The FastDay Forum

I still comfort eat, and yesterday I treated myself to some unhealthy junk.

I'm amused at how my new eating habits make my old habits seem excessive. Before I started fasting I often ate candy and chips without even pausing to think that I should make up for it with more exercise or holding back a bit the following days. So that is progress of some sort!

A little part of me wants to feel ashamed for not packing in the vitamins and minerals when I had the chance on a feed day, but then I remind myself how good fasting has been to my health and well-being, and how I am consistently losing fat, even with the occasional blow-out.

A different little part of me is miffed that junk food no longer makes me feel good. I know that it is possible for me to shift that self-reward from food to exercise, because a few years ago I tried paleo and it worked excellently for me, for a while. Unfortunately a new work schedule meant not being able to keep up with my running outdoors and cooking food within the paleo restrictions.

I'm hopeful 5:2 will be more sustainable. However I'm worried that junk being allowed in this way of eating will make it harder to shift away from eating it for comfort.

What are your thoughts on comfort eating, and how sustainable 5:2 is/will be for someone who is addicted to comfort food?

Hi glassmarble Well as starting bmi of 44+ I've definitely had my share and someone else's, but have cut down on it all, I do still have 'treat'' most days but I now buy treat sized bags of mixed (children's )
I am totally amazed how well this psychology is working for me, I'm also eating more healthier than before, my portion sizes have changed so for me personally I'm not eating junk food in excess at all and as for the comfort eating I'm not !!! The more weight I lose the more motivated I become so it would seen I've replaced comfort/junk with motivation, but others for who are struggling may have different answer Sue

Hi Glassmarble,
interesting topic this! I think its worthy of some navel gazing to look at what the need for comfort is all about.
You can feel stressed (for instance)-comfort eat -still feel stressed, but fatter! Food never really resolves any emotional issues. Yes, there is a temporary 'buzz' from going and eating junk food (funny that never comes from eating apples!)but it is fleeting and often leaves you with guilt on top of the original need for comfort.
Personally, I think it worth spending some time going inside and looking at the need itself. Is is about feeling compromised, sadness or anxiety, boredom, loneliness or the need of some love or reward (when outside rewards feel scare)or something else?
Whatever is identified when you investigate, how else can the need be met? Your mind is sending you a message about the way your life needs to change. If you meet that need else where, the need to comfort eat will reduce.
I did some work on this years ago and discovered I was comfort eating when I felt stressed, it was a way of calming myself. I worked on stress busting and recognising the signs and the need to comfort is pretty well gone.
Don't know if this is helpful to anyone out there, but it worked for me x

I've always felt that the expression 'comfort eating' was a total misnomer as what is comfortable about feeling stuffed, disgusted with yourself when you can shove no more unhealthy food into yourself and then find you have solved nothing and are now worse off than before you started your 'discomfort eating'?

5:2, like a lot of people are finding, has completely changed my whole attitude and relationship with food. I rarely eat chocolate even though I have a fridge full of it and I no longer feel the need to snack or continually eat on the hoof. I am now so aware of my body and it's needs that it frightens me when I think back to how ignorant I was of my own dietary requirements.

I am now one year on from when I decided that I had to do something serious and permanent about my weight, 9 months into 5:2 and almost four months since I hit my target weight so I'm hoping that I have at last found the holy grail.

I hope everyone can achieve what they want with this wol, it was not easy for me at the beginning but once I broke through the barrier it has all just slotted into place so, if you are struggling, PLEASE don't give up, keep going, you will get there, honest.

Good luck and as Bruce Forsyth says at the end of every episode of 'Strictly Come Dancing'......'KEEEEEEP FASTING'......or something!

Ballerina x

I still have the urge to eat stuff that is less than healthy but it is diminishing. What I've found is that I've been working my way through my "normal" treats and finding they aren't as good as I remember. So I've been saying to myself, "I won't bother with that again". Never thought I'd lose the urge for eclairs for example. I find it amazing!

I still love my dark chocolate, and now that the weather has warmed up, my ice cream. BUT, I no longer nibble/graze/what have you through the day. I have learned what is an appropriate portion of good and bad foods (whether I ignore it or follow it ). And I have found out that skipping breakfast won't kill me.

I love all the information I have gotten from this website and my renewed interest in healthy eating. This WOE is a journey, and I am happy to learn whether from you all or from the bumps in the road.

I did some comfort eating yesterday. Lots of cheesy garlic bread and garlic potato soup...with cheese. I'm feeling stressed and let myself go wild with the carbs which I knew might make today's fast a bit more difficult. I did manage to fit in some nice fruit and a salad amongst the cheesy-starchy-garlicky goodness.

The thing that I'm hoping makes 5:2 sustainable is that I still get to fit in my comfort eating and my occasional binge. I know from experience that if I try to cut them out entirely then I want them all the more. With this WoE, I can make do with putting off my urges and cravings until the next day or, even better, until the weekend. Sometimes I don't care to indulge once I've waited.

I'm also not into the diet entirely for the weight loss. I want some of the other purported health benefits as well. I plan to keep IFing in some form long term. If that means sacrificing some speed of weight loss to eating the junk I like so I can maintain the fasting or if it means that I never even get down to my target weight, then I'm still okay with it.