Hi everyone. I’ve done my research due to start it in the morning. I have two young children I really need to sort my relationship with food out. Im a stay at home mum who is constantly grazing on all the wrong foods. Is there anyone out there who has been in similar situation who has had success with this? Im so worried I will develop diabetes and other health problems if I don’t do this now.

Hi Rachel.

I don’t have kids, but I do work from home and tend to graze – or did, I’m getting better at not snacking.

Top tip, don’t buy any of the high sugar and carby stuff you’d be most tempted to snack on. That will help you stop your bad habits and help prevent your kids from developing them.

Good luck. You can do this!

I don’t have children either, but I do work from home and sometimes keep weird hours. That made it all too easy to snack on carby foods at random times during the day and night. Even though I thought I was eating relatively healthy food for real meals, I had a lot of cravings for junk foods. When I cut the carbs, I fully expected to continue experiencing those cravings and that I’d have to fight them off, occasionally succumbing to the lure of a cheese ball or ice cream. Instead, much to my amazement, I found the cravings went away. I cleared out the cabinets of most things, but my OH still had things like crackers and bread, even Girl Scout cookies, in the house and not a crumb of them passed my lips.

Sugar and carbs drive your body to want more of them. If you eliminate them entirely from your diet, you may find that like me, your body heaves a huge sigh of relief to have been liberated from that cycle of blood glucose spike followed by insulin spike followed by blood sugar crash followed by intense craving/hunger.

It may not seem so right now, but you can break out of this prison, Rachael_91. Sugar is addictive, no doubt about it, and I suspect strongly that you are not so much addicted to food in general as you are to carbs. Be ruthless. Strip your pantry of sugar, wheat, grains, cereals, root vegetables. Start over clean.

Since you’re a busy mom, I suggest you make a couple of batches of easy things like egg/chicken/tuna salad. Things you can add to a big bowl of lettuce or spinach lightly dressed with a squeeze of lemon and a teaspoon of extra-virgin olive oil. You’ll be able to put a meal together for yourself that is satisfying, tasty and very, very fast. To fight the snacking impulse, fortify your fridge with fermented foods — sauerkraut, kimchi, miso — all raw and unpasteurized. If you find yourself yearning for chips, head it off at the pass with a big forkful of sauerkraut. I know it sounds weird, but the tartness will beat back sugar cravings and the millions of probiotic bacteria will reset your gut flora and fauna to kill the sugar-loving beasties that play a significant role in the craving cycle.

I have had success beyond my wildest dreams on the BSD. It has completely revolutionized my life and my understanding of myself. I am not special, believe me. I was locked to the couch, morbidly obese at 5’2″ and more than 300lb. Now I weigh just under 120lb and the Fast 800 is the reason. You can free yourself just as I did. Courage and fortitude, Rachael!

Hi
I feel like u are describing me. I’m also a stay at home Mom of two. I just cannot seem to break my bad habits. I’m giving this woe my best shot starting from tomorrow. I’ve started so many times and failed.
It’s not difficult to follow I just cannot seem to stay motivated even when I can see the scales reducing.

Can I just say that I have been an overweight stay at home mum of young kids (22months difference between ‘em) though they are now 11 and 13. I found an old diary today, and it talks about how there’s no room for me or for me to be me, that I’m so busy being a good mum I can’t even think about when to get a haircut. I was pretty much eating for three in this period, as I was tired and eating kids left overs, at least in part as an emotional response to being so overwhelmed. I also spend a lot of time talking about the kids and I was clearly obsessed with them, so they got a fairly decent start in that respect.

So, if I was offering advice to the me in the diary, I would say food was a comfort and I was absolutely not eating because I was hungry. The BSD will take care of cravings but even now I wander around wondering what I can put in my mouth and until the BSD I did a lot of secret eating because it was ‘mine’ not ‘theirs’. Lots of magical thinking going on. One thing I have had to do is put myself first sometimes and say ‘I need to eat now, you have to wait’ or ‘we don’t have this in the house because I need to get better and get my blood sugar sorted’. My kids are old enough to get that, but my point is you may have to say it to yourself and sometimes putting ourselves first isn’t easy with babes in arms.

So you may or may not be the same but if you are you may have to think about strategies to handle your emotions when you want to eat because you are at home alone. Now I go and have a shower, sometimes twice a day. May not be easy with small ones! Or go for a walk (with them in tow). Or something that will make you feel ok until the urge passes. Or just tell myself I want to eat because I feel angry/upset/unloved and sometimes that itself is enough to stop me, as not snacking is really taking care or myself.

I am definitely talking to the me that was here as I don’t know enough about you to know if it fits. Whatever your circumstances though, very best of luck and keep posting!

At one point being a mom of young children ( they were probably around 8 and 10 years old) I told a friend that the part of “me” that was still in existence was just a tiny little flame deep inside my belly and the whole rest of me was “mom” and “wife” and “caretaker” of the family, our home, our dogs and my job.
She was horrified and she never talked to me again. But I think it was because she KNEW that feeling and didn’t want to admit it because it isn’t socially acceptable to say your children have taken so much from you.
Being a mom is hard work. You always put them first and take care of their needs before you take care of your own. It is part of what makes you a good mom.
But it can go too far, and that’s where we have to claw back some care for ourselves.
I found some balance through activities that were mine alone, friends that were mine alone and fInally, the children grew up and were more self-sufficient.
It’s good you are finding the balance now — your children will be healthier and happier for it. Best wishes going forward.

CaliforniaGirl – yes! Tiny flame. Now a big fire 😁

Yes JackieM!! That is so true. I have really enjoyed getting older and rediscovering my “big fire” and my “inner ten year old” (I was totally clear as to my interests and myself at age 10 — then it got overlaid by puberty and marriage and career and children) — but the lovely thing is that it is still there to be discovered later!!