To ask how to stop being a pig?!

[Stressedafff]

Posted for traffic

Im trying to lose weight, currently revoltingly heavy and the biggest I’ve ever been. Gained off the Mirena coil

I am losing weight normally until I get to ovulation and the luteal phase where I cannot stop eating. I can’t stop eating junk, I want sweets, carbs and all the bad food and the past month I’ve found myself losing and gaining the same 8lbs over again.

I do fasting and OMAD, and need to stick within the realms of this as it really is the only thing that works.

Does anyone have any advice how to stop craving and eating bad food/reducing appetite during my fertile window and luteal phase of my cycle?

Im desperate to get this weight off

Dad = have

Had = FAD!!

I have got to start checking my posts for autocorrect interference before I press post 🤦

Oh FFS. Had have.
I give up.
Good luck and I hope you manage to change your way of thinking and your habits and successfully lose the weight

The time of month cravings are very intense and very real!
I also don't think that fasting will be helping. Binging can be a reaction to restriction- which you are doing by only having one meal a day. OMAD has.also been proven to increase hunger hormones - far better to eat nutritionally balanced meals spread throughout the day, and add in slightly more calories in the week leading up to your period.

It's very hard to find the willpower when you have everything working against you- you have restricted food so your primitive instincts are telling you to cram as much in as you can in preparation for the next famine, you have an increase in hunger hormones for the same reason, and throw in the normal time of month cravings on top of that!

Loads of great tips here!
*Snack on an apple or hard a boiled egg, both take time to eat
*Drink a glass of water, sometimes (but not all the times) hunger is actually thirst
*If it is a monthly/period thing be prepared with healthier snacks, carrots, celery, lettuce, cucumber, yummy dip to go with your veggies, fruit, yogurt
*Brush your teeth - minty doesn't really go with anything
*Paint your nails - really hard to eat when you're waiting for your nails to dry
*OMAD is not enough and is forming bad eating habits, possibly even an ED
*I am ok with the same breakfast, lunch and snacks literally everyday but like to change it up for dinner so I only have to plan/organise dinners
*Don't deprive yourself of foods you enjoy, just buy limited and smaller quantities. I always find when I have denied myself fatty/sweet foods I then binge eat them and blow out any good I had done
*Eliminate all soft drinks even 'sugar free' soft drinks and just drink water. I hear so many carry on how they can bare that, well that might just be what is holding you back
*Go for a walk, even if it's to the post box and back
*Don't be so hard on yourself, there is only one you and you deserve to be treated right starting with by yourself

You've come so far and are doing so well, asking for help is a huge step. You have this 🌸

Don't drink any calories and fill up on protein

I find if I’m doing something that completely absorbs me, I forget about food. Sewing or painting are the best for things I’ve found for this.

Might the OMAD and fasting be feeding into the binge/restriction cycle you're experiencing in your cycle?

I know how hard it is - I was a binge eater and tried fasting and OMAD but, for me, it wasn't sustainable and just perpetuated the cycle and the same pattern of binge = gain and restriction = loss.

Have you looked into 'food peace' before? It clicked for me and I've managed to lose a lot of weight and break the binge/fast cycle.

Wishing you well.

Also, your post is so full of self-judgement ☹️ Be kind to yourself OP - would you speak to a friend like that? Treating your body kindly and with compassion is a process but imo the route to meaningful change in weight loss.

I think fasting/OMAD is probably a bit counter productive if you are prone to bingeing as it’s much easier to lose control when you’re starving hungry. Plus if you only get one meal a day you’re going to fixate on it! I would try eating more often and focusing on keeping your blood sugar stable- protein, fats, complex carbs and lots of veg.

Discipline, distraction and alternatives.

Three meals a day. No snacking. For something sweet try liquorice tea. Chew sugar free chewing gum. Ditch all sugar.

I'm the same. You can't stop the cravings. But you can limit yourself by not buying stuff on that you know you will want to and will eat. It's all the works for me. I cant have chocolate/crisps/ sweets in the house as I know I will eat them. I will
Not be over go as far as to go to the shop to buy them if I don't have them in. So that's the only answer for me!

The fasting and one meal a day is driving your cravings and ultimately your binge eating.

Also blaming the mirena coil for weight gain is a misnomer, it may have increased your appetite which made you gain weight, that's the correlation. Not that the mirena coil was a direct cause for your weight gain.

I'm unsure if you provided your weight, height and daily activity so we can calculate loosely your BMR and TDE. But it would be helpful, that way you can understand what you're able to consume from a calories point of view to enable sustainable weight loss ensuring you are eating a sustainable diet which will leave you satiated.

Also 10000 steps a day minimum will help no end.

I've managed to lose 4 stone but still suffering the hormonal cravings 😩 ( almost 50 and I'm putting it down to heading to the menopause).
My tip is to remind myself I'm not hungry and have a large glass of water or a huge mug of green tea.
If I still can't get past the cravings after the drink I will a piece of fruit.
The dog gets loads of extra walks too at certain times of the month because i can't be eating if I'm being pulled 3 miles around the fields 🤣😂🤣

Try taking daily vitamin B6 daily in the luteal phase.

Agree with @IncompleteSenten 's excellent advice.

OMAD is just a form of punishment.

Have 3 healthy meals a day. 1 meal a day is no good for anyone.

Don't have junk food in the house.

Of course you're putting weight on if you're only eating one meal a day! Stop bloody fasting, it's a fad! Your body assumes will be constantly in peak/trough and slow your metabolism down if it's going however long without food. Your metabolism will be in slow mode for too great a proportion of time.

Complete rubbish. Fasting does not decrease your basal metabolic rate by the order of magnitude you describe. By virtue of being alive you burn at least 12-1500 calories a day, missing a meal isn't going to change that, it's scientific fact. You dont just magically create energy from nowhere.

Don't spend money on the junk. Why are you buying it?

Goodness me, l would never have thought of this. As you know so much about obesity, could you please let us know what we should do when this doesn't work?

But you’re not eating OMAD consistently? Half the month you’re binge eating.

people are coming @ that poster, but ultimately you are choosing to put those things in your mouth half the month. I think that’s the point they were making.

eliminate sugars from your diet if you find the binging uncontrollable. Fasting isn’t going to work if there is a sugar monster creeping around constantly wanting to be fed.

ketogenic eating is the way forward if you suffer from disregulated eating and sugar addiction.

I have been there and it is shit. And hard. I am not a mumsnet teeny tiny. But it starts with us.

The mineral Chromium can help with sugar cravings. Also metformin which is for diabeties

One trick is to imagine the food you want to eat then imagine the most disgusting food you can (dog food for me) and think of the food you’re craving all mixed up with it in a bowl.

Or imagine the food you want half an hour after eating slopping and fuzzing around in your stomach all mixed up with gastric acids.

Or just imagine yourself shitting it out tomorrow and the big cake/chip/biscuit shit in the toilet pan!

DOn't have any junk in the house if you know you will just eat it. I agree with PP - if you feel the urge, go out. Walk, jog, meet a friend, do whatever.