Hi Queen,
I was quite resistant to making anymore changes to my diet. I had stopped sugar in my tea, stopped buying chocolate every day, eating cakes and puddings on a daily basis and swopping from white pasta and rice to the wholemeal variety was enough of a change as we already ate wholemeal bread. I like avocado and was happy to mash one and spread it over a couple of slices of toast for lunch. I like to eat nuts and fish, so thought that I was doing OK in terms of my diet being healthy.

There were several folk in this forum who were encouraging others to stop eating bread/rice/pasta/pasta etc completely and I thought that they were unhinged. I had a look at LCHF which all looked rather healthy and balanced. I also had a look at Jason Fung on You Tube as well, and he inspired me further to see the benefits of fasting.

So, I thought that I would conduct my own little, one person experiment. It is simply that some days I will have half my meals for the day without any rice/pasta/potatoes/bread and some days I will have none at all and see how I get on. Will I be hungry? Do I feel better? Do I get the sugar crash? What will I eat?

Yesterday, I had the nut/seed mixture for breakfast with homemade full fat milk turned into yoghurt. Lunch was 100g smoked salmon with 2 eggs scrambled in some butter followed by some fruit. My son was home for dinner and had requested a homemade curry with rice which we both enjoyed and both left some rice. I felt very sleepy afterwards and it was a struggle to stay awake. Today, it is more of the same for breakfast and lunch will be the rest of the salmon with salad and dressing(virgin olive oil/white wine vinegar and mustard-yum). Dinner will be lamb chops, new potatoes(in the fridge and need using up) and vegetables. Tomorrow is a FD and I will have nothing after the meal this evening until lunchtime at the very earliest but I will try to push it into the afternoon or even until dinnet time when my son will be home for dinner when he will have steak and I will have fish and we shall both have salad.

I eat a lot of fish and salad and vegetables. I feel much better when I do too. It all goes downhill when I have something with sugar in and then I am like a heat-seeking missile searching for more and more. But if you think about it, food manufacturers manipulate our biology so that we snack and eat more of their products..and make them more profits.

Yesterday, I was out and about and decided that I would have an Almond Croissant on a once a week treat. It was lovely and I thoroughly enjoyed it but I was then looking for my next fix. If the ice cream van had been where it usually is, then I would have had one on my way home too. This is something that I usually walk past( I love ice cream)without much trouble as I know what happens.

My lunches don’t feature any bread or pasta or rice or potatoes and they are lovely and filling. Have your salmon with salad or vegetables. I do and try salmon brushed with full fat mayonnaise with parmesan and a few breadcrumbs sprinkled over the top-just a few!. It is just practice and you will get used to it and then will not feel deprived.

My challenge is to have either all of your lunches or evening meals without bread/pasta/rice or potatoes this week. Are you up for it?

The more I read, the more that I am convinced that we have

Hi all,

Saludos from a sunny UK (for once)

Hi Queen, nice to see you. I agree with you abut the long windows, I have no breakfast but have coffee with cream on some days, (too many probably) and that keeps me going for a loooooooong time. Yes the LCHF isn’t for me as a binger, as I can overeat on it, so I best to steer clear of items like butter which sometimes lead to me buying bread just so I can ‘use the butter’. I’m also not good with peanut butter, so that’s out. I’m better with cheese. I think I lurk between low carb and meditteranean, happy with that.

Since I got the Vit D deficiency I’ve been more mindful about making food count. I’m not sure of the cause but it could be that since I did my knee in I’ve stopped running, ergo less time in the fresh air, although I do ‘walk’ my running route. It could be just an age thing, more likely the older you get. One great thing is I’ve finally got my physio appointment (6 months later) so may be back running soon.

Annette, I like the sound of you plan! is the Krav Maga a contact martial art? sounds cool.

Jade, I also made the cauliflower pizza, I haven’t got a microwave though so briefly cooked the rice cauliflower, so ended up quite soggy, do you or CaliB know anyway around this? Is the microwaving supposed to reduce the sogginess? It tasted pretty fab anyway, and I put anchovies, red peppers and Chipotle on top. Well done on your maintenance and rule book 🙂

On the topic of bodies, the pressure girls and women are put under makes me rage. We are often solely judged on our looks/bodies and if we’re ‘hot’ or not. I think the nicer aspect of arriving at 50, is you begin to see how ludicrous it is and appreciate having a healthy body that’s supported you so far! When we had our new UK prime minister, the newspapers covered, wait for it, her ‘kitten’ heels. It has changed a bit, but not enough, and it’s sad that young girls (and some boys) are bombarded with impossible expectations. It’s something we’re all familiar with. The 5:2 could have had more of an emphasis on exercise, I find HITT deathly boring, It could have emphasized ALL the fabulous activities we can do to find our “fit”. I read the other day that office workers are more prone to illnesses etc.. due to sitting all day, and it’s crucial to walk more and keep moving. Rant over..

Spring, yes add stress to the mix and I’m likely to fail 🙁 I loved the thought of your G n T’s, I might join you in October when the 100 day challenge ends! it’s not been that tough but I will enjoy a large glass of Malbec or Pinot at the end, the healthier grapes. I’m not sure I want to keep on drinking after, I will see. I drank (honestly ;-)) approx 14 units a week (6 x 175ml glass) and that would be over limit at ‘celebratory times’ so what seemed like ‘I don’t drink much’ was a bit more. On the other hand, life’s short, and I wasn’t generally over the limit, but over the years it takes it toll. I don’t expect to lose weight, just by ditching the booze, but never say never..

T xx

Great challenge, Annette – Queen, I’d recommend doing LCHF until dinner, then include some fruit or if desperate whole grains along with meat-veg. There was a diet years ago that was a version of this – you ate very lowcarb during the day, then had an evening meal that could include anything you liked, the idea being that keeping it LC during the day would keep the cravings at bay. Didn’t work for me because of course feeding the sugar monster at night just woke him back up again. So, I’ve finally gotten it thru my thick head that I don’t need many carbs and certainly not the junky sugary ones. Not only “don’t need” but should actively avoid, though I’m at a point where I realize I can relax now and then. But it’s rather like doing anything else stupid but fun – figure out how much you can get away with without getting hurt. A bit like drinking whiskey😉 – some shouldn’t at all, others can have a nice nip and walk away relatively unscathed. Life is a constant risk-benefit analysis, when you think about it.

Tango, I agree wholeheartedly re exercise, that it “doesn’t help with weight loss” can be a bit confusing. Its benefits are much like fasting’s benefits; even if you eat all the calories back you get cardio/health, mobility, and those wondrous endorphin benefits. It’s always a mood elevator for me. Dancing must surely do that for you☺️

Speaking of which, I ordered a brace for my back and it feels great. I’m happy to think that I’ll hike, perhaps even jog a bit, without pain. Taking it slow and easy, just walking for now😇but must have my fresh air and a few endorphins. Planning dinner out tonight so I’m considering a fast till then, just coffee with a bit of cream boy do I love that. Take care everyone, stay strong, the road may be long but it does lead somewhere🛣 Lolly, extra hugs to you for health issues; so grateful you are an islander, a sage and calm influence for me.💛🔆🌴xxx

Hi guys I’m new to this need to lose about 2 stone I binge a lot please help me. Need tips on exercise and food as I am a vegetarian. Thank u

Binge queen thank u for your response I have not tried anything of the sort before. Just looking for some startup advice please I can’t stop eating junk food it’s a constant struggle I really need to change this please help

I have realized that I now eat to live…rather than live to eat which is what I had been doing for many years. I eat very simply now, scrambled eggs and smoked salmon for lunch or avocado and salad. Dinner is often meat/fish and vegetables or salad. Now I try to eat fruit with my meal so that there is a gap of several hours without food, between meals.

I eat bread(2 slices of wholemeal toasted) perhaps up to twice a week, rice perhaps once a week and pasta I haven’t had for a couple of weeks…and I don’t miss it. There are aisles in shops that I never go down. I am a sugar addict, fine if I don’t have it, but if I have a biscuit, piece of cake, ice cream…then I am like a heat-seeking missile looking for my next fix.

Tango-Krav Maga is hand to hand combat. Lesson number 3 last night and I love it. I always wanted to learn self defense and I think that all women should do this. It is a full body workout with the warm up including core exercises that I am starting to learn to do. It is said that it takes 16 weeks to see an improvement in fitness, I think that it might take rather longer!

Lolly- clearly we(the carb scoffers) are the unhinged ones. Don’t suppose the food industry would be pleased if we all gave up rice/pasta/bread.

Merryme-really interesting to hear about your experience. I learn so much here on this forum.

Queen, I am very stubborn and resisted having less carbs less often, but having dragged Jade kicking and screaming into the world of wholefoods, I thought that I really should try it and see how I felt, how I behaved and whether I thought that my mood was more stable. Give it a try for a week, just 1 week.

Jade-great to hear that you have found what works for you and that you sound much recovered now, which is great.

Hi there!

Such a lot to take it, and so many ideas flying around!

Jade-gold dust, thanks for those tips! 😉 I’ll try again at some point. Back brace sounds good to get out and about.

Merryme-thanks for the information, it does make sense, and I know some food has that effect me as you describe, and it is out of my life, but I’m still trying to quit others! I have often wondered about the elimination diet but imagine it’s better with supervision? I noticed you added Buckwheat, which I thought was quite ‘safe’ as not a grain, in fact I’ve just used it for the first time yesterday, early days, but hope I won’t be craving it. I’m not good with rice, but can eat lentils/chickpeas. I also think that I have a more traditional intolerance alongside addiction as I get indigestion but can never identify the food.

Ria, welcome this is an awesome forum and we’ve all embraced this WOL and made adjustments along the way. I gave up pasta/potato/bread etc after I was diagnosed with low thyroid. Bread is my worst trigger so it’s pretty much banned, potatoes and pasta I really never eat nor never miss, weird how certain foods really do it. I’m also a veggie, but eat fish, eggs and some cheese. Take your time, and read the forum threads there is a lot of info out there.

Queen, I also can binge oats! If I was a horse I’d have a bag of them around my neck! seriously ALL cereals are banned from my house, granola, muesli and oats. I used to end up eating the mini-cereal packs I bought for my nephews! but still not out of the woods. I agree with Merryme, but also believe other forces can be at work. I’ve attached a link that deals with food sensitivities which may of interest, it’s related to Paleo but still useful:
http://autoimmune-paleo.com/breaking-the-cycle-of-food-cravings-why-are-we-drawn-to-foods-that-harm-us/

So I’m coming towards the end of the term, and hopefully a period of a bit of chilling out, I’ve still got work for 2 and a bit more weeks (counting the days) but then have a 2 week ‘staycation’ after that. I haven’t been able to do fasting properly due to PMT slash personal worries, but I’m not gaining weight, thank god! that would be the pits. I’m really going to keep an eye out for these intolerances make sure that the right things are banged on the head. I love nuts but they might not be that good for me! so will be mindful, I’ve had indigestion on and off for 5 days, and it may be some pistachios, nuts do tend to have mould content, e.g cashews, peanuts and pistachios 🙁 I’ve said it before that life is too short so I don’t want to get to hung up on what I put in my mouth! there has to be a balance.
Annette thanks for the Krav Maga sounds awesome, I would like to do a martial art, not sure which one, Taewondo always appealed. You sound like you’re in a good place, fabulous!

Sending cyberhugs to all

Hi Tango

I needed to do my elimination diet under supervision, and it took 14months because I continually had to fight through the 5day addiction thing and didn’t always make it so had to start the 5 days over. Only 1 thing was challenged at a time and if OK was added to the list of things Zi could eat. It took a lot oatience and perserverance. My intolerance list is loooong, and includes quite a few things other than grains .

Last bowl of porridge was what finally sent me to the dietician, after an extreme reaction. Before breakfast I was organized, had my head on straight, big day to get through, focused. 1/2 hr after my oat porridge I couldn’t think straight, foggy brain, unfocused, disorganised thinking, lasted hours, difficult to get through the day.

Elimination diet started with 1 week on 5 foods no-one reacts to : lamb, rice, skinned pear, and 2 others I can’t remember right now. Well no- one reacted to rice, on the record, till me. The reactions didn’t fully go away and in discussion with dietition, we dropped the rice for a further week, and reactions stopped 5 days in. D said I was 1st person they’d ever seen or heard of reacting to rice. I also had allergy tests and gastroscopy. Came back negative for ceoliac but positive allergy to oats and rye. The only grain I don’t react to in any way is corn.

Allergies are triggered by the immune system
Intolerances are gut related – in intestines
Allergists and intolerance specialists don’t agree on things, so there is a bit of confusion and misunderstanding of intolerances.

Intolerances have a threshhold level., and this can go up or down over the years, worse during times of stress. So, when I did the full elimination diet/testing my thresholds were low – I could eat only tiny amounts or none of some things before I reacted. Now my threshold are much higher as I live a much less stressed life, so for eg I react to sulphite preservative in dried fruit and within 1/2 hr my reaction was to fall asleep for a few hours, ditto for preservative in deli meats. Now I can have small amounts of these without falling asleep. My worst reaction during the elimination testing period was to fall asleep within 1/2 hr and I slept for 24 hrs!. Weird hey!

Re buckwheat not being a grain – chia are seeds, but I react in that particular way to buckwheat and chia as well, so for me it’s not just grains. Gluten is one of my addictive reaction foods as well as causing other symptoms, but I’m not ceoliac. Had the biopsy, negative.

I have various other foods I’m intolerant to with varying physical symptoms, including mood and cognitive symptoms, and I react to some of the natural chemicals in foods even in some fruits, vegetables, and other natural foods. Its b………. boring!

Anyway….back to the things with addictive reactions. They are whatever they are for you. If you are really troubled by reactions then I recommend getting elimination testing done under supervision. There were quite a few surprises in my journey, things I didn’t even realise were reactions, and I definitely couldn’t have done it on my own.

Hope this helps,
Cheers,
Merry

Hi Annette,

Are you counting calories on your FDs and nonFDs. Usually when the scales don’t go down it’s because the calories are more than TDEE on the 5 non fast days. Check out the calories in the fruit, nuts and seeds you’re eating. You may have to lower the quanitity of these.

I am quite conflicted by those that say that all calories are not equal and it is pointless to count them but I also feel that as I am ‘stuck’ and have been for a while, that there is nothing else to do. So back to the notebook to log and count for the next few weeks. I drink water or tea (without sugar). I suspect that nuts are my downfall.

Jade-such a shame that we are so complex!

I wonder if keeping tabs on what I eat is just as important? Maybe there will come a time when I will eat and not keep a log. I certainly hope so. But for now, that is just what I am going to do, to see if I can make any other changes.

I don’t think that all calories are processed in the same way either, but I am at a loss despite big changes to my diet, to make any changes to my weight or waistline. About 18 months ago, after seeing ‘Trust me I am a doctor’ I was shocked at how much caffeine was in tea and at that time I was drinking 7/8 mugs a day, so I decided overnight to cut that down to a daily total of 3, which I did. What I hadn’t thought about was that it was also going to mean reducing my sugar consumption by 35 tsp/week. I had a shocking headache for 2 weeks but thought it was caffeine withdrawal, but I think it was sugar instead.
I was introduced to ‘that sugar book’ by Damon Gameau and as a result started to look more carefully at my diet for hidden sugar. I noticed that when I ate a pudding at work, I felt rubbish all afternoon, so had a week without any puddings and felt much better. So I reduced the sugar in my tea from a teaspoon to a half, and gave up completely before Christmas which was quite an achievement after 40 years!
I ditched jar tomato sauces and changed to wholemeal pasta and to brown rice, made sure that anything ‘diet’ or ‘low fat’ didn’t cross the threshold and stopped buying fruit yoghurts or chocolate mousse-much loved by my boys. I make my own yoghurt from full fat milk.
For the past month, lunch has been fish or avocado with salad. Evening meals have been meat/fish with vegetables or salad. I feel better without rice/bread/pasta every day but did expect to see some changes by now.
I think that my shape is better but I still have a way to go to get to a waist that is half the height and I am only short. I am at a loss to know what changes I can make to achieve that and I suspect that nuts are my down fall-I love them.
So, in quiet desperation, I am going to continue to avoid the sugar and eat wholefoods, but restrict the quantity and see what happens. I love avocados and cannot bear doughnuts, but miss sticky toffee pudding has no doubts that the problem lies in the white stuff.

I love almonds, brazils and walnuts and could easily scoff several handfuls a day. My plan is to weigh them out as a daily amount and see how that goes. I was thinking about going nut free for a week as well, but that seems a bit miserable when they are good for me, I love them and I have made so many positive changes to my diet(stopped buying 6 pack of ice creams en robed in chocolate with chopped almonds-Heaven) they never last more than a few days.

Robert Lustig is of the opinion that more wholefoods which take longer to digest and don’t cause the rapid increase in blood sugar and then increase of insulin which has to store the excess sugar as fat somewhere(visceral fat the most dangerous). It gets complicated as we have been told for so long that fat is the food to avoid rather than the white stuff. What is a healthy diet? I think that it is one with nuts, olive oil, meat, fish, fruit, vegetables, cheese and full fat yoghurt. I think that fasting is very important too especially after hearing what Jason Fung has to say about it on You Tube.

I will keep you posted how it goes. Out for lunch today at a pub. Ho hum.

Goodness KT, how interesting.

I went out for lunch with my friend yesterday which meant a walk of an hour each way, which was lovely. I had fish and chips with a small glass of cider( I rarely drink any alcohol) as we sat in the sunshine. I just had fruit in the evening with a 25g serving each of almonds and walnuts, which just confirms how liberal I have been!

I am trying to change what my overweight son chooses to eat. He works in a restaurant and has a limited choice when he is working a full shift, but the difficulty for him is that when he works a ‘split’ and is left to his own devices for a meal in the middle of the day. He is losing weight with what we are eating at home, but now I think that I need to talk to him about making ‘better’ choices when he is out and about. He has Aspergers and for him, that means that he is quite rigid about what food he will eat but on the plus side he has been willing to try having meat and veg or salad when he is at home. We menu plan together and he has chosen chilli with wraps for tonight, so later I will be talking to him about whether he wants 2 wraps and no rice, or 1 wrap with a small amount of rice. He finds change difficult but I have been careful to suggest small changes with food that he likes, as this needs to be something that he can maintain on his own.

Onwards and downwards fast friends.

Hi Queen,
Sugar will pick up your mood and then it will fall, making you seek out more. It really is a vicious cycle BUT I found that just taking it day by day was how I coped with the change. I was a bit like an alcoholic, repeating the mantra ‘one day at a time’. I also noticed that as the days went by that my mood stabilized and I was free of feeling grumpy, having something sweet which cheered me for a while, before my mood dropped with the sugar crash. I know that might seem a bit bonkers to you, but give it a go for a few weeks and I am sure that you will feel much much better and more able to cope with the family stress.

Can I suggest that you simply try and avoid the white bread, rice, pasta etc to say nothing of the stuff that has the white stuff inside while you are away with the hordes. Planning is the key, so if you can think of some meals that you would enjoy that are going to be available.

Lunch for me today was half a pack(100g) of smoked salmon and x2 scrambled eggs, followed by a banana, apple and 25g almonds. This evening my son is having chilli that I will make for him(portion for 4. Three of which will then be frozen for another time). I will either have a salmon fillet sprinkled with parmesan and baked for 20 minutes or an avocado with salad and homemade dressing.

The bottom line is that you will have to make the choices about what you are going to eat. I appreciate that you will have more time on your hands with your little one getting up at 6, but you do need a plan. Perhaps a cup of something hot when you get up and then waiting until 7 before you prepare yourself something to eat. Try having bacon and eggs, without the bread. For lunch/evening meal aim to eat fish or meat with salad or vegetables and I am sure that you will feel better than the carb high and lows fueled by the white stuff.

I hope that you have a lovely time and the experience is much better than you anticipate. It may well be tiring, but sugar isn’t going to help, quite the opposite even if you can’t see that now. A few weeks down the line though..and you will. I never thought that sugar had much impact on my mood, but now I know that it does and pasta makes me sleepy.

Hey islanders – indeed, the sugar high is so deceptive. It makes us feel good bc we are so used to it. Queen it took me MONTHS to break the habit, and I’m not just kidding about the kicking and screaming. But as for true LCHF I just don’t care to do it. KT I feel flatter than a stagnant pond when I try it. I guess they say you get used to it but I’ve done several weeks and I just almost would’ve killed someone for an apple. And ended up eating way too much, hating most of it because it wasn’t what I wanted. Ah, different strokes….

However, NOW almost every day still looks LCHF, at least until dinner. Queen, I really think that might be the secret for you. Just hold off eating the carbs as long as you can, preferably until dinner. And even then, don’t eat them alone (and yes, I was the champion doughnut-in-car on empty stomach girl). Just don’t. When you eat carbs, make sure you’re also eating some good protein and fat. And HA HA NO THAT IS NOT MILK CHOCOLATE, though I tried to convince myself of that before.

It’s not exactly a miracle but feels like one – when I have meat/fish and veg, I may still want dessert but I’m not insane for it. And if I have it, I can stop. I am not insane, is the point. The protein and fats are like a blood sugar shield.🛡🛡

I know how desperate it can make you feel. You’ll be surrounded by people noshing on foods you love. I promise it will help if you avoid the carbs at least at 6 a.m.! Tell yourself you can have them later, with dinner, just don’t waken the carb monster during the day. We all know what he can do, he can make you feel as though your day is shot, so why not throw caution to the wind.

If there is any one thing I know not to do now, it is have carbs at breakfast. Even if I have them at lunch, I make sure that they are not the focus of the meal. Maybe a piece of bread to go with the protein/veg. Try this, see if it helps. It’s hard to do all the kids and meals, baby steps will help. We’re here for you in the rehab cave!!♥️🌴♥️xx

Eerily quiet on the island 🤔 Tango, how great that you’re doing so well with the no-booze challenge. My hubs is one of those types who can either not drink at all or baby ust give him the 6-pack and let’s make it a party! So he’s been taking it easy lately on the booze (and the junk food) and has lost a good 10 lbs of spare tire.💪

Nibbling snacks and sugary things has always been my problem, but of late my appetite has suffered. It’s been weird y’all, I mean if this is normal it’s kind of boring. I enjoy a meal out but have had little interest in cooking or eating at home. Granted, there is little to excite anyone around here, but plenty to chow down on believe me. The meds and the back pain, neither that severe, have been just enough to shift my focus, maybe? And also simply relaxing and being at peace with the scale where it was. But (drumroll) for the last week, I hit and have stayed at my original goal point, the one I haven’t seen since I was a teenager. Seems rather cosmic to say once I gave up trying to reach it, the scale gave up too? Anyway, I’m feeling better each day, though not great, and given the side effects of the meds, this is a much better side effect! To celebrate, I actually had breakfast, an egg on toast.

So maybe I’ll spend a bit of time in the hammock outside the rehab cave🔆 Once my appetite is back it won’t be so easy, I know. But I am simply uninterested in food for food’s sake at the moment. I do get hungry, and those first few bites are good, but there is no insanity. Holy catz I really don’t know how it happened, other than landing in the ER with back pain. I will try desperately to figure out and share, if there’s any secret other than simply not feeling well. Hugs to you all, islanders, whatever your goals and struggles I hope you have a great day💟🌴🔆xxxx

Interesting about the nut addiction — I had mentioned that once on this forum too. I definitely think it’s a factor for me…..not really an addiction but if I have nuts around, I overeat them, for sure, and though they are healthy, they are very high in calories. And I could quite mindlessly eat a ton of them!

I can’t remember the last time I posted here. I have had my hip replacement surgery and am in week 8 of recovery. It has gone amazingly well. It is such a treat to be able to walk without that horrible arthritic pain. Because of that pain, I spent at least a year hardly moving at all. Biking hurt. Swimming hurt. I really just sat and watched tv and ate. Needless to say, 20 pounds at least have been packed on. I think I wrote all this once but I’ll refresh!

I have always struggled with binge eating. Ever since I was a child I can remember sneaking food. I just had that mind set. As did my mother. Smoking in my younger years kept me from overeating and at a reasonable weight. Then when I quit smoking, the pounds came on and the binging returned.

When I retired, I found a sport I just loved. Pickleball. I played it almost every day. My binging pretty much subsided. PLus, I stopped eating all grains and pretty much all sugar. That made a huge difference because, for me, much of the binging is an addition to grains and sugar. I was able to get off both, to have fun with pickleball, and to lose weight and not even think about overeating.

then the arthritis pain in my hip started and I was unable to play pickleball or do any exercise. Grains and sugar started to creep in — though much of my binging is also on healthy food. but definitely eating when I’m not hungry and eating until I feel stuffed.

I’m just starting to be able to get back out walking anyway. 4 more weeks of real hip precautions and I should be able to do other things like biking, swimming (playing in the pool really), line dancing. It will be probably a good year before I”ll be able to get back to pickleball, if I can.

So I’m going to try to get back to my non-binging mode. So much for me is avoiding grains and sugar and I’ve been doing pretty well with that the last week or so. I know that I just eat too much though.

A few years ago, I bought a book by Paul McKenna (I think he is British, isn’t he?) called Hypnotic Gastric Band. I think I tried it for a while and it did work for a bit. I’m going to try it again. One thing that he also recommends is The Havening Technique which is used to relax. It’s a series of tapping and eye movements and arm movements that are to decrease stress. I’ve done it a couple times today and it is very relaxing…..I’m going to try to do it whenever I have that feeling of binging.

Anyway, I had been posting lots on a wonderful hip replacement forum. Now I’m feeling less of a need for that so will try posting here again. Nice to see everyone. Leslie

Dear all,

Hope everyone is well.

FC welcome back! it’s lovely to hear from you, so glad that you are now in recovery with your hip surgery, it sounds quite a challenge! but equally am sending you positive cyber-hugs, hope you can get moving soon, the line-dancing would be great.

Totally agree with the nuts, Annette think that’s a good plan, I find they are too addictive. I know it’s mainly sugar and grains that are the main culprits but because of the ‘handy’ size of nuts they are easy to nibble on, healthy yes, but wholefoods can pack on the weight.

Had a bad week 🙁 ‘put on’ 7 Ibs! yes you heard right, this was on Mon, I weighed myself Tues, thinking it must be a glitch, still 7!…was pretty depressed as have had no booze for about 40 days, surely not? You’ll be glad to know I have lost it now, but it was a scare. I think it was water retention as had ‘boobs the size of watermelons’ sorry for being so graphic, but a nasty side effect of perimeno.

Queen I cannot have peanut butter in the house, impossible, it’s another one of the banned foods. Your story about the guy eating the one meal, struck a chord with me as I was thinking it wouldn’t be a bad thing, at least if the calories were a bit higher like the BSD, which is 800 cals for 8 days. Last week I think I mentioned going to the Food Addicts group. I went to my first one today, obvs can’t divulge any info, but feel it will be a great support, and rid me of some of the loneliness I feel around food. I’m not sure of the ‘holiness’ of some of the 12 steps, (you have to avoid all sugar and flour) but hope there is away of working around this. It’s comforting to know there are other people, of all sizes, all ages struggling with food.I will keep you posted on my progress

Jade and Annette amazing!!, well done!! that you’ve both become less bothered about food, 🙂 Sending you huge hi 5’s and wishing you more shrinkage Annette, you are both an inspiration to us all 🙂

Oh one more piece of good news. FINALLY have been to physio! I won’t be running for about 2 mths, but she said I can still Salsa!! whey hey! (I would’ve anyway tbh but nice to have the seal of approval) I will be going every week for about 10 weeks, gold dust!

T xx

Hi there,

Welcome verdescuro (love the name) you’ll find great support and wisdom on this thread, and some great humour!

I’ve not had a great weekend, migraine from yest to today 🙁 gradually fading no pills would tame it. Am also quite undecided about the FA group. I wonder if anyone has done something like that before? There’s a part of it that really doesn’t appeal, and I think I can “do it alone” but maybe I can’t. Also, I think it it’s common to accept that when you go to groups as such to have misconceptions about what overeaters/bingers are like, and to feel that you don’t have such a big problem. I came away from the meeting humbled by the stories but not really knowing if my issues surrounding food (mainly body image and emotional eating) could be cured in this way. You have to abstain for 90 days (no sugar, no flour, no coffee, no booze (that’s ok 😉 a lot of commitment, a sponsor you ring everyday. I still need to decide it is what I really want, I’m sure my resistance is completely normal.

Hope the fasting is going well.

T