I have been on intermittent fasting 16 8 for seven days. Doing well feeling great just fantastic. I agreed to make a double batch of chocolate chip cookies for my sisters special rec group. I thought I would handle it because I’ve had zero cravings for sugary things. Well, lo and behold, last night I went on the biggest cookie binge of my life. I usually quit eating at seven, but wound up going until midnight. Today I am bloated, heartburn galore, disgusted with myself, and I can’t eat until 3 PM. I will do it though because I have never felt so gross and pissed off and disgusted in my life. Ugh. I’m so mad at myself! I feel like I’m back to square freakin one.
You are absolutely not back to square one. One night of indulgence won’t ruin a week of good choices and more importantly, it won’t ruin the days and weeks ahead as you continue IF.
I struggled with binge eating before I started any sort of fasting, and it would be a total lie if I said I didn’t still have moments or evenings where I went back to those old habits. Like starting anything new, it will take time to fully break those old habits but as you continue to incorporate IF into your life, it’ll get easier and easier and easier.
This is nothing but an opportunity to prove to yourself that fasting can be incorporated before and after any and all indulgences, holidays, celebrations, tough times, etc! There’s no such thing as falling off or going back to square one- you simply continue on your IF journey from here.
You’re not back to square one, you just hit a bump in the road. And learned something. Learning is good.
Don’t hate yourself but remember the bloat and heartburn the next time you get the urge to binge.
Think in terms of months or years instead of days. Once day is meaningless. The amount of change that can happen in one day, with one mistake is meaningless. Just the same as one day of being perfect is largely meaningless in the big picture. It is about long term consistency. We are all going to have days when we cheat or make a mistake. The point is to recognised why you did it and move on from it. Understand that all you have to do to move past that is to continue to make the correct choices. Then all of a sudden you have made the correct choices for 60 days or 6 months and the one cheat day doesn’t matter. The beginning is the hardest and you need to just try and get as many days as you can, the best you can. And one day you will realise that you are having far more of those good days then bad days.
I’m joining the chorus: you’ve ruined nothing! Occasionally falling off the wagon is, for most of us, part of the process. It’s maddening, and easy to obsess about what you did wrong rather than to give yourself kudos for the week beforehand. The very most important part is jumping right back on afterwards. Keep strong and carry on.
This is the problem with strict guidelines they don’t take into account human factors and can lead to feelings of guilt and splurging. Denying yourself and being super strict never works. Don’t see this as a sing that you did something wrong or bad or to feel disguised by bud rather a sign that something needs to change. If you’re losing weight and want to keep it off sustainability is important and whatever you’re currently doing isn’t sustainable. At least you found out now then when you’ve lost the weight and bounced back. Just review and adapt and keep going. A set back doesn’t have to be a set back.
Trust me - I know how this feels - specifically with cookies. Last Superbowl (not the one from a few days ago) I was at a friends house and made chocolate chip cookies. Well - I ate until about 10pm or so. That night I woke up with HORRIBLE sweats, shaking, heartburn and headache. That night scared the crap out of me. I felt AWFUL. Since then, I haven’t done it since.
Wanna know the real kicker? I *know* it’s going to happen again. Hell - it may eve happen tonight on all the Valentine’s Day goodies. We’re only human and one night like that does not make or break progress. I’ve been Intermittent Fasting for almost 4-years and times like this are just going to happen and that’s okay.
Don’t fast longer. Open your window as normal. Drink water. Eat good nutritious foods. You’ll feel better after a day or so. One day is nothing.
You’re not back to square one. You’re just back one square. Get back on your plan today and stick to it the same way you have been. No need to beat yourself up. I think you’ll find that overall, your progress for the week is still great.
AND, now you know how that feels. Next time you make brownies, you’ll remember THIS time.
(My trick for this particular problem is to put nuts in those brownies. Which I’m allergic to. So I CAN’T eat them. But that’s just me.)
Pretend it didn’t happen. Start fresh today.
Btw, I eat some chocolate or sweets every day. It helps me to never feel deprived. I’m losing slowly but I could do this the rest of my life. A cocktail on the weekend. Living life regularly with smaller portions and no eating outside the window.
Only 4 lbs in two months but by the end of this year, I’ll have lost about 25 lbs and be under my goal weight.
Slow and steady. Ignore mistakes.
This was me on Monday. I ate SO much during the Super Bowl and very high carb/sugar. I felt disgusting on Monday and was very down on myself. But then I fasted 23 hours, had a healthy dinner and continued my routine. The reason people are successful over time is that they don’t let one bad day/night derail them.
You’re not back to square one. A healthy lifestyle is a marathon, not a sprint. If you stop in the middle of a hundred yard dash, of course it’ll affect your outcome. But stopping for a moment during a marathon is negligible. In fact most runners do!
I usually allow myself a cheat day once a week (usually Friday evening into Saturday morning). Feels like two for one! 😅 This makes IF easily sustainable for me! Consistency is the most important thing IMO.
Whenever this happens, just take the next day as normal and pretend the day before didn’t happen. There are no ‘make-up days’. Don’t have them. Just live life as if you didn’t eat those cookies! Beating yourself up after eating tons of sweets or eating past your window won’t do anything but bring on negative consequences.
Learn from it and move on :) I lost most of my weight by taking it one day at a time. If I cheated or ate outside my window, I would ask myself why and then try the next day to follow the plan. If you’re planning to fast each day, then stick to it. If you fail one day, continue sticking to the plan for the next day. The more we try to make-up for our follies, the more we dig ourselves deeper into our graves. We puny humans are flawed to the max! When does the self-criticism end? If we truly focused on what we did wrong, we’d never be able to smile because we’d find out how much time/money we waste, how many friends we’ve lost, how we chose the wrong career, bought the wrong car, dated the wrong person, etc. the lists are forever long.
Just focus on the good you’ve done thus far and keep your head up! Small steps bring great success :)
Don’t think “It’s over” just tell yourself you had a bad day. Use the ‘bleurgh’ feeling as a memory to remind yourself how you actually felt better on the fasting program. Don’t try starving yourself for extra time to ‘make up for it’.
I think what i like most about IF is the continuous rewards.. a slow and steady sort of diet
Losing weight with Atkins, South Beach, Keto and whatever iteration of the no-carb diets we’re on, always has this feeling of “if you relapse and eat an entire carb you’ll instantly gain 20 pounds and all progress is lost”. hyperbole in case it’s not obvious.. but the point is that you sort of build momentum and if you relapse you start over.
But not with IF
Relapsing yesterday won’t ruin your fasting tomorrow.. forgive yourself and get back on that horse bro/babe!
And tomorrow is just another day. It will get easier. Make a deal with yourself. I felt miserable the first two weeks. After that it became easier. I do 8pm-12am fasting. This morning I was so bloody hungry. And I told myself to just accept it. Kids and adults survive a week under collapsed buildings. I will manage to do 16 hours. Just leave yesterday behind. Tomorrow is a new day. And it looks bright.
Today’s just a new day! Move forward, and don’t be too hard on yourself.
Last week I was on vacation and only had short fasts. It’s fine; my progress is still there. Now that I’m back home I’m being more mindful about my fasts & feasts. Zero guilt, zero punishment!
Everyone telling you to not wait until 3 is correct. Following a rhythm is key as opposed to making your window a moving target. Messed up and ate outside your window? Fine. Start again the next day.
I was doing this early on as well and it made life more complicated to try and always change when my TRE window was. Pick a range and stick to it.
An occasional cookie, or even an occasional cookie binge, will definitely ruin a fad diet. Good thing you’re making a lifestyle change and not on a fad diet. IF is a tool that teaches us moderation, balance, and other things needed to live a healthy, happy life. Just get back on the horse and ride on!
Every day is a day to get it right, don’t worry. We all relapse once every so often. I weakened at seeing chips and vegan mayo at the weekend. But the next day I pulled myself together and got back on track
I wish people would stop using the term binge to describe what sounds more like unintended over-eating.
Did you eat ten cookies? Just say so. That’s 1500 calories max and not the end of the world. Calling it a binge implies you totally lacked self control and awareness and essentially stuffed a pan of cookies into your mouth in one gulp, barely chewing.
It’s also a statement of judgment. To binge implies a moral failing. But over-eating is not immoral! Cookies are delicious. You engaged in a behavior you regret because it prevents you from achieving your goals (and gives you a stomach ache). Making this into a catastrophe does not help!
So, you ate too many cookies. Just don’t do that again today or the next day and you’ll be fine.
I messed up during the holidays . I’m back on track. But I think about the wasted time and could kick myself. We can all just start again with the knowledge that IF works. You are not at square one because you know it works and that is half the battle . I went yrs thinking I could never do IF that i would starve to death , that I couldn’t get to the not hungry stage. That I was weak but I know better now. Good luck :)