Hi Clmpr, hope you are ok. If you are really struggling, a few celery sticks of veggie crudités may help (not exactly the tastiest but at least something to chew?!) – some people prefer a small breakfast or lunch & then a larger dinner, it is good that you are experimenting with timings etc to find your right fit. I hope the hunger passes soon! Plenty of water too 🙂 I’m glad you didn’t ‘eat yourself sick’ before this fast day as I don’t think a binge/restrict cycle is best for our bodies. Remember you can have what you desire tomorrow! Good luck!

Just know that we’ve all been there. I tend to struggle a bit after I’ve had my dinner (once I eat my brain is activated and I always want more). But know that it gets exponentially easier the longer you do it. I thought fasting was relatively easy when I started in April ’13 (I thought it was going to be harder than it actually was) but in comparison with my fast days now, it was still a pretty big struggle to get through the day. I started doing it with my mother and we’d just sit around talking about food and I’d literally drool at the thought. All food-related programmes were banned on FDs and I had to move my fruit bowl into a cupboard because the scent of apples or nectarines would penetrate my nose every time I passed by it and it wojld drive me crazy. Now I’m fine. I even bake cakes for birthday parties without a problem. Knowing it gets easier might help you through the days. And visualising tomorrow (feed day yay!) also comforts me.

Taking a walk always helps me when I’m obsessing over a hunger pang. 20 minutes of normal exercise (like walking or cycling) on a regular basis is known to lower your stress levels as well so it can’t hurt, right?

Hey, that’s what the forum’s here for, isn’t it? I’m so happy I found this way of life, if I can help anyone else to get where I’m today, it makes me even happier. It’s really going to get so much better the longer you stick with it.