The FastDay Forum

Am in a very negative head space & am unable to fast (almost 2 weeks since I last fasted), am using food as therapy and feel terrible, sluggish and disgusted with myself. I NEED to get fasting again, made it til lunch time today before caving, but I will not be beaten! I shall try again tomorrow, this is just a shout out really for support. I'm hoping that by posting this I will hold myself accountable tomorrow & stick to my fast.

Please feel free to share how you got back on the wagon after a fall?

Keep at it. We r all in this with u. I have had some flat times in my 21 weeks on the 5:2. This is still a pretty new program but it seems many people have found it is working for them so hang in there.

[Debs]

Hi Waratah,
So maybe you didn't fail today, but did a 16:8?
I've been there, a few days when you just want to eat your troubles away. So do it, get it out of your system and get back on the wagon. This isn't a 'diet' or twelve week program where you can think you've failed so you may as well give up completely and return to old ways. The beauty of this is that 'tomorrow is another day' Scarlett!
You don't have your progress up there, have you lost much since April? If so, look at what you've achieved so far and congratulate yourself on that. I had lost a bit and then ate it all back on over a long holiday so I'm back at square one and more. I know it works though so I've brushed myself off and am embarked on the fasting journey again.

Good luck, you can do it!

If you want to hold yourself accountable, which probably is a correct decision to begin with, there's always the option of making your progress chart public. Most would say it should strengten your resolve.

Hi Waratah I can't tell you How to climb back on board because amazingly and I do mean amazingly I haven't felt off yet !!!
Yes my head was in the right place at the time deffo no dought at all.
Never before had that feeling before I was so motivated
Since then my amazing weight loss has been my motivation for me to carry on, I've a very long way to go and at my age I can't afford to waste any time Lol
You will have to take it one day at a time just do the best you can to start with, even by skipping breakfast you're doing a small fast and obviously saving calories but the downside of that plan is it gets a bit like any old diet out there, and not the brilliant flexible 2 days a week diet.
Have I Sold it to you yet ? I really hope so and you come back to us.
Good Luck and do this for yourself because you're worth it.
Sue.

Hi Waratah!
I have had the same problem myself, a sort of diet fatigue perhaps, and I didn't do a proper fast from early August until yesterday. I was skipping breakfast some days, possibly lunch others, but overall stopped my pretty consistent weight loss of a pound or more a week. At the moment I think I am a little heavier than early August.
I've lost a lot of weight since starting 5.2 and look a lot better so I think I just rested on my laurels.
However I am still carrying too much weight and really want to hit my target of mid-high bmi for my age and height, which gives me another 19 pounds to go.
At the weekend I went clothes shopping for autumn/winter trousers and realised that the size 14 trousers I was sure would fit were much too tight round the tummy, although as I was a size 18/16 when I started this is still an improvement. But I realised I had been doing such a great job in the first few months that I was now in danger of self sabotage so have given myself a good talking to and feel more positive about continuing. Not overthinking it,
just doing it, like I did when I started.
Try to relax a bit around it, but be realistic, and know that although 5.2 does work, it only works if you actually do it!

Standard advice I think - take a break from the battlefield analogy, the story you're telling yourself.

Instead of battling monsters, shift focus towards your next small step towards the desired state, a positive outcome. It really doesn't matter how small the step is. If you take enough steps, the outcome follows without much fighting or effort involved. Boring perhaps, nothing heroic about it, instead just following procedure.

When you feel tempted, postpone your reaction, you can have it later, tomorrow. Do something else as a distraction. Usually if you delay gratification for only 5-15 minutes temptation fades away. Do cave in sometimes, but only as a planned action in a time slot.

If you can't avoid thinking about the past, which you can't change anyway, focus calmly only on what triggered events, which should make it easier not to repeat the procedure.

[janeg]

Lots of things you an do!
Why did you start in the first place? Might be helpful to look at that again....
Is 5:2 hard for you? Try more than 500 calories on one day a week...
Or try 6:1
Or 16:8
Plus the other good suggestions before I put my neb in!
Or there's the wet fish slap about the head

What has worked for me is a whole lot of little psychological tricks I've developed, initially to fool myself into making this easy, they have now become completely ingrained, so maybe they are actually working! They aren't rocket science and I hope I don't seem patronising but here's what I do:

I look at this as 'just something I do'. I try not to think of it as a diet in any way, shape or form, but just a regular part of my life and my routine.

I don't describe it as a diet to myself, or to anyone, I talk freely about my 'fasts' but I always do so positively, I tell people how much I enjoy them and, even if I'm not quite feeling it that day, how wonderful it is to be liberated from worrying about food.

When I've had a time off (my birthday week and holiday week) I ate what I liked, drank what I liked and then as the week came to an end began to tell myself how much I was looking forward to my Monday fast.

I then built in the mind set that my fast days (Monday and Thursday) are like mini-detoxes. Monday to get rid of anything bad I've consumed over the weekend (mainly wine) and Thursday in preparation for the weekend and wearing whatever I like without fear of being bloated.

Another psychological trick that I think may be working for me is referring to days as 'fast' and 'non-fast'. I hate the language that goes around 'feast days' and 'feed days'. They aren't very positive in keeping a healthy mindset throughout the week. (Also 'feed day' makes me feel a bit like I'm a farm yard animal).

I hope maybe some of this is helpful!

Johanna

Think we can all identify with that sinking feeling..i know i can!

Dont beat yrself up..we all fall off the wagon,we are only human.
You did the right thing reaching out for support,and just look,all the helpful replies for you
Take yr time reading them and go for it tomorrow! Or the next day or next week..when the time is right for you x until then,think " damage limitation" and just gently ease back in,cutting out what you can and getting some exercise - even if only a little,in both cases
Look on youtube for some EFT ( Emotional Freeing Techniques) to use when you want to eat tp avoid feeling sad,bored,anxious etc rather than coz youre hungry x

Thanks so much everyone for the encouragement, it really was what I needed to see this morning, I'm constantly amazed at the number of caring, kind hearted souls here on this forum.

In answer to some questions I've lost about 5-6 kg since starting in may. I'm pretty happy with that as I lost it all while fasting on a 3 month road trip here in AUS with my beautiful family. I've been home over 2 months though and have struggled big time getting back into routine - school, work, fasting. I find it particularly hard to be surrounded constantly by shops, food and temptation, whereas on the road trip we were in the bush and it wasn't an issue.

I also came to 5:2 more for the health benefits after beating cancer, so it's not all about weight loss for me. I'm currently sitting at about 71kg and would be happy to stop at 67kg (I'm 172cm tall). BUT I'm beginning to really acknowledge that I have issues with food, I have an "all or nothing mentality" which leads me to binge eat. This has only been an issue thogh since returning from our trip which leads me to believe its not a symptom of this WOE but more of a way of coping with returning to life as normal after a once in a life time trip.

At work now, so will come back and unpack more issues here in his safe space, but did want to pop in with a reply and a huge thank you to you wonderful, big hearted people.

The post (Michaels I think?) about breaking this down into small steps/ victories was just what I needed to hear, I WILL fast today, and take it one hunger pang at a time.

Well done. You took the first step. Fallen off so many diets so know how it feels, but not this one yet. Is all mindset. You won't starve and tomorrow you can eat normally. You have come so far it would be such a pity to sabotage yourself. Do it for your health and think how pleased you will be with yourself tomorrow!

[wildmissus]

Well it's tomorrow today, so heres to a successful fasting days (for me too). I'm not sure if its the time of year but I'm finding fasting a bit more difficult as well. Just remember that the only person who is sabotaging this WOL is you and you deserve to be getting the health benefits and lose a bit of weight. Sometimes we need to be honest with ourselves and also take it back to basics. Do you remember the first day you fasted, all that determination to get through the day and then it wasn't really that bad after all. I'm in it with you today.

Well it's just amazing how good I feel after fasting yesterday. It was a difficult fast but just what I needed to break that self destructive cycle. I was going to try back to back fasts today as I will find it difficult to get another fast in this week but was feeling a little faint so ate about 11am, which will make today a 16:8 for me (have kids so dinner usually over by 6:30pm).

So relieved to be back on track and the negative self talk is gone today too. Thanks again for the support everyone xx

Well Done waratah
Your introduction day went well I believe coz 16:8 is a good fast so if you can only fit those type in well brilliant
I usually do a 16:8 ish on a Fri on top of my 2/3 fasts its working for me.
Good Luck. Sue.