The FastDay Forum

Hi everyone! I am new to this site an new to this healthy approach to fasting. I have a 30 + year history of anorexia and bulimia and am uncomfortable with my "recovery" weight of 128 lbs (58.06 kg). I am 5'6" (167.64 cm). I would like to get to 120, but should not get much lower, as I have found from experience that I have a hard time stopping weight loss below that point. I have never lost weight without restricting types of food excessively, obsessing about food, and purging. I have tried several 24 hour fasts recently and found that they helped me become more aware of my hunger and enjoy eating what I wanted on the next day, without guilt or a desire to binge. I find it easier to just fast completely than to try to eat 500 calories like many do. I know that intermittent fasting is not generally recommended for people with an ED history, but I am thinking I would like to try it, and am hoping it may work, especially with some support. Does anyone have any thoughts or experience with this? I am thinking about doing 5:2 or 4:3, with 24 hour complete fasts, as recommended in Eat Stop Eat.

Good day, GoodMorning. Welcome to this Forum.
I love the gentle approach instead of all-or-nothing restrictive diets. I joined this Jan. I am a compulsive over-eater, and have been in OA (Overeaters Anonymous) and find this site very helpful. My weight loss is slow but steady. and hope it is becoming a way of eating, rather than dieting. Using 5:2.
I hope you can find a healthy approach for yourself. Good luck.

Honestly, I think you should be very careful. Also, I think you are at a very good weight where you are for your height. Maybe you should consider an eating window and/or exercise to stay toned. Just my opinion! Remember the lower your weight, the harder it is to maintain! Good luck with whatever you decide!

I agree with@cblasz Your weight seems fine for your height. With your history I think you should be treading very carefully especially as you seem to be 'enjoying' complete fasts rather than having a small amount of calories on your fast days and it could be a slippery slope. I don't know how old you are but I believe that a slightly raised BMI is associated with better health and longevity in the more mature. Do you still have any clinical support? If so it might be worth running it past them.

[Tracieknits]

I absolutely discourage you from any form of fasting. If you are insistent upon this, then talk to your doctor who manages your ED, and see if you can get them to agree with you.

You *are* at a very healthy weight. You are already at a BMI approaching 20.

My mother has about a 50 year history of bulimia and anorexia. She has no idea I do this diet. I don't tell her because 50 years later, I know it's still a struggle for her to maintain a healthy weight. If you want to drop your weight to 120, I think you are at serious risk of major relapse of your eating disorder.

Please stop, and go tell your counselor or doctor you visited this site and why. Please. For your own health.

This way of eating is not suitable with someone of your history. Whilst we welcome all, this could trigger certain emotions and behaviours to surface in you. Please focus on your recovery plan, and seek help from a support group who better understands your story.
All the best to you.

I really appreciate the replies. Lil and cblasz, you are probably right that I should be careful, and your comments made me ask myself whether there is a part of me wanting to return to ED behavior. I hope not! I am 44 years old and have heard of the longevity connection to higher end bmi, but 128 still feels like a very high weight for me, and I have trouble convincing myself that anything over 120 is ok. But I need to remember that I tend to be dissatisfied with my weight no matter how low it gets. I no longer have clinical support, but I know they would not approve of fasting. But I have never done things by the book, and I fear not feeling like I have a handle on my weight and eating. Today was a fasting day, as was Monday, and I did think that maybe 4:3 is over doing it, as I was painfully hungry all day, which doesn't seem to happen when there is more than one day between fasting days. I just don't know...

Traciknits and rawkaren, I just saw your posts after responding to the previous ones. I can understand why you wouldn't want to be supportive of what could seem like ED behavior, and tracieknits, I am very sorry to hear about your mom and her ongoing struggles. I really do not want to return to any form of ED; I genuinely want to stay healthy. But I don't feel like the ED community is even remotely open to other approaches, but maybe that's because they've seen where they can take people. I'm not sure where to find support if I want to cautiously try this approach. I do respect your strong warnings against it, though, and am trying to take it to heart.

Your reply actually makes me even more concerned. I'm 45 and 2 inches shorter than you and can't even imagine getting down to 120. I haven't been that weight since I was in high school. You can't expect to be that small. It really does sound to me like your relationship with weight is still unhealthy and you really might need to seek some support. I hope you don't mind my honesty, it is only out of concern for you!

No, I appreciate the honesty, cblasz. I am trying to seek support by being here. I would like accountability with doing this in a healthy way and not losing more than I should (i.e. Below 120). Wouldn't most people on this site have issues with weight/food? And there must be people who only want to lose a small amount of weight. Maybe I am missing the point? Several of the responses make me think that I must sound like I am still entrenched in ED thinking, which would really be discouraging, as I have worked so hard to escape it. But I should know if that is the truth. I do appreciate the concern!

[Tracieknits]

My understanding -- and I'm a family member, not a clinician -- is that ED is like alcoholism. You *never* are cured, it's only managed. You can live a healthy life, but you have to be on alert and dieting with an ED is like having "just one glass of wine" for an alcoholic. It's dangerous. My mom is now 71 and she is pretty healthy now, and hasn't been hospitalized for her ED since she was maybe 25. But she still seems to want to return to dieting whenever there's any stress in her life. We all have to try to help her be healthier.

My mom, unfortunately, raised two daughters with different EDs. My younger sister is bulimic, and has had a rough history with it. She won't really talk to us about her medical stuff, but I know she had to have surgery on her esophagus about 10 years ago, so I'm guessing she was at least poorly managing her ED then. I haven't seen her in 8 years, so I'm not really sure. I got the opposite - I eat too damn much. Still, I've had a few doctors tell me my ED is way healthier than theirs.

I'm perhaps a bit too sensitive on this issue. But your statements about needing to get to 120 do ring a lot of alarm bells with me. My mother and I are both 5'6". When I've been130, I've had people talk to me about being too thin and needing to not lose any more weight. My mom's healthy range is 130-140. She's been usually inside that range for the past 40 years. So yes, I think 120 at age 44 is too thin.

Again, I'm not a clinician. But I'm thinking perhaps you need to talk to a counselor. I think right now that would do you a lot more good for your self esteem than losing 8 more pounds. I've seen all too often that losing those 8 pounds is never enough.

Tracieknits, thanks for taking the time to help me think through this. You are right about always needing to be diligent and stay away from diets. One of the things that attracted me to this sort of fasting, besides the health benefits, is that proponents often call it a way of life rather than a diet. And one of the success stories on this site was a woman who had a history of anorexia and is now doing well with this way of eating. I don't feel like the recovery plans I have been given have been that useful or sustainable in the long term. My TDEE is somewhere around 1700, which with 3 meals and snacks sometimes makes me feel like I can never eat a good meal or have a meal with dessert. I like the way that fasting gives me freedom to loosen up on eating days. However, the temptation to slip into eating less and less and less can be very strong, which is why I mentioned from the start that I would need to stop at 120. But it sounds like you are saying i should focus on accepting my weight where it is rather than try to lose. That makes sense; I'm just not sure I am ready to accept it. I don't want to be self-deceived, and as I have five beautiful daughters of my own, your experience with your mom and the repercussions for you and your sister reminds me of my main motive for staying well. I will continue to think about this. This week I am doing 4:3, but I think if I continue fasting that I should not do more than 5:2, maybe less. I feel like so far this kind of intentional, periodic fasting has been helpful to my relationship with food, but I know that I need to be very watchful. I continue to be open to advice, opinion, and/or support from anyone following this thread.