Oh my god I'm losing it...(and NOT in a good way)

AcceptingNormal

You guys, It's been about two weeks that I've fallen off the wagon and I've gained 10 lbs.
No like...it's legitimately 10 lbs, because i've been weighing myself every other day and this is not a "spike" from yesterday's food.
I don't know how to get back on track. I start the day well and then halfway through it's like I have no willpower and end up eating what I feel like. I just can't seem to do it. I've tried everything; i've tried distracting myself, drinking a lot of water, going for a run...none of it helps. I end up just eating what I want. Sometimes i'll even order the salad as a side instead of the fries....and then end up ordering the fries too once i'm done!! Or walk in front of a machine and HAVE to buy a kitkat...Ugh. 10 FREAKING LBS!!!! What do I do??? PLEASE HELP!

PotentiallyCrazy

Can you try preplanning a menu & sticking with it? Or taking a route that does not take you past vending machines, avoiding restaurants, etc? Eating only food that you've made at home?

Or... what I do, moderate.. allow yourself some fries, a kit kat, etc. but make sure you are countering that stuff with exercise. Log everything honestly, admit your "failures," which are really just mistakes, but also recognize your successes & don't be too hard on yourself. Tomorrow is a new day. Your next meal is a new meal. It's all another chance to start over or improve shortcomings

andreavan28

I understand.... It is so hard not to fall back into old ways. I am going thru it to I ate like crap a few days this week. I think sometimes we just need someone who we can talk to when you are wanting to not have will power. When I was working I use to carry around a bag of veggies around with me everywhere, so every time I passed a vending machine.... I stuck a carrot in my mouth. It is hard to not get burned out of a diet, no shame in your game... just start playing again

47Jacqueline

Open your diary. Can't help what we can't see.

jinkoori

I understand. I also struggled with overeating before. And it's a struggle everyday. The only difference is perhaps, the cravings get weaker and weaker, but perhaps never to the point when they'll be totally gone. We're human, anyway.

I suggest you rid your house of any food that you are always tempted to overeat. Also, avoid food places where you know there will be temptations. Why don't you try preparing your own food? What I've noticed in myself is that after going with my diet plan and eating healthy and whole foods for a few days, I've come to crave for healthy foods. In particular, I crave for my own vegetable salad after I've come home from work.

If you really can't help it, try munching on a whole bag of light popcorn, which has loads of fiber. When I've been craving the whole day, I try my best to eat light and reward myself a whole bag of light butter popcorn for dinner (around 400 calories). You can also resort to sugar-free hard candies. Aromatic tea (apple-cinnamon) also calms me down and stops my craving. Allow yourself some cheat days, too. But don't go overboard, just eat your healthy meals the whole day, saving calories for an ice cream cone under 300 calories later.

The secret is to not deprive yourself, but to love yourself and enjoy the diet.

CassieReannan

Change your mindset, and stick to your plans. When I go off track, I look at old photos of myself and my yearly progress report on MFP. Just learn to say NO to things sometimes, just don't deprive yourself of treats. If you literally can't help yourself, only carry around enough money that you need for the day... Log your foods. Set reminders if you can't remember or are too lazy. That extra 5 minutes a day just logging your foods is helping you!

kamack1215

What I like to do is make everything at home. It cuts down on some of the added stuff that adds calories and fat. I still eat a cookie, granola bar, or homemade chips when I want to! I like the feeling of knowing exactly what is in them! Don't deprive your body of things; this will lead to eating an abundance at once when you finally cave!

I also find that if I always have an orange in my purse or bag wherever I go I eat that when I walk buy a delicious chocolate bar instead. Taking the time to peel the orange will also help to stop against binge eating!

CupcakeCrusoe

Seconded to log EVERYTHING. I find when I'm really no-crap logging everything I eat, I still have the urge to go eat everything, but just looking at all those red numbers stops me.

Lives2Travel

I feel your pain. I just came off about 2 months were I ate anything and everything and didn't log most of it. The only reason I had only a 12 lb gain was I continued to exercise everyday.

I know what caused it: Being assigned to 2 new projects at work that I had no idea how to do. I stress eat and being way out of my comfort zone at work is very stressful.

And I know what made me come to my senses: I couldn't wear most of the pants in my closet comfortably. I even had that stress dream where you're standing in front of your closet getting dressed for some event and literally cannot find one thing that fits. Since I have gotten rid of bigger sizes, I had no option but to get my act together. Good news is that even though I indulged for a much longer period that you did, I quickly dropped 6 of the 12 lbs.

I wish I could tell you how to reset your switch and regain control. I think it's really, really tough to remain vigilant about what you eat long term. You get bored. You get weary of counting and logging. You get that "It's not fair other people are "naturally" thin and can eat whatever they want" feeling. This is, of course, not at all true, but it sure feels that way. The percent of people who lose weight and keep it off is scarily small. We just need to figure out how to be in that group!

Best of Luck.

Falcon

I don't bring home junk food anymore. I used to but now I limit my quanities if I do to the single serve slices they sell at the store. That way it's a one time deal and not tempted to repeat it every day with a big cake or thing of cookies. I'm more likely to scarf down a small four person cake in two days. I keep it out of the house now.

Francl27

Oh I totally get it too. Been trying to lose 3 pounds for months and ended up gaining a little bit. Been hungry and my willpower has been sucking.

I agree with the others... log everything. Start the day with a good mindset, plan your meals, and if you have some days when it's easier, skip the treat you would normally have and keep a bigger calorie deficit.

If you crave something, try to make it at home. Homemade baked fries are delicious and 1/3 of the calories of restaurant fries. And don't keep the stuff you might crave in your house (I had to stop buying ice cream).

Torontonius

Something in your life is bothering you. Fix it and you might fix your compulsion to overeat.

Stress is a killer.

Juvenica

Yes, second everyone above, hanging on to your willpower is really hard. I'm new to mfp so not even used to logging food just yet, but I bought a scale years ago and weighted daily since then . Yes I've seen some freakish numbers and kept track in an app on my phone even when I was ashamed of myself. It helped me, knowing I overate a day, I would constantly think about it the next and would restrain myself.
also keeping a screensaver on your phone or pc of a motivational quote, helps, and please make sure friends / family you go out with for lunch or dinner know you are trying to eat healthy , it makes a huge difference when people support you.
But my most important piece of advice to you, get used to the idea that this is quite normal to crave ,have bad days, overeat. Make sure u enjoy the foods you indulge in, just make sure to keep going. ( I had this tres leches cake in my fridge my parents brought home, I couldn't resist, ate and enjoyed it, next off dancing like a freak for 2 hrs. enjoyed that too and lost a pound next day).
Power Through !!! Good luck!
p.s: make sure you see some of the success stories here, u'll get enough motivation.

Patttience

Well i'm inclined to think that a great deal of what you've put on is just water but it will become fat soon if you don't get a grip.

I think you need to look at why this has happened. What triggered the fall from the wagon.

Were you making yourself too hungry?
Was your food boring?
Were you feeling deprived?
Were you suffering emotional crisis? Stress? Low mood? (doesn't really sound like it to me)
Have you been pushing yourself too hard.
Have you not been getting enough sleep?
Have you been partying too much?
Has your weight gone really low? And you've been pushing yourself hard for a long time?

Any one of these could be the trigger for this and when you do get back on the wagon, you need to think about this stuff and make sure it dones't happen again.

You need to devise rules and strategies to help you avoid ending up in this place next time.

For now, what i'd say you need to do is stop panicking. Accept that you've gained a bit of weight. Calm down emotionally, sort out any real life issues. and refocus.

First off, have a decent healthy breakfast. Have a decent healthy lunch. Do not start the day by restricting your calories. Eat till you are satisfied. If you do this, it will help you avoid eating the fries and other junk. Keep shovelling in the vegetables and fruit and anything else you consider truly healthy. Even if its high fat nuts. Do not allow yourself to get hungry.

Avoiding hunger is key here. Accept you've gained a few pounds and focus on stabilising where you are at now by eating well. Once you've settled your appetite, then you gradually wind back the calorie intake a little. Think about it, even if you've put on 10 pounds, its not 20 30 or 50 pounds. You are not back at the beginning. DO a lot of this sensible rational useful self talk. Stop all the panic talk. Stop the punishing self talk.

you just need to calm down and regroup. BEating yourself up with negative self talk will only extend the period of time you are off the wagon. regaining an optimistic attitude towards your journey is key.

Once you've quietened down this appetite monster ask me for help again.

FatFreeFrolicking

Age?
Weight?
Height?
How many calories are you consuming?
Do you use a food scale?
Do you log EVERYTHING?

indunna

Torontonius wrote: »

Something in your life is bothering you. Fix it and you might fix your compulsion to overeat.

Stress is a killer.

This. I have found that when my willpower suddenly goes out the window emotions/ life stress is almost always the root cause.

glevinso

You ate 35 THOUSAND calories EXTRA in two weeks?

Remember that if you had been eating a low-ish carb diet for a long time your glycogen stores are depleted. Eating a normal amount of carbs will cause you to retain water at a rate of 3g water for 1g carb. Also if you went back to a more "normal" amount of sodium than you are used to seeing you are retaining water from that also.

It can be very easy to see a 5+lb increase on the scale simply by eating more carbs and salt but staying within your calories. Now did you put on some actual weight? Maybe. But not likely that it was 10lbs of actual fat in 2 weeks.

gothchiq

Eat nonstarchy vegetables until you feel absolutely full. Barely leave room for anything else. Lots of broccoli, green beans, spinach, salad (not much dressing) and then you can have a small amount of starchy vegetables, fruits, and lean meats. Don't let yourself get so hungry you lose control. keep the veggies coming.

cloieclo

DON'T GIVE UP. You've had a blip and you just need some motivation and a reminder why you started this journey.
Set tiny little goals so it isn't a huge scary ride. And reward yourself once you achieve them. And not with food. Buy a new nail varnish. Get your hair done.
Always have a snack on hand so you aren't tempted with naughty foods. Drink water when you're hungry. Distract yourself when you are. Walk around for 2 minutes and you'll forget about it.
Just don't give up

leggup

Age 18, 1 post, 0 lbs lost, 0 lbs to go, no profile picture....

Troll? 15 year old?

Patttience

The post doesn't read like a troll to me.

ahoy_m8

Patttience wrote: »

The post doesn't read like a troll to me.

Or a 15 year old, to me, anyway.

leggup

Patttience wrote: »

The post doesn't read like a troll to me.

https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10014232/gaining-weight-too-fast

User posted on Oct 31st (20 days ago) that she had just gained 10 lbs and that she is a recovering anorexic. She was trying to gain weight in that forum post, just not so quickly. Today she is trying to lose 10 lbs?

ahoy_m8

Hummm..... good sleuthing, britishbroccoli. OP said she's trying to regain control, though, not to lose per se.

You may have a way to go to reach a healthy attitude about eating, OP, but keep working your program. The comments about working out the stresses in your life through food merit contemplation.

catceol

I know this will sound completely harsh: your not ready. Baby steps back to "normality" I would try firstly by eating 5-6 (or I prefer the traditional breakfast lunch dinner) small meals.
Those spikes in sugar and cravings are nasty. Also google surfing the urge. Re evaluate why you want to have control. Open your diary! lol. Then we can really get to the nuts and bolts.

logicalinks

AcceptingNormal wrote: »

I've tried everything; i've tried distracting myself, drinking a lot of water, going for a run...none of it helps. I end up just eating what I want. Sometimes i'll even order the salad as a side instead of the fries....and then end up ordering the fries too once i'm done!! Or walk in front of a machine and HAVE to buy a kitkat...

(Emphasis above, mine.) Okay, the OP might be a troll, and I might be pegged an unsympathetic hard@ss, but you can't out-exercise a poor diet. Every decision, every day involves a specific choice. Until you decide you want to be healthier more than you want that candy bar or fries, you will continue this path.

Don't give up. Keep getting back on the horse, and good luck!

"Do. Or do not. There is no try." --Yoda

elisa123gal

you are burned out …I think we've all been there. It is like a runaway train. The counter of too much restriction in dieting is strong. I remember eating fried shrimp and fries..it was like an urge i couldn't resist. That is why this time.. i'm losing slow and eating food I like..and even going off a meal here and there. My hope is to not want to go off track when i get to goal.

At least you are weighing yourself and keeping track and not sticking your head in the sand, and asking for support here.

You can get over this hump!

libbydoodle11

Are you logging all of this?


Start by logging all of your food.

Keep logging your food. Don't just start with logging one meal and shine the rest because you ended up getting the fries and the shake. Keep logging.

Plan out your menus.

Make a shopping list.

Cook big batches of food and divide them up.

Plan fries and other fave foods into your diet. Measure and weigh everything. Even if you are going over on your calorie budget.

Pack all meals, snacks and drinks into your cooler and eat from there. Do this on your days off as well.

Tanie98

Get back on track and keep logging your food to keep you accountable