Disclaimer: The Martha Stewart taco meat recipe is absolute fire. I amended it to include a 1/2 teaspoon of chipotle chili powder and some oregano and used a can of Fire Roasted Rotel for the diced tomatoes.
At approximately 250-300+ calories each, I kept going back for more. Over and over again, I just could not feel satisfied enough to stop and I don’t know why…
I’m two months deep into Intermittent Fasting and have lost over 35lbs so far but yesterday, for dinner, I just lacked all willpower to stop and I didn’t feel satiated at all.
Like I told myself I had enough after two tacos and then got two more…five times in a row. And I had a Mountain Dew when I was doing the dishes. WTH!? It’s more than I would have eaten four months ago when I was averaging 10,000 calories a day.
Anyone else have an absolute bender of a meal for no discernable reason?
I agree with Foopaints. I went through the same thing last week. I’m almost two months in as well. Mostly 20:4, but varies, especially on weekends. Weekends generally 16:8-18:6. Have done two 42hr+ fasts.
Then, last week I ate and ate and ate one night. Same feeling of no satiation. Then I was fine the next day. And no real impact that I could tell.
Don’t beat yourself up over it. This is a long haul situation, and every now and then we should treat ourselves. I believe that Jason Fung mentions in his book that atkins has issues because people like/need treats every now and then. This may be your body saying “We’ve been doing great. Let’s take a break for a day and splurge you fasting master” 😊
Honestly, sometimes you just gotta pig out. I don’t know if I can say it has snuck up on me like that before. But I know there’s certain occasions/foods where I don’t even try to be reasonable. In the end, as long as you don’t do it often, it really doesn’t matter. Glad you enjoyed your tacos so much. They sound delish! :D
i do this, but intentionally. I just do OMAD for that particular day and when its time to eat its no holds barred eating whatever I desire with no mercy. Wake up feeling great the next day and ready to commit to my intermitting fasting again my body seems to have adjusted to the IF lifestyle as its pretty difficult for me to get in more than 2 meals a day now
One setback doesn’t define your trajectory! You got this. Positive momentum. And those delicious tacos will fuel you to keep making good choices.
One thing I recommend that helps me with portioning is to do it before I start eating something really good. So then next time you make those tacos, you can divide the meat up into 3 or 4 generous portions and pop those right in the fridge or freezer. If you make sure you’re starting with 3 or 4 tacos, maybe you’d be more likely to feel satisfied and less likely to break into what you’ve portioned out to enjoy in the future.
I also recommend guacamole or even just chopped avocado. Adding a rich fatty component to a meal helps me feel more satisfied, personally.
Edit: And yes I can absolutely relate! I wouldn’t have gotten to my high weight if I hadn’t had my fair share of unwise bingeing. The worse is when it’s on foods that AREN’T as delicious because you’re so aware that I’m you’re doing something bad for you, and it’s not worth it.
IF has helped me a lot with being more mindful of what I’m eating generally, and (fingers crossed) after some months in this lifestyle, I have had much fewer binges. I feel in control and it’s worth celebrating.
Yes absolutely. Been doing IF for over a year and everyone once in a while I just lose my senses and my stomach takes over, and no matter how much I eat I don’t feel full. Tomorrows a new day though, only thing you can you do is get back on track.
I’ve actually heard an occasional biiiiig refuel meal is good for you when you’re fasting. Something about this and that hormone, but it was probably just your body telling you that it needed it.
It’s a new day, you’re back on track.
It happens! I’m currently trying to “eat clean” (less refined carbs, more complex carbs, more veggies, more protein, healthier fats), and I pigged out on a package of Buldak yesterday after having an insane craving for carbs.
Logging those noodles put me a good 300 calories over what I had left for the evening, but sometimes… you need a little extra. Cheat days are there for a reason.
Shrug it off and get back to the routine that’s helping you lose weight. It happens, just don’t let it happen again just because you feel like you need to reward yourself, that’s how you lose all your progress.
Sometimes I eat and it feels like I had nothing at all. Lol but I think part of intermittent fasting being a sustainable part of my life is that I let loose once in a while and don’t feel too guilty about it.
For me, it’s like a controlled release or whatever analogy works here lol a controlled burn of the forest.
A similar thing happens with alcohol for me.
I hope you don’t beat yourself up too much!
Tacos are always my weak point 😂 I cannot for the life of me be left with left over tacos because they ain’t gonna last. Especially if it’s fajitas 😂 but my advice friend is don’t punish yourself, todays a new day 💪🏻
I eat out twice a week. On Wednesdays I go to a Thai place and eat the same tofu dish I always get. On Fridays I got out for lunch at the sushi place in my town and it’s not great sushi, but I get this $15 sushi lunch, I add soup and salad and I always add an appetizer. It ends up being close to $30 just for lunch and while I’m sure the calories are in control since it’s rice, avocado, and maybe some tofu, it always really fills me up, but for some reason I cannot skip the appetizer. There is just something about being there that means I have to make it worth while by ordering a ton.
It’s true what everyone is saying to not feel bad and just get back to your usual habits. One day of eating a lot is always marginally better than throwing all your work and effort out and giving up.
I’ve also had times like this and felt the adage “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure” holds true for me. In other words, make the best choices easier for you to do: if setting up a taco bar, consider only setting out enough for each person’s portion plus a tiny bit extra*, etc. This automatically makes it more difficult (going back into the original container in the fridge) to overeat. For example, you mentioned only having 2 tacos and instead had 10, I wonder if this would have been different if you only initially set out enough ingredients to make 3 or 4 tacos for yourself.
Other times, I know/plan in advance I’ll be eating close to a 3k meal (usually at restaurants during holidays when I want every course plus wine pairing lol). So I think it’s worth mentioning that overeating generally shouldn’t be the norm, but I think it’s not out of the ordinary either.
I also wonder if there’s something else going on with your nutrition: sometimes overeating is just overeating, but sometimes it’s a signal that you haven’t been getting enough of a micronutrient or a macro that your body wants. (This has been something I’ve had to learn as well).
*Obvi, don’t limit other people’s eating habits, the idea here is you ask people in advance how much they want if cooking for others and prepare that much.
Did anything happen yesterday that might have effected you emotionally leading you to do this? Not to project but often when I do something like this, after some introspection there is some underlying anxiety or something leading to emotional eating. Could be extremely off base and not what happened, just something to consider.
Tacos are the one thing where I blackout. We have a taco truck near our house, if I’m carb watching and keeping healthy I limit myself to 2 and pull off the extra tort (they’re street style double wrapped). One day I went up there and ate them at the picnic table at the truck, terrible decision. My 2 healthy harmless tacos turned into trying all 8 of the possibilities on their menu.
It is all good. You enjoyed it, loved it, you got it out of your system and you can go back to your plan. The only race here is against yourself to be better than before. Just start your plan again you have the rest of your life for that.
EH it happens man… at least it was tacos! hey i gave up bread and soda for a bit, was real hard to do but the bread came back and so did the soda. At least it was no where near what it use to be. I realize it’s a issue and can control it now, so i know i can get back on track. I mean if we are talking things i can’t give up then it’s cheese. Can’t do it, it’s one of those things that if i have to live in a world where i can’t have cheese, shoot me now! So the trainer and i work it out, His is donuts he’s a sucker for them.
Your body craved a feast after all that fasting!
You shouldn’t worry - one day won’t do much - the water weight will drop in a few days, as long as you get back into your normal fasting schedule again, no harm done!
Tacos are a weakness for me, too.
Thanks for being so open and honest. I relate, so it’s very refreshing. I eat a slab of chocolate every Saturday night plus a couple of cokes. I don’t eat sugar during the week, so this is for me, and I don’t feel bad about it
I did that a couple time with tacos. In San Jose Ca there is a couple places called Super Taqueria they were so awesome. But I would say the soda was probably the most problematic. Everyone has days like that . Good luck on your journey .
Don’t beat yourself up over it, put it behind you and move onto the next day, next meal, whatever your next step is. You ate and enjoyed taco’s, its wasn’t what you planned on doing, but its not really going to be a huge impact on your overall goals. However letting it turn into multiple mistakes, on the other hand, will impact your goals.
There are two things that I find will trigger this kind of voracious appetite. One is eating things high in sugar/carbs and low in protein/fat early in the day. It took awhile to notice that it was my choice of breakfast, not my dinner that was triggering these binges. The other is stress. If I got bad news, had a bad day at work, or I’ve been pushing myself too hard, no amount of food will satisfy me.
If it’s the first time you’ve done this, reflect on the day, see if there was anything particularly stressful.
If not, you might have just needed something extra. It happens. If you did this once every two months, it definitely will not completely destroy your progress. You sound like you’ve been doing a great job so this one little slip isn’t going to hurt you. Keep an eye on yourself and you’ll be ok.
You’re doing great.
I thought I was the only one.
I’ve been consistent in 18:6 for a few weeks now. But the past few nights I’ve been really wanting a few extra things right when my window closes. So it’s like I become a vacuum for 30 minutes before my window ends and snack like a mad woman. I’m hoping it’s just a phase and that maybe eating more during my meal will help.
I have this weird, completely unverifiable theory that there are nights when the collective world doesn’t sleep and days when the entire world featsts like locusts all on the same day. Yesterday for me was a day when I had absolutely no self control or what seemed like any free choice/will in waiting any longer for a very specific and giant piece of cake from a particular deli. Did I save a portion for today? No. Did I eat the entire thing while driving yes. Regrets? None.
Yes. I signed up for a meal train for an injured friend. My family would be jealous if I delivered a peanut butter chocolate pie to another family, so I made two. Lost all control. Licking spoons and mixing bowls before doing the dishes. Answering the night time call of the half eaten pie in our fridge.
I found that I value good food way more now that I do OMAD. When you find something truly delicious, you want to savor it. Sometimes we eat more than we want. Just reset. Exercise a little extra, or do a slightly longer fast next. Or just forgive yourself and go back to your IF schedule. Now that you know you like them, you can plan for next time by making smaller portions or freezing some for other days. Also, maybe eating them slower to truly savor how good they are. Good luck!
This is the point of intermittent fasting. It tends to be.. well.. intermittent. Lol
Sometimes our bodies are hungrier than other times. Also, you need the fat and calories sometimes. Don’t be so tough on yourself - it’s the key to this being sustainable over time. Live your life.
This happens to EVERYONE! I promise 🫶 best thing to do is acknowledge you are also human and get right back to your usual routine 😌 don’t beat yourself up or try to make up for lost time, just keep moving forward! And thanks for the taco recipe tip!!!