Hi there,

Great minds think alike Lael, this is an amazing thread, and I also had the same idea of posting. I’ve been off the thread as I’ve been in a 12-step programme, I’m currently at a bit of a crossroads. I know I’m a sugar addict, but am not ready to ban it from my life completely, if that makes sense. Like Annette I have cut down dramatically, and my ‘day to day’ diet doesn’t have much sugar at all, but the freedom to just have a bit of cake every now again means I can’t stick to the 12-step food programme :(, I’m not going to let it beat me up. Paradoxically this food programme has not taken into account that certain fats are fine, see Annette above, for example they advocate low fat yoghurt, which has more sugar than full fat!, in addition, nuts, seeds and avocado are banned.

I’m going to continue being vigilant, but life is way too short for such a strict programme I believe it could be useful though for those who have a lot of weight to lose and are addicted to quantities of food. One useful side effect is that I had to give up coffee and wine, so I will carry on with that. I was drinking way to much coffee, so am now drinking herbal teas, and the de-caffe in the mornings.

I’ve just seen a book called Sugar Crush, which outlines the dangers of sugar/simple carbs, and their toxic effect, especially in terms of inflammation. I’ve been having a series of bad headaches over the last 3 months, which may well be part of peri-menopause, but equally could be my response to sugar. Although my day to day diet is non-processed and mainly protein, veg and salads, I’m still a biscuit fiend. If anyone would like to join me on some kind of challenge to give these up for good, sign up here!..

Tango

I will join you Tango with giving up biscuits. I don’t have them in the house, but there are lots of them at work. They come in packs of 3 and are divine dunked in tea. I have given up puddings and sugar in my tea and some of the time i can ignore the biscuits…but they hace crept into my life and they need to be shown the door.They make me feel tired and I just want more of them..and often do. I want less of my Buddha belly. Help.

Elise(such a lovely name), what happened to make you gain 30 lbs in the last 6 months? What food do you like to eat? I think that we need to get away from the guilt and self-loathing that is often tied up with food and look at this a different way. I used to think about food all of the time, eat almost constantly and was convinced that I would fall into a heap if I didn’t.

I found that over the months that passed I realized that I felt better with the food that I ate on a FD, than with the food that I ate on a NFD. I also had a lot of headaches to start with which I now think were a result of me eating less sugar. I started to look at what I was eating on a NFD and tried to improve it and I continue to do so.

Have you tried menu planning for a week? It is really liberating when you only shop/cook for that rigid time frame. Think about what you like to eat in terms of meat or fish and then plan a meal around that adding vegetables or salad. Try it for a week and see how you feel. I am having less rice/pasta/bread/potatoes in my life and now have days without any of them and I feel much better, although I am going out for lunch with my son today and will be having fish and chips which I will thoroughly enjoy.

Take away the blame and turn it into a positive change. If I can do it..then anyone can. I am the woman that would buy a family pack of chocolate with the intention of sharing them, but would then hide it(the shame) and then eat the lot!

Good to see some activity here again — this thread has been a favourite of mine since I started.

I’ve been beating the drums for eliminating sugar for a while now so I found your experience interesting, Tango. As a sugar addict myself, it’s an all or nothing thing: I am able to eat normally if I have zero sugar (and low carbs) but any sugar sends me into wanting to binge. There is no “occasional” for me, whatever others may be able to do. I think that this is the beauty of this forum, where we can all share information and figure out our individual needs within the 5:2 framework.

I truly do wish we could see an end to this boosting of low-fat products. Following that advice just made me fatter and fatter! And very unhappy. Since finding the combination which works for me (IF and LCHF) my life has turned around. The weight is falling off — as are my clothes — and it feels effortless. Healthy fats are a huge part of this success but the looks on people’s faces when I tell them how I’ve lost nearly 4 stone eating bacon, cheese, cream and butter… I love watching them struggle to reconcile what they see with what they’re hearing.

Thanks for reviving us, Lael. And welcome to elise. May you find all the support and success you desire here.

Hello Everyone!
I have had mixed success with having less rice/pasta/potatoes/bread less often. It is quite a mind shift to put the protein at the centre of the meal and then add the vegetables or salad. It did seem weird at the start but I have realized that I am not hungry, so all good. According to the scales there is less of me, can’t see it with my clothes or my Buddha belly..yet. I have had 3 egg omelettes with mushrooms cooked in butter for meals, as well as fish with peas or salad. I like fruit so I suspect I am getting plenty of carbohydrates that way.

My dear friend as lost over 3.5 stone by avoiding rice/pasta/potatoes/bread. Not bad considering she eats out with wine several times a week. She is using butter to cook and now eats more eggs than she has ever eaten before, but most of all enjoys the food she eats and continues to shrink with far more success than any of the bonkers diets that she has done in the past. It will be interesting to see how she gets on over the coming weeks.

After all that I have read around fat v sugar(Dr Aseem Malhotra-the truth about fat and sugar) has resulted in my consumption of butter, nuts, eggs, cheese, avocados etc and less of those 4 above, less often. For me, nothing is banned, merely avoided. I am no paragon of virtue but find that a cake once a week helps me to eat better the rest of the week.

Tango-Biscuits are the work of the devil for me though. I have another week before I am back to face these little demons and a weekly biscuit count sounds good. I think that I am going to make myself write down how many I consume every day..which should help me avoid the siren call one day at a time.

Have a great week everyone.

HI guys-

Wonder if I can pop back in?

It’s been a long time. A lot has been going on in my life — including gaining 20 pounds and numerous failed attempts to get back to my FD/food day pattern. But I am *finally* getting my feet back under me.

I’ve gotten on top of most of my medical issues since we’ve moved home and I have access to my healthcare system again. My knee is pain free and I will be getting a gym-quality recumbent bike delivered any week now. I’ve had a cataract removed so my vision is much improved (tho I’m hobbling along without any glasses until the prescription for my new lenses is ground). Turns out the “cure” for my chimpanzee toes is much worse than the affliction but I’ve learned how to bind my toes together and apart so that I’m not stepping on my own toes when I walk and I can comfortably wear shoes for most of the day now.

I’ve even lost that extra 20 pounds since I got straight with myself at the beginning of October and I’m down to size 12 jeans from the 16s I was in most of the Fall. I was in 12s briefly before I ultimately went off the rails altogether but now I’m back in them and moving ahead. I’ve even dropped a bra size around my ribs! I long to drop a cup size — I’m one of those pneumatic women who look like they shouldn’t be able to stand up without listing forward — but I know that will take a L-O-O-O-O-N-G time.

So! Looking forward to hearing how all my fellow bingers are doing, how you got through Halloween and what progress you’ve made while I was debauching hopelessly. 😜

Hi Everyone,
Been to stay with my sister for a couple of days, she doesn’t cook at all and lives on ready meals and white bread. The result is that I have been feeling rubbish and craving the sweet stuff, which I scoffed lots on my train journey home while feeling tired and rubbish! I have been horrified how many calories is in these meals, but the one that really shocked me was the amount of sugar. When I got home I defrosted a beef in beer stew that I had made and froze, which was dinner with vegetables, followed by fresh pineapple and a handful of nuts. Result? I feel so much better and that tired grumpy,feeling AKA Sugar crash has also gone.

Queen. It isn’t your fault, you are not week or hopeless. Lustig would simply say that your biochemistry was being manipulated by the food industry and I think he is right too. As for rewards..can you find something non food? Nothing is going to give you that feeling of a sugar high(trust me I have tried to find something) so perhaps a mind shift that is simply feeling much much better without that ‘pure, white and deadly’ food source that has many of us hooked. I know that I am perfectly happy while it isn’t in my life, but give me some…and I want more and more. I also think that bread makes me feel hungrier, so I am going back to not having any in my life to see how I feel.

I have chocolate/biscuits/cake now an again to see if I am cured. Quite bonkers really but I find that happens less and less often. I know that it turns me into a lunatic looking for my next fix, so I best avoid it.

Chubs!!!! Brilliant to hear how everything sounds more positive and your health improvements. Well done on the 20 lb!!

I am pretty much the same really, hoping to lose some of my buddha belly but my real goal is not to put on any weight over the festive week.I have just signed up for my local half marathon in March, so I will need to get fitter and faster not to be last! I have started Krav Maga and my body is showing more definition especially my upper arms which is fab. Back to work on Monday..along with the battle of the biscuits!!

annette, a couple of things you wrote made me heave a sigh of relief!

One is that no food is banned and instead avoided! I so like this because whenever I ban a food, the rebellious part of me raises it’s head and I immediately want to eat that food! Now, avoiding is something I am able to do!

Also, I too find that so true that the food industry is partly to blame for our addictions. Addictions = more sales and profits!

I also feel that none of us are to blame for bingeing. I see binging as a result of our environment (the addictive element in the food we eat from the food industry and its lack of true nourishment) and/or that we use it as a coping mechanism and that when we learn a better coping mechanism that the binging will fall by the wayside. I just don’t buy that any of us are simply weak willed. Environment has been shown to be stronger than will. Put me in a healthy environment free of stress with nourishing food and I won’t care to binge.

Lolly, I’m with you on the all or nothing with regard to sugar. If I have even a little, I suddenly want to have more and then I find the next weeks are a ‘write off’.

LA Chubster, your way of gradually eliminating various unhealthy foods one by one gradually sounds like it supports ‘self care’ which speaks volumes to me. I can be so hard on myself and expect too much too fast. Setting the timer to get up and move each hour sounds like a great idea! I have a health issue that prevents me from exercising much, though I surely can get up from my seat and move around hourly!

I’m in the middle of the throes of a binge week. Admittedly I’m bingeing on high fat low carb foods, so they would be considered healthy, however I’m in repetitive snack mode and know that my urges are being fueled by unresolved emotional issues. I’ve been here before so many times. It’s almost like the eating of that bit of sugar that can get me started. For me, I’ve got emotional triggers that can get me started on bingeing. So in this example, it was a friend/classmate who repeatedly made innuendo digs at me and others last week. Those comments eat at me and make me want to eat! …So, what I’ve found in the past is once I’ve dealt with this, and this sometimes entails a possible difficult conversation with the other person, that my binge urges evaporate once I’ve spoken my truth. Getting to the place of finding my truth and the strength of speaking it, for me is part of my binge healing journey. Anyway, I haven’t really gotten to the bottom of this yet, so am still snacking away!

Hi LA Chubster,

Great to meet you! I’m from Los Angeles myself! I grew up there and then moved north to attend Sonoma State University before moving to Australia in 1986. I moved here when I was 30 and I’m now 60 years old. You say you’re living back in California again. I’m curious to know where you’ve lived previously? Maybe we’ve crossed paths?

My story is that I started 5:2 in late June 2016 to shed some kilograms and reached maintenance at the end of September. I pretty much sailed through weight loss phase though not long after reaching maintenance I’ve found myself struggling with bingeing again. It’s almost like I shed the kilograms physically and now I have to catch up emotionally and grow into the thin person on the inside, if that makes sense.

LA Chubster, you inspire me! I understand how emotionally stressful that would have been that your friend had the heart attack while visiting. What speaks to me is that even though you went off the rails, through patience and perseverance you found your way back! Reading what you wrote about that gives me strength.

How wonderful to have lived in Canada and South Africa as well as California, though I can understand that a year of autumns and winters would have confounded the body clock. …Same for me with regard to recovery, it is slower, though mine has some to do with my autoimmune and associated issues. I did a bicycle trip through New Zealand for 3 months before moving to Australia and the childhood friend who went with me ended up remaining there ever since, whereas I went on to Australia where I’ve lived pretty much ever since!

I’m originally from the South Bay part of LA.

Very interesting Chubs.

Poor lunch=6 biscuits through the afternoon..followed by a left over cheese/cucumber roll(finally i felt better) and then home to nuts/banana/satsuma/apple. Off to Krav Maga later and eating a meal before is not a good idea. Might have a omelette later and then a FD tomorrow when I shall take in some food.

I need to get back into the IF mode again. I know it works but I do struggle when it is cold. Off to see if I can make mushroom soup to take into work tomorrow.

The US had a Surgeon General who, after his retirement from office, got interested in nutrition and obesity. I’m sorry I can’t remember his name or the name of his book, but he did a lot of dumpster diving and used very sophisticated equipment to analyze what was going into commercially prepared foods well beyond what’s reported on the required nutritional labeling.

He came to the very clear conclusion that American food processors — whether they package foods for sale to consumers, operate fast food franchises or national restaurant chains including the up market chains — are deliberately adding fat, sugar and salt beyond any culinary need for them. He interprets their intent as an attempt to produce food that is exceptionally satisfying — those brownies (which used to be a dessert) topped with ice cream (which also used to go solo as a dessert) and then adding hot fudge or caramel sauce because what brownie doesn’t need the calorie boost to the equivalent of a full day’s energy needs following a meal laden with extra fat. But, further, he says that it’s undeniably his opinion that they make the deliberate choice to make their foods *addictive*.

He says that the food industry’s triumvirate of sugar, fat and salt are physically addictive and drive the demand for more foods of the food industry’s particularly profitable excesses.

So I don’t know how this impacts on your TOM cycle, Bingeingqueen. But after a life of being fed these addictive elements and having this seeming *need* developed, it would make sense that you’d be especially vulnerable to it at stressful times.

What’s his solution? Treat sugar, fat and salt as an addictive issue and cut them out. NOT easy, I know. All the marketing is there to make them seem essential. The whole culture — well beyond the US — treats them as good or at least benign. Everyone is there with a cake for events or an invitation to a lunch at one of those places or a casserole to lend a hand when things aren’t going well. No one is there for support when you’re trying to rid yourself of the dictates of these “ordinary” foods.

But it CAN be done. WE’RE here to talk you through it! And I’m here to say that it doesn’t matter how many times you screw up. What matters is how many times you pick yourself up and give it another go.

What is my version of IF like? Well, I really believe we each need to figure out our own metabolism and limits. But I’ll tell you want works for me. I do 2 consecutive FDs in which I only have water, iced or hot tea (no sweetener) and, if necessary, a cup or two of chicken or vegetable broth before bed if my stomach needs settling.

On my food days I have lunch which is nearly always a VERY large salad with as many veggies (carrots, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, tomatoes) as greens and a cup or so of beans dressed with a homemade olive oil vinaigrette. On occasions I’ll halve the size of that salad and have some homemade soup (no pasta or rice) with it. For dinner I usually have grilled salmon (because I LOVE it and it’s so easy to grill a whole size of salmon on my first food day and continue to eat it for the rest of the week) and a simple greens and tomato salad or veggies. When I don’t have salmon I have shellfish or pork belly (because I also LOVE them). Occasionally I’ll have chicken and beef but it’s occasional because I don’t enjoy them as much.

For dinner I may use my protein in a recipe like bouillabaisse as long as it’s primarily protein and veggies. When we eat out I order plain protein (not hard to find on any menu) and veggies.

AND I avoid my trigger foods like the plague. My trigger foods are sugar, starchy veggies (like Winter squash which I ADORE), cheese, grains and fruit. I don’t eat ANYTHING that can remotely be considered a dessert. They’re not worth it to me anymore. And when I do VERY occasionally indulge in a danger food I ONLY do it at the last meal I’ll have before my 2 days of fast.

But this is only what I’ve evolved over the course of the last decade and only what’s right for me. I only gave up one category — like sodas or fast food — at a time. And I only moved on to the next category when I didn’t miss what I’d already given up at all. The very GOOD news is that when I hit my sweet spot — and I won’t lie to you that I don’t have to keep trying to get there — it isn’t remotely hard anymore. Then my job is to be rigorously honest with myself about when I make exceptions and it’s smooth sailing when I do.

All that said, take note that I am still probably 50 pounds overweight and dealing with this. But I’m also down about 50 pounds and 5 jeans sizes now. And I am so clear how much better I feel going about my days totally *apart* from my weight that when I screw up I genuinely *want* to deny the things I *think* I want in favor of feeling the way I do when I eat sensibly. Plus I ENJOY my sensible foods and feel satisfied with them as opposed to the rest of my life when I ate huge volumes of food and was left unsatisfied and looking for more and more.

I hope something there is helpful but whatever is going to do it for you, remember that we’re here and we understand and we want you to feel good about yourself in every way!

Hey Bingeingqueen, I don’t think you are selfish and I appreciate that you share what you’re going through. I regard this thread as a support thread and by sharing what we’re going through we can help each other. I agree of the possibility that your cravings have a biological origin. I’ve been addicted to carbs too! How I’ve worked my way out of that is by using substitutes. For me it has been a slow journey, though I feel like I’ve made progress by tackling my carb addiction in that way. For example, I started out by substituting more to less refined carbs. That is the only way I could do it. I tried cold turkey so many times and failed. I had to use the substitute method! This meant substituting white type breads for chunky whole seed and grain breads. Ditto for biscuits, only whole grain biscuits that I’d buy from the health food shop or make myself. For me was a step in the right direction. Now I’ve gotten to be able to pretty much only eat vegetable and legume carbs.

So, definitely great info LA Chubster! I also agree about the addictive nature of processed foods and that anyone who binges is a victim of that industry!

Digressing here a bit, I thought to write a bit about how careful I’ve come to be about how I go about avoiding sugar socially. If I don’t sidestep the sugary food(s) in a ‘graceful’ way, I can become emotionally triggered to want to eat them! …So for example, I was on a walk with a friend. It was a hot day. My friend wanted an ice cream as a cool treat. I agreed that a ‘treat’ would be nice. We waked to the supermarket. She went to the ice cream freezer. I wandered through the fruit and vegetable aisle and then over to cold drinks. I found exactly what I wanted to cool and satisfy, which was a locally made cold fizzy lemon myrtle drink sweetened very sparingly with genuine birch bark xylitol and very low carb at that. When we went to pay, my friend looked crest fallen that I didn’t have an ice cream in my hand. Instead of saying ‘I don’t eat sugar’ (which I used to say to friends), I said, ‘My stomach isn’t feeling so good today, so opted for this.’ My friend accepted this and I felt relieved that I heard no more about it! I walked away feeling clear and happy that I’d bought what I wanted and as we continued our walk I didn’t hear any backlash side comments from my friend. She didn’t say ‘Oh this is to die for! You should try some! Here, have a taste of mine!’ or ‘Sorry you can’t have this. You don’t know what you’re missing!’ or ‘You always eat so healthy!?!’ which are comments I’ve gotten in response to ‘I don’t eat sugar’. I’ve even had others bring me sugary treats in response to me saying that I don’t eat sugar, as if they hadn’t heard or understood in the first place.

After these types of encounters I later feel emotionally confused and guilty and for some strange reason I then find myself going and eating the very thing I hadn’t wanted, almost as a jaded type of punishment for not eating it with my friend in the first place. Many of my binges have started out of this type of guilt; guilt for not fitting in with my friends and loved ones.

I realize the friends are probably uncomfortable with me passing on the sugary treats because it may remind them that they are making less healthy choices. So that’s why I do best when I simply cite a different (though often equally valid) reason for passing on the sugar. I mean it was also true that my stomach wouldn’t have responded so well to the sugar!

Hi LA Chubster, Everything you wrote matches my experience. For example, there are treats here in the house that my partner eats that I too regard as non-food. However, if I were to eat even one of them things would change for me. I’m fine as long as I don’t eat any. However, eating even one will get me started. So, like you, I’m better with none. I guess for me the added bit is that I can be triggered emotionally and find myself bingeing on bowls of kale salad! Yes, I did that recently! I ate 4 big bowls all at once! I don’t find kale salad as ordinarily a trigger food for me because when I’m not eating out of a gnawing binge hunger, I am happy with one bowl.

I’m having this caponata on my salmon tonight. http://www.davidlebovitz.com/caponata-recipe-italian-sicilian-eggplant-salad/ It’s an excellent recipe and I highly recommend it.

For those who still eat bread or for family members who do, it’s great if you get some slices of baguette or ciabatta, rub them with some raw garlic, drizzle a little olive oil on them then grill them. Spread that with some ricotta (you can stir a bit a fresh basil in there if you want to) and top that with a spoonful of caponata. Great for entertaining and tailgating.

It’s also wonderful as a side with fish or chicken or even nibbled as a salad.

No reason at all not to eat well even when we’re eating smart! 😉

Welcome, Pandora!

I’ve always found this group intimate, intelligent, supportive and sometimes raucously funny. (Where is Jade, anyway????) And we bingers have a special relationship with food and our bodies that we’re working against and hard won victories to celebrate.

So, welcome. I’m sure you’ll have a lot to contribute and have a lot to share in the way of companionship.

How long have you been doing IF? How do you do it? What’s worked for you?

It certainly seems like you’re on the right track! And I’m glad you’re feeling those other positives already. They really help to motivate!

I’m happy for you already thinking how much more comfortable you’ll be sitting in that airline seat for the equivalent of a whole day. And just imagine what a happy meeting it will be with your daughter!

I hope you’ll have a nice long stay to enjoy before you have to take the plane back. My husband and I once spent 26 hours on a trip between Los Angeles and Cape Town and I swear it knocked me out for days afterward.

hello!
i am also back to 5:2 lifestyle (just read Pandora’s post) after almost a year.
Not excited, i am not sure if i could do 500 cal 2 days a week for the rest of my life? there was a post on one of websites saying that 5:2 is working as long as you follow it and if stop the weight comes back – logical ;-(
the 9lbs loss sounds good I am sure it feels even better!
my weight is normal, but i gain it very quickly. I have a desk job, i exercise every day and overeat (binge) often too.
Just read a very good book ‘Never binge again’ by Dr. Glenn Livingston. it is free on Amazon – recommend highly !
So, today is the first F-day (fasting day) I am eating 3 raw bars. The total calories add to 540. i will eat my last bar (189 cal) in 45 min.
all the best!

Yes, it is confusing, Pandora. …especially if you depend on the prescriptions of other people. In the end, I think it’s important to experiment with your own body and find what’s right for you drawing from real research and tested programs and combining them to fit your individual needs.

I’m one of the people who lost on Atkins and then regained everything. What I do now is eat the fat that naturally occurs in natural foods but avoiding lumps of it, as in meat. On the other hand, I enjoy the marbled fats that are a part of the flesh. I use whole milk when I’m cooking and baking. I use butter or ghee and olive oil liberally as needed in cooking and salad dressings. I, personally, avoid cheese as it’s one of the things I can’t get enough of. Basically, don’t be scared of fat. Don’t make it a goal. Just relax about it. And make sure you get enough protein. If you’re getting your protein from meat or fish or eggs or nuts or beans they will have healthy fat that will provide you with that sense of satiety and act as the solvent for many of the vitamins in food or that you take as supplements.

That’s the part of Atkins that’s right for me. But without the fasting component it’s not enough for me. Fasting on a regular basis resets my metabolism to convert my food to energy instead of stored fat. And it directs my metabolism to draw on the stored fats that *need* to be used rather than stored as body fat.

I can’t remember how long you’ve been fasting or how, exactly, you do it. But I can say that I’ve found that it becomes a *part* of my rhythm and energizes me. I actually look forward to the feeling of well-being fasts give me. So give yourself time to work them into your life instead of approaching them with apprehension or resistance. And experiment with them too. Do you want to alternate eating and fasting? Do you want to separate your fasts with food days? Do you want to spread your FD calories over two or three meals or have them all in one larger meal? I do my FDs back to back and I don’t eat at all because that’s what’s easier for me than limiting what I eat. I give my metabolism a 2 day vacation every week so it’s ready to work efficiently the other 5 days. I also never eat breakfast because when I do it excites my appetite and I’m looking for more food all morning. I have a huge — I mean HUGE — salad at lunch. It takes me the best part of 45 minutes to finish it but I feel *really* full and satisfied when I’m done. Then I have generous portions of protein and veggies at dinner. My body understands this pattern and expects food to come at me in this way so I get no resistance from it anymore. If you experiment intelligently you’ll find the right pattern for you and it will actually support you in your effort and be something you can continue to do through your maintenance.

In the end, my advice would be to be patient with yourself. Have realistic expectations. Experiment within sensible guidelines to find what’s right for you. And when you do, don’t pay attention to the “givens” that anyone else will throw at you. Work WITH your body, be good to your body and you’ll have success.

hello, Pandora.
i was fine yestarday on those bars. They are RawRev Glo ‘Creamy PB & Sea Salt’.
they made of Peanuts, Pea Protein, Organic Brown Rice Protein, Raw Organic Chia Seeds, Raw Organic Hemp Protein, Raw Organic Virgin Coconut Oil, Raw Organic Sprouted Flax Seeds.
nutritional data:
Calories 180
Calories from Fat 100
Calories from Saturated Fat 15
Total Fat 11g
Cholesterol 0mg
Sodium 110mg
Potassium 150mg
Total Carbohydrate 17g
Dietary Fiber 14g
Sugars 2g
Protein 15g

the sad thing they are small ;-( I make myself to eat the bar slooooow. they are not sweet, but i ate them with Godiva flavored coffee (no calories in the coffee, I called the company) and the bars are filling. look at the amount of protein!
This morning i went to my cycling class at 5:30 AM (feel very good!) and then ate my usual breakfast – surprise! the breakfast felt too big. WOW! i wish i am good tomorrow (my F-day #2).
Also, about the food… check out Vega protein powders ( i live in USA ) the VEGA sport Vanilla is my favorite – delicious! a lot of plant based protein.
talk to you soon

Pandora, I know exactly what you are talking abut when you say you could eat a whole cake. I have actually have done it myself and ate few other things. I have to stay completely away from carbs and sugar. I used be able to stop with normal portions but in the last couple years, it has gotten really hard to abstain after a normal portion. I don’t really have that problem with fats and protein.

I used to be a vegetarian, vegan as I prefer this way of eating but it was really difficult to cut out the processed carbs and still feel satisfied. Introducing fats fro me has really helped with appetite control mostly. I do notice that I still have tendencies to want to eat to cope with stress and other emotions. Ugh!!! 🙂 I share you frustration 🙂

Today was my fasting day and I am having a bit of hard time. I am feeling tired and sleepy. I was feeling really good on my last fast day (Monday). I know my body still needs to adjust to this schedule. I am wondering how long it will take.

I am trying not to ruminate my eating tomorrow. I don’t want to overeat. I know this won’t work if I overeat on my feeding days but I don’t want to count calories either.

Anyway, I was feeling little tired and down and wanted to just check in and get some inspiration. I have 12kg to lose and I am willing to stay on track be committed to this. I believe in it!!!

Hi Lolly,

I see that you combined LCHF with IF. How are things going. I just started and was wondering if you could share some advice. I just started last week. I am finding that I am really tired and have headaches. I read that I need to increase sodium as LCHF diets will cause the kidney to dump the water and sodium and potassium with it. Did you have tiredness with it in the beginning? So happy to hear about your success. I have had such a heck of time with binging on processed foods, all carbs. I found that I can really put away the carbs. So happy to read all the other posts as it really helps me so much!

Oh, sweetie, I soooooooooo know what you’re saying. I am not some reedy thin person with 20 pounds to lose who can cut out the desserts and I’m fine. When I started IF I had a BMI of 39 which was one unit below extremely obese. And I too have an enormous capacity for food and *had* an insatiable appetite that would start with one slice and end up consuming the who cake.

But I’m not now. That’s the _____ing *miracle* of finding the right approach for you individually.

When I stay on my program and avoid my trigger foods it becomes EASY for me. My fasts reset my metabolism and I am FREED of the cravings. I am LIBERATED from food. And I don’t mind even one tiny bit what I don’t eat so long as I do eat the right foods. As an example, I will tell you that every other week I make cookies for my husband’s whole office. It’s a long standing tradition of making a personal thank you to them for the work they do. Yesterday I was reading recipes, making a shopping list and buying chocolate and nuts and raisins, etc. Today I made the dough About 13 pounds of it of it. Tomorrow I’ll be baking all morning. About 12 dozen 4″ cookies. I enjoy doing this. I have always LOVED baking and I still do. But I didn’t lick my fingers once. I won’t eat a single cookie. …though, truth to be told, I probably will gather the crumbs that fall under the cooling racks and sweep a mouthful of them into me. But they don’t amount to much and they won’t disturb my pattern because it’s well established now.

That’s being LIBERATED from food. I enjoy the food I have when I eat. I eat enough to feel full twice a day. And feeling full and satisfied is important to me. I, personally, don’t pay much attention to TDEE or the number of calories I’m eating. I still read food blogs almost daily and talk every week to my best food friend about all the stuff she’s cooking. I still enjoy all of that and I don’t feel resentful or deprived.

This is all soooooo very possible when you find your sweet spot and respect it. And I think fasting is an important part of doing that so that your body has the R&R it needs to recover from food and approach it again in a more effective way, giving you more appropriate signals about what it really requires. And that’s a whole lot better than insatiable cravings I’m here to tell you!!!!

Give IF a month. I bet you’ll see results and, more importantly, *feel* so much better. No kidding. It can happen to you.

La Chubster, thanks for the Welcome.
I do want to believe that binging will stop. Sometimes it does not feel like it, but there are people who stopped it and i also did some good changes in my life, like go to the gym every day. I remember it was such a battle in my head! I tried to find all kinds of excuses not to go. now there are no battles. On Monday i firmly decided to skip the class, got up and went, no problem.
I do not have issues with sweets. Since i discovered desserts made of raw food (nuts, dates, coconut…) i can pass any ‘cooked’ cakes. the raw food cakes are not low calorie, but they taste better to me and i can eat the whole jar of organic peanut butter – that is my weakness, i am binging on healthy foods.

i will be waiting when battles about food will stop in my head.
today is a good day – 1244 cal.

Yes, 12kgLess. It’s amazing, once you break the addictive cycle, how much you CAN do. How “normal” you can feel and act. And it sounds like you’re already on the right track ridding you environment of the sugars — both obvious and hidden as annette always points out — and refined carbs. Another thing to avoid is anything labeled “reduced fat”. The way they reduce the fat percentages is to increase the sugar so the calorie count goes UP forcing the fat percentage down some meager amount.

The food industry has absolutely NO interest in our well-being. They’re only after our money. Don’t ever be fooled that they’re on your side!!!

La cluster – yes, it has been really helpful to cut out the processed food but I still crave bread and crackers and wonder how long it will take to completely be free. Eating packaged food have turnedme into some kind of fiend. I also think the binging on processed food in the past have deleted my potassium and other nutrients that effect my sleep and probably led to adrenal fatigue. I am working hard to heal that.

Lael – very happy for you that you have at least healed your addiction to processed food. 🙂 It is a tremendous progress. You should really pat yourself on the back. Yes, i do understand about emotional pain that is difficult to deal with more positively. I

I had really hard time yesterday, it was suppose to be FD. I did pretty good on Monday. Tuesday, I ate from 8:30 am to 7:00 pm. I ate “normally” no binging but probably had around 18:00 calories.
i felt so tired, sleepy and drained yesterday. I went home after work and went too bed around 7:00 after taking some tryptophan and adrenal night time formula. I still had a headache and felt kind of weak. I had drank lot so broth with real salt(salt with minerals). I feel asleep off and on but was awake at 11:00 pm. I broke down and got up and ate a meal of about 1200 kcal (eggs, spinach cooked in coconut oil, cheese, and little chicken with mayo.) I was able to get some sleep after that but kind of feel defeated that I didn’t make it all the way until this morning.

I don’t mind the hunger but it was the weakness and not being able to sleep. I am not sure why my sleep has been so affected by this. have you guys have experience with this?

I did not binge which is great for me! but I would like to have a solid schedule to stick with.

Is anyone here doing ADF? If so what is your schedule. Is it I am suppose to have 36hrs in between meals?