Food anxiety... anyone have this problem?


(Jane Srygley) #1

I was put on my first diet at age 3. I’m 57 years old and have been on many diets throughout my life. I think that I have some pretty significant food anxiety and if I try to go without a meal, my anxiety level goes up. I was doing some fasting and it worked great until I had something of a breakdown… emotional breakdown, I mean. Then I was able to fast but got a major headache and realized that I really need to go back to keto before trying to fasting again so…

I’m starting keto again. I am just really struggling with limiting my number of meals and I’m eating a lot of calories. I’m thinking of eating more meat because it is self-limiting, but I just want to know if anyone else has struggled with this and managed to overcome it. Thanks!


(mole person) #2

I know this won’t be something most people are interested in, but my binge buster protocol allows me to lose weight quickly while eating as often as I want. It a very high fat pure beef diet. The limitation that prevents overeating is the extreme lack of variability rather than any caloric or time restrictions. When you are hungry you will relish a good fatty steak but you won’t have it when your not.


(Katie) #3

Many people struggle with this. My (non-medical, amateur) recommendation is to not focus on fasting. Focus on eating healing and healthy keto foods and electrolytes. Eventually you probably will naturally delay your meals by an hour or two simply because you are not hungry yet. Then, gradually, you will begin to fast for greater periods of time, naturally.

Take the focus off of fasting. Unless you are in desperate need of fasting (as a protocol to help with cancer treatment or metabolic disease), I do not think that it is beneficial to white-knuckle it. The anxiety from focusing on limiting meals can lead to weight gain (from stress hormones), being mentally/emotionaly miserable, and bingeing for some people.


(Hannah Conway) #4

I’m with you I get food anxiety too I’ve been doing intermittent fasting for the past few weeks and eat in a seven or eight hour window. But knowing that I’m not allowed to eat when I wake up is causing me anxiety and I end up looking at the clock a hundred times during the day trying to make it till 10 a.m.


('Jackie P') #5

If this is how you are feeling, don’t skip breakfast, make it a high fat meal. Have lunch and dinner, but eat enough to not feel hungry in between meals. Maybe, in time, you will have breakfast a little later and morph it into brunch. But even if you don’t, the ketogenic diet is a fasting mimicking diet. It is still good. I can eat one or two meals a day, but I have yet to do an extended fast. I don’t want to and I don’t have too. Find your own way, and enjoy it.


(squirrel-kissing paper tamer) #6

I can relate as someone who has a history of disordered eating. I don’t fast in order not to trigger the control monster dying to get out. I’m working hard on having a good relationship with food/eating so if I add limiting calories or the number of meals or the hours during which I’m allowed to eat it exacerbates potential problems. I’m not saying you have disordered eating at all. I’m just saying, do the thing that makes life easy for you and doesn’t cause anxiety or discomfort. I’m reaching my weight loss goals more slowly than I want, but at least it isn’t at the expense of my happiness. I wish you success


#7

Oh boy, what a familiar inner struggle…
I switched over to keto from trying to lose weight on SAD, forbidding myself from eating so many “bad” foods, it took me a long time to relax around food and not feel bad for enjoying food and eating all those delicious keto dishes in decent quantities. I still struggle with unwinding when I eat something that doesn’t fit my simple keto diet (an occasional dessert, nuts, cheese), but I’m learning to KCKO and enjoy that occasion. It’s all a head game, but keto does help to work through these issues, because you can actually eat real food and feel satiated and satisfied with your meals.


#8

Crikey Jane. Yes. My mum put me on the Israeli Army Diet when I was a tubby 10 year old with a big dollop of body shame that I did not know I was supposed to have. Put that into the slow cooker through the teenage years and, voila, we have a from of lifelong food anxiety as a result. Not apportioning blame, Mum was struggling with some weight gain and dieting and didn’t want the same for her children. It was just the pop culture of the era.

But that experience brought me to nutritional ketosis, so it’s turned out just fine.

The word anxiety is the clincher in the post title.

The good news is, along with the excellent input from the tribe (above). That feeling of anxiety (and we may as well add “addiction” to some foods - a more urgent term for cravings) are all much more manageable once you have resettled into the ketogenic way of eating.

I sense that you have experienced it before, and that you found a previous form of nutritional ketosis that had some benefits for you?

Curiosity has brought you back to try again. This time you do have more knowledge on what may, or may not work.for you.

If you feel able, possibly approach the question as “Food curiosity… anyone have this problem?”

Some experiments produce negative results. Others positive. The importance is to keep experimenting and build toward the positive results. I think.

Worry about the negative results can create the anxious feeling. That’s fine, as the negative results are very good teachers as long as we heed them.

To inspire your re-ignition for pursuing a health filled life I’ve included some incontrovertible research. The research clip (below) starts off well with physical activity (dancing), controlled breathing (singing), community (sharing knowledge), coconut oil, insectivory (getting protein from insect sources) and the researchers go on, with their curiosity, to investigate the possibility of nutrition from safer plant sources such as locally grown, fresh fruit. The advice is also delivered by a bear. That’s solid.


#9

Thanks, now I’ll be singing Jungle Book’s songs all day :joy: Now I’m the king of the swingers ooooohhhhhh, the jungle VIP! :slight_smile:


#10

@AuntJane … I can totally understand this! Like others here, I have a long, ugly history of eating disorder and dieting. I started Keto at the end of March, a few months before turning 52. Learning how to intermittently fast was interesting, but I found that with a new work schedule, it was easier. My mind and body were both very busy, and I’d forget about eating. Being more busy kind of helped me to seque into intuitively eating - that is, only when my stomach actually growled and I got grumpy. I was surprised at how long that would take sometimes! And, those hours would fluctuate 16:8, 18:6, 20:24. The longer I’d go inbetween meals, the more confident I felt that I’d be just fine without food - and anxiety disappeared. So, I started extended fasting. The longest one I’ve done is 7 days, and honestly, re-feeding was so anti-climatic. Absolutely NO excitement, nor desire really to eat. To this day, I don’t know why I stopped the fast!

Just give yourself time to adapt. Finding a window of time wherein you’re going to be busy seems helpful - as it takes ones mind off the food issue. Especially during fasting, I’d have to talk to myself sometimes when bit of anxiety would pop up - just reassure myself that 1) I have plenty of Keto food in the house; 2) I can choose to eat anytime I want, 3) I’m not weak or dizzy or dying, and 4) I’ve got PLENTY of fat in my body - so I truly am not going to starve.

It just takes time, and there’s no need to put undo stress or pressure on yourself to fast. Have a nice fatty ribeye for a meal, and see how long it takes you to actually feel hungry. I had to try that over and over again - because- I kept feeling obligated to eat with the rest of my family or, I’d eat out of boredom. Keeping busy was absolutely key for me. (That’s why I went back to work part-time, despite owning a business of my own.)

Sorry if that all seems to be a bit rambling. But, perhaps there are bits in there you might find helpful. =)


(hottie turned hag) #11

I don’t have anxiety related to food but I do have anxiety galore related to many other triggers so I get it :purple_heart:

#anxsux


(Jane Srygley) #12

That is super helpful! I have to really baby myself with this stuff, I’m learning. The anxiety was born over half a century ago and nurtured through multiple experiences of deprivation, dealing with other people’s judgement, and a whole lot of things I could literally write a book about (and might someday), so I think being good to myself and PATIENT is going to be essential here.

Thanks so much to all of you for your wise and supportive words :heart:


#13

I helped myself through these issues by putting some big girl pants on and standing up for myself. We are doing something great for ourselves, physically and psychologically. The world may not agree with us, but we are proof that keto works. Once I stood up for myself and stood behind my new WoL, I immediately felt better - I easily adapt in restaurants, I order two meat dishes if it’s OMAD and laugh at waiters’ bewildered looks, I am comfortable saying “no” to foods, friends, family, etc. It’s a battle, but it gets easier and easier :slight_smile:


(Marianne) #14

Yes; I make no apologies for my WOE. I really don’t care what other people think. Truth be told, it’s everyone else who isn’t eating properly.


#15

Agree :slight_smile: it was harder in the beginning, you’re not really sure if it will work, wondering when you’ll end up crying in a bag of chips (what others secretly or loudly hope will happen), etc…then all of a sudden it’s fine :slight_smile: We just say no! :slight_smile:


(Susan) #16

I love this!!! This is so true! Now --we just have to convince the masses!! Muhahahaha.


(Marianne) #17

I’ve given up on that, too. Sometimes I feel so sad for people and it and sticks with me longer than I’d like. I try to think that the best I can do is to plant a seed, that’s enough. When people get to their lowest point, I think they will remember.


(Jane Srygley) #18

I’m an addictions counselor and preach keto all the time… It’s horrific how ignorant people are about this, but I can at least usually convince people that sugar is bad. Better than nothing… but seeing my clients with Type 2 Diabetes still eating bread and candy… really makes me sad.


(Susan) #19

Awww I can imagine =(. @April_Harkness has made some videos on her youtube channel and posted them on here as well of meals they are giving Diabetic patients at the hospital. She is a nurse, and she finds it very upsetting as well.


(April Harkness) #20

I used to be a binge eater. Talk about food anxiety. i even made a vid about my issues with it and how carnivore and fasting have helped.