest of the Islanders? Hope you’re all fit and ready for Friday and the weekend. Looking forward to a less alcohol-fueled one myself 😉 xx
It’s all good from the future here in Oz. I had an awesomely good FD yesterday which I didn’t plan to do until I woke up and thought, damn I ate too much last night. I’ve lost another 700gm since last Friday which is not a lot but a loss nonetheless so I’m not going to knock it back thank you very much.
Welcome to the Island LynKay – it will be great to share the journey with you and there’s probably nothing you can tell us about your binge history that would surprise or shock us. We do often laugh at each others antics both past and present though 🙂
Way to go Michell and Jade – I love it that the greatest accolade on Misfit Island is to be ‘normal’. And what exactly is the normal silver Jade? Is that the kind you can’t eat after you’ve finished your meal??!! Or the fancy stuff cause you know it won’t get stolen to fund a run on a Krispy Kreme Shop? 😉
Here’s to a less intoxicated weekend!
I do want to be normal whatever that is but I suspect I won’t be normal around food any time soon. That’s okay though, I’m managing to live with a brain that honestly thinks I’m going to DIE if I don’t eat all the frigging time. So every day and about a bi-gillion times a day I have to reassure the frantic lizard(s) to just cool it. Tedious in the extreme at the moment.
So where are all our dear Misfit Islanders?? Melb? mcca? Queen? Penguin? Kitty? Fizzy? HelenR? and many others too – I hope all is well for you and I’d love to hear from you if only a fleeting post. Spring xx
Quick check in to say “Goodnight” to all fast clubbers.
I’m not sure I’m even close to “normal”, but it does feel good to be in control.
I’m curious: for those of you who read “Brain over Binge”, how are doing? Do you think the book helped? I never finished it, but I have not had a serious, out of control, to the point of being sick binge since I started reading it.
Jade – Sounds like you had a normal day. TDEE is the goal if you can’t make the FD work. Way to go!
Spring – Congrats on the loss. Any loss is a win in my book.
I’m sending out positive vibes across the global to my fasting buddies hoping we all have an amazing day tomorrow……….Keep the Faith and Fast on!
Queen, great to hear from you again! An 18-mile walk is . . . well amazing, but WTF, did your car break down? I’d have no feet left. But you’re awesome. And Spring, a successful FD and 700 down. I know that’s at least a pound, forgive my non-metric self. Congrats! Listening to the body say “sure, i could fast today” is a big deal. So I will set out the special tiny silver forks for you! Yes, they’re normal – and inedible. 🙂
Michel, I did find that the B over B book helped me. I haven’t had a good pig out since either. But I’m a picky binger. I go off the rails when something wicked this way comes, like cake. So if I don’t buy sweets, no problem (hubs never buys it and we’re too far away from family for those drive-by cakings).
So yeah, it’s no big secret that you can’t eat it if it’s not there. But here’s a new twist – after just maybe a month of focus on whole foods, I am not really even looking for junk. Holy heaven! I thought about a doughnut today as I drove past the “doughnut” grocery, but I did not feel that electric impulse that used to almost drive the car for me, right up to the KK drive-thru window. Mentally, I think I’d scarf those bad boys in a heartbeat if someone handed me a sack of them and shut me in a private room. But I feel as though I have two protective shields now – I don’t have them in the house AND I don’t want them in the house.
I don’t know if that even makes sense. And it’s probably not helpful for those who can’t avoid having stuff in the house that they’ll binge on.
Queen, I do know what you mean when you don’t feel good – I don’t skip breakfast then either. I still try most days, because sleeping Godzilla is a good Godzilla. But I start to feel silly denying myself food when hunger is a bad feeling on top of other bad feelings. Have you read Brain over Binge? I did get a lot from it. It was like someone saying “it’ll be OK, here’s how I got through it.” And even though her binges weren’t quite the same as mine, her advice made a lot of sense. At the core of it, we all want to have control – we’re just controlling different types of lizards.
Well dear islanders that’s enough huffery-puffery out of me for one day. I am grateful for you all. Queen, I knew you had not gone too far, thank you for all your insights and sharing. I do hope the others return – we miss all of you. If you’ve found a better solution, chime in and do tell! If not, come back and fight the good fight with us. xx jade
So lovely to hear from you Queen!! You’re making amazing progress in my book and I’m with Michell – 18 mile walk??11? I also LOVE the analysis and agree wholeheartedly that physiology is a big part of the issue. Some days lately all I can think of is food, to the point of boredom – talk about a one-track mind.
You asked about other interests and there are a number of them but nothing quite as compelling as food and/or trying to manage it!! One of the things I’ve been working on lately is recognising that my lizard brain has guises that till now I’ve attributed to my smart brain. Weird I know but I’d always thought that the part of my brain telling me to be ‘good’ and ‘not binge’ or over-eat was my smart brain. However, some recent conversations made me realise that in fact it’s just another version of my reptilian brain and I know that now because it’s always authoritarian and oppressive and both of these are emotionally-mediated (limbic system) responses. While I’ve generally rebelled against that authoritarian/oppressive tone, because I’ve assumed I was rebelling against my smart brain it always left me feeling as though I really had very little hope ;-( Currently, with this insight, I’m reminding myself that any time I see myself thinking in these black/white or good/bad polarisations around food (“You must/mustn’t…” or “You’ll never…” or “I can’t…”) then it’s not my smart brain. If smart brain is all about problem-solving, non-judgmental modification of behaviour based on fresh information and working out strategies then when it is operating there will always be options and possibilities and an absence of criticism. So, if none of that authoritarian “You shall not eat that…” has to do with my smart brain, it means I have to learn to recognise and give greater space to my smart brain…
Sorry if this is a mystifying rant but it has been really helpful recently. It doesn’t make it any easier to make the best choices food-wise but it has certainly relieved me of a lot of the burden of morally-laced criticism that went with my poor decisions. If I can think it through until it feels more objective and fluid and spacious, then I can generally recognise where the reptile is trying to dominate. I should get ‘There are ALWAYS options’ tattooed on my forehead.
Michell, you are doing just great!! I did finish ‘Binge over Brain’ but it wasn’t overly helpful. Bingeing for me is a weird mix of things – I don’t see it as due to my life and relationships or my basic flaws (which I think she was being told were the basis of her problems) but it IS a consequence of a great many responses over a great many years and is deeply psychological. Having said that, psychology is inextricably linked with physiology so who knows??!! I do think the answer for me will be found in the work I can do around all that stuff.
Jade – LOL re: the cleaner – I can relate as I’m well known for making sure everyone knows when the cleaner is coming so they can ‘tidy up’ – I do draw the line at actually cleaning though! 😉
It’s a beautiful spring day here today and I’m going to be gardening, re-potting my Jade plants and planting out the basil and chives seedlings I bought yesterday. Have a terrific weekend everyone! Spring xx
It is all sugar Queen.Cereals are very high in sugar. Try having eggs/bacon/wholemeal toast for breakfast. Protein is filling so have some at 3 pm too, try some whole almonds and if you are still hungry then how about a tuna sandwich? Just focus on real food. Then when you have eaten, get out for a walk with the little one.
We all think that sweet things will make us feel better, because they do the 1st time as the sugar hits the blood stream and we feel better. The problem is that as the blood sugar drops soon afterwards and we feel rubbish, we seek something else to give us the sugar hit….and so the cycle begins again. I am not saying that it is easy to avoid sugar, but I will say that I feel better with much less every day. My moods are more stable, my waist is getting smaller and I feel much much better.
Try it Queen, just for 1 week. Have a look at all packs and if sugar is mentioned in the first 3 ingredients then put it back in the shop. Eat whole fruit as a snack.
Ah my lovely islanders – what thinking and caring souls you are.
Spring, very interesting, the “authoritarian = just another lizard” idea. I agree, I feel hopeless when my food fantasy crashes into my Stern Headmistress Brain. Whether I then choose to eat or not, I feel worse for being reprimanded by my own brain. It’s brilliant to categorize this authoritarian voice as reptilian. Must keep looking for my right brain 🙂
Queen, I’m finding the “whole foods” idea a huge help. I’m not any lighter (yet) but there is a definite shift – I’m less anxious about food. For instance, I still offer sweets to company, though now usually include some fruit. Last night I chose grapes over a Reese’s. I mean seriously? It felt almost weird.
I wake up with lizards most days, to be honest. Today I did – woke up hungry, poured coffee, added a dollop of heavy cream. Shhh, lizard. Lizard went back to sleep. An hour later, he’s still dozing.
Queen, Annette’s right, there is nothing wrong with YOU! It is sugar/simple carbs. I know absolutely that cereal in the morning would do the same thing to me, just makes me want more. Seriously, you should try – no worry about counting calories – try eating only whole foods, avoiding white flour and sugar for a few weeks. It’s hard if you’re visiting in someone else’s house, but even then you can opt for protein, fruit, etc. when possible.
I was a skeptic, too, and it’s a gradual process – after a week I thought (don’t tell) “fine and good for Annette, not really doing it for me.” But I kept at it, even picked up a pound overeating whole foods, because if anyone can find a f***ing needle in the health haystack, I sure can. But I almost fainted from surprise last night when I did not want that peanut butter cup. Like… who came in and stole my brain?
Huffery puffery must stop now, Saturday chores to tackle. Love to all in this same shipwrecked boat that landed us on the island – what a crew 🙂 xxx
Hi Queen:
annette’s and Jade’s advice is good, but I would like to expand.
It seems the current dietary enemy is sugar, which is a processed carb. However, other processed carbs have the same effect as sugar, and even unsweetened cereals can lead to the same binging as sugar can. Most breads also fit into that category (even if they are dark brown and called ‘whole wheat’), along with many other things like pasta. Note the concept of ‘processed’ carbs. All carbs are by definition sugar. The processing takes out the fiber and other contents that would otherwise slow the digestion of the sugar into the bloodstream and gives you a ‘pure shot’ of sugar, rather than a ‘diluted’ shot of sugar.
Also, as Jade discovered, while substituting ‘whole foods’ for sugar is beneficial, and I would never suggest otherwise, one has to remember that ‘whole foods’ contain the same number of calories as sugar because they are also ‘carbs’. So cutting out a cup of sugar from your diet and replacing it with two cups of ‘whole foods’, while ‘healthy’, will cause you to gain weight. You still have to watch the calories in the food you are eating!
Good Luck!
Hi simcoeluv,
But you are making the assumption that all calories are equal, which is open to debate and something that Robert Lustig contests. Wholewheat pasta and brown rice have more fibre than the white variety and therefore slow the process of carbohydrates through the digestive tract and thus slow the release of sugar in those foods and therefore reducing the sugar rush that the liver has to deal with…and often store as fat.If one assumes that a calorie is not a calorie and that different food is absorbed differently by the body it would also explain the myth of eating less and moving more..and why it doesn’t work. Lustig is rather more eloquent than me.
Eating whole foods is more filling and therefore the desire to snack is reduced. Combine this with eating brown rice, wholewheat pasta and fruit and vegetables and legumes..and avoiding anything that claims to be low fat or diet(as these are stuffed full of sugar)…the desire to search for sugary foods is further diminished.
I have tried it for 3 weeks and although I would never claim that it has been scientific, my waist is getting smaller, I feel better and even if the scales haven’t moved, that is fine because visceral fat is also shrinking, which is the most important indicator of health.
I am happy to avoid sugar, eat wholefoods and not to count calories(I don’t snack anymore) and see what happens until the end of the month.Don’t forget that we need carbohydrates for energy and fat on our body. It is just the visceral fat the we need to shift.
Ah thank you, Simcoeluv, good advice indeed – so many foods have this effect.
What has worked for me is taking it one step at a time. So far, limiting sweets and simple carbs (pasta, etc.) has calmed my sweet tooth. When I tried to be perfect about it, I failed and shut myself in my cave. I’m not the patient sort, but solving my appetite problem requires it.
My next goal (sigh) is to toe the TDEE line. If there’s anything I like less than being patient, it’s counting calories. But it must be done, until I get a mental grip on my TDEE now that I’m eating a bit differently. I know whole carbs aren’t “bad” nutritionally, but as Simcoe said, they are like sugar albeit diluted with some fiber. I can overeat the dickens out of wholegrain bread, and that’s not going to end well.
BUT I have been baking today, and the house smells heavenly but I have not been overly tempted. I am actually starting to feel normal. I say this knowing that I’ll overindulge (surely next week – Thanksgiving!) but I don’t feel as though I’m in prison anymore. xxx
ps Annette just crossed posts with you 🙂 I should add, I don’t intend to cut out wholegrains – just need to watch myself on foods I can overdo on. And bread is certainly one of those!!
Hi Annette:
I don’t think you said anything much different than I did.
Of course, all calories are the same. A calorie is defined as the approximate amount of energy needed to raise the temperature of one gram of water by one degree Celsius at a pressure of one atmosphere. Saying a calorie is not a calorie is like saying a gram is not a gram or a gallon is not a gallon.
What you are really saying (and what the phrase ‘a calorie is not a calorie’ is shorthand for) is that foods are different – they are processed differently by the body. But four grams of sugar contain the same energy content as four grams of protein or four grams of rice. And if you eat them, you take in the same amount of energy, regardless of how long it takes the body to process them. So from a weight standpoint, you will not lose weight eating 100 calories of whole foods but gain eating 100 calories of sugar Your weight will remain about the same. There is a theory that the body uses more energy to process some foods than it does for others, but how much more energy cannot at this time be measured and even if true the amount of ‘additional’ energy used may not be material.
What Dr. Lustig is pointing out, and what so many on this site have discovered, is that processed carbs are digested quickly by the body and quickly deposited as glycogen, and thereafter fat if not immediately used – and then you are hungry again and eat some more. So you gain weight because you are eating more calories. With the high fat low carb diet, you lose weight because you are not hungry right after you eat and so eat fewer calories. The same concept applies to your whole foods diet – they digest more slowly so you are not hungry as much so you eat less.
Of course, the sugar spikes caused by processed carbs also contribute to insulin resistance and all of the problems that come with that – another reason not to eat a lot of processed carbs.
If your only interest is to replace sugar with whole foods, eat as many whole foods as you want. But if you also have a goal to lose weight, then you have to make sure you are eating fewer calories than your body needs to operate – the famous calorie deficit. Many people have discovered that eating a ‘healthy’ diet does not necessarily mean they are eating low calorie, weight loss diet!
I realized early on in my 5:2 experience that there were many folk who thought that they could lose weight and be a paragon of virtue for 2 days but eat/drink whatever they liked on the other 5 days and were mystified why they were not getting any smaller. It didn’t make any sense to me then or now. Clearly those who lose weight and maintain that loss, have to make changes in just what and how much they are consuming.
I have no desire merely to exist or to exclude food groups from my diet, or for the joy of food to disappear, however, it was clear to me that although I didn’t think that I ate badly, there were improvements that could be made. Sugar was playing a big part in my daily life and I was curious to see what I could do that would not only reduce my sugar intake and improve my health in a way that was not miserable and something that I would be unable to maintain.
Wholefoods are improving our diet as a family and filling us up. I carefully weigh rice and pasta as I have done so since starting the road to a smaller and healthier me. I have been shocked at how much sugar is added to so much food in all its guises and simply wanted to share with the folk on here that the bingeing can be reduced by eating more wholefoods. Many of us have seen an improvement in our day to day sugar consumption and that can only be a good thing.
I do spend a lot of time picking things up, looking at the label and then putting them back. This Christmas will clearly have to be one without marzipan(which I love) if I am to achieve the goal of those pink shorts. I have been thinking about what I am going to buy and how much, so that this January 1st I am not in tears again finding that I have put on another 10lb over December.
It will be very interesting to see if less sugar and more wholefoods in my diet, help me to make better decisions around food. I am curious to see what will happen.
I’ve no doubt you’ll be extremely pleased with those pink shorts, Annette (are you planning a holiday in the tropics? 🙂 send photos!).
Following your advice about sugar has been the best thing I ever did to control my appetite. And I’ve tried lots of “things”! Naturally I kicked and screamed and cut corners with this one, because trying for perfect makes me insane. HAHAHA I did NOT weigh brown rice or anything else. OH no, I ate for England and more; one night I had at least a gallon of grapes (thank you Costco). And sometimes sugary processed food, but much less than before.
Despite my weight loss on 5:2, and I’m thankful for that, I was still so frustrated by cravings and this constant war in my brain. So if I overate whole foods to avoid eating junk, that was my means to the end I wanted most. Hell, we all know how to lose weight – any weight gain from my shift to whole foods will soon be gone. But I haven’t felt in control of my appetite since I was THIRTEEN.
So this seems to be working for me, even with dessert here and there and social situations where I just enjoyed what was on offer. But they became the exceptions, and I had whole foods more often. I’m going to stick with it to see if it’s habit material. It’s worth a try! Here’s to finding the control that works for all of us, lovely islanders. xxx
My youngest son has just informed me that he has lost a stone since September, by eating weetabix and milk for breakfast, sandwich for lunch and then whatever I have made for dinner. He has told me that he is just focusing on eating 3 meals a day and fruit in between if he is hungry. I still haven’t told him about the lentils….I gave him an option of a ready meal last night and he was shocked that it is 900 calories. It is not a regular option but I suspect that he will make different choices next time.
Sadly Jade, it will be chilly UK over the festive season, but I just think that the pink shorts are a good goal. Hopefully, they will be bit loose by the summer. I am very pleased that you have found the sugar information useful, you just need to measure the brown rice and pasta now.
Amazing to hear about that appetite control. I think that Lustig is certainly onto something from my own experience and so it would seem from you too. I certainly think that a new habit of real food is something to celebrate and nurture.
Wow, cheers for youngest son – that’s fantastic! Glad he is reducing the gradual and healthy way, unlike the methods that turned me into a loon. Man, this living normally thing, if only I could have a redo…. But what a lovely thing you are doing for your kids. Sneaking the lentils still cracks me up.
Yes, I’m going to weigh and tally this coming week. Already started today, because I had to have breakfast (mostly protein, 350 cals) following a bit of Saturday night wining. I’m actually excited to see if I can finally reach my goal, a psychological version of the pink shorts.
And speaking of control, my current approach to sweets (lest my previous reference to “occasional” was vague): I no longer eat them alone for the sugar rush of yore – they may “occasionally” tag along with a regular meal. I know I cherished that illicit sugar rush, but dessert tastes just as fine without the crash and feeling rubbish (I do love that expression). Gosh, the more I compare it to alcoholism, the more the shoe fits.
Pot-bellied Heron (lol best name) thank you for the link to that article – holy smokes that was some major fasting. I see that he is maintaining his weight years later, too – I wonder how difficult that has been.
It’s a beautiful fall day here, so I’m signing off and going out to enjoy! Need to go round up the puppies and hit the trail. Hugs to all xxx
That sounds brilliant Jade!
I wish I knew then what I know now too. I would certainly make some very different decisions and I would have gotten here years sooner, but hindsight is a wonderful thing. Youngest son has also given up alcohol, partly because he doesn’t have any spare money and partly because he wants to get in shape.He was not a big drinker but its all calories.
We have just had a roast dinner(my portions are getting smaller) and the boys will be having left over chicken pie tomorrow that will have lentils snuck into it too. I might do a FD tomorrow, but the problem is that I don’t have heaps to do at work at the moment, so that might be tough.
Food/drugs/alcohol they all seem to be on the same spectrum which is funny has I have never taken drugs and rarely drink-because it makes me feel rubbish(!). You have made amazing changes Jade, the freedom to have something if you want to but also to refuse is so liberating. I am far from perfect but as time goes by I can see that sugary stuff has less attraction. Nothing is banned, I haven’t been good or bad. It is just food.
Just had a chat with the boys about what food they want for Christmas, and it seems they are men with simple tastes. I shall be leaving much of what is in the supermarkets there, I cannot be trusted with any marzipan!
Queen. Try eating breakfast, such as eggs/bacon/wholemeal toast and then have nothing else until lunch time. Try to shift the focus away from low carbohydrate or diet anything and just eat whole fruit/vegetables/brown rice(weigh per portion) whole wheat pasta(weigh per portion) and eggs, cheese, cream, unprocessed meat. I realized that we were not eating any legumes, hence the addition of lentils wherever I can and now add tinned beans to various meals. More fibre makes you fuller, thus over eating is less likely.
Have a look at how much sugar is in Yakult…I have no idea.
Have you tried meditation for anxiety? There has been an introduction to mindfulness at work and we all tried calm breathing, which certainly helped and I have tried it since with good effect.
I have tried a packet of something or an almond croissant at regular intervals, as an experiment, you understand…but the fact is that I no longer get that sugar high, I just feel rubbish and think about the meal that I could have eaten for the same calories, so overall not worth it.
You do need to know that I am menopausal and I am much much better with less sugar in my diet, the moods/anger/sleep disruption have all but gone. Try looking just at sugar, both hidden and obvious and then see what/where you can reduce your consumption. You will feel better.
My eldest has 4 weetabix for breakfast and has done for many years, as a teenager he got up to 8! If you have the urge to overeat, then go for the weetabix, low in sugar and there is only so much you can eat before you have to lie down! Got to dash to work…..
I have just re-read your post Queen and realized that I have answered all of your questions. I am having breakfast, which is a mixture of jumbo porridge oats, some chopped Brazil nuts, some sultanas and currants. I buy some of everything, mix up 1kg of oats and then mix everything else in until it looks about right. I have stopped putting dates and apricots in when I discovered that they were so high in sugar, and i have less dried fruit for the same reason. I weigh out 75g and have with full fat plain yoghurt. It keeps me full until lunch. I have lunch provided at work so make a choice on what I would like to eat, avoiding all biscuits and puddings, and snack on fruit. When I get home i might have some fruit, and a handful of nuts to pick me up around 4. I will cook the boys a hot meal for 6.30 and will either eat an avocado mashed on 2 slices of wholemeal or peanut butter. Either I enjoy and will keep me going until breakfast the next day.
I haven’t fasted for several weeks because I just wanted to focus on eating real food all the time and see how I felt. I feel better and less obsessed with food too. I am not giving up sugar, merely avoiding it and that works for me. I have drunk tea today without any sugar which is my first time and it wasn’t as bad as I thought it was. So now I don’t take sugar. Wow!
Ah, a perfect example of how different people are. I might as well swallow a cake as eat oatmeal in the morning. In fact, eating anything in the morning can set me off, so yes Queen, I am still a no-breakfast-club member. And Annette, no sugar in your tea — woo hoo! That’s a big step. You need a mug imprinted with pink shorts for tea time 🙂
But in addition to each of us being different, each day is also different, right? My goal is to exercise as much control as circumstances allow, and I’m far from perfect. I enjoy a few cocktails most Saturday nights, knowing Sunday could be a struggle. I can forego the cocktails or just lighten up on Sunday. HA, which one do you think I picked there (let’s just lighten up both days!). I had breakfast yesterday and probably overate, but I still avoided junk and soda. The alternative was to suffer.
Today I feel better, so it’s a FD! Lizards live in my scale, so I didn’t jump on this morning for a smackdown I don’t need.
Queen, if I were to try to convert this advice to something you could use…I’d say yes, go for whole foods. Clear your system of simple carbs that mess with your control – even if you have to overeat to do it, it’ll be worth it. THEN you can worry about limiting portions. For me, it worked just to add a simple baseline goal, one at a time, like giving up soft drinks. Even when I overate or had sweets, I could at least hold onto the goal I had achieved.
Also, be kind to yourself on days you don’t feel well. Eat more whole foods if you feel hungry. Always have protein when you eat, even if just peanut butter on wholegrain bread (ideally those w/low sugar). There is other good advice in Brain over Binge, in that the urge to binge is something you can ignore and it will go away. But the whole-foods idea has had the most effect for me.
No one has total control every day. Capitalize on those days when you feel it! Then when the other days pop up, go easier on yourself. Stick to your baseline goals and don’t allow the guilt lizard into your head. Maybe choose some food you would not binge on (come on, I know there’s one – for me, it’s apples! Love them when I’m hungry, couldn’t care less when I’m in a bingey mood). Tell yourself that if you absolutely must binge, you will binge on apples.
I’m sorry to ramble on. I am happy to have found something that helps me, and I want so much to explain it in a way that is helpful to others. But as I said, we’re all different and then even each day is different. But sharing ideas can’t hurt 🙂 xxxx jade
Hello Everyone!
Boy did I miss a lot of good posts this weekend.
Trying for a FD today. Really hard because we had fresh, warm cookies delivered this morning but, Friday’s sugar fest did a # on me and I need to get back to where I was before Thanksgiving gets here. Last year the holidays resulted in 15-20 lb gain & I don’t want to repeat that. For some reason I could not find any motivation to stop eating and once I had gained the weight I couldn’t find the motivation to loose it. I refuse to let that happen again this year.
So far I’m holding somewhat steady and exercising some control. I have not bought any sweets for the house in weeks. Eating fresh fruits & yogurts for our nightly fix. Neither have I stopped & bought ice cream in weeks, a real big accomplishment for me. My cravings seem to have lessened with the introduction of whole, fresh food. But, I’m still enjoying sweets just as much as always, so I have not crossed over yet. Keeping my fingers crossed for that day.
Like Jade I’m still a member of the “no breakfast club”. It does not matter how healthy the breakfast is I want more. And I just snack all day – never “full” even if my tummy hurts from being stuffed.
Queen – Some thoughts for tackling your mornings.
Try a big glass of water before your coffee. They say we are dehydrated 1st thing in the morning and it can be interrupted as hunger.
Try un-paring foods. If you always want something to eat when you have coffee, try coffee by itself. Then evaluate if you are really hungry; if so, skip the cereal. Cereal is obviously a trigger for you, try going cold turkey & see how you feel after a week.
Try B12. I don’t do caffeine. But sometimes I need something to get me going and lately I’ve been taking B12 for a little pick me up. (I’m sure many will have an opinion on this, but I think it helps).
Keep us posted on what works.
Think fresh & whole foods….always a good choice!
Great advice re the water, Michel – I should do that before my buckets of coffee. And congrats on your control! It is such a step-by-step thing for me. Ditching the routine ice cream stop is a biggie. Yes indeed let’s work our way up gradually to Mount Perfection, shall we? I may stop a few peaks below the summit 🙂
If y’all can believe it, I’m now wondering if i could be addicted to grapes. HAHAHA there’s a problem I can live with for a while. Although there is quite a bit of sugar in those little things… as a matter of fact, I usually do cut them with some greek yogurt. That is some seriously good stuff right there.
OK I need to stop this now. FD going well here. Probably had enough yesterday to fuel several FDs. But back in the saddle is good enough for today. xx
ps AGREED, let’s vow not gain the holiday lbs this year and be all sad on Jan. 1. It is NOT WORTH IT.
Hello Fasters!
At home today getting new carpet in a couple of rooms. What a pain! We have so much stuff! I’ve gotta start throwing stuff away.
Anyway, I did not survive the cookies. Made it till 1:30, then 3:30, then 4:30. So much for FD. But on the bright side, I did not go Godzilla. For once I resisted the urge to buy more while grocery shopping.
Jade – You are doing so good. Grapes are better than Reese’s. Sounds like you are getting there, especially if sweets are not sounding very good any more.
Keep it fresh, not processed!
Ha! Jade, I have been given a mug as a ‘thank you’ which says ‘I would rather be with George Clooney’ which is so true and makes me smile every time I look at it. I have a rather lovely black and white photo of him from his ER days in my office which brightens up a dull day! Lustig thought that people were more likely to over eat the rest of the day if they didn’t have breakfast, but as you said, each of us is different and it is trial and error. There are worse things to be addicted to besides grapes, besides I suspect that you will stop when you feel full, but just think how many raisins you could consume without really noticing as they are without the fibre of the whole fruit but very high in fructose. Stick to the grapes, I love them too.
Michell you seem to be doing well with cutting down, despite a little indiscretion with the cookies.
This is day 2 without sugar in my tea and it is getting less horrible, so I will persevere. All around me people are telling me that I will hate sugar in my tea in a few weeks, which I hope is true. I have faith that they are right.
If I can figure out how to do a photo of me in my pink shorts on Christmas Day, then I will post it for your entertainment!
Annette – I have to agree, my sugarless green tea last night wasn’t too yummy. But I made it through the FD – first one in a couple of weeks. Nothing till a dinner of miso soup mixed with chicken broth and tomato – couldn’t make up my mind 🙂 but it was low-cal enough to have quite a bit. Had to sneak a handful of grapes before bed, tummy was barking like a doberman.
Someone in another thread posted about sugarfreedom.com, which I found helpful. Ignore the marketing and enjoy her pep talk with the basic Lustig advice — she explains how eating sugar caused her to binge. It makes so much sense now. I guess I was being stubborn before, because I rarely binged even though I had sugary foods. And had plenty of days without sweets. But too often got that electric urge at night for sweets, even after a big dinner. So I’d be rummaging through cabinets for a cookie or caramel to get my fix. I remember wondering if I was simply trying to recreate the joy of eating when hungry that led me to eat sweets after dinner. Now, I’m thinking it was just that I needed my sugar fix. Maybe a bit of both….
Michel, looks as though you and I are clawing our way toward freedom. You are inspiring me with your fighting spirit — keep focusing on the positive. Someone (Spring? Mcca?) mentioned a long time ago that we need to speak to ourselves kindly. It’s good to feel proud of waiting, not bingeing, whatever is going better than it did before. I’m so pleased that we are making headway.
Queen, how’s it going with the whole foods? I feel like a convert trying to hold a revival, but that really did the trick for me. Today I’m not even hungry after a lunch of egg and turkey sausage, with a handful of grapes and half a piece of wholegrain toast (300 cal). I’m being careful to view carbs as a something of a treat – otherwise I’ll eat the whole freaking loaf 🙂
Cheers to all – I have to go slap some grades on some papers before contemplating all the baking I will do tomorrow 🙂 xxx
ps: def want to see the pink shorts photo! with george clooney perhaps 🙂
Hi Misfit Islanders!
Thanks for asking after us lurkers Spring – I was as usual, lurking, reading your posts every day but hanging about at the back of the class with my tail between my legs….
I had to jump on the express boat back to the Island… after my last post, all happy about not bingeing and thinking I was all normal again, well all that had to come back and bite me on the arse, no? Basically since Halloween I have just been eating too much.
Kind of not really bingeing per se, just enjoying food and enjoying far too much of it. So I guess that is progress of sorts….. Michel – in answer to your question – no, since reading ‘Brain over Binge’ I don’t think that I have had a serious, out of control, to the point of being sick binge, which is amazing. However I have re-discovered ENDLESS GRAZING (is it in the Olympics? I may be a contender).
So back to my usual – lurking, avoiding the scales, facing up to a weigh in…. I last weighed in on 29th Oct – note to self – I HAVE to weigh every day or it becomes this huge thing where I am so scared that I just keep putting it off.
Queen – your breakfast question – I wake up hungry, thinking about food… the only thing I can do is give myself a mental slap on the wrist and shout NO because whatever time I start eating is basically going to be one elongated meal til bedtime. So if I can put off breakfast even til 10am, it’s 4 hours more in my night-fast window than if I eat at 6am when I wake up. Goodness knows it is HARD getting to 10am but it’s the only thing that works for me.
Jade & Annette – way to go on the whole foods! Grapes, mashed avocado…. I don’t agree with the ‘a calorie is just a calorie’ – when I overeat on good foods, my body is better and happier than when I get sugar crazy.
Finished a proper fast day today for the first time in however long I can remember. Golly it’s not a lot of food, is it? Weigh in tomorrow, wish me luck! x
Good luck at the scale mcca! Whatever it says, just get back on your merry 5:2 way. I’m so glad you swam back to the Island (good cardio btw) – we’ve missed you. And no, it’s a meager bit of food especially after a hiatus. I almost had to lock myself in the bedroom last night. But this morning, voila I felt so much better. Normal (almost). Congrats on kicking the binge habit (yes!!). I’m with you on the Olympic grazing, I could definitely win a medal there.
In anticipation of Thanksgiving, I’m having soup again tonight hoping to stay below tdee. It seems insane that Thanksgiving is here when I’m still recuperating from Halloween, I need to hop on the holiday control train before it derails. Santa is coming…. xxx
OMG!!!!! Am DOWN 0.4 lbs!!! Then again, my scale lies (it gives different readings – I weigh a few times but this was the most consistent weight), but along with ‘you look young’ it’s a lie I will take!
Annette – re sugar in your tea – I know this sounds loony but have you tried it black?? I had a cup of ‘lady grey’ tea black on a fast day once and found that if I made it weak I actually preferred it… I gave up milk in my coffee a year ago as I worked out over the course of a year I could loose a stone if I did so!
Ok so I am putting this weigh in success firmly down to a combination of ‘brain over binge’ but more importantly Jade’s ‘no breakfast club’ – tHank you jade!!!!! Queen am still thinking about your breakfast struggles – can you try pushing breakfast later even to 9 or 10am? Then push it by 15 mins later each day? As a real breakfast junkie this seems to be working for me.
New resolution = daily weigh in. I know it doesn’t work for everyone but I need to keep myself accountable.
Xx
I don’t agree that all calories are equal either. Far better to eat good quality whole food than that full of sugar. Forgot to mention that my cholesterol levels are lower now since I have become a 3/4 week avocado consumer. I know that they are high calorie but also high in good fats and I am still the same size/shape…food for thought?
How you folks cope with Thanksgiving and then Christmas is more than I could cope with, good luck all.
Another day starting with a no sugar mug of tea and it is getting better, well, I am not pulling faces anymore!
Hi Queen,
That mostly sounds positive, which is a great achievement.
Rather than the fruit/nut bars(which will be have sugar in them, dried fruit is very high)try a handful or 2 of whole almonds. They are very good for you and very filling. Ditch the chocolate for whole fruit/or and nuts.
Exercise will trim inches but will not actually make you lose weight. So that equation of what you can eat after your walk, doesn’t actually work.
I suspect that if you can lose the obvious sugar and avoid the hidden stuff you will feel even better and not have to look for the sugary pick me up in the afternoon. I snack on fresh fruit and/or nuts and no longer crave the sweet stuff to give me a lift after the inevitable sugar crash.
Lustig claims that we are victims of our biochemistry and that we can improve it by exercise and by eating whole unprocessed foods…I think he is right too. Imagine if by eating wholegrain bread, cheese, unprocessed meat,legumes, whole fruit and vegetables and nuts you felt better, moods were stable and that sugar crash was history and you were no longer held hostage by food…and you began to shrink…how you would feel?
I know that I am quite evangelical about Lustig and his theories, but that is because it has made a huge difference to not only how I think about food but also to how I feel. Try it Queen for 7 days, what have you got to lose?
Day 3 of no sugar in my tea and it is getting better.
In the midst of holiday baking (!!) I’m popping out of my cave to share a cup of coffee with my islanders.
Queen, well done on your changes! Don’t let today get you down. Some days are just harder. That’s when it helps me to remember a baseline goal like “eat whole foods (whatever quantity).” I’ve progressed also to “no soft drinks” – it seems basic, but better than I was! Seeing is believing, and I’m seeing my cravings diminish. You’re right, it does take time, it took me a month to notice anything. I like the idea of giving it a good 6 months. More changes are possible for all of us, in our own time.
Annette, your suggestions are excellent, and I’m going to inch my way forward now that I see this works. Funny I mentioned holding a revival and you are an evangelist. It does seem like a leap of faith. You are setting a fine example with your sugarless tea! Glad it is becoming more palatable. And now here’s Mcca, assuring us that we can indeed get through the holidays without the dreaded gain. May your history repeat itself for all of us.
Spring, are you still doing the WW? How are you finding it with cravings – probably less, as I gather they emphasize whole foods. I still have dreams of an endless banana festival, and I do mean the actual fruit 😉
Tomorrow is Thanksgiving for us in the US, so I’m going with the sentiment that nothing is evil when made with love. Lizards can bite me for one day. Seriously, lizards feed on guilt along with whatever else we’ve fed them over the years.
See you on the other side! xx jade
Hi islanders!
Queen – you sound like you are making progress… Don’t beat yourself up about the brownies, it will happen to everyone, and throughout the rest of our lives (life isn’t going to suddenly stop serving them) so it’s not about the fact you slipped up, it’s about how you react now.
It’s great you are – that we all are – still here, still battling out our inner demons on this forum. Just being honest with ourselves is great, but also picking up so many new ideas and suggestions.
Jade – relax and enjoy your thanksgiving…. It’s just one day – go forth and savour everything!
Good day for me I ate mindfully. How lovely food tastes that way…
Love to all the islanders xx
Queen, just give yourself a hug and congratulate yourself on doing so well. This is not about blaming yourself or feeling guilty. Just remember that we are all victims of our biochemistry and although my children are grown, I do remember the mind numbing exhaustion that goes with small/ill children. Be kind to yourself. Just focus on eating whole foods and you will find that you don’t eat constantly, so don’t panic. It might take a week or two, so relax and concentrate on eating well-good whole food and just avoid sugar. Your mood should lift and you should feel less tired and more able to cope with life. There is no reason why you couldn’t have salmon and avocado for lunch and mid afternoon. Try mashing a very ripe avocado on 2 slices of wholemeal toast, my favourite from the woman who used to claim that was sticky toffee pudding!!! Just try putting lentils in things too. I cook them and then blitz and then add them to all sorts of meals and my big boys have no idea that they are eating them!I thought that habit took 6 weeks…
Ha! Jade a revival sounds fabulous! I am feeling really confident that whole food is the way forward, and I did have a couple of squares of chocolate( I never stopped before at a couple) which I enjoyed but it wasn’t as great as i though it was going to be…which is the real genius of avoiding sugar…I want it less.
Enjoy the food and the company Jade and do not feel guilty. Life is far too short to be glum.
Happy Thanksgiving to my USA fast friends – may you enjoy every mouthful and may it nourish you inside and out.
I’ve been following your discussions lately but not posting as I prefer the Island when it’s just us – I do tend to hide when the odd canoe paddles in with some advice or other: just a little anti-social streak I have 😉
Queen, you’re making amazing progress. I think just sticking with trying to work it out is a great achievement and it doesn’t matter how much analysing you do here on Misfit Island, it benefits all of us. I journal a great deal of what is going on in my relationship with food (sorry to sound all therapist-y) and while it can get damned boring banging on about the same thing, over time I think I’m winning. Queen, you also mentioned something about microbes in the gut and eating – were you referring to the recent New Scientist article? I’ve been quite interested in this idea recently too, but have been reluctant to take probiotics as the potency of the product is so variable that it’s just too easy to spend a lot of money for little benefit. Fortunately I love all those foods linked with good gut microbiota too, so that’s a good thing!
Jade, our sugar-less princess, WW has been a mixed blessing. I’ve lost weight 2 weeks in a row but gained this week and I well and truly deserve it. For me, the current level of obsession around food is quite ridiculous although why that doesn’t translate into sensible eating I don’t know. I will blame my gut flora this week 😉 You, on the other hand, are doing marvelously and the cave lifestyle seems to suit you to a tee.
mcca lovely to hear from you and again, hats off to your new control around food and I’m sure it will show on the (dreaded) scales in time. It’s so good hearing about what’s working for people and picking up bits and pieces like bower-birds. Now to just eat like a bird (although that’s inaccurate apparently as birds can eat their body weight in food in a 24 hour period 🙂 I’m sure I could do that too)
Annette, how’s the sugar-less tea going?? I’m confident you’ll breeze through the holiday season this year. I’m sure Lustig is on the money about the effects of processed carbs although the idea of being ‘victims of biochemistry’ doesn’t sound helpful to me – there are way too many invitations to victimhood in my world already!
Michell – hope you’re enjoying the new carpet underfoot and sorry to hear about the sustained attack-of-the-cookies. Maybe workplaces should have junk detectors on the front door to give us all a fighting chance? Then we could claim Occupational Health &Safety codes and take a day off when that bad stuff comes through the door.
Okay, well despite the disappointment on the scales this morning, I’m hopeful that next week will see an improvement. That of course all depends on the choices I make in the next hour/ next mealtime/ next day and in every moment between now and next week. So I guess the power is MINE!! Have a great weekend, Spring xx
Hello Spring,
I did WW for a couple of years, when it was all about counting points for everything and although I lost weight, mainly because my portion sizes were much too big, I also became obsessed with food. I am rather cynical and felt that any multi million pound organisation had vested interests in helping me lose weight but also being a repeat customer which is when the 5:2 came onto my radar.
Lustig says that if we are overweight that we are not to blame, neither are we if we binge because are bodies are designed to seek out sugar and eat as much as we can when we find it, as there was very little around and only for a short period. It makes sense to me and I no longer feel guilty about what I thought was my weakness, now I just shift the blame to my biochemistry and focus on less sugar, which seems to be working. The sugarless tea is getting better every day, remarkable really as this is only day 5 and I have had sugar in tea for 40 years!
Just look at your clothes and put the scales away. Don’t let the tyranny of the scales ruin how you feel, don’t give them that power. Got to dash to work.
Hi Everyone!
Jade hope you enjoyed Thanksgiving. We are celebrating it tonight with some American friends and I am going to enjoy everything, I have decided already!
Spring – journalling is a good thing – I kind of think of this forum like journalling – it’s all a way of keeping mindful…. I’m glad you think you are winning overall. One bad week will happen, of course it will. Onwards and downwards. WW – my friend lost an astonishing amount of weight on it – (90lbs) and has kept it off for years… I on the other hand started with her and put it all back on again after about 6 months. So I guess all of these things are just trial and error and you will find what works for you eventually. This is why I love this forum – there will be ideas or suggestions that just resonate with you and somehow work, and other tips will be doing miracles for another person and just don’t do the same for you. I’ve picked up so many brilliant ideas here.
Queen & Spring – microbes?!?! Did I miss a post? What’s all this about? Please do tell more.
Michell – I am rather worried for you at work. Under normal circumstances they seem to be absolute feeders. By Thanksgiving I have visions of them just hooking you all up to feeding tubes. Hope you survived whatever onslaught they threw at you.
Annette – I have brilliant visions of you like Ursula Andress but in a pair of pink linen shorts. Well done on the no sugar in the tea!
WHERE IS PENGUIN?!?!!?
Shipping report = I am 1.5lbs away from my goal weight. I cannot believe it. Note to self – please be very wary of the “oh now I am a slim person I can eat whatever I like”. Neither of these statements is true.
xx
Whoa, BIG CHEERS for you mcca! One measly little 24 ounces from goal – I’ve had snacks that weighed more than that 😉 Please do share more of what you did while not weighing yourself that led to this miracle – was it mostly savoring whole foods? No sugar? Acting like a normal person? I so know what you mean, any success makes me think well that’s done, I can go eat the refrigerator.
I had a wonderful thanksgiving, lots of fun and laughter, good food, no gluttony. AND I went for a jog before the festivities. But…I got home and took a spoon to the fluff jar like one of the 3 musketeers. The good news is that I felt so dizzy I thought I might die. I SEE YOU Annette, nodding, as clearly as if you were here with me. HA. Surely if I feel rubbish often enough I’ll just stop. Though I did wonder if having sugar right before bed would cause the insulin spike/crash to occur while I’m asleep. Creative, right? And that is why I’m not a scientist.
But speaking of science, what is this the microbe thing? I am going to read this article: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/11/151124143330.htm just to see what’s going on. My gut right now is telling me I should do a FD! Sigh…I seriously just love food. I hope whole foods are the solution, but I can still have that nagging MUST EAT MORE OR I WILL DIE feeling, so I overeat even whole foods. Lest anyone have thought I was normal, let me assure you my lizards are all still there, just hibernating. Probably because they’re so well fed.
Michel, how was your thanksgiving? I’ve heard Texans can lay out quite a spread :). I hope it was a joyful day and that you were surrounded by love and family.
Spring, indeed the power is ours. I know what I need to do. I have a stubborn streak when the odd canoe paddles in (lovely turn of phrase – you are quite the wordsmith). I hate being told what to do even if I just told myself the same thing. As a young child, I was once given a small sample gift in a store, and my mother told me “say thank you” before I could get the words out, which embarrassed me no end, so I refused. The gift was returned, of course, and that was that. But I still remember feeling wounded by my mother’s suggesting I did not know how to be polite 🙂
Ah we humans are complex. I think I have microbes in my brain. Maybe there is an article on those.
Annette, how amazing to undo a 40-year habit by sheer determination. Feeling the results, as well as seeing them, is a huge motivator. Are you fasting at all these days? I believe I must, otherwise I am going to continue to swell up like a balloon. I am having black coffee now, so cheers! And get thee behind me sugar. And btw all, the fluff jar is in the trash, filled with coffee grounds because I am not above digging for treasure.
Yes where is Penguin, who I’m pretty sure returned to the island. Maybe she found another cave. And Melb (our own spice girl), Fizzy, Ltd, Helen…and Kitty, who may have emigrated to Mexico, because she left the island for her trip and hasn’t been seen since. I hope all are faring well. I hate to think of any Islanders out there, unhappy with weight or appetite issues. Come back and be unhappy with us lol – No, I mean come back and let’s keep figuring this all out.
OK I’m off to slay dragons and lizards, must get back on the 5:2 track today. It is the best Christmas present I could give myself. Strength and love to all xxxxx jade
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We pay tribute to our dear friend and colleague, Dr. Michael Mosley. Michael was an integral part of our lives, […]
Michael is touring Australia this September! Here's a link to dates and tickets. Hope to see you there.
Michael Mosley gives an update for 2019, current research in the field and announces a tour starting in February.
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19 Nov 15