Kelcy,
Thanks for posting this question.
Fasting is a famine—a severe one.  And we know that famines are behind the Feast or Famine Cycle that is responsible for weight gain and maintenance of excess weight.  Perhaps some famine resistant people can fast without getting on the Cycle, but I have found that most people who struggle with their weight are famine sensitive, and fasting wreaks havoc in their bodies.  I personally have never fasted since I recovered, and I am sure I’d end up bingeing if I did.
Fasting is very tempting for those who want to lose weight fast, but I have found that it almost always backfires as a weight loss method. If going hungry, eating less, skipping meals, etc. has not worked for you in the past, I promise you that fasting won’t work either. If you’re not sure, just try it.
Sincerely,
Jean

I just read that thread at the T-Tapp board and I’m floored at Lani’s support of the mini-fast/EatStopEat program.  I had thought that even with her ventures into nutritional experimentation that she was still a proponent of Naturally Thin principles.  But this makes me wonder, because it seems to me that no matter how well-fed and recovered you might be, you are still going to set up famines by doing this.

Even people who have learned the hard way that going hungry (ie fasting)always backfires, can easily fall back into denial because bodies often don’t adapt immediately when there is a new stress in the environment.  So, they start to think, “this works!”  I can get even thinner!  And it isn’t dieting—it’s good for me!
Sincerely,
Jean

I began trying to prolong the time between hunger and eating after I tried Eat,Stop,Eat 6 times in September and October. Although it was only 6 times, I had gotten used to ignoring my hunger for 24 hour intervals, and even after I stopped offically fasting, I still found myself going longer amounts of time after I first felt hunger. I did lose 5 pounds in Sept. and Oct., and gained it back, plus two more pounds by the end of February. I certainly learned my lesson.

The topic of fasting recently came up in my family when my 17 year old daughter received a post card in the mail, reminding her that her youth group was getting together on Saturday at the church and they would all be fasting together—All Day Long.

Since she has been practicing NT with me all along, we both had our red flags go up, and she decided she would skip the event.

The thing I always remind myself of is that NT is like NO OTHER DIET, in fact it’s referred to as the Anti-Diet.  So anything that resembles a diet in any way, shape, or form such as a plan to fast, to limit or restrict food, and counting calories, just screams “DIET” to me.  You can call it a fast, a cleanse, a stop, or anything else, but when you don’t eat on purpose, it’s still a diet to me.

What I have loved about NT is the naturalness about it.  Eating on a plan (unless you have a medical condition) is not the natural way to eat.  Therefore skipping eating 2 days a week is not natural to me, unless I am really, really, ill.  I love the natural simplicity of eating according to hunger cues and stopping when full.  Nothing was more freeing than dumping my diet planning junk: the journals, the weighing and measuring food, the charts with all the calories (I even had a chart for the calories in spices.)  But I think it can easily creep back in if we don’t watch out.  The spreading of diet information isn’t going to stop any time soon, so we’ll be seeing it all over the place, even if we’ve made up our minds we’ve given up dieting for good.  We’ll pick up a magazine or watch a show and be impressed by Valerie Bertinelli or Marie Osmond, or some other celebrity who just lost a lot of weight by dieting.  It’s impressive and we think “Wow.”  So this topic of fasting has told me to be on guard for what can happen if I let the NT priciples sort of fade into the background.  I can easily let myself be misled.

On the other hand, if we are really focused on following NT, I can’t understand why fasting would even seem like an option?  If we are already eating when hungry and stopping when full, how does fasting even enter into this equation? My goal by eating the NT way is to allow my weight to adapt to the right weight for my body.  Once it does that, I don’t want to tamper with that, but keep on eating the NT way for life.  I don’t want to put the time and energy into a plan that would reduce my body weight to a level that isn’t natural for it, and difficult to maintain.  I often think about the part in Jean’s book that describes how a child eats.  They can be picky eaters, and can go a long stretch without eating which causes the parents to worry.  But the child is not dieting.  He is eating when hungry and stopping when full.  No child is going to plan to fast for 2 days a week. 

I want to be that Naturally Thin person who EATS!

Swan,
In my case, I was told about fasting by the same group of people who introduced me to Naturally Thin. I trusted them completely,and was assured that it was compatible with NT. Although I did know better, I wanted to move things along, and so I foolishly tried it. NT is amazing and truly works, there is nothing else like it. I have raised my daughters to understand why NT works. None of them have ever dieted and are all NT, as is my husband. I am the only one who has dieted and is overweight, and sometimes I lose track of the truth of NT because it can take so long to lose weight. Like you, I want to be the NT person who eats, and I have faith that I will be.

Kelcy

I’m with y’all. But so far, I’m just the person who eats.  I haven’t got the thin part yet.  But I’m enjoying the eating part. :)

Kelcy,
Where did you hear about fasting and its compatability with NT?
Jean

It was some friends I had made on the bodywisdombylani boards and on the t-tapp boards

Hello Everyone,

I have been following NT for several weeks now and feel I’m on the right track.  I have been reading archived posts here and read the ones on fasting this morning.  I wanted to make a comment.  Fasting for some people is part of an eating disorder, bulemia, where one binges then purges.  The purge doesn’t necessarily mean throwing up.  I binged and fasted for years, in an effort to keep my weight down.  It worked during my 20’s-40’s but when I got up into my 50’s I couldn’t fast anymore without feeling absolutely horrible, so the weight bagan to pack on because I tried all kinds of diets and weight management programs.  I am a Christian, and many people practice fasting as part of their faith.  God made it clear to me that fasting was bad for me and I could try other forms of fasting for spiritual purposes, such as fasting TV, or the media for a day or two. 

It is tempting to go back to fasting to feel thin, lean and have the endorphin high that comes from it, but for anyone who has dealt with an eating disorder such as anorexia, BED (Binge eating disorder) or bulemia, it’s a disaster waiting to happen.  Just when your body gets used to having adequate food to begin to release fat, food is restricted again.  It makes sense that this will throw off the biochemical healing that we are trying to achieve by providing adequate food for our bodies to stabelize and begin to release fat.

I ate too much the first couple of weeks after starting NT, because I could and because my body hadn’t settled into knowing there would be food whenever hunger presented itself.  Now, after only a few weeks, I am not overeating, just providing a steady supply of good food (fuel) for my body to run efficiently and my mind and heart to be at peace with food.

I am leading a small group and am sharing these principles with the women.  I gave them Jean’s food group list and asked them to start by eating good, whole food, as much as they needed to stop binging.  Some are very overweight and I hope they will be patient, when the weight doesn’t fall off quickly.

I am very grateful to have learned from NT and the experience of Jean. 

God bless,

Gratefull

...I keep reading posts about people overeating for a few weeks and then settling in…I can’t help but feel frustrated and discouraged that after nearly one year of consciously applying these principles, I’m feeding myself on a regular basis, but don’t seem to be losing weight.  At least my clothes are still not feeling good - and I’ve had to buy bigger sizes…

But, I cannot seem to think about going back to dieting…I’m too far gone and my body simply will not allow me to go hungry.  I quickly get physical symptoms like the shakes if I go too long without eating.  Guess I just have to hang in there and keep applying the principles trusting that my body will someday respond.

Have others taken this long to feel like they turned the corner?

Munch

Well said, Gratefull. You go, girl!

Jean

Munch,

I don’t believe everyone will lose weight quickly by following NT. July 31 will be 7 years for, me and I haven’t lost any real weight. I intially gainned 30 pounds during my first year, dropped 5, regainned them, and have now lost 4 again. I am still very heavy. My appetite has decreased significantly recently, so I am hoping it is finally happening for me. I know of at least one other person, who after applying the principles for a number of years, is still quite overweight. But what can you do? Go back to dieting? We all know that doesn’t work. I keep hoping, trying, and praying that maybe someday it will happen for me too.

Kelcy

Munch,

There was no way I felt settled in after a few weeks.  After a few weeks, I had no more binges.  So that was a BIG RELIEF in itself.  I was also relieved to be done with dieting.  There was a peace I felt, to be over and done with battling my body about food, there was time for other things to occupy my mind besides getting weighed, weighing my food, journaling my calories, thinking about food and how to avoid food, and dealing with the hunger and mental issues that accompany traditional dieting. I wasn’t happy when I was restricting, and bingeing surely didn’t make me feel happy either.  Even though I was much bigger and hadn’t lost anything yet, I cherished the freedom, and the normal relationship with food I was developing, and I really did begin to feel much happier, even though I was not yet thin.  I knew NT was the right path for me to be on, and it sounds like you know it is the right path for you, too.

There was a girl I identified with in Food Jail who plateaued for 19 months, but finally lost weight, so I knew I had to hang in there like she did. I was expecting to plateau at least that long. 

I think I had lost maybe 2 pounds at my 1 year point. 

At 1 year and 4 months, I was still in my highest size clothing.  I had maybe lost 3-4 pounds by then, but clothing size did not change.

However, a year later (2 years, 4 months) I am down from a 14 to an 8, and feel naturally thin.

Took awhile, but I made it.

Everyone is different, keep doing what you know is right.

I sometimes wonder what I’d be like if I never found out about NT, and it is a very scary thought.  I would have never in a million years thought I could “enjoy eating” and be thin.

Kelcy and Swan,
THANKS so much for your posts and encouragement.  Sometimes I feel like I’m a nag, just complaining on this site that it’s not working.  I appreciate your support to stick with it.

What’s hard for me sometimes is I’ve never had a huge issue with extreme dieting.  I never binged or purged (perhaps craved a cookie or two, but never ate the entire bag).  Eating the right foods was always on my mind and feelings of guilt if I had my sweets daily.  And I do see now how I often ate foods that were okay, but not necessarily what I wanted (i.e., a salad for lunch because it was good for me and low fat).  Now I only eat a salad if it sounds good.  I’m doing a much better job listening to what my body says it wants (and asking myself “why am I craving sweets?” when I do crave them - “Did I restrict my good fats today or go hungry longer than I should today?”)

Help me with this one - I’m a college instructor who teaches evening classes to adults going back to school.  Every Wednesday night I teach a class from 6:00-9:00 p.m.  It requires me to be there by 5:00 p.m. to get set up.  I eat a really good breakfast (which is no problem - it’s the one meal I seem to consistently want/need as I’m usually very hungry when I wake in the morning.)  And I love home make egg McMuffins (with egg beaters because of high cholesterol).  I don’t seem to tire of them and they satisfy me more than cream of wheat, a bowl of cold cereal or toast.  Yesterday I went out to lunch and had a good, healthy meal with veges and protein.  I brought a turkey sandwich to eat before class because I knew I would be hungry before class.  During class I got hungry so I ate some pistachio nuts and a banana.  When I got home at 9:30 I was still hungry.  So I asked myself “what can I eat that will satisfy my hunger but not eat too much that I will be uncomfortable within an hour when I go to bed?”  I had two pieces of wheat toast.  I was still hungry so I ate two more pieces.  Then I was satisfied.  But I was frustrated.  I don’t want to eat in advance of my hunger, yet I cannot seem to get enough prior to 5:00 p.m. to not make me hungry later.  I’m trying to listen to my hunger cues and not medicate my hunger or eat in advance of my hunger.  That takes practice to determine that fine line.

On the rare occasion that I do go to bed NOT being hungry, I ask myself, “What did you do differently/eat today that was more satisfying and caused you not to be overly hungry at night?”  Even though I do not feel like I’m famining (and Jean had confirmed after I shared my typical eating patterns for a few days)I still wonder if I’m doing the right things. 

I agree that NT helps me realize I no longer have to count calories, points, read all the latest diet articles/new fads.  That is freeing.  But I still feel like I’m obsessed with food - in a different way.  “Did I eat beyond my hunger?”  “Am I medicating my hunger?”  “Will the cookie I ate after dinner put me in a tail spin?” 

I’m trying to continue to listen to my body - for how much it needs and what it’s hungry for, focusing on high quality foods.  Actually this isn’t too tough because I mostly like high quality foods - never really enjoyed the fried foods, chips, etc.

Last night one of the students bought mini chocolates so I had one bite size Mr. Goodbar.  Yuck!  It didn’t even taste good.  (It seems now if I want chocolate it is only a bite of the really good chocolate so no need to waste calories on something I don’t like.)  That was new to me as I used to like Mr. Goodbars, so maybe there are signs of hope…

Patience, patience, patience.  Yesterday I gave in and bought a few pairs of some new (bigger) shorts to get me through the summer without being uncomfortable in ones that are too tight.

Emotionally I know I feel better when I exercise.  I’ve had some health issues lately that have prevented me from exercising.  They are on the mend and I hope getting back into an exercise routine will also help boost my emotions and positive feeling about myself.

Sorry for the ramble.  Thanks for the support.

Munch