Sorry if this has already been asked! I have recently lost 40lbs. For a while I had my bingeing and emotional eating (mostly) under control. But for the past two months I have let my emotions get the best of me and I have been bouncing between 175-180 even with regular exercise. I want to lose another 25-35 but it seems impossible because of this. I feel so stuck right now! Any kind of help is appreciated! :)
Posted Feb 11, 2018, 2:18 PM UTC
You might be in too much of a calorie deficit. If your calorie deficit is torturous then it's likely that you will end up over compensating on a "fuck it" day, which can undo the progress you've made. Especially if you have the same deficit and expectations as you had in the beginning of your weight loss. You want your calorie cap to be sustainable so that you make more comfortable permanent slow progress. When I first started practicing this, it felt wrong because I wasn't struggling as much as I thought I needed to lose weight. But i kept to it and the pounds came off slowly but surely and I haven't binged at all.
I didn’t think of that! That could be a possibility too. Thanks!
I struggled with this myself. Used to binge all the time. One day after a particularly bad binge I realized I needed to stop cold turkey. Why? Because for me it wasn't about the food, it was about the mental release, getting that dopamine hit. Every binge, however small, strengthened that pathway in my brain. (The "let me eat as much as I want as fast as I can and I'll make you feel good" pathway.) What I needed was to let that pathway die, and create new healthier pathways that could allow me to feel that same euphoria but for good reasons (NSVs, exercise, spending time with family etc.) For me personally, the only way I was able to stop binging for good was to stop altogether. Suffer the horrible mood swings and cravings and never indulge in it again. Eventually you stop needing it and even wanting it. It's working out okay.
This is all well and good but I think you had strategies for quitting cold turkey. How did you not do it? Did you do something else instead? Did you distract yourself? What did you do to quit cold turkey?
You're right I did have strategies and things I used to distract myself, and it's a long story, but the root cause of all of it was that I was depressed about my past.
Eventually I got to a point where I realized that I was indeed slowly improving and that was a really good thing. But because this type of improvement can take weeks/months/years and I couldn't just solve all my problems overnight, I had to give myself a break and at least make an effort to stop letting negative thoughts interrupt my normal everyday thought process. Otherwise I end up binging and I'm back at square one. So I started experimenting with a plan to give myself permission to ignore unhelpful thoughts. Cordoning them off and dealing with them one at a time to the best of my ability. Part of that was stopping myself mid thought if I found myself feeling regret. Just tried to magnify the positive and think of the future.
"I have my whole life ahead of me and I'm really going places." (Anticipation)
"At this rate I'll be able to buy new clothes in the summer." (Self esteem)
"If I work hard today tomorrow won't be such a hassle." (Planning ahead)
That type of stuff, weight loss gets easier if you are looking forward not back. Anyway I can go to bed and fall right asleep now, no more tossing and turning. Haven't abused food or alcohol in a long time. I know I can't ignore my problems forever, but this way I can deal with them at own pace and not let them derail all my progress.
Idk what kind of exercise you're doing but for myself personally, I know I need to exercise to keep my mood from fluctuating and wreaking havoc on my eating habits. Exercise really evens out my mood swings and keeps me from hitting those hyper-emotional, depressive states that used to drive my binge eating. The exercise isn't really about my body, it's about my mind and the chemicals my brain is releasing.
Little tricks that help me avoid binge eating or snacking when I just want t snack: chug a glass of water, or brush your teeth.
I like the brushing your teeth trick. I'm going to try it.
It is really helpful to avoid after dinner snacking.
I’m going to try that thank you!
I’ve been struggling with this recently too— it’s so frustrating! I find what has helped is drinking a protein shake as quickly as possible, since after about 5 minutes you’ll feel incredibly full and less interested in eating anything else. It’s probably not the healthiest way to deal with it, but my willpower has totally vanished and I definitely prefer 150cal of protein to ~800cal of whatever I have around the house.
I made a protein shake with psyllium husk fiber added the other day - I don't think I could've stuffed another thing in my stomach if I had wanted to. Suuuuuuuper filling.
I've got to try psyllium husk, it sounds amazing!
It's definitely got a unique taste and texture to it, and it can give you pretty bad bloating/gas if you use too much before your body adjusts to the increased fiber. That being said, it's improved my bathroom trips like nothing else I've tried!
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From my research the calorie deficit is the main man that creates weight loss, diets all really boil down to healthy eating and creating a deficit. Excercising burns calories allowing people to eat a little more but again, it's the deficit having the last word. What I'm saying is you really need to get that under control to succeed and the main weapon you have is your own mind and willpower, if you can gather enough strength to say NO to these cravings your body will begin to adjust, accept and go with the change. It all starts upstairs and only you can control that.
Yes I definitely agree with the calorie deficit, that’s how I was successful in the first place! The struggle is definitely in my mind and I need to find a way to not associate bad emotions with eating. Thank you!
I’ve found food prep delivery service such as Hello Fresh or Blue Apron along with only ordering my groceries online has helped. That way I’m not tempted during trips to the shops and I don’t want to waste the money I’ve already spent on meals that have been delivered.
A cheap version of this might be a meal plan and pre log your meals for the day. Once I know I have no calories left in my budget I’m less likely to binge.
Of course there are also the usual find something to do with your hands or put a timer on for 20 minuets and usually after 20 minutes you no longer feel like a binge. I also don’t have trigger foods in the house.
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I have the same problem...and I have two ways that are very specific to me, so I'm not sure how much help they will be
I try not to buy bingeworthy foods too often. I had already stopped buying chips/cookies etc, but I also have to limit my tubs of hummus, because I can kill a thing of hummus.
I also have money saving goals, and I just started tracking my spending, which has helped a TON with stopping me from say, ordering pizza if I'm feeling lazy or tired or stressed (which is when I tend to overeat.) Moreso than food tracking, the thinking about updating my spreadsheet with spending 20 bucks on pizza is enough to stop me. (although I realize that's like, a super personal motivator.)
Good luck!
That is actually really helpful! I have been meaning to set a budget because I am a single homeowner with two dogs and every penny counts. So to see how much money I am spending on awful food might be one step to pushing me in the right direction!
I'm so glad! I'm in the same boat, I'm a single mom, and concurrent with my "weight loss journey" I'm just trying to save a little bit more money. And especially after I lost some weight and plateaued for a while, the money thing started to be a bigger carrot than just tracking calories. It feels really good, although I'm not saving a ton because I've been rewarding myself with non-food stuffs, but it's an okay substitute for now, and it really helps with not getting burned out, and staying on track.
Saving any little bit helps, I’m sure that’s extremely motivating! Non-food rewards are a good idea too, maybe I will do that.