Wow, Lael! Sounds like you have a lot on your (metaphorical) plate but also as though you could really be changing your life in a very positive direction. I’m very excited for you!

How about substituting something constructive when you feel like binging? I know, for me, activity is really REALLY important when I’m fasting. Could you take a walk when the urge comes? It would give you some quiet time with your thoughts and get you away from the temptations. Then, once you break the cycle, you’ll be well on your way to self esteem and the kind of nurturing you’re looking for.

My very best in your quest to undo the wrongs. I know you probably already are a strong woman to have survived whatever and will be that much more awesome when you marshall that strength in the service of what you can be. (HUGS)

______

12kgLess, have you checked to see if there are hidden sugars and carbs that are still triggering your impulses? I suspect there may be.

As for the sleeplessness, it’s a symptom some people report when the fast. But they also say it passes so hang in there! Meanwhile, even though I water fast on my FDs, there are times when it’s clear that my stomach is just unsettled. When that happens I have a cup of hot broth. 25% of your TDEE still leaves you a *lot* of room to have what you need.

If you live in the US there’s a product called Better Than Bouillon which comes in chicken, beef, turkey, mushroom and vegetable flavors. The ingredients are organic. It comes in a small jar you can keep in your fridge and you just add some hot water.

There are also enzyme supplements that can help with those minerals. I take one because it prevents some pretty horrible leg cramps I used to get that interrupted my sleep. Getting good sleep is also important, as I’m sure you know.

Lots of people here do ADF and there’s another website focused on that it you care to check it out. https://www.facebook.com/TheEveryOtherDayDiet It’s run by Dr. Krista Varady who is a researcher that Dr. Mosley interviewed in his BBC doc. It’s quiet now but she says she’ll be back in January. She regularly posts a lot of articles and research summaries concerning ADF and IF and she has a whole community of people who are doing “Every Other Day Dieting” which is the name of her book on the subject.

Thanks LA Chubster! Yes, I do see this WOL and the clearing of all the emotional stuff as a kind of spiritual path. I used to view bingeing negatively and now I often view it as an opportunity to grow from it.

Also LA Chubster, congratulations on shedding the 9 pounds! I too had a pair of pants that were my ‘goal’ pants. Instead of using a number on the scale as my 5:2 goal weight, I used a pair of pants that I had stored for a decade or more, a pair I didn’t think I’d ever fit into again, but had once been favorites so couldn’t let go of them! …The only thing is that they aren’t as in style as your new pants would be!

Thanks, guys. That happened over a period of 6 weeks so it’s really a pretty sensible and moderate weight loss but I only know what, exactly, has happened when I visit the doctor so it’s a bit more dramatic if I sounds like it happened all at once.

______

There was a thread somewhere many months ago when people discussed the traumas in their lives and what impact it had on their relationship to food. Those emotional blows are certainly a well-established link. Then, of course, there are the physiological distortions that take over once there’s a chronic misuse of food — actual metabolic dysfunction that researchers are still trying to pin down. But once that starts your body gives confused and counterproductive signals that are real and compelling (as if you haven’t all noticed…). We’re fighting *all* of that.

But the wonder of IF is that regular fasts give our bodies a “vacation” from all that and resets the switches so we can get our metabolisms going again and sending us appropriate messages. That’s a powerful tool!

And your eventual victory, Lael, will be in proportion to the trauma you endured. Deservedly. So I’m really happy for you to be on that path. You go, girl!!!

Hello.
Just updating the topic. I do not have good news – my weight numbers do not go down:-(. I did 2 F-days last week on Tuesday and Friday after the thanksgiving day, no problem. Unfortunately I do not even feel lighter, just feel cold while fasting. The stubborn weight is very discouraging. Tomorrow is the next F-day.
Hope everyone is doing well

I found this. Hope it helps..

https://thefastdiet.co.uk/forums/topic/really-no-weight-loss/

P

hello all!
happy to hear from all of you and thank you for the advice!
all the suggestions made me think what i do right and wrong:
1. annette’s note – no rice/potatoes/pasta. This does not apply to me, i do NOT eat any of these foods at all for many years, no sugar in the house, but i eat grains – still carbs. i eat oatmeal in the morning and 1 packet of Ancient grains at lunch – i need to change this. it seems that for weight maintenance carbs are ok, but for weight loss, carbs should be reduced.
2. Pandora’s note – yes, it could be just a “strange day”. No overeating on the Thanksgiving, but i did ate/snack between meals( it is so hard to admit, because why did i do that?!) I hoped that my scale would give me some good news after perfect 540cal days, Oh, well. I keep going with 5:2 and it is very comforting to read people’s success notes.

Today is my second F-day this week, doing fine so far. I will step on the scale tomorrow morning.
regards

Your dress story sounds so good, Annette! I hope we write more stories like that one;-)
You are correct – there is no “bad” foods. I do not eat pasta/rice/potatoes because I stoped long time ago and they do not look tempting any longer. I make “mashed potatoes” from steamed cauliflower in a blender with some mayonnaise- delicious!
Good weekend to everyone

Way to go Annette. 🙂 Glad to know you don’t think I was talking utter dribble.

@annette I was never a big veggie eater. Loved my bread. Now I very rarely ever have it, don’t really miss it. I probably eat more veggies than my wife now and she’s been a vegetarian for 25 years. She bought home a bag of broad beans still in their pods from some local farmers market. Try these she said. Man I tell you they are better than eating a bar of chocolate. They are my go to snack. Who needs to eat crap processed foods?? They are sweet and juicy but have a load of fibre 25%. Carbs locked up in fibre is the secret. You don’t have to go low carb as such, just make sure the carbs are locked up in fibre. That’s just not the case when you buy processed foods. They go out of their way to strip out the fibre so its easier to manufacture. Then artificially put it back in so they can claim it has fibre on the packaging. Trouble is the fibre no longer locks up the carbs its just sitting there not doing a damn thing.

I can see how the general public don’t believe (processed) grains aren’t good for you. 50 years of misguided propaganda is going to be hard to overcome. Heck even on this site where people are trying to lose weight and eat healthy there are lots of people that are sceptical and think Im talking rubbish. But I’ll keep banging the drum and hopefully one by one people will slowly come around. 🙂

Hello Everyone!

Just catching up on the posts. I am so grateful for all your comments, stories and encouragement. It really helps a lot. So, I was doing really well and then I kind of hit a brick wall with fatigue and not being able to sleep. This caused a lapse and then Thanksgiving hit 🙁 I think I gained a lot. Last week I was able to do 24 hour fast (eating one meal a day) and that was really helpful to get back on track. My ideal would be to be able to ADF but I will have to work up to it. So I am aiming at starting with 4:3 but I am taking one hour, one day at a time. Today is my fasting day. Had a coffee with butter and it is going pretty well so far.

Thank you La Chubster- I think I have pinpointed part of the cause of my “falling off the wagon” so to speak which was really direct result of not getting enough sleep. I was doing low carb/high fat which is working for me greatly but I needed to uptake my sodium ( I am using Real Salt – which has more of the trace minerals including potassium). I read the Low Carbohydrate Living by Jeff Volteck and Dr. Phinney and watchws youtube videos and they mention needing to increase sodium intake with this way of eating. As low carb will cause your kidneys to dump all the sodium which also leads to potassium loss as well. This makes sense as low potassium can cause sleep issues among other things. I feel much better now that I am making sure to watch my sodium level.

I don’t think I have lost any weight and I am not planning on weighing myself regularly. I guess I am going to see how my clothes fit as I get further along on this lifestyle. “LifeStyle” is what I keep saying to myself as I want to eat this way for the rest of my life. I don’t want food to be such a chain in my life. Eating fat has really helped which is so surprising to me.

I don’t know about you guys but I have hard time with eating on the FD. I find that just the fact of eating cause me to want to eat more. Eating can be addicting at time for me. So, i drink coffee with butter or cream and this is helping. I guess, it is better for me to just not eat at all on my fasting days.

Looking through the FAQ’s pages, it says that fasting days are 36 hours not 24? Is that right? Can anyone give me an example of their eating pattern? IF you fast on Mondays, then when do you stop eating on Sunday and when do you eat on Tuesday?

I am trying to come up with some sort of schedule that I can train myself on.

Thank you again everyone. I am truly grateful for all your insights and wisdom!

I have an evening meal at 6.30pm on Sunday, then eat next at lunch time Monday.I usually simply miss breakfast on a FD. When I have been on holiday, I have tried once to push lunch back as far as I can and caved in late afternoon. I am going to have another go during the festive break and see how I get on.

Have a look at your shape and how clothes fit to get an idea of where you may be shrinking. I have found that clothes are the best measure of change. I found that skirts that I was sick to death of became loose and then I was able to pull them down over my hips when they were zipped up! I don’t think that I have ever been so happy about clothes.

I have a couple of shift dresses that have no ‘give’ at all and are a great indicator if I have been generous on portion sizes, and I try them on quite regularly. I have a skirt that has been lower on my waist and aim to get to that point again by the spring.

My friend who has now lost 4.5 stone has an awful lot of clothes that are getting loose but also much longer as she has less padding. Her shoes are too big and has gone from wide to normal width.

Hello.
I stepped on the scale this morning (after the cycling class) and the number was 2kg less then it was a month ago,happy. I hope it would be a bit faster. All good.
Now eat days till next Tuesday
Have a good weekend

Hey islanders, I’ve been shipwrecked but didn’t renounce my islander citizenship😎 – happy to say after reaching my goal weight over the summer I’ve managed to bobble along right close to it. I heartily wish there WERE an island I could live on, though, if you can read between those lines.

Nice to see familiar faces! and welcome to the new ones. A big thanks to those who kept the thread going, as our stories are so universal. Glad to see my queen, favorite wizard, and west coaster are still here.✨💛 I still feel normal guys! It can be done. Foods that were triggers can now be eaten without any ado, before or after. BUT THEY STILL TASTE GOOD. But in that way where you don’t sprout fangs at the taste of sugar. And omg food is so much more fun when you control it, instead of vice versa. Sorta like your baking, Chubs.

One thing that keeps me in check is that too much of a bad thing quickly leads to nausea or that jittery unpleasant feeling. And “too much” doesn’t take much. So unlike the days of yore, when I’d just chase a doughnut with ANOTHER doughnut, I now chase half a doughnut with some protein or a walk, preferably in the opposite direction from my kitchen!

Why am I now craving broadbeans, lol….I’m not even sure what they are. Having a coffee with cream out on the beach. Come have a cup🐚🔆🌈🌴☕️🍶xxjade

Hi, Alisa — that’s a great question!

I began 5:2 in March and haven’t binged since. It is completely do-able, so don’t give up hope! “Boring” is a dangerous place for me, so in the beginning I paid a lot of attention to making sure my FD meals were not only good for me but delicious and as filling as possible. Play around to find what works for you — maybe you’d like a large pot of soup to last all day, or perhaps you’d like to fast until a favourite dinner. You can get a huge bang for your buck out of 500 calories if you get a bit creative.

Personally, I have eliminated my trigger foods (sugar, grains, starches) and now have no cravings for them at all. This is nothing short of a miracle, considering what I doing a year ago.

Everyone one here is finding their own way within the 5:2 structure. What works for one may not be the answer for another but you’ll find plenty of success stories as you read through the forum. Best of luck to you, and keep on asking those questions.

Real people can definitely stop the binge cycle, Alisa! For me, this means eliminating the problem foods but also means working on any emotional triggers. Knowing what and how to eat is the part of the solution we see first, but equally important is the fact that we must choose to use this knowledge on a daily basis. In times of stress, this can be tricky — but 5:2 is always there for when we are ready.

Hope your fast day went well!

Hello, it is me again. The F-day yesterday was successful – 540 cal, just 3 raw bars, nothing else – good self discipline! However, I am reporting no weight loss since I started on November 18th;-(. I feel unique and unlucky.
Marry Christmas

Hey, Jade! So VERY glad to see you again!

I was derelict all Summer and when I came back you were gone. What a shock!

As for binging I am here to say that it’s definitely a thing that can be overcome. And it’s SOOOooo worth the work to do it because the peace of mind that comes from not having food running your life is a delight well beyond the mere satisfaction of smaller clothes and strangers that are friendlier to you!!!!

Be patient with yourself. Start where you start and grow from that. Experiment and tweak the program to make it work for you. Eventually you’ll find out what your trigger foods are (Hint: they’re the ones you think you’ll DIE without) and see that giving them up is NOT abandoning your bliss. It’s just the beginning of the REAL bliss that comes from freedom and new self-confidence.

It took me some 60 ____ing years to figure that out. But however old and used up I may be, I am a FAR better person having gotten there. ….eventually.

Oh yes! DO stick around Jade!!!! You were the heart and soul of a very vibrant, fun, encouraging and informative spot for me.

Let’s make that happen again because I think binge eating is such a big problem for a lot of people. And the very GOOD news is that it CAN be overcome! I am simply amazed that — at least at the moment — it isn’t a part of my life. Over Christmas I cooked and baked for 3 weeks. Then I had 2 days of absolute indulgence. I had cookies, cookies, cookies. And helping after helping of coffee cake. I ate stuffing made from bread and gravy and Every. Single. Thing. My. Warped Little Heart. Desired. And then I just stopped and fasted for 4 days and now I’m resuming my 5:2 pattern with ease.

We have to make this miracle clear to people who still having binging running their lives. Plus we want the fun of naughty company, no? 😉 And we need to provide the evidence that you can fall — I know I DID over the Summer — and still get up and carry on however many tries it may take.

Hello Everyone,
Great to see Jade, Chubs and now Queen back-hurray!

What about if what we eat is only half the solution Queen? Jason Fung(The Obesity Code) Suggests that reducing refined carbs and sugar, increasing natural fast and eating real food is only part of the solution. The other half is fasting and with that no eating between meals.

He argues that obesity is a result of increased Insulin, so reduce the insulin(fast regularly)reduce insulin sensitivity=lose weight.

I did 2 24 hour fast before the festive week and afterwards…and didn’t put any weight on despite the feasting. Very very pleased. I am planning x8 24 hour fasts this month and hope to reduce my body set weight limit.

I appreciate being able to ‘vent’ here about an incident that took place today that triggered a ‘binge’. It’s a long, kind of ‘book length’ story, though writing it has been therapeutic and has enabled me to explore and gain clarity about why I binged today out of the blue.

Today I binged in the aftermath of a ‘perfect storm’ of ducks that lined up that triggered my hunger both physically and emotionally. It started after spending an afternoon with a friend. When I think back to where exactly the urge to binge began I see two main triggers.

The first trigger was being out with my friend at a so called ‘health’ cafe and accepting the offer of a so called healthy ‘antioxidant’ drink as a kind of gift/treat. Hey, I know fruit juices, smoothies are simply concentrated sugar in a particular form, maybe even like wolves in sheep clothing! However, my friend was having one and I didn’t really think about what this drink entailed and out of not really thinking it through and being somewhat unconscious about my decision, I accepted! Looking back, I realize I would have felt guilty to knock back her offer. I’d knocked back other offers of food from this friend and I almost felt like I thought I owed it to her to accept this time! So there you go! This was the start of the whole binge scenario right there! So the drink arrived and was very pretty, pink/red frozen concentrated fruit and/or juice whizzed up into a thick slush which tasted so, so very sweet. Don’t ask me what fruit was in it because it just tasted nondescript sweet! …Not long afterwards I started to feel a headache come on. Since practicing WOL, my level of sweetness tolerance has been lowered to such a very low level and my body just wasn’t used to this! This drink was the first step toward my binge. It was the physical trigger.

So, I feel that drinking that drink kind of primed me for being extra vulnerable later on when my friend said something that I didn’t handle very well and left me hanging and feeling emotionally negative and self-critical on an unconscious level.

I’ve had this friend make similar comments in the past but this time it was said while I felt that physically foggy and unbalanced feeling after that big slushy drink.

My friend herself has been emotionally challenged since jilted by her boyfriend in a very harsh way and many times during the afternoon she repeated that she was sure that it was because she was ‘fat and ugly’. I actually think my friend is beautiful and her skin glows, she’s got gorgeous facial features and her curves look attractive and each time she’d say disparaging remarks about her own weight, I’d counteract her comments with the truth I see, which is that she is a beautiful woman.

So, out of the blue, my friend suddenly turned to me, looked me up and down critically and said in a disapproving and emotionally fearful voice, ‘You’ve lost a lot of weight!!!’ I remember being aware of the uncomfortable feeling of the comment and wanly replied, ‘Yeah, um. it’s good isn’t it?’ She then said nothing for a long time as we continued to walk along through the village. Even though I spoke up for myself, in that moment I began feeling very small. She eventually lamented ‘Well, I’m so fat!’ This time, instead of reassuring her, and telling her she is beautiful, as I’d done about 10 times before, I said meekly ‘Well, then you can do what I’ve been doing. It’s easy, really.’ …She knows I’ve practiced 5:2 and she always shuts down when I mention a thing about it, and all along from the first few kilograms I shed, has fearfully expressed concern and fear about my progress, as if I’m doing myself harm or something. She even once warned me to ‘stop dieting so much’. I remember feeling strong in response to that back then as I let her know that what I was doing wasn’t a diet and that I could eat what I wanted to eat! Of course, I hadn’t just consumed a pint of slushy sweet drink when she’d said that! I think it might have been when I felt really strong on one of my days after a fast!

Anyway, all I know is that I contracted after our little exchange and after leaving her was only aware of hunger and cravings and how much I wanted to snack and binge, so boy did I!

Now with very full stomach, I thought to at least sit down quietly to feel if I could unravel when and where my cravings began, what sparked them, triggered them and I came up with the perfect storm I described above, which was first the acceptance of that overly sweet drink that spiked my blood sugar and then left me emotionally vulnerable, rather than strong when then later confronted by my friend’s fears about my weight loss. Looking back, I realize I reacted by unconsciously feeling shame and remorse about my weight loss. I know that sounds completely illogical that I should feel such, but that is what got triggered in me. I can still feel my friend’s disapproval and I can feel my inner deep sense that I’m doing something ‘wrong’ in response.

I’ve already started a 36 hour fast which will definitely help me with the physical balancing of the blood sugar spike and hopefully give me space to find further clarity about the emotional trigger. I know if I don’t deal with the emotional trigger, I may find myself bingeing again, even when my physical body is balanced again.

Poor you. BUT you have been able to see what happened so that you can be aware if you find yourself in a similar situation again.

When people change how they look and how they react to comments, some people find that threatening because if you can change how you look and react, then so can they. People are complex.

When I started the 5:2 I couldn’t understand why others were not commenting on my weight loss, although now i think that it takes a loss of 14 lb before anyone notices, simply because people are wrapped up in their own lives. My very overweight friend commented that polka dots were very slimming-I pointed out that it was the 26 lb and 26 inches lost that were slimming, not the polka dots. It was a bit awkward and although I was upset and angry when I thought about it, my lost weight pointed out to her that she could lose weight too.

Time passed, nothing was said about that episode. I told her about what I had learned about sugar and she witnessed my moaning about giving it up in my tea. I told her about Fung and avoiding refined carbs and fasting. She has lost 4.5 stone to date.

However, I have upset another friend(who has 10 stone to lose) with my enthusiasm about Fung which is in conflict with Slimming World and free carbs, I just wanted to tell her about carbs and insulin etc. It ended with my apologies and end of communications.

Lael, how you feel is how you feel, illogical or not. You offered a choice of change and she has chosen not to, but that doesn’t mean what you are doing is wrong. My first friend rejected any idea of change for 2 years and then started asking questions. The second friend is yet to admit that SW is no longer working, which isn’t much of a surprise but it is up to her.

Hey everyone! This feels like the Pink Ladies from Greece when Rizzo shouts “it’s the whole gang, back together again”. A big hello to the old islanders and the newer ones (who are by now I am sure old Islanders, it’s just that I’ve been off it for so long…).

I imagine it’s that pesky New Year thing to make us all feel a bit lardy and get back on the waggon I imagine.

Lael – sounds like your friend is a feeder. It’s sad that she can’t be happy for you and I am ashamed to say that when I was younger and feeling bad about myself I used to look at friends who were thinner and or succeeding on a diet and feel not happy for them but jealous. So I do understand that’s what happened here for your friend. I also lived with someone who had anorexia/bulimia and part of that was that she used to bake me cookies to ‘feed’ me and vicariously eat through me. It’s all very weird and sad what we women can do to each other. The good news is I think it happens less as you get older, and that you identified it so quickly. Just be aware of it next time you meet your friend. Sounds like she doesn’t have a good self image anyway so it’s easy for that to rub off on you if she’s trying to sabotage your diet.

Chubs – I took inspiration from you and tried to do a water only fast yesterday. Didn’t quite manage it but probably ate 200-250 calories which is unheard of.

Annette – next stop giving up sugar! Do I dare?!?

Jade, Queen – lovely to see you all back on the island.

Much love to my fellow Islanders, old and less old!!

Lael-well done. There is no doubt that people feel threatened when you change size/shape/what you eat…simply because that shows others that they can change too. Do be aware of those that will try to sabotage you whether it is conscious or unconscious. Personally I would give your ‘friend’ a wide berth for a while and when you see her next make sure that you decide the venue!

mcca-I always knew that sugar wasn’t good and over the years reduced my sugar in my tea from 2 tsp to 1 tsp.But I was also eating the sweet stuff every day, hiding it for consumption later and thoroughly convinced that this was normal. Last January I saw a programme about caffeine and was shocked to learn from out very own Micheal Mosley that I was consuming vast amounts of caffeine in my tea(6/7 mugs daily with 1 tsp sugar). Overnight I cut my tea consumption to 3 mugs a day, but what I hadn’t considered was the sugar that I was not now having. I felt better and the headache lasted a week and thought it was the less caffeine, but now I think that it was the sugar or lack of. I continued to have puddings at work, but then noticed that when I did have something lovely like sticky toffee I felt very very tired all afternoon-not realizing that this was a sugar crash that then made me search for something else sweet. I then tried no puddings for a week and felt much much better, my desire for the sweet stuff was less and less with each passing day which I found very interesting. I tried a pudding on 2 occasions the following week and felt rubbish again. A work colleague suggested ‘That sugar book’ by Damon Gamaeu which is a good book and he then referred to Robert Lustig(Fat chance-the hidden truth about sugar, obesity and disease). I learned that sugar was keeping me on a loop of craving more and eating more as well as the impact on my body. There have been lots of comments on the forum about Jason Fung and so I took the plunge at downloaded The Obesity Myth onto my Kindle. Fung inspired me to try 24 hour fasts as well as looking at what I eat. Neither Lustig or Fung recommend some joyless existence of miserable food but do clearly explain why it is good to reduce sugar consumption.
I was in a shop yesterday with goods that I needed and found myself gazing at the array of chocolate. I was going to get something but found myself asking myself ‘how would it make me feel?’ The answer to that was ‘rubbish and wanting more…and more’, so I walked away without feeling deprived but powerful. If rats that have been addicted to cocaine, will choose sugar over cocaine, just shows how addictive this stuff can be. Lustig would say that if you don’t believe that you are addicted to sugar then go without it for 24 hours and see how you feel. I suggest that you reduce the amount of visible sugar in your diet and then look at the hidden sugar(high amounts in anything diet or fat free/jar tomato sauces/baked beans/frozen yoghurt). WHO recommends no more than 24g/day(1 tsp=4gs sugar) so that might be a good place to start.
Have a look at these books, but if you just want to choose 1 then get Fung. Lustig and Fung are on you tube, but I prefer the written word to refer too.