The FastDay Forum

Okay, so yesterday I fasted. Whilst fasting, I was fantasizing about food. I went to the grocery store -- actually three grocery stores -- and bought a lot of food. My fridge and cupboards are bursting, and I mean bursting.

So this morning I woke up, and had a normal breakfast of one veggie sausage and scrambled egg whites. I thought, Okay, I'm in control here, but within a few hours, it was all downhill. I have literally been eating the whole entire day. It is disgusting as I have not stopped eating. I have just polished off an entire tub of salmon flavored Philadelphia cream cheese. I ate so much cheese today, so many crackers, so much chocolate. Oh, my god... I have been a human vacuum.

As I am sitting here sucking down my wine, it occurs to me that the only rational thing to do at this point is to collect all my crackers and cheese and chocolate and put them in a trash bag and get them out of the house. It is not possible for me to have simply one cracker or one cookie, I have to eat and eat until everything is gone. I never feel full or satiated, for me it is all about more, more, more.

God, I wish some of you lived closer. I need like five of you from the forum to come over right now and remove all the bad food from my fridge. Just take it away. i cannot have this stuff in the house. I am an addict. I should be going to meetings.

Honestly, I think I am stressed about work or something, because normally things do not get this out of hand. But lately, I cannot stop thinking about sugar and bread. So yes, I need to put everything in a bag and toss it out. I cannot have this stuff in the house. I buy it thinking, okay, I'm in control, but the truth is, I am not.

Okay, deep breath. Tomorrow is another day. As soon as I put all this food in the trash I will feel better. One more glass of wine and I'm going to bed. I will do a semi fast tomorrow and not eat until dinner time.

Oy vey...

You said it before I did, tomorrow is another day. And I was going to suggest a semi-fast, like I did on Sunday, so there you go.
Additionally, don't buy too much food. Shall I tell you my trick?
I go to the supermarket with no cards and just the money that I plan to spend plus 20% more in case I forgot to put something on my list.
I only buy whatever is in my shopping list.
I don't keep many "bad" things around. I have one pack of biccies and one of crisps that I DON'T like just in case a friend comes over for a coffee or a glass of wine.
There is the English chocolate and cheese but I keep them FROZEN. That way, I can't just grab some and eat it.
The rest of the fridge is mainly fruit, veggies, some cheese and hams that I use for cooking and meat. And alcohol, of course!
If you can't say no, don't bring it in your house.
If you can't eat just one biscuit and you have to eat the whole packet, buy individually wrapped ones. One everyday. Not two or three.
Be your own guard and you'll be rewarded!!!

Hi TML13,

Thanks for the post. Whilst you were typing, I packed all the bad foods in a grocery bag and marched them down the street to give to an artist friend. Nothing but veggies and fruits in the fridge now. I will do my semi-fast tomorrow, and I am going to try harder to stay away from the French fries and the beer as well. I've had real difficulty with all that food lately. All that starch and sugar is so horribly addictive. I don't know what is in it, but something highly addictive for sure. I feel so much better already that it is out of my house. I do have a loaf of yummy bread in the freezer, but hopefully since it is in the freezer, I will not eat it all in one sitting. Black coffee tomorrow morning. Of to bed for now...

hey,

Off to bed is a good thing. Tomorrow is another day, a day to get a grip and you'll probably feel differently about everything. I do agree that buying in small packages is somewhat of a solution (being a long-time dieter and finding things that work for me). I hope you find your resolve and see things differently tomorrow.

Don't feel bad, I've been struggling with the same and I've found shopping on fast days is disasterous! I've also done the binging on non fast days and despite continuing to lose weight it's something I know I need to address and I am slowly and I can see improvements, particularly in portion sizes and knowing when to stop and not feel compelled to eat every one of those sweets/biscuits etc. I don't buy share bags anymore or Pringles as I can't just stop and leave some for another time, but I've found normal portions of chocolate bars/crisps leave me equally satisfied and guilt free for finishing! It's a learning process for us all, but we'll be healthier for it! Use the mini fast to forgive yourself and move on!

Dear Rufus
You did great by removing all the temptations. Hope that tomorrow you"ll feel better. The good thing about this WOL is that it is not temporary. After losing weight our body tries to trick us to gain it back so you might have this uncontrolled cravings for a long while until they will eventually go away. In the meantime your strategy should be to keep the food that tempts you mostly and leads to these vicious cycles, out of reach. You can eat it outside but don't keep it at home. 8 years ago I lost about 30 pounds and managed to keep it ....I think that it took me about two years to get rid of those food craving attacks which happened at first once a week and later once a month or so. Stay strong!

Hang in there! You're right, tomorrow is another day and a new beginning. Stop feeling guilty about what has already happened because you can't change that but you can start over tomorrow and make better choices. I agree with the others, if you cannot control it, do not let it into the house. My weakness is chocolate... which we have had plenty around the house since Easter. I cannot control myself... I ate an entire chocolate bunny yesterday! I thought to myself, I just cannot have this stuff inside the house. You are not alone!

Dear Rufus
After losing weight our body tries to trick us to gain it back so you might have this uncontrolled cravings for a long while until they will eventually go away.

After reading this, it was like a lightbulb went off above my head. I don't know why this has never occurred to me. It makes so much sense... feast or famine... you just fasted and now are eating and your body is trying to store as many calories as it can. No wonder some days I feel like a bottomless pit.

I have not even started yet,(first fast day tomorrow) but it seems to me early on this will happen and we should just let it, it says eat what you want. I am hoping and I guess thinking that this is the whole point on non-fasting days eat until satiated, the feeling you are experiencing is just part of the journey.

Rufus- I think that we were twins yesterday! Though I didn't eat any cheese, salmon flavoured or otherwise! In fact I posted a tipsy comment about it somewhere here
Anyway, today is another day, so I'll try to be a bit under my TDEE I think. I seem to remember someone posting that their weightless improved if their calorie intake varied across the week. So maybe we did the right thing after all

Oh, and Kay- as one newbie to another... maybe we can eat what we want, but not in the quantities we might want! There are lots of threads/comments about the amount of food on non-fasting days which might help. Good luck.

Rufus, this reminds me of the marshmallow test (if you don't know it, have a look on youtube, very funny but also solid science). Those that resisted temptation succeeded by distracting themselves. I have also noticed that on some days I seem to see food everywhere, but once I start to read, talk to someone, or get on the exercise bike, I forget about it completely.
Can you distract yourself on fasting days in order not to go shopping for food?

Well done on getting rid of the food again Rufus! That is impressive!

I have been there and am a lifetime dieter. After a month on 5:2 I have done most of the fasts, have now settled into a 24 hour fast eating one meal in the evening. Once the factory made biscuits are gone I will buy no more. I am baking more now, a piece of home made cake is smaller and more satisfying than a packet of biscuits. I used to binge big time but now they are modest. I feel full more quickly. Last year I did the best thing I have ever done diet wise.....I had a whole month with no chocolate at all. Not even options drinks. Now I can take it or leave it, I do not like the taste of options and I never crave chocolate. There is a thread on here about sugar being the enemy and I believe that is true. We have to get away from food made in factories.
So what is the result of all this?...........in my first month of 5:2 I have had some successful fasts, more so in the last week, some fast days I couldn't do it. I have eaten what I wanted when I wanted and in the whole month I have gained one pound. I am not unhappy about this as before if I stopped flowing weight watchers I would gain a stone without blinking! So the conclusion? My body is the result of being misinformed about food, being brainwashed into constant snacking to stay 'on track'. I was never taught why I felt the need the binge or what caused it. I got myself off chocolate which has helped ditch sugar and I know that once established on 5:2, when my body settles down I will lose weight.
Have courage Rufus, you can do this

I've recently started shopping online, the temptation to stray from the shopping list is eliminated when I can't see, touch or smell anything that I know will be moreish!! (fresh bread, cakes etc!)

[carorees]

I don't know how overweight you are or whether you have been dieting before starting 5:2 but we all have a weight set point that the body thinks we shouldn't go below. It tries hard to get us to eat more. Some people's set point is quite high . I think that of you have lost a fair bit already you might need to stabilize for a while before starting on the next downward phase. That's one possibility.

Another is the sugar/carb addiction others have mentioned. I think Bobshouse has it right there about avoiding shop bought treats.

Last is the possibility that there is something else driving the bingeing. It could be that your subconscious is trying to get you to fail for some reason such as not thinking you deserve to be healthier/thinner etc. Or perhaps that you need to treat yourself for being good on fast days. It could be worth mediating on what you relationship with food is like and whether there could be some underlying factor that needs dealing with.

It could be a combination of all those things! Removing the addictive foods is good, but you need to think about why you binge because just removing temptation today might not be enough in the long term. You could contact marlathome, who it's a retired psychologist, she might be able to give you some pointers on how to analyse your relationship with food. Your previous dieting history and your current weight will tell you whether the bingeing has a strong physical component as well.

I've not read the replies so apologies if reiterating things.

You are trying to get too thin and your body has had enough. Stop.