The FastDay Forum

Well I'm now around 12 weeks into the 5:2 way of life, and have lost roughly a pound a week. I have moved from the overweight band to the healthy weight band, and must say I feel much better for it, although I still have almost two more stone to lose.

The problem is that I thought I was doing well, I had a handle on my appetite, and have now started to stop eating when full (instead of carrying on till I clear the plate just because I like the taste).

However, the last week or so had been very tough. I seem to have somehow awakened a hunger monster, and was already feeling guilty about a bad week. To top it all off the last few days I have been feeling premenstrual, and the hunger monster has turned ravenous! I had a fast day yesterday, which I managed (through sheer strength of Will), and I hoped it would help me back on track but this doesn't seem to be the case. I have another fast day tomorrow which may help, but I'm feeling so guilty, hungry and hormonal. A couple of days ago I ate an entire family size sharing bag of chocolate covered pretzels, and hated myself for it, then the very next day I did it again! The same thing. TWO IN TWO DAYS! And the funny thing is I don't even really like chocolate, I prefer cake.

I'm thinking of chalking it up to major hormones, but I feel like a huge, fat pig. I feel monstrously guilty, disgusted with myself and I'm still hungry.

Please help! Any advice for taming the ravenous hunger monster within would be so gratefully received!

Mrs Pidge xxx

I'm in the same boat as you today, last night we only didn't get a Chinese as when I went to order they were shut and today a FAST day we have just got back from a slap up meal hahahaha and I don't feel guilty at all, I'll fast tomorrow but will most likely be bad till Monday but Hey ho when the monster becomes a dragon you just have to go with the flow, start a fresh Monday with the dragon caged and mind settled

The hunger is definitely due to hormones. I have found that I always feel hungry during PMS, even if I eat constantly all day long.

Hopefully the feeling so down on yourself is also due to hormones, because you really have no reason to! It's okay to pig out once in a while, and you've managed to keep your fast even though you're experiencing this surge in appetite, so well done!

Maybe you won't lose any weight this week, but you're doing good maintaining your fasting routine, and soon this hormonal surge will be over.

Thanks chipmunkcheeks, and glassmarble.

I agree with you that it's probably a hormone thing, but it's so frustrating. I've dealt with hormones with this WOE and the thing I don't understand is why it's so difficult (and why I've been so bad) this time around.

I think that part of the reason I'm feeling so bad about it is that I thought I'd finally achieved being able to manage my appetite. I'd actually started leaving food on my plate, and stopping when I was full rather than finishing it because it tasted good, and I felt it was such an achievement that I'd started to listen to my body (in two minds about this, as I've been brought brought up not to leave food, and to think of the starving African children).

Now I'm worried I've lost that, and won't be able to stop myself again, and end up eating like I used to.

I, too, have had similar experiences. Especially after vacation. Just keep doing this WOE no matter what the scale says and know tell yourself you are doing everything you can, right now. Accept that this is the new Way of Life and look at the long term, not the short term. You have accomplished a lot and sticking with this will get you where you want to go.

I think that you should stop beating yourself up just because you have eaten more than you think you should have! We are all here because we have various, tricky problems with food and we are all learning to deal with them in our own way.

I understand that you are disappointed because you feel that you have let yourself down but there are still a lot of good things going on. You survived a fast day while suffering from PMS and, although you have done this before, you have to allow for the fact that you are human and we don't always feel exactly the same every day of our lives!

You are doing brilliantly and these things will happen! It happened to me yesterday (and I have been doing this WOE since the end of January and with only one pound to go to my target weight, so with plenty of reason not to indulge!) This morning I have just got on with my fast and put my very large bag of crisps and half jar of boiled sweets behind me!

Keep persevering. You are doing well and in a few days time you will look back on your posts and wonder why you were so fed up with yourself! Big hug to you from me!

Sorry you're having a rough time. Rather than the big bag of biscuit-chocolaty stuff you could try a lump of extra tasty cheese - the carbs in the former will not help you feel satiated whereas the fat / protein in the latter should. And if you must have chocolate you could make it the 90% stuff which you're very unlikely to have more than a couple of squares of. All the best, FatDog

Exact same happened to me last week. I just managed to stay within limits on my fast days but pigged out the rest of the week which ended up in no weight loss & just maintaining, but if it had been pre 5:2 I would have definitely gained so I'm gonna think on the positive side! Just count it as a blip & try to get back on track. On the up side my last fast day was my easiest yet, I didn't think about food all day....
Hope you get back to normal soon PMS sucks

chocolate covered pretzels - sounds like the perfect storm of sugar, carbs and salt. Delicious!

I am the same with crisps - Kettle Chips to be precise - and have learnt that if I have a large bag in the house, don't open it until someone else is present. Although my husband eats frustratingly few crisps so I end up eating them all anyway but at least it tends to be eaten over two or three occasions rather than a full on pig out.

What I eat now to satisfy the salty crisp urge now is nutritional yeast and sea salt on crackers. I use a scraping of butter or, better still, hummous, on a couple of crackerbreads (light wheat crackers about 19 cals each) then pile on the nooch and sprinkle on crystals of sea salt. 2 crackers comes to less than 70 cals (depending on what you glue the nooch to the cracker with) and even if I get through quite a few on a binge (I think 8 is my current record) it's still better than munching through a whole bag of crisps. Olives is another way I hit the salty craving button.

Don't tend to crave sweet things as much so I don't know how to combat that, although I have recently discovered raw cocoa nibs which have an intense chocolatey dark taste and I reckon a handful of those would see off any chocolate craving without too much damage. Sometimes I just want the sweet stuff too, but I try not to buy it. If its not in the house its much easier not to eat it!! You could try making ice lollies with almond or normal milk whizzed up with some cocoa powder & honey? It would make the chocolate taste last longer and you could probably eat a few of those for a couple of hundred cals? Not tried it, but might just have to now!

FatDog - A lump of tasty cheese would probably lead to me carving off half the block!!! On oatcakes with some red wine...

BTW nutritional yeast is a very weird looking flaky vegan food I have only ever seen in health food shops (engevita brand in the uk) and it looks absolutely disgusting (yellow dandruff) but I really love it. My husband thinks it smells and tastes like smelly socks (how he knows what smelly socks taste like) - I tried it after reading lots about it on food blogs and I really like it. Sort of a savoury cheesy taste, a bit like chicken-flavoured things. Vegans use it for cheese sauces etc but I love it as an evening salty munch (although I had some at about 10.30 this morning - ONT a fast day!).The salt takes it to a new level, like lime juice squeezed onto a slice of watermelon...

Oh my! I soooo feel for you!
I had to delay my period for a month (I just continued taking the pill) because I couldn't face having it when I was due to have it and my PMS this time around was HORRIBLE!!!
All my plans for this week went -so far- to the garbage and I replaced today's fast day with an attack day because I couldn't fast with all the painkillers I'm taking.
It is 8pm and I'm already dreaming of tomorrow's breakfast.
On a more positive note, I plan a full 3:2:2 next week and I know I will succeed!

Edit to add: I don't have any specific advice, just to not feel bad if you failed a fast or overeaten on some days. You still have tomorrow and the day after and the day after that to make it up to you.