Started at the beginning of the year.
1st week = great 2nd week = awful; overate 3rd week = great 4th week = even worst than 2nd. Feels like I’m binge eating. I had such a stressful week and am coping with food (even though I really wish I could stop)
CW: 179 lbs GW: 120 lbs 5”4
Is it normal to have such a hard time? I admit I fucked up by not meal prepping this week. I haven’t been feeling great mentally but I really want to drop this excess weight. Having a hard time motivating myself to go to the gym and eat right and stick with the fast. Feeling a bit hopeless…
UPDATE: you guys are the best
Hi! I’m just going to kind of share what has worked for me. Just eat within your window as much as possible. Focus on that and slowly add in the other things if it’s all too much at once. I lost a lot just by staying in my window. No special diet, no overthinking food, and no exercise. Don’t stress over it, and quit. Take it bit by bit. It DOES work if you just stick to your fasting window as much as you can. Obviously, the healthier and cleaner you eat, the sooner you’ll see results. But if you want a damn DQ blizzard one day and you’re in that window, don’t feel guilty. Eat the blizzard and don’t stress. Do your best, don’t overthink it, don’t give up, and everything will fall into place.
Yep super common.
The type of mental state you describe is for me indicator that I did not go to tanning saloon for 3+ weeks. Tanning somehow gives me calmness and focus. Guess I am addicted at this point, or maybe my vitamin D is just really low. (I also have a skin condition where I get some redness if I don’t tan somewhat regularly.)
The other thing I feel helps, is homing in on the single thing that helps the most, which in my case is net carbs. In practice, this means that when I have a bad day, I will probably skip gym and over eat on say the salami, without paying a lot of attention to that, as I carefully measure up my carbs, and celebrate if I am able to eat only those. Too much carbs can send my hunger soaring for days.
Puts hand up.
Started a similar time (just before Christmas) and binge eating is real.
Scrolling this forum helps. Also remembering how bad feeling so full feels. Also (like many aspects of life) Alanis Morissette has a lyric “how about stopping eating when I am full up” (Thank U) which I sometimes sing to myself.
You mentioned struggling to hit the gym. I find after I workout my hunger is blunted for a time. Working out then having only a few hours before my eating window seems to help me get through the last few hours. I definitely cope and celebrate with food too. Hard habit to break
All I can say is that it gets easier. Your body is most likely craving carbs. As you progress, your body should adapt, and your insulin sensitivity should increase. As your sensitivity increases, your craving for carbs should go down, and you will crave things like meat and veggies. You’re actually changing your hormone responses.
It takes discipline and I speak for myself on that. Having a timer like the Zero app can be helpful to motivate you to “hold out” as long as possible. Try to eliminate snacks close to bedtime. Drink plenty of water. But regardless of the millions of tips you can get being disciplined reigns supreme.