I’m feeling really sad right now. I’ve already talked to someone but I still feel really sad. All I want to do right now is to eat something sweet to try to comfort myself. I’ve been doing ~23:1 OMAD with a 1kcal deficit, and my eating window isn’t for another four hours. And I want to get to it despite this hiccup, but at the same time it’s not the end of my goals just because I break today. So I don’t know what to do. I just really want to feel a little better than right now.
I assume a lot of you have gone through something like this before. What did you do? How did you feel?
Will eating something sweet truly make you feel better and less sad? I usually find that it doesn’t help — I feel just as sad afterwards. It sucks, because I really wish it was that easy to make myself feel happy again. But it just isn’t. So my real choices are “be sad and achieve my fasting goal” or “be just as sad, and also not achieve my fasting goal.”
I turn to other ways to self-soothe or distract myself. Watching comfort TV, taking a nap, taking a short walk outside. Usually they help a bit more than food would have helped.
If you do decide to end your fast today, that’s OK. You’re correct that it’s not the end of your goals; tomorrow is always a new day with IF. But if you do, pay attention to how you feel after you eat — whether it truly makes you feel better.
When that happens I take some pink salt and drink water and then go for a walk, or do something to keep my mind busy. But of course I mean in the grand scheme of things one slip up isn’t gonna be that big of a deal. Like others are saying life is short. But if you’re looking for advice when it happens again, keeping busy and salt/water have been the best things for me
Best advice I got from a dietician when discussing dieting is to “eat ice cream.”
Meaning, do what will help you achieve your long-term lifestyle goals. IF will be there tomorrow. It’s okay to have cheat days (and it’s generally recommended as a way to stick with whatever diet plan you’ve chosen). As long as your cheat day doesn’t become a cheat week or cheat month, go for it.
But in the end, know yourself.
How far off is your eating window?
Is there a specific reason you’re sad, or is it a general mood? I would more likely stick to the fasting window if it’s only a mood. On the other hand, eating something rarely brought any longterm relief for me. It just makes me come back for more. I’m not as restrictive in my plan, only doing 16:8 or 17:7. I wouldn’t see it as a failure if you do a different eating window today. Eat some good healthy food, and see if that can avoid comfort eating.
Hugs 🤗
Lots of good advice on powering through. I have a few thoughts though. If you’re female, eating more the week before your period is not a bad thing. Some evidence women are more insulin sensitive that week and it’s not bad to listen to your body . Aaron’s I believe that if you’re pursuing IF as a lifestyle flexibility may be key to success and better than an all or nothing mentality. Thirdly flexibility may be the best thing for metabolism more broadly. Some evidence that shaking things up can help get people out of plateaus etc. Good luck!