Weight loss and BED

walkdmc

First, I know the priority with treating BED is to stop/decrease bingeing. I know we are not supposed to focus on weight loss.

I'm just wondering, if you made an effort to lose weight and were successful, during or after BED treatment, at what point did you start trying to lose? What method worked for you?

I have about 25 pounds to lose before I'm a "normal" BMI and while I'm thrilled to be binge-free for 6 weeks, I would like to reach a normal BMI.

maicap22

I am trying to lose now while also being binge free. I'm not in any kind of therapy though. I won't also say that I am already successful. I will say that if I am already at maintenance and still binge free (at least most of the times).

I started with eating until full and when hunger strikes. I also allowed myself to binge once in a while. Then after one or 2 weeks, I didn't allow myself to binge anymore. I did allow myself to give in to cravings but stop when I am full or almost full. After another week or 2, I then started counting calories but allow myself to go over. Then after another week or 2, I started counting calories and stop eating when I reach my calorie goal (maintenance). After another week or 2, I started loosely restricting calories. After another, maybe a couple of hundred decrease in calories. After another, I added some exercise, which of course, I increased after a while. I am planning to eliminate certain foods (or at least decrease intake) after a while too. I don't know how long it took all in all but the weight loss phase is already almost 2 months. I already lost 3.5 kg. Really slow and I would be happier for it to be faster but for now, what matters more is that I can maintain my loss and sustain my way of eating come maintenance. I still have another 6.5 to 8.5 kg to lose. I'll see when I get there. I haven't binged in almost 2 months too. So I am hoping I can continue my streak this time around I will know if I succeed when I get to maintain successfully in the future

loribethrice

All I focus on during this is my weight loss which I think is making it worse. I had lost 70lbs, but I gained back 15-18lbs since April 5th so I've been in total panic mode. I went 7 whole days without binging and then ruined it yesterday.

I exercise as many days a week as possible to try to counteract the eating which helps somewhat. And I am keeping a calendar to try to hold myself accountable so I don't binge as much.

walkdmc

Thanks for the detailed response. I'm doing a similar thing now, maintaining but wishing I was losing. I also gave into some cravings tonight and felt that old feeling of, "I'll go back on (my super restrictive commercial diet plan) tomorrow." It didn't take long to realize that would put me back into the binge-restrict cycle and is a terrible idea, for me.

Congrats on your success! If you can keep from bingeing, you're already doing great. If you can lose weight by eating a healthy diet AND not binge, that's a great success! I'm convinced losing weight fast would not be a good thing for me as I'd start to live or die by the scale, BTDT. I need to be content losing 0.5-1 pound/week.

walkdmc

Shell, during weight loss do you plan your meals and treat foods in advance? Do you just log calories? Do you eat at regular intervals vs. whenever you're hungry?

Pudding1980

Marking to come back to later

maicap22

walkdmc wrote: »

Thanks for the detailed response. I'm doing a similar thing now, maintaining but wishing I was losing. I also gave into some cravings tonight and felt that old feeling of, "I'll go back on (my super restrictive commercial diet plan) tomorrow." It didn't take long to realize that would put me back into the binge-restrict cycle and is a terrible idea, for me.

Congrats on your success! If you can keep from bingeing, you're already doing great. If you can lose weight by eating a healthy diet AND not binge, that's a great success! I'm convinced losing weight fast would not be a good thing for me as I'd start to live or die by the scale, BTDT. I need to be content losing 0.5-1 pound/week.

Thank you It is hard but doable.

shell1005 wrote: »

I absolutely plan my foods ahead of time. While I eat foods I enjoy, I don't do "treat" foods or cheat meals. I build my food the night before or the morning of and only eat what I put there.

And yes, in general unless life has made me change plans...I eat at about the same times. Coffee 7am, breakfast 9am, Lunch noon, snack 3pm, dinner 6pm, final snack 7-8pm. If I am hungry and can't wait until the next meal time, I can have carrots or celery or something else like that.

I'm also doing a lower carb plan not because it is better, but because it helps since my trigger foods are all very carb laden. It helps continue to make them off limits. I do still hope that I can have these foods in moderation, but am coming to the conclusion that I might have to invoke abstinence with my main trigger foods. Even when I practice moderation, it works in the short term and seems to always cause me trouble in the long term.

I also plan my meals It helps me stick to my calorie goal for the day. And even if I overeat (for those unplanned times like unexpected dine out), I try to log all of what I consumed but not be guilty about it.

Right now, I am still not restricting my carb intake but in the future, I plan to. I just can't do it cold turkey. I plan to take it slowly. I am looking into LCHF diet as my future WOE (maybe allowing a little more carb on special occasions). I realized that when I binge, it is always with sweets and carbs. I might just be addicted with those. From what I've read, sugar is really quite addictive. Back when I was eating normally (listening to hunger/full cues) and still in normal weight, I have always preferred salty/fatty foods so I guess I function better consuming those. I really just started with primarily eating/craving sweets/carbs when I was pregnant (about 2 years ago) and I can't seem to shake it off from then on. Maybe in a couple of months or a little more, I'll get there.

sothgo

i binge a lot since i wanted to lost weight, i plan my meals but sometimes it's not enough to nor binging.
I really do think that you should not restricte yourself to much.
as @maicap22 i only binge now with sweets and carbs, and before coming on MFP and started counting calories I eat normally and I prefered salted and fat foods....

minties82

My method probably sounds horrific to most people, but each morning I made myself a packed lunch and dinner and asked my husband to lock the rest of the food in the garage. After 6 weeks it became a habit to not binge and we started leaving the food in the kitchen for trial days.

I have had binges since we started (Jan 4th) but have lost 70lbs so far. I have had several binges in the last 2 weeks but I can manage to talk myself away from the dark side most of the time. I do a low carb way of eating which has been the biggest part of my success.

It's very important to me that I report to people and have accountability so my grandma is my soundboard and my longest running friend on MFP.