Fasting... Mind over matter... sugestions

(I came for the weight loss and stayed for my sanity... ) #1

So, I started to do extended fasts last year. (5 days Monday -Friday)
it became second nature. I know I feel great when I pass the 3 day mark.

during winter I was struggling really bad because I was freezing all the time no matter how many layers of clothing I wore, so my fasts kept getting shorter and shorter…

Now I can not get “Back on the wagon” I am not that hungry but somehow I cannot get back to the mindset I need to go there.
I am just always in that sluggish day 1-2 state and cannot get past it if my life depended on it…
I have all the logic reasons in place. but still my subconscious is being a BITCH aaarrrghhh so frustrating!

I am sure I am not the only one out there.

Any suggestions? How did you get over it? How to stop cheat yourself and self manipulate?

(Doug) #2

Tough questions, Claudia. If the weather is now warmer for you and it’s not helping, that’s a bummer. Doesn’t sound like there were any overriding hormonal issues last year, and I take it that none have arisen.

Some people do feel colder when fasting. It seems that some bodies “turn down the thermostat” and/or restrict blood flow to the extremities, keeping it more around the internal organs and the brain.

I have read your post quite a few times now. You’re definitely not the only one - mental and emotional resistance is very common and can be huge. Sometimes we just have to let a fast go, i.e. it’s just not the right time, or “it ain’t happenin’…” And then sometimes there is value in just powering through, getting to that good place. Not sure either one really applies to you right now.

What about just not worrying about it for a week or two (or more)? See if anything changes, if anything resets. If the feeling is too daunting - that “cannot get back on the wagon,” and it’s big and continuous, it’s a tall order to overcome that for days at a time.

I don’t think there really is a permanent foolproof fix here - some fasts are just not going to work out. I’ve done 20 fasts, overall, of 3 days or longer, and each one is different. I’ve never gotten beyond 10 days, and every time the fast has ended because I was bored, or had food offered to me, or I went out with co-workers or my wife, or just chickened out.

Hunger itself comes and goes - there are roughly 8 peaks per 24 hour period in hunger hormones, and we also get conditioned to eat at certain times of the day, and those hormones rise in anticipation. If it’s just a matter of getting through some minutes or an hour, I’ll just tell myself “NOT EATING TODAY.” Sometimes that helps. Or I read this forum - all the ups and downs that others are having - eventually I quit feeling so hungry or I get more determined, anyway. Or I get busy with other stuff, work, playing games, venturing into the strange and twisted minefield realms of Facebook and Youtube…

I’ve got 100 lbs or more to lose, so I think fasting is pretty easy for me, overall.

Sounds like a big wall. If we are awake 17 or 18 hours a day, I don’t think I could keep beating on it for 2 days straight. Sometimes we just have to walk away.

(I came for the weight loss and stayed for my sanity... ) #3

Thanks so much for all your thoughts and suggestions! Much appreciated! Really helps to know I’m not alone.

I seemed to have been in a little after carb depression too (okay I will not have any bit of fruit for a loooong while) getting over it now.

I think I’ll just try to go zero carb (as close as I can) for the next few weeks and then try again.

In summer when the weather is super hot fasting is like a super power when everyone envys me for staying cool while they need to install their fans.

While my weight went back up since last year, all my hormonal issues, fasting had resolved stayed that way or only worsened insignificantly. That’s something I remind myself often of and try to be grateful for every day.

One big difference to last year was that I was new at my current job and was learning a lot. That always makes me feel super thrilled and happy. Now I know all there is to know and I am stuck in a rut. Nothing worse than that for me.
Also there is zero team spirit in that company…

I decided to go look for something new as soon as I got my driver’s license…
My health and happiness is more important to me than a stable job…

#4

I only do intermittent fasting now and then but I have that problem with motivation to eat healthily and go to the gym/excercise at home and going running now in the suummer. Turning hot, I’ve encountered what I suspect are hormonal changes, I have massive binge days of carbs, then depression, then eat healty for a day or two and then back again. My body is more like a victim of mental surrender to willpower and it may be connected with much reduced sleep I’ve had since the days became longer. I simply cannot sleep enough in the summer, no matter how dark the room is. I sense daylight behind the window and am up very early. So I think this is the roor behind my upset hormones. I didn’t have this problem in winter months and went running and regular gym on freezing days, no matter what. Stayed nice and slim and now I’m just not moving and eating loads of junk and I’m almost 8kg heavier then then.
So I just wanted to share this that you’re ont alone. Very very hard to get out of lack of motivation, and I’m also starting to associate motivation with wrong chemicals/ chemical imbalance in the body. No matter what my reason tells me, I cannot do certain things if I don’t feel comfortable doing them, no matter what motivation I have, my body orders me otherwise. So it may be the same with fasting. I have to be very well rested and have no history of junk/unhealthy food in past few days and then i will do things.
Not to mention that I’ve been bloated beyond normal after eating lots of bread based food, my body is probably telling me to stop. Still, no willpower.