I lost 70 pounds, now gained 10 pounds and binge eating

flagrantavidity

So, I started the year at 200 pounds, I am 5'7".

During my weight loss I would eat 1500 - 1800 calories daily, from January to June - 6 months I dropped 70 pounds, I made it down to 140 and went from a 38 waist to a 30, I eventually lost 10 more pounds and leveled out at 130 and I stayed that way to the end of September.

I was determined and motivated to change my life, I have always told myself to control the things I can and let go of the things I can't. I felt my weight was something I could control so I did it. In the great words of Yoda, "Do or do not, there is no try." I did it, I lost a hell of alot of weight. Throughout my life, weight and food have always been that battle that I could never seem to get in check, I am an ex: smoker, drinker, and drug addict, but my weight and food always remained.

In October I increased my calories to maintenance mode 2,500 calories. This is when the trouble began...

In late October, I would get cravings for sweets, something I never used to have trouble with. Normally I would be satisfied eating a half cup of low cal vanilla ice cream (1/2 Cup @ 80 Cal) with some PB2 and unsweetened cocoa powder on top - about 140 calories, or a skinny cow ice cream sandwich at 150 calories.

Now I find myself eating the ice cream, the skinny cow, a fudge pop, then craving more sweets I end up grabbing a clif bar, then by the time is all said and done, I have eaten a chocolate bar, and a few other things... I still log everything and end up eating way too much. This happens in the evenings, after dinner.

For example, today I had a 400 calorie breakfast, a 400 calorie lunch, a 200 calorie afternoon snack, a 600 calorie dinner, and a 200 calorie dessert. Then did a sugar binge and ate an additional 2000 calories of sweets - and I feel like poop - like my stomach hurts, i'm bloated, I don't feel well.

I did good yesterday, eating 1,800 calories but blew it hard today. Worst of all, I have gained 10 pounds since the end of october and my pants are fitting more snug than when I first bought them a couple of months back.

I do exercise regularly. I run 2-4 miles every single day, I average 20,000 steps and usually make it up to 30,000 during the week. I do upper body workouts for 30 minutes every other day. I just need to find a way to relax and stop eating.

I think this is more of a confessional post rather than asking for advice, but all advice is appreciated. I know I need to have willpower and self control.

I know I need to ask myself if I am hungry or not, if I am not hungry I don't need to eat.
I know I need to have self control.
I know just because I want something doesn't mean I need it.

Thanks for listening!

leanjogreen18

Do you have these sweets in your house? Maybe don't purchase them anymore for home. Only eat them when going out or at a friends house. Perhaps buy the single serve options?

You've lost 70 lbs already, you'll figure it out.

flagrantavidity

johunt615 wrote: »

Do you have these sweets in your house? Maybe don't purchase them anymore for home. Only eat them when going out or at a friends house. Perhaps buy the single serve options?

You've lost 70 lbs already, you'll figure it out.

This is a good suggestion, I should get rid of the sweets in the house. I feel like ridding them from the house makes me weak, or its an excuse somehow - because I have always had sweets in the house and it never used to be an issue until the last couple of months. However, there is no harm in ridding the house of sweets if that will help get rid of the temptation of overeating from sweets.

amusedmonkey

flagrantavidity wrote: »

johunt615 wrote: »

Do you have these sweets in your house? Maybe don't purchase them anymore for home. Only eat them when going out or at a friends house. Perhaps buy the single serve options?

You've lost 70 lbs already, you'll figure it out.

This is a good suggestion, I should get rid of the sweets in the house. I feel like ridding them from the house makes me weak, or its an excuse somehow - because I have always had sweets in the house and it never used to be an issue until the last couple of months. However, there is no harm in ridding the house of sweets if that will help get rid of the temptation of overeating from sweets.

Oh no, it doesn't make you weak. You have already lost 70 pounds, so you aren't weak by any standard. It makes for smart maintenance, that's what it is. Whenever you feel like having something sweet, decide what exactly you feel like eating. Not "something sweet", but the exact type and brand of food you really want. Then all you have to do is go and buy a one serving packet of that thing and go home. Don't browse around, just make your way to the exact item you decided to buy and leave. If you want more you would have to go back to the store and buy another single serving. At some point, the inconvenience of having to go to the store multiple times will outweigh your desire for that thing. You may start going multiple times at first, but then as the days go by it starts feeling more and more like a hassle, and after a while you will notice yourself wanting the stuff less and less often. I used this strategy to kick my all day mixed nuts munching habit and it worked like a charm. The trick is to sit a hard rule that you are not allowed to deviate from and stick to it like glue: no multiple servings of sweets unless you "work for it".

PennWalker

flagrantavidity wrote: »

S
In late October, I would get cravings for sweets, something I never used to have trouble with. Normally I would be satisfied eating a half cup of low cal vanilla ice cream (1/2 Cup @ 80 Cal) with some PB2 and unsweetened cocoa powder on top - about 140 calories, or a skinny cow ice cream sandwich at 150 calories.

Now I find myself eating the ice cream, the skinny cow, a fudge pop, then craving more sweets I end up grabbing a clif bar, then by the time is all said and done, I have eaten a chocolate bar, and a few other things... I still log everything and end up eating way too much. This happens in the evenings, after dinner.

I can't eat sweets in moderation. Many people learn how to do this. I can't and I know I can't, so I don't have them in my house. That's my form of control.

I eat an apple if I want something sweet. Other than apples, I don't have loads of fruit in my house because I will eat it all immediately as if it were donuts or ice cream -- I bought some strawberries this week and went right through them. It's the sugar. I do eat a variety of fruit, melon, grapes, etc., but only in a restaurant.

You might be like this, too. I've found that the more sugar I eat, the more I want it.

What helps me: make sure I have some fat in my diet, like avocados and almonds in a salad. i've also bought sugarless gum. Orbit brand tastes like gum with sugar.

Maybe go for a walk after dinner or go to the gym. Try to do something else so you aren't heading to the fridge. Good luck!

starfruit132

I am the same way with night sugar/chocolate eating. I'm still in losing mode, so it has not been a problem yet, but as a yo-yo dieter, I know it is my weakness. It's when I get complacent and bored with the weight loss that I go back to this habit. Not keeping it in the house is a good idea from one from the above posters. Instead of eating everything but the item we want, better to "earn it" by getting it in single serving or pre-plan by exercising first.

PAV8888

Note that amusedmonkey's "trick" or "set-up" is really smart. I say that because I did exactly that when I was starting out on MFP and was trying to cut down on nuts and trail mix and sweets and snacks. My rules involved pre-packed 28.35g bundles of snack "goodies" and while the first pack was "free" every subsequent pack involved more and more walking up to and including walking to the store 2km up the hill before eating the fifth one.

Having said that, the base issue is that you lost hard and fast and primed your metabolism for a rebound. Your body based on hormonal signals is rebounding now that the starvation event is over.

The cravings WILL be more intense than they were before because your body is working against you and TRYING to regain the amount of fat and muscle it used to have!

Un-managed, this hormonal upheaval is likely to continue till you regain your former weight plus, the classic, 10%. This is not about to easily stop on its own and it is not caused by some imagined inherent weakness (other than being human...)

There is some conjecture that this is because your body is trying to replace lean mass lost. Unfortunately during this rebound regain you are primed to store fat first. As such when you reach your former weight you will have slightly less lean mass than before and you will be "primed" to continue regaining till you've fully regained your previous lean mass.

It is best to avoid triggering this condition known as post-starvation hyperphagia

You may or may not be able to overpower these signals with will-power alone. However, the longer you manage to hold the line the better off you'll be as there is a possibility that these signals will diminish over time, especially if you allow for some controlled regain.

My advice is that since you've got lemons: it's time to make the absolute best lemonade that you can.

You are in a bulk and you're starting from a pretty lean position. As such you are actually in a great position to bulk!

So, concentrate on strength building and using the caloric surplus to develop the most amount of muscle that you can.

At the same time, of course, do everything you can to keep this weight increase AS SLOW AS POSSIBLE. Aim for something very very slow and controlled like 1-2lbs a month.

The hope is that if you allow for a slow increase of mostly lean mass over a long period of time the hormonal signalling may diminish, you may be able to stabilise, and you will at the very least have used the extra calories to built lean mass. Which would be GREAT and set you up to be able to deal with a much smaller and slower cut down the road!

To research this further look for information on post-starvation hyperphagia. Also look into adaptive thermogenesis and exercise muscle efficiency.

TL/DR. Reduce cardio by a lot since it may help curb your increased appetite a little bit and it is no longer burning as many calories as it used to. Replace "slow cardio" with higher intensity cardio. And, more importantly, add as much strength training as you can tolerate. Minimize your caloric surplus. At the margins try to generate any surplus with protein and carbs and less so with fats. Use the tricks you learned while losing to make it through. When you crave ice cream...eat chicken breast with garlic and onions and mushrooms (or some other lean protein and low cal carb combination: sugar free 0% yogurt and all-bran buds come to mind) and used the "rules" amusedmonkey suggested to get through.

usmcmp

I saw another one of your threads and just wanted to point out that fasting or extreme restriction will lead to a binge/starve cycle. Don't go down that road. Make small adjustments to lose the weight again rather than dramatic changes.

ecutler100

Sugar Blues book. Sugar cravings are an addiction. To change the environment is good (don't sit and watch TV and eat), def get trigger foods out of house, go to bed earlier, -- the less sugar you eat now, then the less you will crave-your taste buds will tell you things are too sweet. Reaching out online was good. Find other things activities to replace w/o/eating. I'm doing creative projects and getting bed earlier and reading. Good luck, and good night.

aussieketogal

amusedmonkey wrote: »

Oh no, it doesn't make you weak. You have already lost 70 pounds, so you aren't weak by any standard. It makes for smart maintenance, that's what it is. Whenever you feel like having something sweet, decide what exactly you feel like eating. Not "something sweet", but the exact type and brand of food you really want. Then all you have to do is go and buy a one serving packet of that thing and go home. Don't browse around, just make your way to the exact item you decided to buy and leave. If you want more you would have to go back to the store and buy another single serving. At some point, the inconvenience of having to go to the store multiple times will outweigh your desire for that thing. You may start going multiple times at first, but then as the days go by it starts feeling more and more like a hassle, and after a while you will notice yourself wanting the stuff less and less often. I used this strategy to kick my all day mixed nuts munching habit and it worked like a charm. The trick is to sit a hard rule that you are not allowed to deviate from and stick to it like glue: no multiple servings of sweets unless you "work for it".

This is exactly what I do! And I rarely go out and buy it BUT I know it isn't off limits if I'm having a bad day and really want that chocolate bar.

When we're all motivated and being awesome, it's easy to think that 'future you' will continue to be awesome and make the right decisions.

It's like putting something you don't want to do off now, and saying to yourself you will feel like doing it tomorrow. If you don't feel like doing it now, you won't feel like doing it tomorrow either!

So AmusedMonkeys suggestion is about setting up the right environment for when 'future you' tends to not make the best choices.

For me I call it 'how can I trick future me into doing what I want now?' It definitely doesn't make you weak. It makes you smart!

I'm trying to remember the book that I first read about this concept as it was a real ah-ha moment for me but I read too many self help books...

cheryldumais

I don't know if this is any help or not but what I have found is when I start craving alot it's because I have fallen back to old patterns of eating. In my case too much carb and not enough vegetables. The veggies add bulk and tend to make you feel more satisfied. I also agree with the post about sugar. I absolutely can't even go there. Some things in my life can never go back to the way they were. On the upside you are looking for answers and still doing amazing exercise. Hang in there and try some different approaches to your macros. Maybe more protein and a bit less carb?

flagrantavidity

Thank you all for your input, I have managed to get my issue under control this passed week. I am still doing a lot of cardio, weights every other day, I eat 400gram salads every night and usually eat a warm dinner along with a boat load of more vegetables. The main difference is I am eating 2500 calories, I was too hungry trying to eat less then would make bad choices on what I ate, then over ate - a bad cycle to get into.

Unknown

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miratps

Goodness me, this is like me writing my problems. This is exactly what I am going through but I am probably more extreme. I do a crazy amount of exercise (according to my FitBiy my body burns over 3500 cals daily from standard plus exercise). I got past down my goal weight a while ago but now I have a big binge at night. Lots of salad and all that but then after dinner its cookies, yogurts, ice creams all in one go and I am always still well under my calorie target (over 1000+ most days just in case FitBit overestimated). I barely eat anything during the day, maybe a salad which I ge t made at work for roughly 150-200 cals tops.

I need to learn to manage myself better but don't know how.

imanbekkali

I have the same problem,and even worst i think. I lost more almost 30 pounds last year (part of my new year's resolutions) and inwas so proud of myself. The key for me was to become vegetarian, and to tell everyone about my plan. This leads me to have more control over what i eat, and how much,to the point where i became obsessed with food, daily exercise, calories. I did handle it for almost a year,but when i moved to another country last semptembern i found myself binge eating on all the sweets and processed food i used to avoid "because i couldn't allow myself to eat them in front of people" (for me it meat losing control and being weak). Now that i live in a country where no body knows me, i feel like i don't owe anything to anybody. And even though the supermarket is in the suburbs, i go their each time i crave something. Sometimes it feels like I'm hypnotized, and when I realize what i did until i find myself surrounded by the empty packages of cookies, pastries and sweets.. it's always too late!
It's really scary, and i feel more and more alone and find it more difficult to go out and meet people become i feel so disgusting and i don't want the others to look at me and judge my weakness.
I'm going back home in 6 weeks, and i don't want my friends or my family to realize that i gained weight.. it would be a disaster for me!! Please HELP ME!

EspressoLvr

You already know how to do this.

Are you using food to cope? What are you feeling when you get these cravings? Find different coping mechanisms.

cardiacmommy

Two thoughts: was130 too low? That seems low and maybe your body is trying to regulate back up.

Second...I could not control sweets. One year ago this month I stopped cold turkey. It took me several weeks to decide when to stop and be firm in my commitment. I still look at them..sometimes the a sniff, and think that probably tastes yummy. Then I move on. I know if I eat it I will binge. My family keeps sweets in the house and because I abstain 100% it's not a temptation to me. I still can't believe it's been a year. I was a hard core sugar addict. Now i eat a piece of fruit when I want that taste of sweet after dinner.

laura2137

Replace the sweet calories for fruit.....have an extra piece of bread or cup of milk......it's sugar addiction......I know, if I stay away I'm ok, if I indulge, I find it hard to control to 1 portion only......

flagrantavidity

Thanks for the advice and support everyone! I think 130 may have been too low for me. Then I made poor choices in what I ate when my appetite wasn't satisfied. All sweets have been removed except for fudge pops and sugar free pudding mix. This way, if I do have a sweet tooth I have a low calorie option and have to go out of my way to mix up the pudding.

I've been back on track and bumped myself to 2,500 calories.

Deeptisingh

I have quit sugar, but got leeched out to savoury crunchy Indian snacks. Seems like I am my best sabotage agent.
You have still lost 60 lbs I wish I could do that☺

raindawg

I know how you feel. I lost 25 pounds over the course of a year being very disciplined to MFP. Hit my goal then celebrated by putting 10 lbs on over the course of two months. Too much ice cream, fast food, etc. Back on MFP again planning out how I'll do it differently.

I went through this a few years back though and had success on maintenance by slightly under eating maintenance calories during the week then allowing myself a free day on Sundays. Will need to get back to that routine this next go around.

Emmalovestorun

flagrantavidity wrote: »

So, I started the year at 200 pounds, I am 5'7".

During my weight loss I would eat 1500 - 1800 calories daily, from January to June - 6 months I dropped 70 pounds, I made it down to 140 and went from a 38 waist to a 30, I eventually lost 10 more pounds and leveled out at 130 and I stayed that way to the end of September.

I was determined and motivated to change my life, I have always told myself to control the things I can and let go of the things I can't. I felt my weight was something I could control so I did it. In the great words of Yoda, "Do or do not, there is no try." I did it, I lost a hell of alot of weight. Throughout my life, weight and food have always been that battle that I could never seem to get in check, I am an ex: smoker, drinker, and drug addict, but my weight and food always remained.

In October I increased my calories to maintenance mode 2,500 calories. This is when the trouble began...

In late October, I would get cravings for sweets, something I never used to have trouble with. Normally I would be satisfied eating a half cup of low cal vanilla ice cream (1/2 Cup @ 80 Cal) with some PB2 and unsweetened cocoa powder on top - about 140 calories, or a skinny cow ice cream sandwich at 150 calories.

Now I find myself eating the ice cream, the skinny cow, a fudge pop, then craving more sweets I end up grabbing a clif bar, then by the time is all said and done, I have eaten a chocolate bar, and a few other things... I still log everything and end up eating way too much. This happens in the evenings, after dinner.

For example, today I had a 400 calorie breakfast, a 400 calorie lunch, a 200 calorie afternoon snack, a 600 calorie dinner, and a 200 calorie dessert. Then did a sugar binge and ate an additional 2000 calories of sweets - and I feel like poop - like my stomach hurts, i'm bloated, I don't feel well.

I did good yesterday, eating 1,800 calories but blew it hard today. Worst of all, I have gained 10 pounds since the end of october and my pants are fitting more snug than when I first bought them a couple of months back.

I do exercise regularly. I run 2-4 miles every single day, I average 20,000 steps and usually make it up to 30,000 during the week. I do upper body workouts for 30 minutes every other day. I just need to find a way to relax and stop eating.

I think this is more of a confessional post rather than asking for advice, but all advice is appreciated. I know I need to have willpower and self control.

I know I need to ask myself if I am hungry or not, if I am not hungry I don't need to eat.
I know I need to have self control.
I know just because I want something doesn't mean I need it.

Thanks for listening!

Hey, How are you getting onI'm exactly the same, I successfully lost a stone and a half. Sweets, chocolate, cake and cookies were never a problem back then i could have something and be happy. Once i reached maintenance thats when the problem seemed to start. Mine also only ever happens on an evening after my last main meal. I've stopped buying things but don't live alone so the things are still in the house, and if i'm out i'll just by something anyway.
It must be a mind, thing. Its doing my head in as now im gradually seeing the weight creep back up lb by lb, and it's like i can't help it

Emmalovestorun

cardiacmommy wrote: »

Two thoughts: was130 too low? That seems low and maybe your body is trying to regulate back up.

Second...I could not control sweets. One year ago this month I stopped cold turkey. It took me several weeks to decide when to stop and be firm in my commitment. I still look at them..sometimes the a sniff, and think that probably tastes yummy. Then I move on. I know if I eat it I will binge. My family keeps sweets in the house and because I abstain 100% it's not a temptation to me. I still can't believe it's been a year. I was a hard core sugar addict. Now i eat a piece of fruit when I want that taste of sweet after dinner.

Hey, i really need to do this, i did it for a week and felt fantastic, made that bad chioice of trying something again and fell back to bad ways, i'll cut them out completely starting today, hold me to that :-)