i’ve been struggling with my fasting routine lately. i think that during my extreme fasting phase around this time last year, i might have developed what i can only assume is a negative relationship with allowing myself to eat when i need/want to eat. today i didn’t fast, and i didn’t eat outlandishly outside my calorie limits (which is already fairly low- 1200/day), but i’m sitting here with a knot in my stomach and i feel viscerally uncomfortable and almost ashamed by the fact that i just ate a lot even though to an outsider, it wasn’t that much. i think i have started assigning too much value to certain foods; i’ll eat very little compared to others but i feel like i over-ate or binged and feel terrible.
i’m curious if others here have noticed a negative relationship with food after/during fasting, and if/how you overcame it?
Please be careful and don’t be afraid to talk to a professional about this. People really don’t realize how easy it is to develop an eating disorder. And teenage girls aren’t the only ones who can have an eating disorder, it’s easier to hide and ignore the symptoms when you’re an adult.
With something like this it’s good to get ahead of it because it’s difficult to fully recover without relapse.
I sympathize with you, but in my case i I think ive gotten a better relationship with food since starting IF. Like it just doesnt have power over me any more to make me do things i dont want (that sounds so dumb but its the way i feel).
For example, i made my favorite cookies for a party a couple days ago. For the first time ever in my entire life, i did not eat cookie dough, or even eat cookies, while baking them. However later that night during the party, i ate three, which was the number i wanted to eat. So delicious, and absolutely no guilt. Prior behavior would have been eating dough, plus several cookies while baking, plus who knows how many at the party. The odd thing is, i was doing 16:8 that day, and had already broken my fast, so i was in my eating window. So i could have eaten while baking. But they weren’t on my radar for my IF meals that day, so i easily ignored them, effortlessly.
Sorry for the book. I guess i needed to get my NSV out there.
I sympathize with your situation. What may help is realizing food is just one aspect of your weight loss journey. There’s exercise, good sleep etc. When I overindulge in foods I like, I’m like oh well, time to burn off more at the gym. Having control over other things might help fix this relationship I feel
I understand what you’re going through. And I think you should increase your calorie intake, and probably focus on one thing at a time. You could just focus on being committed to your fasting and stop counting calories (but still have a reasonable portion control). That way your mind won’t constantly think about food and whenever you should or not should.
Personally I sadly fell into disordered eating habits and, like you, felt awful when I didn’t meet my exact goal, or didn’t work out for example. But for me I had to stop just eating clean all the time and find love for food again. Just in moderation!
Do what makes you feel good. Eat intuitively some days and then fast for some. Trial, error and understanding. And If your negative thoughts continue please seek professional advice because- eating disorder is never fun nor enjoyable. I hope you find your way ❤️
Hey, if it is purely about the amount of food and you not feeling full, take a look at r/volumeeating. Also maybe look at low-calorie alternatives, it really helped me not feeling guilty about the amount of food I eat.
Example: I love to eat pudding. The calories on the package are calculated for preparation with dairy milk and sugar, and it’s somewhere around 200kcal for 200 grams. So I replace the dairy milk with almond milk and the sugar with erythritol. Boom, 80kcals for 200 grams. Now I throw in some frozen berries and mango and for 150kcal I have a delicious and waay healthier and bigger dessert.
Another one: Puree. Back then I would often eat a huge portion of potato puree, but now I switch the potatoes for cauliflower. Ofc it’s not completely the same, but a whole cauliflower has 250kcal and I can’t even eat the whole thing if I have some protein on the side. You can spice it up how you like too.