Fasting?
 

I am intentionally posting this is in the chicks in control forum because I want to know if any fellow binge eaters have tried fasting as a means to regain control over their binge eating/overeating?

Personally I've never been able to fast for more than 3 days (water fast), and I have to say those 3 days definitely made me feel more in control with food considering all my cravings were gone. Of course, emotional eating was still a battle, but having the physical cravings not hanging over my head, it was much easier to eat better after the fast.

Still, those 3 days were ABSOLUTELY GRUELING, both because my body wanted sugar and also because my mind wanted sugar even more I think?

This fast was years ago and I think I'd like to give it another go... possibly for a 5 or 7 day run?? Just wondering about any other chicks with fasting experience(s)? perhaps some advice?

My goal is to just ultimately get a little more control over this overeating impulse of mine and not have the emotional turmoil of feeling like I'm walking a wire everyday that I try and eat well!! :(

My longest fast was about 3 hours, so I'm probably not an expert, ha ha!
But I'm a little concerned that if you have a tendency towards unusual eating habits, like binge eating than maybe fasting isn't the right avenue for you. Would you be just exchanging one extreme for another? I assume you are referring to strict fasting, drinking only water and not juice?
The 3 days were probably grueling because your body needed calories. Not necessarily sugar, but definitely protein, vitamins, minerals, fiber, healthy carbs, etc.
I know what you mean by feeling in control during a fast--our lives are hectic, and a fast would be a way to have definite control over one aspect of your life. I'm just worried that fast would make your body go into starvation mode and horde any subsequent calories you did eat.
Again, I stress that I have little experience with fasting. But I have to admit, it doesn't seem to healthy to me. Please, no one bash me if you feel otherwise! I did find this link:
http://www.webmd.com/diet/features/is_fasting_healthy
http://askaboutlosingweight.com/2008...-liquid-diets/
http://www.7habitsofweightloss.com/f...ight-loss.html

Finally, have you asked your dr.? He/she would be able to shed more light on this.

I always find that not eating ANYTHING does me more worse than good - if i starve myself from eating all together i end up binging on what i crave most, or eating twice as much the day after a fast because i am so hungry. Its good to maintain control but i truly believe that food is fuel, so if you don´t eat you are bound to feel physically tired and emotionally depleated. If i want to cure cravings i try and just eat raw fruit and veg for a few days . . .

Years ago I went on 3 day water fast. I did not plan it it just happened. I don't think that I could ever do that again ( I tried). Early this year I tried the master cleanse diet fast where you drink organic maple syrup and lemons. I did this for 8 days and I was able to excersise and I did not feel tired. I did feel hungry at night, I did think of food but It cleared my mind, I wasn't thinking about the preperation of my next meal I was thinking about how much I would appreciate my next meal. While on the fast I craved salads not sweets. Crazy huh ?
After the fast, I was so aware of what I was putting in my body. For a month I didn't want to put anything bad into my body because I cleaned it out. So I ate healthy....for a while.Tee hee. I mean I still eat healthy, but I have cookies also once in a while.

Before I tried the Master Cleanse, I though about eating nothing but raw veggies but I could not do it. Once I started to eat anything, It seem to be a free ticket to eat everything. So eating nothing seem to help for my and the Orangic drink has more vitamins than water.

You need to seriouslly think about if this the right thing for you. I felt it was good for me. I still have my binge moments but the good days outshine the bad by far!

Wow. Those were all very positive responses. I was worried that "fasting" may get bashed because I know that some people feel it is unhealthy. I am clearly not one of those people, but I respect other's opinions.
Chickybird, you are completely right, fasting and binge eating, definitely exchanging one extreme for another... that's kind of the draw, I need extreme as apparently my personality is extreme with food. I'm one of those people that can't have just one of something I like, So I need to avoid it altogether. So you'll never see a cereal box in my house, because otherwise that box will never see a bowl, it ends up straight in my stomach in one sitting, after which I feel like puking. I haven't had cereal for years. Which is great because I now have hot Steel Cut oatmeal which I can't eat more than a bowl of cause it makes me feel sooo fiberliciously full.
This fasting thing isn't coming out of nowhere, I've been cleaning up my eating for awhile now, and have become a vegetarian for the most part (occasional fish) for over a year now. But of course, there are those binge days that happen I'd say... every couple of months? And sometimes turn into binge days... I hate them. I feel terrible, physically sick because of them and I just have this need to want to clean up my body. Now, I read the articles you posted and yes I've read a lot about no scientific proof as to fasting actually being able to cleanse any toxins, but I don't need scientific proof to know that it cleanses me spiritually. :dizzy:
Maybe I'll try pieinthesky's suggestion and try raw veggies and stuff, see how long I can do that and then maybe transition into a water fast? I dunno. But thank you all for all your responses, they were ALL, very helpful!
Vak and Cmint's responses were very encouraging because you guys had positive experiences with fasting. Thank you for sharing them. :^:

I tried the masters Cleanse in the past and lasted not even 5 hrs....it was so gross!!!

Hmm.. okay I try not to post about the program I'm on because it's so different from what people are used to but it works for me and basically everyone else who does it.
I feel like if you are willing to fast you would probably do well on the program I'm on.. You can check out my blog to see what its about, I describe it in my earliest post. It's actually really incredible, you don't feel hungry, your cravings REALLY go down.. I used to have a binging problem and I LOVE food/sweets.. so it took me a while to get on this program but once you do it right, you really lose weight. It basically resets your metabolic set point so your body will be comfortable with the weight you get to. It sounds insane, but trust me, I haven't met a single person who also is on the program who doesn't love it, and I've met people who have maintained for years, and even this one lady whose diabetes practically went away, and she's been maintaining for a year. Give it a read if you like.

Fasting has a lot of healthy benefits! But only if you had good eating habits before that, because if you are also a binge eater then you are much more likely to overeat once your fast ends. Maybe you should go on a raw foods fast instead of just a water fast, or a fresh squeezed juice fast so you don't crave sugar.

To fast as a way of controling binges seems just to be going from one extreme to another, and generally, extremes aren't good, especially for people like us who are prone to binging. --Just a thought!