Have you ever lost 5lbs in a week? Is it possible (aiming for a one time thing?)

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Replies

  • Annie_01
    Annie_01 Posts: 3,096 Member
    JaneiR36 wrote: »
    Annie_01 wrote: »
    Verity1111 wrote: »
    JaneiR36 wrote: »
    amyepdx wrote: »
    amyepdx wrote: »
    Let's do the math. To lose 5 lbs in a week, you would need to eat 17,500 fewer calories than your maintenance. That is 2,500 a day. Your maintenance is probably right around there if not less. So, you'll virtually have to eat nothing. Doable??

    This is incorrect. You are describing what it takes to lose 5 lbs of fat. The OP asked about 5 lbs of weight.

    Heck, I've lost 5 lbs of weight overnight on more than one occasion.

    Yes silly me - I was trying to give the OP some perspective on what the real goal should be. It seems all the sensible people have dropped off this thread and she's now being encouraged to drop "water weight", so I'll bow out too.

    This whole thread is a bit shocking to me, to be honest. In the original post, I'm reading words like bloated, poor eating, stomach pains all the time, and then to see it followed by all these tips on losing 5 lbs fast. I guess all you have to do is mention you're a parent trying to feed your kids (the first one ever, evidently) and you can get all the unhealthy fad dieting advice you want.

    It's not that I'm insensitive to your being a parent, Verity1111, but what about teaching your kids about actions and consequences? You didn't put in the work to truly lose this amount of weight on time. How about maybe let this one go and properly work at something else in the future? You've got plenty of great advice on how you can still give your kids a great Christmas without needing to resort to the gimmicks. I think you'll do much more for them than taking what I believe is the massive shortcut detailed in this thread.

    How about mind your own business? I have lost 20lbs since October 11th. That means I lost 20lbs in 8 weeks or an average of 2.5lbs a week working my rear off. People lost water weight for competitions ALL the time AND I haven't *kitten* in days and I was retaining water from the 3500mh of salt a day I eat since you need me to be blunt. In fact many are trained to lose weight so even so it isn't that damn serious. 5lbs of (part) water when the body is 50-65% is not harmful and is actually a normal fluctuation. I am just causing it on purpose by changing the foods I eat. I think you need to learn some tact and how to respect other people and mind your own business when all you can do is complain. Really nothing I am doing is unhealthy. My kids are just fine and with that attitude I hope you don't have any to pass the rudeness down to. Eating healthier IS a good example for my kids. What I am doing is healthy. So stop acting like I'm eating a banana a day. There is a difference between weight loss advice that is asked for and commenting on someone as a parent. If we were face to face oh this would of a lot differently. You are crossing lines that are truly ignorant and none of your business.

    Given your post history, what you are doing looks like a fad diet. You are eating more healthily compared to what you were eating, but it looks to be incredibly short term. I'm not sure I'd call what you're doing healthy; it's not unhealthy, but you seem to be learning about water weight manipulation and little to nothing about sustainable food choices that lead to maintainable fat loss.

    Here's the thing though...

    I have water retention problems...most always. It results in that bloated feeling. When I do I cut back even more on my sodium and high sodium foods and increase my water.

    I also experience the bloated feeling and stomach pain with constipation due to intestinal issues. When it gets to a certain point I try to increase my fiber.

    Often at the end of the week I will have lost up to seven or eight pounds. The majority of that loss was water and excess waste.

    I don't know the OP's dietary history because I have never run across her before. However...From what I have read here in this thread it doesn't sound as if she is trying anything different than what I have done before to get my water and stomach issues back on track.

    On the poor eating habits that she talks about (again I don't know what those habits are) but I can tell you that if I go through even a week with "less than good eating habits" my bloating and stomach issues flair up.

    Annie, I'll concede that your post is insightful, but it still strikes me as a red flag that the OP has stomach pains "all the time". Just for my own understanding of the issues you describe, Do you have stomach pain all the time?

    Quite often. Sometimes it is painful(sometimes severely)...other times I am very uncomfortable. On occasion...I get it right (diet and water intake) and I actually feel pretty good. That feel good is at times very short lived. As a result it does seem to be "all the time" that I have stomach issues.

    To compound the matter...I have abdominal hernias that are quite large. When I become constipated it puts pressure on them and the pain is not pleasant. I have been to the ER a couple of times until I figured out how to cope with it and how to alleviate the problem when it occurs.

    Since I don't know the OP I won't share the methods the I use to alleviate this problem. At best they are not ideal at worse...they sometimes cause the opposite of being constipated.

    Before someone says that I should see a doctor...I have.

  • ladyreva78
    ladyreva78 Posts: 4,080 Member
    edited December 2016
    Verity1111 wrote: »
    ladyreva78 wrote: »
    Verity1111 wrote: »
    ladyreva78 wrote: »
    Verity1111 wrote: »
    Verity1111 wrote: »
    The worry I have (I know you will call me mean but I don't care) is will you be able to stop after the contest is over because of your history. I have a similar history and know that going down the rabbit hole again can do very bad things to my brain and lead to further crash dieting.

    LOL I am craving pizza badly. I plan on ordering some chinese food or pizza and binge watching the new Gilmore Girls when this is over lol! Even if I need to sell something to pay for it. or ask my mommy lmso

    Oh yummy! And yes I would check for ibs as that definitely can cause issues. It's annoying but figuring out your trigger foods and avoiding them helps tremendously

    I know your concerns. :) ED can be a bad cycle. I've been good almost consistently for years. I've had short slip ups (lasting a day or two only) but I always pull out of it. And I let myself have treats and order food etc. I dont eat healthy anymore all of the time because I dont have time to cook and I get sick of plain salad all day. Sometimes Ill cook a big batch of soup or enchiladas/tamales or something and it can last but usually I get something filled with sodium and processed sadly and just snack on the healthy stuff. I dont know what causes my IBS. I eat a variety of things...I do have healthy things as snacks and occasionally get a home cooked meal. I eat pasta, bread, veggies, fruit, eggs, cheese, etc. Everything except meat. It may be gluten since it is in so much stuff? I mean Im not eating gluten right now I dont think and my stomach is starting to feel better...although today I am feverish, lethargic and have a sore throat so I might need to break this diet and have a soup. lol. Unless I can figure out an easy one to make from scratch. Caught it from my oldest kid.

    Easy soup recipe from scratch:

    - dice some onions and put into a large pan. Add a smidgen of olive oil (or butter or whatever you have on hand to avoid having the onions stick) and heat until the onion is slightly glassy.
    - cut up whatever veggies you have (carrots and spinach make a pretty yummy mix, but really... anything that counts as a vegetable can go into that pot. About 200-400 grams of veggies in total) and add to the onions.
    - Fill up with water (I usually use a powdered veggie broth, roughly 1 liter of liquids)
    - cook until veggies are mush
    - mix
    - add pepper/salt/whatever spices you have on hand.

    Fun extras to vary taste: coconut milk, curry, lemon grass
    (Side note: celery root and coconut milk are just plain awesome!)

    This gives me about 3-4 servings and I freeze the extra servings to use later. Served with a bit of cheese and bread it's a nice warm meal for busy days. Total time (not counting time to cook) it takes me about 10 minutes to prepare.

    Depending on how much oil/coconut milk/starchy veggies you add, it usually pans out between 100-180 cals per serving.

    Good luck with your contest and I hope your GI doctor will be able to help you!

    I have onions spinach arugala celery and carrots I can use. So do I just cook it in the pan? or do I toss the onions into a pot when I add the other stuff? Thanks for the help! :) and the luck.

    Erm a pot... I meant a pot. It's a mono-dimensional dish (as a friend would call it) as it only requires 1 pot to make it all...

    (I get confused with English cooking terminology sometimes :tongue: I learned to cook in German, so it's always a bit of a switch when talking food in English).

    Oh no problem! I'm part German. ^_^ Also thank you again! Sounds simple and soothing to me.

    You're welcome. :smiley:

    Let me know how it turned out. It's amazingly simple to make good soup with just a handful of ingredients, so I never quite understand how people can stand store-bought soups with how much salt they tend to add to it :astonished: (but that might be the food snob in me talking).

    And please do keep us posted on how you're doing. I think you've got quite a few people worried around here (myself included) :wink: But it's one of the things I like about this community, they'll worry worse than my grandmother ever did - and she was a worry rat of the worst kinds. They might sometimes be a bit gruff (not sure it's the right word) about it, but I think it comes from a place of concern.
  • Verity1111
    Verity1111 Posts: 3,309 Member
    psuLemon wrote: »
    JaneiR36 wrote: »
    psuLemon wrote: »
    JaneiR36 wrote: »
    psuLemon wrote: »
    JaneiR36 wrote: »
    psuLemon wrote: »
    Sued0nim wrote: »
    Verity1111 wrote: »
    amyepdx wrote: »
    Let's do the math. To lose 5 lbs in a week, you would need to eat 17,500 fewer calories than your maintenance. That is 2,500 a day. Your maintenance is probably right around there if not less. So, you'll virtually have to eat nothing. Doable??

    uh that's to lose 5lbs of fat...not water and fat

    So you're planning to intentionally become severely dehydrated,
    Damage your kidneys, liver & intestines ?

    in hopes to win some contest ?

    You might as well cut off your arm to lose 5 pounds for your contest.

    Don't be overly dramatic ..it's just like contest prep for body builders and won't do damage in the short term

    what else could you lose.... mmmmmm. Let. me. think.
    A brain weighs almost 5 pounds.

    Short term water weight manipulation is not harmful nor going to cause any metabolic damage. Bodybuilders due it all the time and for longer periods of time than the OP. Hell, I could manipulate glycogen now and lose an easy 7-10 lbs.


    OP, get as close to very low carb (keto as possible) and you should probably stop exercising now as your body tends to retain fluids for muscle repair. As you approach keto though, you may need to increase sodium to help with electrolyte balance. Eating plenty of potassium and magnesium (darky leafy greens) will provide balance to the electrolytes and ward off some weight increases from sodium.

    TIL beginner with health issues = expert bodybuilder and should do the same things. Brb going to do some motorcross now

    It's literally cutting water weight for a competition. After 5 or 6 more days, she can return to her previous methods of losing weight. If the OP has concerns over her health, it should be worked out with a doctor and a therapist.

    So if I may ask explicitly, would you say the actions of a bodybuilder for cutting water weight prior to a competition can be repeated by the beginner to average dieter with no special skill set or experience required?

    IMO, the expert bodybuilder has a strict nutritional regimen, is an expert at adhering to it and at how their body responds, and knows when to make adjustments wrt to their dietary and training schedules. I personally wouldn't recommend these actions for a person already dealing with health issues.

    As we have talked about is manipulating glycogen. Do you think it's difficult to understand the reduction of carbohydrates to reduce glycogen stores? I gave the OP very basic, so basic anyone could follow, protocols that could allow her to cut weight quickly. It really is simple to reduce carbs to ketogenic levels, increase sodium to 3-5k and maintain her current calorie levels. I haven't discuss PSFM protocol or any other bodybuilding/contest prep protocols because that is probably too much.

    I see. To me, it's a question of priorities at this point. I think one of her prior posts detailing the stresses of feeding the whole family, plus some of her health issues would make for an excellent first or reset/restart post. It seems a bit irresponsible to me to pour on any of these additional manipulations in the face of these health issues (I'm lumping sauna et al in the same category due to the IMO broad statement of a bodybuilder prepping for competition). What if her true diagnosis is contraindicated with any short term protocols she follows? But I suppose none of us knew; the info wasn't shared up front.

    So your tell me, that if you had a chance to win a few hundred dollars, that you wouldn't modify your diet to try? Because I know I would.

    And we are literally only talking a few more days now. And if the OP started to experience worst symptoms, that solution is easy.. stop following the protocols. Not everything has to be intended as a life change. Also, if she does have IBS, than reduce carbs might be helpful. But it's hard to say. And she will have enough time prior to going to the GI to return to her natural dieting.

    I've actually seen improvement in my IBS symptoms already and it's only been 2 days. I'm having less issues with bloating, nausea and also TMI everyone but I can use the bathroom lol which was not happening. Although I spoke to my Dr yesterday and also tried dandelion pills as an herbal remedy for bloating and IBS problems. I was given the go ahead and also told my diet is fine. Yes its not a life change. I love french fries and pizza and pasta and....lol other food thats not so good for me. Im sorry but Im not sorry. I wont be eating clean 100% of the time after this contest. Lol. Ill be living life and enjoying my food unless my GI dr makes me change my diet
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
    Verity1111 wrote: »
    lemurcat12 wrote: »
    JaneiR36 wrote: »
    psuLemon wrote: »
    JaneiR36 wrote: »
    psuLemon wrote: »
    Sued0nim wrote: »
    Verity1111 wrote: »
    amyepdx wrote: »
    Let's do the math. To lose 5 lbs in a week, you would need to eat 17,500 fewer calories than your maintenance. That is 2,500 a day. Your maintenance is probably right around there if not less. So, you'll virtually have to eat nothing. Doable??

    uh that's to lose 5lbs of fat...not water and fat

    So you're planning to intentionally become severely dehydrated,
    Damage your kidneys, liver & intestines ?

    in hopes to win some contest ?

    You might as well cut off your arm to lose 5 pounds for your contest.

    Don't be overly dramatic ..it's just like contest prep for body builders and won't do damage in the short term

    what else could you lose.... mmmmmm. Let. me. think.
    A brain weighs almost 5 pounds.

    Short term water weight manipulation is not harmful nor going to cause any metabolic damage. Bodybuilders due it all the time and for longer periods of time than the OP. Hell, I could manipulate glycogen now and lose an easy 7-10 lbs.


    OP, get as close to very low carb (keto as possible) and you should probably stop exercising now as your body tends to retain fluids for muscle repair. As you approach keto though, you may need to increase sodium to help with electrolyte balance. Eating plenty of potassium and magnesium (darky leafy greens) will provide balance to the electrolytes and ward off some weight increases from sodium.

    TIL beginner with health issues = expert bodybuilder and should do the same things. Brb going to do some motorcross now

    It's literally cutting water weight for a competition. After 5 or 6 more days, she can return to her previous methods of losing weight. If the OP has concerns over her health, it should be worked out with a doctor and a therapist.

    So if I may ask explicitly, would you say the actions of a bodybuilder for cutting water weight prior to a competition can be repeated by the beginner to average dieter with no special skill set or experience required?

    IMO, the expert bodybuilder has a strict nutritional regimen, is an expert at adhering to it and at how their body responds, and knows when to make adjustments wrt to their dietary and training schedules. I personally wouldn't recommend these actions for a person already dealing with health issues.

    A bodybuilder who does it does it for the first time at some point. Lots of non experts dump water weight for short term fitting better in a dress and some such too. I don't think it's a great idea or a healthy approach for someone who truly has fat to lose -- it's one reason I personally dislike contest approaches to weight loss and would never join one -- but I don't think it's unhealthy in general.

    I agree there are more warning flags if someone seems overly concerned about water weight and losing every day in general and has a past history of an ED, but doing this for a week doesn't strike me as particularly concerning, although I do agree with you that if there are the ongoing issues described the next thing probably should be figuring out what is leading to them. I think being bloated all the time sounds quite unpleasant. (My sister was diagnosed with IBS and among other things took fiber for some time which helped but eventually figured out and eliminated some trigger foods (for IBS, she was never overweight) and now has no issues or very rare anyway.)

    Also seriously all Im doing is eating veggies fruit cheese and eggs lol that is not unhealthy?

    Yeah, I don't think what you are doing is a big deal.
  • Verity1111
    Verity1111 Posts: 3,309 Member
    Annie_01 wrote: »
    JaneiR36 wrote: »
    Annie_01 wrote: »
    Verity1111 wrote: »
    JaneiR36 wrote: »
    amyepdx wrote: »
    amyepdx wrote: »
    Let's do the math. To lose 5 lbs in a week, you would need to eat 17,500 fewer calories than your maintenance. That is 2,500 a day. Your maintenance is probably right around there if not less. So, you'll virtually have to eat nothing. Doable??

    This is incorrect. You are describing what it takes to lose 5 lbs of fat. The OP asked about 5 lbs of weight.

    Heck, I've lost 5 lbs of weight overnight on more than one occasion.

    Yes silly me - I was trying to give the OP some perspective on what the real goal should be. It seems all the sensible people have dropped off this thread and she's now being encouraged to drop "water weight", so I'll bow out too.

    This whole thread is a bit shocking to me, to be honest. In the original post, I'm reading words like bloated, poor eating, stomach pains all the time, and then to see it followed by all these tips on losing 5 lbs fast. I guess all you have to do is mention you're a parent trying to feed your kids (the first one ever, evidently) and you can get all the unhealthy fad dieting advice you want.

    It's not that I'm insensitive to your being a parent, Verity1111, but what about teaching your kids about actions and consequences? You didn't put in the work to truly lose this amount of weight on time. How about maybe let this one go and properly work at something else in the future? You've got plenty of great advice on how you can still give your kids a great Christmas without needing to resort to the gimmicks. I think you'll do much more for them than taking what I believe is the massive shortcut detailed in this thread.

    How about mind your own business? I have lost 20lbs since October 11th. That means I lost 20lbs in 8 weeks or an average of 2.5lbs a week working my rear off. People lost water weight for competitions ALL the time AND I haven't *kitten* in days and I was retaining water from the 3500mh of salt a day I eat since you need me to be blunt. In fact many are trained to lose weight so even so it isn't that damn serious. 5lbs of (part) water when the body is 50-65% is not harmful and is actually a normal fluctuation. I am just causing it on purpose by changing the foods I eat. I think you need to learn some tact and how to respect other people and mind your own business when all you can do is complain. Really nothing I am doing is unhealthy. My kids are just fine and with that attitude I hope you don't have any to pass the rudeness down to. Eating healthier IS a good example for my kids. What I am doing is healthy. So stop acting like I'm eating a banana a day. There is a difference between weight loss advice that is asked for and commenting on someone as a parent. If we were face to face oh this would of a lot differently. You are crossing lines that are truly ignorant and none of your business.

    Given your post history, what you are doing looks like a fad diet. You are eating more healthily compared to what you were eating, but it looks to be incredibly short term. I'm not sure I'd call what you're doing healthy; it's not unhealthy, but you seem to be learning about water weight manipulation and little to nothing about sustainable food choices that lead to maintainable fat loss.

    Here's the thing though...

    I have water retention problems...most always. It results in that bloated feeling. When I do I cut back even more on my sodium and high sodium foods and increase my water.

    I also experience the bloated feeling and stomach pain with constipation due to intestinal issues. When it gets to a certain point I try to increase my fiber.

    Often at the end of the week I will have lost up to seven or eight pounds. The majority of that loss was water and excess waste.

    I don't know the OP's dietary history because I have never run across her before. However...From what I have read here in this thread it doesn't sound as if she is trying anything different than what I have done before to get my water and stomach issues back on track.

    On the poor eating habits that she talks about (again I don't know what those habits are) but I can tell you that if I go through even a week with "less than good eating habits" my bloating and stomach issues flair up.

    Annie, I'll concede that your post is insightful, but it still strikes me as a red flag that the OP has stomach pains "all the time". Just for my own understanding of the issues you describe, Do you have stomach pain all the time?

    Quite often. Sometimes it is painful(sometimes severely)...other times I am very uncomfortable. On occasion...I get it right (diet and water intake) and I actually feel pretty good. That feel good is at times very short lived. As a result it does seem to be "all the time" that I have stomach issues.

    To compound the matter...I have abdominal hernias that are quite large. When I become constipated it puts pressure on them and the pain is not pleasant. I have been to the ER a couple of times until I figured out how to cope with it and how to alleviate the problem when it occurs.

    Since I don't know the OP I won't share the methods the I use to alleviate this problem. At best they are not ideal at worse...they sometimes cause the opposite of being constipated.

    Before someone says that I should see a doctor...I have.

    It would be like telling someone with any disease to see a dr. Bowel disorders are just that - permanent disorders. A dr can only do so much.
  • Verity1111
    Verity1111 Posts: 3,309 Member
    edited December 2016
    ladyreva78 wrote: »
    Verity1111 wrote: »
    ladyreva78 wrote: »
    Verity1111 wrote: »
    ladyreva78 wrote: »
    Verity1111 wrote: »
    Verity1111 wrote: »
    The worry I have (I know you will call me mean but I don't care) is will you be able to stop after the contest is over because of your history. I have a similar history and know that going down the rabbit hole again can do very bad things to my brain and lead to further crash dieting.

    LOL I am craving pizza badly. I plan on ordering some chinese food or pizza and binge watching the new Gilmore Girls when this is over lol! Even if I need to sell something to pay for it. or ask my mommy lmso

    Oh yummy! And yes I would check for ibs as that definitely can cause issues. It's annoying but figuring out your trigger foods and avoiding them helps tremendously

    I know your concerns. :) ED can be a bad cycle. I've been good almost consistently for years. I've had short slip ups (lasting a day or two only) but I always pull out of it. And I let myself have treats and order food etc. I dont eat healthy anymore all of the time because I dont have time to cook and I get sick of plain salad all day. Sometimes Ill cook a big batch of soup or enchiladas/tamales or something and it can last but usually I get something filled with sodium and processed sadly and just snack on the healthy stuff. I dont know what causes my IBS. I eat a variety of things...I do have healthy things as snacks and occasionally get a home cooked meal. I eat pasta, bread, veggies, fruit, eggs, cheese, etc. Everything except meat. It may be gluten since it is in so much stuff? I mean Im not eating gluten right now I dont think and my stomach is starting to feel better...although today I am feverish, lethargic and have a sore throat so I might need to break this diet and have a soup. lol. Unless I can figure out an easy one to make from scratch. Caught it from my oldest kid.

    Easy soup recipe from scratch:

    - dice some onions and put into a large pan. Add a smidgen of olive oil (or butter or whatever you have on hand to avoid having the onions stick) and heat until the onion is slightly glassy.
    - cut up whatever veggies you have (carrots and spinach make a pretty yummy mix, but really... anything that counts as a vegetable can go into that pot. About 200-400 grams of veggies in total) and add to the onions.
    - Fill up with water (I usually use a powdered veggie broth, roughly 1 liter of liquids)
    - cook until veggies are mush
    - mix
    - add pepper/salt/whatever spices you have on hand.

    Fun extras to vary taste: coconut milk, curry, lemon grass
    (Side note: celery root and coconut milk are just plain awesome!)

    This gives me about 3-4 servings and I freeze the extra servings to use later. Served with a bit of cheese and bread it's a nice warm meal for busy days. Total time (not counting time to cook) it takes me about 10 minutes to prepare.

    Depending on how much oil/coconut milk/starchy veggies you add, it usually pans out between 100-180 cals per serving.

    Good luck with your contest and I hope your GI doctor will be able to help you!

    I have onions spinach arugala celery and carrots I can use. So do I just cook it in the pan? or do I toss the onions into a pot when I add the other stuff? Thanks for the help! :) and the luck.

    Erm a pot... I meant a pot. It's a mono-dimensional dish (as a friend would call it) as it only requires 1 pot to make it all...

    (I get confused with English cooking terminology sometimes :tongue: I learned to cook in German, so it's always a bit of a switch when talking food in English).

    Oh no problem! I'm part German. ^_^ Also thank you again! Sounds simple and soothing to me.

    You're welcome. :smiley:

    Let me know how it turned out. It's amazingly simple to make good soup with just a handful of ingredients, so I never quite understand how people can stand store-bought soups with how much salt they tend to add to it :astonished: (but that might be the food snob in me talking).

    And please do keep us posted on how you're doing. I think you've got quite a few people worried around here (myself included) :wink: But it's one of the things I like about this community, they'll worry worse than my grandmother ever did - and she was a worry rat of the worst kinds. They might sometimes be a bit gruff (not sure it's the right word) about it, but I think it comes from a place of concern.

    Lol. silly to worry. All Im doing is eating healthy for a week. Thats a good thing. I usually eat junk food and no one ever worries then lol you should worry when I eat an 18" pizza with sides and Im still hungry. Total normal for me BTW Lol. I have been working to not do that. Also I do canned soup because well Im lazy and lack time lol
  • ladyreva78
    ladyreva78 Posts: 4,080 Member
    Honestly, at this point? OP has paid the fee to enter the contest and all the backseat commentary on what she's potentially doing is serving no point.

    I see nothing wrong with going low carb, which is all manipulating glycogen is anyway, for a time to do something for her kids at this point since she's already entered and in this and is obviously taking in calories.

    Heck, I'm planning on doing that very thing myself to fit into a slinky number for NYE in between Christmas and New Years. It beats sitting around in Spanx.

    Hihi... I did that to rock a dress I bought for the company's Christmas dinner. The amount of compliments I received (and keep on receiving) borders on the obscene and I work with mostly extra introverted, male software development engineers who, for the life of them, don't know who to say hi to someone by looking them in the face (the floor must be pretty interesting from what I understand...).
  • ladyreva78
    ladyreva78 Posts: 4,080 Member
    edited December 2016
    Verity1111 wrote: »
    ladyreva78 wrote: »
    Verity1111 wrote: »
    ladyreva78 wrote: »
    Verity1111 wrote: »
    ladyreva78 wrote: »
    Verity1111 wrote: »
    Verity1111 wrote: »
    The worry I have (I know you will call me mean but I don't care) is will you be able to stop after the contest is over because of your history. I have a similar history and know that going down the rabbit hole again can do very bad things to my brain and lead to further crash dieting.

    LOL I am craving pizza badly. I plan on ordering some chinese food or pizza and binge watching the new Gilmore Girls when this is over lol! Even if I need to sell something to pay for it. or ask my mommy lmso

    Oh yummy! And yes I would check for ibs as that definitely can cause issues. It's annoying but figuring out your trigger foods and avoiding them helps tremendously

    I know your concerns. :) ED can be a bad cycle. I've been good almost consistently for years. I've had short slip ups (lasting a day or two only) but I always pull out of it. And I let myself have treats and order food etc. I dont eat healthy anymore all of the time because I dont have time to cook and I get sick of plain salad all day. Sometimes Ill cook a big batch of soup or enchiladas/tamales or something and it can last but usually I get something filled with sodium and processed sadly and just snack on the healthy stuff. I dont know what causes my IBS. I eat a variety of things...I do have healthy things as snacks and occasionally get a home cooked meal. I eat pasta, bread, veggies, fruit, eggs, cheese, etc. Everything except meat. It may be gluten since it is in so much stuff? I mean Im not eating gluten right now I dont think and my stomach is starting to feel better...although today I am feverish, lethargic and have a sore throat so I might need to break this diet and have a soup. lol. Unless I can figure out an easy one to make from scratch. Caught it from my oldest kid.

    Easy soup recipe from scratch:

    - dice some onions and put into a large pan. Add a smidgen of olive oil (or butter or whatever you have on hand to avoid having the onions stick) and heat until the onion is slightly glassy.
    - cut up whatever veggies you have (carrots and spinach make a pretty yummy mix, but really... anything that counts as a vegetable can go into that pot. About 200-400 grams of veggies in total) and add to the onions.
    - Fill up with water (I usually use a powdered veggie broth, roughly 1 liter of liquids)
    - cook until veggies are mush
    - mix
    - add pepper/salt/whatever spices you have on hand.

    Fun extras to vary taste: coconut milk, curry, lemon grass
    (Side note: celery root and coconut milk are just plain awesome!)

    This gives me about 3-4 servings and I freeze the extra servings to use later. Served with a bit of cheese and bread it's a nice warm meal for busy days. Total time (not counting time to cook) it takes me about 10 minutes to prepare.

    Depending on how much oil/coconut milk/starchy veggies you add, it usually pans out between 100-180 cals per serving.

    Good luck with your contest and I hope your GI doctor will be able to help you!

    I have onions spinach arugala celery and carrots I can use. So do I just cook it in the pan? or do I toss the onions into a pot when I add the other stuff? Thanks for the help! :) and the luck.

    Erm a pot... I meant a pot. It's a mono-dimensional dish (as a friend would call it) as it only requires 1 pot to make it all...

    (I get confused with English cooking terminology sometimes :tongue: I learned to cook in German, so it's always a bit of a switch when talking food in English).

    Oh no problem! I'm part German. ^_^ Also thank you again! Sounds simple and soothing to me.

    You're welcome. :smiley:

    Let me know how it turned out. It's amazingly simple to make good soup with just a handful of ingredients, so I never quite understand how people can stand store-bought soups with how much salt they tend to add to it :astonished: (but that might be the food snob in me talking).

    And please do keep us posted on how you're doing. I think you've got quite a few people worried around here (myself included) :wink: But it's one of the things I like about this community, they'll worry worse than my grandmother ever did - and she was a worry rat of the worst kinds. They might sometimes be a bit gruff (not sure it's the right word) about it, but I think it comes from a place of concern.

    Lol. silly to worry. All Im doing is eating healthy for a week. Thats a good thing. I usually eat junk food and no one ever worries then lol you should worry when I eat an 18" pizza with sides and Im still hungry. Total normal for me BTW Lol. I have been working to not do that. Also I do canned soup because well Im lazy and lack time lol

    In this case... do carry on :tongue:

    But actually... see if you can't incorporate some of that healthy eating from this week into your future (finances and time permitting)

    (I know, I know, your circumstances aren't easy... but it's worth a try :wink: )
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
    Verity1111 wrote: »
    psuLemon wrote: »
    JaneiR36 wrote: »
    psuLemon wrote: »
    JaneiR36 wrote: »
    psuLemon wrote: »
    JaneiR36 wrote: »
    psuLemon wrote: »
    Sued0nim wrote: »
    Verity1111 wrote: »
    amyepdx wrote: »
    Let's do the math. To lose 5 lbs in a week, you would need to eat 17,500 fewer calories than your maintenance. That is 2,500 a day. Your maintenance is probably right around there if not less. So, you'll virtually have to eat nothing. Doable??

    uh that's to lose 5lbs of fat...not water and fat

    So you're planning to intentionally become severely dehydrated,
    Damage your kidneys, liver & intestines ?

    in hopes to win some contest ?

    You might as well cut off your arm to lose 5 pounds for your contest.

    Don't be overly dramatic ..it's just like contest prep for body builders and won't do damage in the short term

    what else could you lose.... mmmmmm. Let. me. think.
    A brain weighs almost 5 pounds.

    Short term water weight manipulation is not harmful nor going to cause any metabolic damage. Bodybuilders due it all the time and for longer periods of time than the OP. Hell, I could manipulate glycogen now and lose an easy 7-10 lbs.


    OP, get as close to very low carb (keto as possible) and you should probably stop exercising now as your body tends to retain fluids for muscle repair. As you approach keto though, you may need to increase sodium to help with electrolyte balance. Eating plenty of potassium and magnesium (darky leafy greens) will provide balance to the electrolytes and ward off some weight increases from sodium.

    TIL beginner with health issues = expert bodybuilder and should do the same things. Brb going to do some motorcross now

    It's literally cutting water weight for a competition. After 5 or 6 more days, she can return to her previous methods of losing weight. If the OP has concerns over her health, it should be worked out with a doctor and a therapist.

    So if I may ask explicitly, would you say the actions of a bodybuilder for cutting water weight prior to a competition can be repeated by the beginner to average dieter with no special skill set or experience required?

    IMO, the expert bodybuilder has a strict nutritional regimen, is an expert at adhering to it and at how their body responds, and knows when to make adjustments wrt to their dietary and training schedules. I personally wouldn't recommend these actions for a person already dealing with health issues.

    As we have talked about is manipulating glycogen. Do you think it's difficult to understand the reduction of carbohydrates to reduce glycogen stores? I gave the OP very basic, so basic anyone could follow, protocols that could allow her to cut weight quickly. It really is simple to reduce carbs to ketogenic levels, increase sodium to 3-5k and maintain her current calorie levels. I haven't discuss PSFM protocol or any other bodybuilding/contest prep protocols because that is probably too much.

    I see. To me, it's a question of priorities at this point. I think one of her prior posts detailing the stresses of feeding the whole family, plus some of her health issues would make for an excellent first or reset/restart post. It seems a bit irresponsible to me to pour on any of these additional manipulations in the face of these health issues (I'm lumping sauna et al in the same category due to the IMO broad statement of a bodybuilder prepping for competition). What if her true diagnosis is contraindicated with any short term protocols she follows? But I suppose none of us knew; the info wasn't shared up front.

    So your tell me, that if you had a chance to win a few hundred dollars, that you wouldn't modify your diet to try? Because I know I would.

    And we are literally only talking a few more days now. And if the OP started to experience worst symptoms, that solution is easy.. stop following the protocols. Not everything has to be intended as a life change. Also, if she does have IBS, than reduce carbs might be helpful. But it's hard to say. And she will have enough time prior to going to the GI to return to her natural dieting.

    I've actually seen improvement in my IBS symptoms already and it's only been 2 days. I'm having less issues with bloating, nausea and also TMI everyone but I can use the bathroom lol which was not happening. Although I spoke to my Dr yesterday and also tried dandelion pills as an herbal remedy for bloating and IBS problems. I was given the go ahead and also told my diet is fine. Yes its not a life change. I love french fries and pizza and pasta and....lol other food thats not so good for me. Im sorry but Im not sorry. I wont be eating clean 100% of the time after this contest. Lol. Ill be living life and enjoying my food unless my GI dr makes me change my diet

    Your doctor can work with you, but my sister actually did mostly clear up her symptoms just by finding her triggers (and they were weird ones not bread and so on -- some raw veg (broccoli and cauliflower and cabbage, I think, although she can eat them cooked), melons, avocado, maybe some other stuff I forget), so if you could feel good by figuring them out and cutting them out it might be worth it.

    But jumping ahead, I suppose, since this isn't really the point of the thread.
  • GottaBurnEmAll
    GottaBurnEmAll Posts: 7,722 Member
    lemurcat12 wrote: »
    Verity1111 wrote: »
    psuLemon wrote: »
    JaneiR36 wrote: »
    psuLemon wrote: »
    JaneiR36 wrote: »
    psuLemon wrote: »
    JaneiR36 wrote: »
    psuLemon wrote: »
    Sued0nim wrote: »
    Verity1111 wrote: »
    amyepdx wrote: »
    Let's do the math. To lose 5 lbs in a week, you would need to eat 17,500 fewer calories than your maintenance. That is 2,500 a day. Your maintenance is probably right around there if not less. So, you'll virtually have to eat nothing. Doable??

    uh that's to lose 5lbs of fat...not water and fat

    So you're planning to intentionally become severely dehydrated,
    Damage your kidneys, liver & intestines ?

    in hopes to win some contest ?

    You might as well cut off your arm to lose 5 pounds for your contest.

    Don't be overly dramatic ..it's just like contest prep for body builders and won't do damage in the short term

    what else could you lose.... mmmmmm. Let. me. think.
    A brain weighs almost 5 pounds.

    Short term water weight manipulation is not harmful nor going to cause any metabolic damage. Bodybuilders due it all the time and for longer periods of time than the OP. Hell, I could manipulate glycogen now and lose an easy 7-10 lbs.


    OP, get as close to very low carb (keto as possible) and you should probably stop exercising now as your body tends to retain fluids for muscle repair. As you approach keto though, you may need to increase sodium to help with electrolyte balance. Eating plenty of potassium and magnesium (darky leafy greens) will provide balance to the electrolytes and ward off some weight increases from sodium.

    TIL beginner with health issues = expert bodybuilder and should do the same things. Brb going to do some motorcross now

    It's literally cutting water weight for a competition. After 5 or 6 more days, she can return to her previous methods of losing weight. If the OP has concerns over her health, it should be worked out with a doctor and a therapist.

    So if I may ask explicitly, would you say the actions of a bodybuilder for cutting water weight prior to a competition can be repeated by the beginner to average dieter with no special skill set or experience required?

    IMO, the expert bodybuilder has a strict nutritional regimen, is an expert at adhering to it and at how their body responds, and knows when to make adjustments wrt to their dietary and training schedules. I personally wouldn't recommend these actions for a person already dealing with health issues.

    As we have talked about is manipulating glycogen. Do you think it's difficult to understand the reduction of carbohydrates to reduce glycogen stores? I gave the OP very basic, so basic anyone could follow, protocols that could allow her to cut weight quickly. It really is simple to reduce carbs to ketogenic levels, increase sodium to 3-5k and maintain her current calorie levels. I haven't discuss PSFM protocol or any other bodybuilding/contest prep protocols because that is probably too much.

    I see. To me, it's a question of priorities at this point. I think one of her prior posts detailing the stresses of feeding the whole family, plus some of her health issues would make for an excellent first or reset/restart post. It seems a bit irresponsible to me to pour on any of these additional manipulations in the face of these health issues (I'm lumping sauna et al in the same category due to the IMO broad statement of a bodybuilder prepping for competition). What if her true diagnosis is contraindicated with any short term protocols she follows? But I suppose none of us knew; the info wasn't shared up front.

    So your tell me, that if you had a chance to win a few hundred dollars, that you wouldn't modify your diet to try? Because I know I would.

    And we are literally only talking a few more days now. And if the OP started to experience worst symptoms, that solution is easy.. stop following the protocols. Not everything has to be intended as a life change. Also, if she does have IBS, than reduce carbs might be helpful. But it's hard to say. And she will have enough time prior to going to the GI to return to her natural dieting.

    I've actually seen improvement in my IBS symptoms already and it's only been 2 days. I'm having less issues with bloating, nausea and also TMI everyone but I can use the bathroom lol which was not happening. Although I spoke to my Dr yesterday and also tried dandelion pills as an herbal remedy for bloating and IBS problems. I was given the go ahead and also told my diet is fine. Yes its not a life change. I love french fries and pizza and pasta and....lol other food thats not so good for me. Im sorry but Im not sorry. I wont be eating clean 100% of the time after this contest. Lol. Ill be living life and enjoying my food unless my GI dr makes me change my diet

    Your doctor can work with you, but my sister actually did mostly clear up her symptoms just by finding her triggers (and they were weird ones not bread and so on -- some raw veg (broccoli and cauliflower and cabbage, I think, although she can eat them cooked), melons, avocado, maybe some other stuff I forget), so if you could feel good by figuring them out and cutting them out it might be worth it.

    But jumping ahead, I suppose, since this isn't really the point of the thread.

    Yeah, raw veg are rough on me too.

    I do hope you can get some relief from your issues, OP. IBS isn't fun.
  • MelodyandBarbells
    MelodyandBarbells Posts: 7,724 Member
    psuLemon wrote: »
    JaneiR36 wrote: »
    psuLemon wrote: »
    JaneiR36 wrote: »
    psuLemon wrote: »
    JaneiR36 wrote: »
    psuLemon wrote: »
    Sued0nim wrote: »
    Verity1111 wrote: »
    amyepdx wrote: »
    Let's do the math. To lose 5 lbs in a week, you would need to eat 17,500 fewer calories than your maintenance. That is 2,500 a day. Your maintenance is probably right around there if not less. So, you'll virtually have to eat nothing. Doable??

    uh that's to lose 5lbs of fat...not water and fat

    So you're planning to intentionally become severely dehydrated,
    Damage your kidneys, liver & intestines ?

    in hopes to win some contest ?

    You might as well cut off your arm to lose 5 pounds for your contest.

    Don't be overly dramatic ..it's just like contest prep for body builders and won't do damage in the short term

    what else could you lose.... mmmmmm. Let. me. think.
    A brain weighs almost 5 pounds.

    Short term water weight manipulation is not harmful nor going to cause any metabolic damage. Bodybuilders due it all the time and for longer periods of time than the OP. Hell, I could manipulate glycogen now and lose an easy 7-10 lbs.


    OP, get as close to very low carb (keto as possible) and you should probably stop exercising now as your body tends to retain fluids for muscle repair. As you approach keto though, you may need to increase sodium to help with electrolyte balance. Eating plenty of potassium and magnesium (darky leafy greens) will provide balance to the electrolytes and ward off some weight increases from sodium.

    TIL beginner with health issues = expert bodybuilder and should do the same things. Brb going to do some motorcross now

    It's literally cutting water weight for a competition. After 5 or 6 more days, she can return to her previous methods of losing weight. If the OP has concerns over her health, it should be worked out with a doctor and a therapist.

    So if I may ask explicitly, would you say the actions of a bodybuilder for cutting water weight prior to a competition can be repeated by the beginner to average dieter with no special skill set or experience required?

    IMO, the expert bodybuilder has a strict nutritional regimen, is an expert at adhering to it and at how their body responds, and knows when to make adjustments wrt to their dietary and training schedules. I personally wouldn't recommend these actions for a person already dealing with health issues.

    As we have talked about is manipulating glycogen. Do you think it's difficult to understand the reduction of carbohydrates to reduce glycogen stores? I gave the OP very basic, so basic anyone could follow, protocols that could allow her to cut weight quickly. It really is simple to reduce carbs to ketogenic levels, increase sodium to 3-5k and maintain her current calorie levels. I haven't discuss PSFM protocol or any other bodybuilding/contest prep protocols because that is probably too much.

    I see. To me, it's a question of priorities at this point. I think one of her prior posts detailing the stresses of feeding the whole family, plus some of her health issues would make for an excellent first or reset/restart post. It seems a bit irresponsible to me to pour on any of these additional manipulations in the face of these health issues (I'm lumping sauna et al in the same category due to the IMO broad statement of a bodybuilder prepping for competition). What if her true diagnosis is contraindicated with any short term protocols she follows? But I suppose none of us knew; the info wasn't shared up front.

    So your tell me, that if you had a chance to win a few hundred dollars, that you wouldn't modify your diet to try? Because I know I would.

    And we are literally only talking a few more days now. And if the OP started to experience worst symptoms, that solution is easy.. stop following the protocols. Not everything has to be intended as a life change. Also, if she does have IBS, than reduce carbs might be helpful. But it's hard to say. And she will have enough time prior to going to the GI to return to her natural dieting.

    If I was having health issues and did not even have a diagnosis yet, no, I would not worry about some competition. Can't go to the bathroom, in the midst of other health problems, and the next question that comes up is how do I lose five pounds to win a competition? The phrase that comes to my mind is 'penny wise and pound foolish'. Isn't our health worth more than a couple hundred bucks? If she started to experience symptoms, how would you know that's not the beginning of something more serious or permanent? We don't even know what's wrong with her.

    However, her doctor does and evidently (based on the info she provided them) agrees with this diet.
  • Verity1111
    Verity1111 Posts: 3,309 Member
    ladyreva78 wrote: »
    Verity1111 wrote: »
    ladyreva78 wrote: »
    Verity1111 wrote: »
    ladyreva78 wrote: »
    Verity1111 wrote: »
    ladyreva78 wrote: »
    Verity1111 wrote: »
    Verity1111 wrote: »
    The worry I have (I know you will call me mean but I don't care) is will you be able to stop after the contest is over because of your history. I have a similar history and know that going down the rabbit hole again can do very bad things to my brain and lead to further crash dieting.

    LOL I am craving pizza badly. I plan on ordering some chinese food or pizza and binge watching the new Gilmore Girls when this is over lol! Even if I need to sell something to pay for it. or ask my mommy lmso

    Oh yummy! And yes I would check for ibs as that definitely can cause issues. It's annoying but figuring out your trigger foods and avoiding them helps tremendously

    I know your concerns. :) ED can be a bad cycle. I've been good almost consistently for years. I've had short slip ups (lasting a day or two only) but I always pull out of it. And I let myself have treats and order food etc. I dont eat healthy anymore all of the time because I dont have time to cook and I get sick of plain salad all day. Sometimes Ill cook a big batch of soup or enchiladas/tamales or something and it can last but usually I get something filled with sodium and processed sadly and just snack on the healthy stuff. I dont know what causes my IBS. I eat a variety of things...I do have healthy things as snacks and occasionally get a home cooked meal. I eat pasta, bread, veggies, fruit, eggs, cheese, etc. Everything except meat. It may be gluten since it is in so much stuff? I mean Im not eating gluten right now I dont think and my stomach is starting to feel better...although today I am feverish, lethargic and have a sore throat so I might need to break this diet and have a soup. lol. Unless I can figure out an easy one to make from scratch. Caught it from my oldest kid.

    Easy soup recipe from scratch:

    - dice some onions and put into a large pan. Add a smidgen of olive oil (or butter or whatever you have on hand to avoid having the onions stick) and heat until the onion is slightly glassy.
    - cut up whatever veggies you have (carrots and spinach make a pretty yummy mix, but really... anything that counts as a vegetable can go into that pot. About 200-400 grams of veggies in total) and add to the onions.
    - Fill up with water (I usually use a powdered veggie broth, roughly 1 liter of liquids)
    - cook until veggies are mush
    - mix
    - add pepper/salt/whatever spices you have on hand.

    Fun extras to vary taste: coconut milk, curry, lemon grass
    (Side note: celery root and coconut milk are just plain awesome!)

    This gives me about 3-4 servings and I freeze the extra servings to use later. Served with a bit of cheese and bread it's a nice warm meal for busy days. Total time (not counting time to cook) it takes me about 10 minutes to prepare.

    Depending on how much oil/coconut milk/starchy veggies you add, it usually pans out between 100-180 cals per serving.

    Good luck with your contest and I hope your GI doctor will be able to help you!

    I have onions spinach arugala celery and carrots I can use. So do I just cook it in the pan? or do I toss the onions into a pot when I add the other stuff? Thanks for the help! :) and the luck.

    Erm a pot... I meant a pot. It's a mono-dimensional dish (as a friend would call it) as it only requires 1 pot to make it all...

    (I get confused with English cooking terminology sometimes :tongue: I learned to cook in German, so it's always a bit of a switch when talking food in English).

    Oh no problem! I'm part German. ^_^ Also thank you again! Sounds simple and soothing to me.

    You're welcome. :smiley:

    Let me know how it turned out. It's amazingly simple to make good soup with just a handful of ingredients, so I never quite understand how people can stand store-bought soups with how much salt they tend to add to it :astonished: (but that might be the food snob in me talking).

    And please do keep us posted on how you're doing. I think you've got quite a few people worried around here (myself included) :wink: But it's one of the things I like about this community, they'll worry worse than my grandmother ever did - and she was a worry rat of the worst kinds. They might sometimes be a bit gruff (not sure it's the right word) about it, but I think it comes from a place of concern.

    Lol. silly to worry. All Im doing is eating healthy for a week. Thats a good thing. I usually eat junk food and no one ever worries then lol you should worry when I eat an 18" pizza with sides and Im still hungry. Total normal for me BTW Lol. I have been working to not do that. Also I do canned soup because well Im lazy and lack time lol

    In this case... do carry on :tongue:

    But actually... see if you can't incorporate some of that healthy eating from this week into your future (finances and time permitting)

    (I know, I know, your circumstances aren't easy... but it's worth a try :wink: )

    I am trying lol I was before this but it can be difficult to do 100% of the time and also depressing. I like food lol
  • Verity1111
    Verity1111 Posts: 3,309 Member
    lemurcat12 wrote: »
    Verity1111 wrote: »
    psuLemon wrote: »
    JaneiR36 wrote: »
    psuLemon wrote: »
    JaneiR36 wrote: »
    psuLemon wrote: »
    JaneiR36 wrote: »
    psuLemon wrote: »
    Sued0nim wrote: »
    Verity1111 wrote: »
    amyepdx wrote: »
    Let's do the math. To lose 5 lbs in a week, you would need to eat 17,500 fewer calories than your maintenance. That is 2,500 a day. Your maintenance is probably right around there if not less. So, you'll virtually have to eat nothing. Doable??

    uh that's to lose 5lbs of fat...not water and fat

    So you're planning to intentionally become severely dehydrated,
    Damage your kidneys, liver & intestines ?

    in hopes to win some contest ?

    You might as well cut off your arm to lose 5 pounds for your contest.

    Don't be overly dramatic ..it's just like contest prep for body builders and won't do damage in the short term

    what else could you lose.... mmmmmm. Let. me. think.
    A brain weighs almost 5 pounds.

    Short term water weight manipulation is not harmful nor going to cause any metabolic damage. Bodybuilders due it all the time and for longer periods of time than the OP. Hell, I could manipulate glycogen now and lose an easy 7-10 lbs.


    OP, get as close to very low carb (keto as possible) and you should probably stop exercising now as your body tends to retain fluids for muscle repair. As you approach keto though, you may need to increase sodium to help with electrolyte balance. Eating plenty of potassium and magnesium (darky leafy greens) will provide balance to the electrolytes and ward off some weight increases from sodium.

    TIL beginner with health issues = expert bodybuilder and should do the same things. Brb going to do some motorcross now

    It's literally cutting water weight for a competition. After 5 or 6 more days, she can return to her previous methods of losing weight. If the OP has concerns over her health, it should be worked out with a doctor and a therapist.

    So if I may ask explicitly, would you say the actions of a bodybuilder for cutting water weight prior to a competition can be repeated by the beginner to average dieter with no special skill set or experience required?

    IMO, the expert bodybuilder has a strict nutritional regimen, is an expert at adhering to it and at how their body responds, and knows when to make adjustments wrt to their dietary and training schedules. I personally wouldn't recommend these actions for a person already dealing with health issues.

    As we have talked about is manipulating glycogen. Do you think it's difficult to understand the reduction of carbohydrates to reduce glycogen stores? I gave the OP very basic, so basic anyone could follow, protocols that could allow her to cut weight quickly. It really is simple to reduce carbs to ketogenic levels, increase sodium to 3-5k and maintain her current calorie levels. I haven't discuss PSFM protocol or any other bodybuilding/contest prep protocols because that is probably too much.

    I see. To me, it's a question of priorities at this point. I think one of her prior posts detailing the stresses of feeding the whole family, plus some of her health issues would make for an excellent first or reset/restart post. It seems a bit irresponsible to me to pour on any of these additional manipulations in the face of these health issues (I'm lumping sauna et al in the same category due to the IMO broad statement of a bodybuilder prepping for competition). What if her true diagnosis is contraindicated with any short term protocols she follows? But I suppose none of us knew; the info wasn't shared up front.

    So your tell me, that if you had a chance to win a few hundred dollars, that you wouldn't modify your diet to try? Because I know I would.

    And we are literally only talking a few more days now. And if the OP started to experience worst symptoms, that solution is easy.. stop following the protocols. Not everything has to be intended as a life change. Also, if she does have IBS, than reduce carbs might be helpful. But it's hard to say. And she will have enough time prior to going to the GI to return to her natural dieting.

    I've actually seen improvement in my IBS symptoms already and it's only been 2 days. I'm having less issues with bloating, nausea and also TMI everyone but I can use the bathroom lol which was not happening. Although I spoke to my Dr yesterday and also tried dandelion pills as an herbal remedy for bloating and IBS problems. I was given the go ahead and also told my diet is fine. Yes its not a life change. I love french fries and pizza and pasta and....lol other food thats not so good for me. Im sorry but Im not sorry. I wont be eating clean 100% of the time after this contest. Lol. Ill be living life and enjoying my food unless my GI dr makes me change my diet

    Your doctor can work with you, but my sister actually did mostly clear up her symptoms just by finding her triggers (and they were weird ones not bread and so on -- some raw veg (broccoli and cauliflower and cabbage, I think, although she can eat them cooked), melons, avocado, maybe some other stuff I forget), so if you could feel good by figuring them out and cutting them out it might be worth it.

    But jumping ahead, I suppose, since this isn't really the point of the thread.

    Yeah, raw veg are rough on me too.

    I do hope you can get some relief from your issues, OP. IBS isn't fun.

    Both of you are right. could be anything or everything. I have tons of allergies too so I never know what it is
  • elphie754
    elphie754 Posts: 7,574 Member
    Verity1111 wrote: »
    Yes. I am low residue/low fiber so I can eat only a few very well cooked vegetables. Fruits also are an issue but some are OK without skin and seeds. Whole grains, nuts, seeds, legumes are also an issue as well as spicy food, lactose, red meat and some other things. Everybody is different though so I wouldn't discount it. I would ask for a colonoscopy to make sure.

    That sounds awful. Im allergic to most fruit. I am eating them but its difficult. Sometimes I need to put lime juice on them or dip them in light whipped cream because there is something on the outside of the fruit that bothers me? Somehow putting lime juice on it helps. The dairy sometimes helps too but lime juice is best if I have it. Otherwise I can get a really itchy sore throat and tongue. I'm still eating them. I just need to like "neutralize" whatever it is that bothers me lol Like Im allergic to avocado but not guacamole?

    Possibly oral allergy syndrome? Where you have an allergic reaction in your mouth to raw fruits and sometimes veggies?
  • Chef_Barbell
    Chef_Barbell Posts: 6,644 Member
    elphie754 wrote: »
    Verity1111 wrote: »
    Yes. I am low residue/low fiber so I can eat only a few very well cooked vegetables. Fruits also are an issue but some are OK without skin and seeds. Whole grains, nuts, seeds, legumes are also an issue as well as spicy food, lactose, red meat and some other things. Everybody is different though so I wouldn't discount it. I would ask for a colonoscopy to make sure.

    That sounds awful. Im allergic to most fruit. I am eating them but its difficult. Sometimes I need to put lime juice on them or dip them in light whipped cream because there is something on the outside of the fruit that bothers me? Somehow putting lime juice on it helps. The dairy sometimes helps too but lime juice is best if I have it. Otherwise I can get a really itchy sore throat and tongue. I'm still eating them. I just need to like "neutralize" whatever it is that bothers me lol Like Im allergic to avocado but not guacamole?

    Possibly oral allergy syndrome? Where you have an allergic reaction in your mouth to raw fruits and sometimes veggies?

    I second this suggestion... This is what I have and it makes eating most fruits and some veggies raw such a pain.
  • ladyreva78
    ladyreva78 Posts: 4,080 Member
    Verity1111 wrote: »
    ladyreva78 wrote: »
    Verity1111 wrote: »
    ladyreva78 wrote: »
    Verity1111 wrote: »
    ladyreva78 wrote: »
    Verity1111 wrote: »
    ladyreva78 wrote: »
    Verity1111 wrote: »
    Verity1111 wrote: »
    The worry I have (I know you will call me mean but I don't care) is will you be able to stop after the contest is over because of your history. I have a similar history and know that going down the rabbit hole again can do very bad things to my brain and lead to further crash dieting.

    LOL I am craving pizza badly. I plan on ordering some chinese food or pizza and binge watching the new Gilmore Girls when this is over lol! Even if I need to sell something to pay for it. or ask my mommy lmso

    Oh yummy! And yes I would check for ibs as that definitely can cause issues. It's annoying but figuring out your trigger foods and avoiding them helps tremendously

    I know your concerns. :) ED can be a bad cycle. I've been good almost consistently for years. I've had short slip ups (lasting a day or two only) but I always pull out of it. And I let myself have treats and order food etc. I dont eat healthy anymore all of the time because I dont have time to cook and I get sick of plain salad all day. Sometimes Ill cook a big batch of soup or enchiladas/tamales or something and it can last but usually I get something filled with sodium and processed sadly and just snack on the healthy stuff. I dont know what causes my IBS. I eat a variety of things...I do have healthy things as snacks and occasionally get a home cooked meal. I eat pasta, bread, veggies, fruit, eggs, cheese, etc. Everything except meat. It may be gluten since it is in so much stuff? I mean Im not eating gluten right now I dont think and my stomach is starting to feel better...although today I am feverish, lethargic and have a sore throat so I might need to break this diet and have a soup. lol. Unless I can figure out an easy one to make from scratch. Caught it from my oldest kid.

    Easy soup recipe from scratch:

    - dice some onions and put into a large pan. Add a smidgen of olive oil (or butter or whatever you have on hand to avoid having the onions stick) and heat until the onion is slightly glassy.
    - cut up whatever veggies you have (carrots and spinach make a pretty yummy mix, but really... anything that counts as a vegetable can go into that pot. About 200-400 grams of veggies in total) and add to the onions.
    - Fill up with water (I usually use a powdered veggie broth, roughly 1 liter of liquids)
    - cook until veggies are mush
    - mix
    - add pepper/salt/whatever spices you have on hand.

    Fun extras to vary taste: coconut milk, curry, lemon grass
    (Side note: celery root and coconut milk are just plain awesome!)

    This gives me about 3-4 servings and I freeze the extra servings to use later. Served with a bit of cheese and bread it's a nice warm meal for busy days. Total time (not counting time to cook) it takes me about 10 minutes to prepare.

    Depending on how much oil/coconut milk/starchy veggies you add, it usually pans out between 100-180 cals per serving.

    Good luck with your contest and I hope your GI doctor will be able to help you!

    I have onions spinach arugala celery and carrots I can use. So do I just cook it in the pan? or do I toss the onions into a pot when I add the other stuff? Thanks for the help! :) and the luck.

    Erm a pot... I meant a pot. It's a mono-dimensional dish (as a friend would call it) as it only requires 1 pot to make it all...

    (I get confused with English cooking terminology sometimes :tongue: I learned to cook in German, so it's always a bit of a switch when talking food in English).

    Oh no problem! I'm part German. ^_^ Also thank you again! Sounds simple and soothing to me.

    You're welcome. :smiley:

    Let me know how it turned out. It's amazingly simple to make good soup with just a handful of ingredients, so I never quite understand how people can stand store-bought soups with how much salt they tend to add to it :astonished: (but that might be the food snob in me talking).

    And please do keep us posted on how you're doing. I think you've got quite a few people worried around here (myself included) :wink: But it's one of the things I like about this community, they'll worry worse than my grandmother ever did - and she was a worry rat of the worst kinds. They might sometimes be a bit gruff (not sure it's the right word) about it, but I think it comes from a place of concern.

    Lol. silly to worry. All Im doing is eating healthy for a week. Thats a good thing. I usually eat junk food and no one ever worries then lol you should worry when I eat an 18" pizza with sides and Im still hungry. Total normal for me BTW Lol. I have been working to not do that. Also I do canned soup because well Im lazy and lack time lol

    In this case... do carry on :tongue:

    But actually... see if you can't incorporate some of that healthy eating from this week into your future (finances and time permitting)

    (I know, I know, your circumstances aren't easy... but it's worth a try :wink: )

    I am trying lol I was before this but it can be difficult to do 100% of the time and also depressing. I like food lol

    Don't bother with 100%, that would take superhuman efforts. 1% at a time is plenty enough and before you know it, it'll be 50% of the time. Then 75% of the time (and the remaining 25% people can stick where the sun don't shine. Cause food). It's a matter of learning/changing one habit at a time and practicing it until it sticks. Trying to do everything in one go just made me depressed. Together with a toxic job environment, I ended up 50kg overweight.

    I like food too (hence my food snob comment :wink: ). If I could, I would eat chocolate and cheese all of the time (and I live in Switzerland... imaging how good the cheese and chocolates are here...).

    So during your enforced health week, try and take note of those things that might seem easy for you to integrate into your everyday life and then work on doing them one at a time. First once a week. Then every 2-3 days. When the first of the habits you've decided to add sticks, add another one.

    I set appointments with myself on my phone as reminders. That's how I went from zero work out to consistently working out 3 times a week. That's how I went from eating whatever food comes my way to planing - and sticking to that plan. Took me nearly a year, but I'm getting there. One habit at a time. :smile:

  • ladyreva78
    ladyreva78 Posts: 4,080 Member
    elphie754 wrote: »
    Verity1111 wrote: »
    Yes. I am low residue/low fiber so I can eat only a few very well cooked vegetables. Fruits also are an issue but some are OK without skin and seeds. Whole grains, nuts, seeds, legumes are also an issue as well as spicy food, lactose, red meat and some other things. Everybody is different though so I wouldn't discount it. I would ask for a colonoscopy to make sure.

    That sounds awful. Im allergic to most fruit. I am eating them but its difficult. Sometimes I need to put lime juice on them or dip them in light whipped cream because there is something on the outside of the fruit that bothers me? Somehow putting lime juice on it helps. The dairy sometimes helps too but lime juice is best if I have it. Otherwise I can get a really itchy sore throat and tongue. I'm still eating them. I just need to like "neutralize" whatever it is that bothers me lol Like Im allergic to avocado but not guacamole?

    Possibly oral allergy syndrome? Where you have an allergic reaction in your mouth to raw fruits and sometimes veggies?

    I second this suggestion... This is what I have and it makes eating most fruits and some veggies raw such a pain.

    A friend has that too. She has a very limited list of fruits she will touch and prefers to avoid fruit all together if nothing available is on her safe list.

    She's not willing to eat something that will make her miserable.
  • born_of_fire74
    born_of_fire74 Posts: 776 Member
    edited December 2016
    jh636 wrote: »
    Keto

    Keto is a process that takes time to achieve. It's unlikely to help in this specific case as becoming keto-adapted generally takes about a month and OP has only a week.

    Actually, you see the benefits of it within a week of starting when your body releases water weight used to break glucose down. Depending on your current weight/eating habits, you can lose over 10 lbs of water weight in that time.
    It takes 24h to transition into ketosis, but about 2-4 weeks to be keto adapted to be burning fat as your staple energy source.

    I'm seconding keto if you are really serious about this. I'd look into the side effect of the transitioning into ketosis since you will need more minerals and electrolytes to not suffer from the dreaded 'keto flu'.

    It seems we are basically talking six of one and half a dozen of the other as the initial stages of keto appear to be more or less identical to what is involved in a short-term weight cut--manipulating glycogen and water retention. It was silly of me to assume you meant for her to adopt a keto lifestyle when the topic at hand is regarding a temporary situation. My apologies.

  • Tacklewasher
    Tacklewasher Posts: 7,122 Member
    Verity1111, I'm going to laugh a very small amount if this week of trying to shed some pounds quickly for a contest ends up showing you what foods are causing you longer term issues and you end up with a healthier diet because of the contest.

    I wish you luck in the contest and think you should be not too quick to go back to pizza etc. if they made you feel like crap.

  • Verity1111
    Verity1111 Posts: 3,309 Member
    Verity1111, I'm going to laugh a very small amount if this week of trying to shed some pounds quickly for a contest ends up showing you what foods are causing you longer term issues and you end up with a healthier diet because of the contest.

    I wish you luck in the contest and think you should be not too quick to go back to pizza etc. if they made you feel like crap.

    Well it very well might. So many replies lol I am weighing in everyday only for this week for fun and I am down another 1/2 lb today. I ate a big plate of food around 2am too so I figured I might be holding on to some of it but guess not! I just made a very lazy vegetable soup in the microwave. The broth made it kind of high sodium but I figure it is still healthier than ramen noodles for me since Im sick right now :)
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,427 MFP Moderator
    Verity1111 wrote: »
    Verity1111, I'm going to laugh a very small amount if this week of trying to shed some pounds quickly for a contest ends up showing you what foods are causing you longer term issues and you end up with a healthier diet because of the contest.

    I wish you luck in the contest and think you should be not too quick to go back to pizza etc. if they made you feel like crap.

    Well it very well might. So many replies lol I am weighing in everyday only for this week for fun and I am down another 1/2 lb today. I ate a big plate of food around 2am too so I figured I might be holding on to some of it but guess not! I just made a very lazy vegetable soup in the microwave. The broth made it kind of high sodium but I figure it is still healthier than ramen noodles for me since Im sick right now :)

    What are your carbs sitting at?
  • Tacklewasher
    Tacklewasher Posts: 7,122 Member
    If only there was a way to time the stupid changes in the scale. I'm down .9 lb from yesterday but doubt it will stick tomorrow. Just seems to be the way it goes.
  • Verity1111
    Verity1111 Posts: 3,309 Member
    psuLemon wrote: »
    Verity1111 wrote: »
    Verity1111, I'm going to laugh a very small amount if this week of trying to shed some pounds quickly for a contest ends up showing you what foods are causing you longer term issues and you end up with a healthier diet because of the contest.

    I wish you luck in the contest and think you should be not too quick to go back to pizza etc. if they made you feel like crap.

    Well it very well might. So many replies lol I am weighing in everyday only for this week for fun and I am down another 1/2 lb today. I ate a big plate of food around 2am too so I figured I might be holding on to some of it but guess not! I just made a very lazy vegetable soup in the microwave. The broth made it kind of high sodium but I figure it is still healthier than ramen noodles for me since Im sick right now :)

    What are your carbs sitting at?

    Carbs are still hitting around 100. Sometimes a little over or under. I am just avoiding grains, pasta and sodium for the most part. It's working for me.
  • Verity1111
    Verity1111 Posts: 3,309 Member
    edited December 2016
    If only there was a way to time the stupid changes in the scale. I'm down .9 lb from yesterday but doubt it will stick tomorrow. Just seems to be the way it goes.

    That bites. Mine does that sometimes, but the last 3 days it is down down down...very quickly. I assume I was right about the excess water. I'm at 202 today and I was 205.4 just 3 days ago. No exercise. Net goal is 1200. My dr told me 1200 is fine for me before anyone starts ranting lol she said just try not to go under 1000 and get close to 1200 or a bit over.
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,427 MFP Moderator
    Verity1111 wrote: »
    psuLemon wrote: »
    Verity1111 wrote: »
    Verity1111, I'm going to laugh a very small amount if this week of trying to shed some pounds quickly for a contest ends up showing you what foods are causing you longer term issues and you end up with a healthier diet because of the contest.

    I wish you luck in the contest and think you should be not too quick to go back to pizza etc. if they made you feel like crap.

    Well it very well might. So many replies lol I am weighing in everyday only for this week for fun and I am down another 1/2 lb today. I ate a big plate of food around 2am too so I figured I might be holding on to some of it but guess not! I just made a very lazy vegetable soup in the microwave. The broth made it kind of high sodium but I figure it is still healthier than ramen noodles for me since Im sick right now :)

    What are your carbs sitting at?

    Carbs are still hitting around 100. Sometimes a little over or under. I am just avoiding grains, pasta and sodium for the most part. It's working for me.

    If you can get them down a bit more and replace them with fat, it should help a bit more. Although, if you get close to ketogenic levels, (<50g), than you want to increase sodium.
  • Verity1111
    Verity1111 Posts: 3,309 Member
    edited December 2016
    If only there was a way to time the stupid changes in the scale. I'm down .9 lb from yesterday but doubt it will stick tomorrow. Just seems to be the way it goes.

    Also, most of the carbs are from carrots, apple, tomatoes and the bit of salsa/lite dressing or occasional orange juice I let myself have (no additives, just fresh squeezed orange juice). Oh, and onion.
  • MelodyandBarbells
    MelodyandBarbells Posts: 7,724 Member
    psuLemon wrote: »
    JaneiR36 wrote: »
    psuLemon wrote: »
    JaneiR36 wrote: »
    psuLemon wrote: »
    JaneiR36 wrote: »
    psuLemon wrote: »
    JaneiR36 wrote: »
    psuLemon wrote: »
    Sued0nim wrote: »
    Verity1111 wrote: »
    amyepdx wrote: »
    Let's do the math. To lose 5 lbs in a week, you would need to eat 17,500 fewer calories than your maintenance. That is 2,500 a day. Your maintenance is probably right around there if not less. So, you'll virtually have to eat nothing. Doable??

    uh that's to lose 5lbs of fat...not water and fat

    So you're planning to intentionally become severely dehydrated,
    Damage your kidneys, liver & intestines ?

    in hopes to win some contest ?

    You might as well cut off your arm to lose 5 pounds for your contest.

    Don't be overly dramatic ..it's just like contest prep for body builders and won't do damage in the short term

    what else could you lose.... mmmmmm. Let. me. think.
    A brain weighs almost 5 pounds.

    Short term water weight manipulation is not harmful nor going to cause any metabolic damage. Bodybuilders due it all the time and for longer periods of time than the OP. Hell, I could manipulate glycogen now and lose an easy 7-10 lbs.


    OP, get as close to very low carb (keto as possible) and you should probably stop exercising now as your body tends to retain fluids for muscle repair. As you approach keto though, you may need to increase sodium to help with electrolyte balance. Eating plenty of potassium and magnesium (darky leafy greens) will provide balance to the electrolytes and ward off some weight increases from sodium.

    TIL beginner with health issues = expert bodybuilder and should do the same things. Brb going to do some motorcross now

    It's literally cutting water weight for a competition. After 5 or 6 more days, she can return to her previous methods of losing weight. If the OP has concerns over her health, it should be worked out with a doctor and a therapist.

    So if I may ask explicitly, would you say the actions of a bodybuilder for cutting water weight prior to a competition can be repeated by the beginner to average dieter with no special skill set or experience required?

    IMO, the expert bodybuilder has a strict nutritional regimen, is an expert at adhering to it and at how their body responds, and knows when to make adjustments wrt to their dietary and training schedules. I personally wouldn't recommend these actions for a person already dealing with health issues.

    As we have talked about is manipulating glycogen. Do you think it's difficult to understand the reduction of carbohydrates to reduce glycogen stores? I gave the OP very basic, so basic anyone could follow, protocols that could allow her to cut weight quickly. It really is simple to reduce carbs to ketogenic levels, increase sodium to 3-5k and maintain her current calorie levels. I haven't discuss PSFM protocol or any other bodybuilding/contest prep protocols because that is probably too much.

    I see. To me, it's a question of priorities at this point. I think one of her prior posts detailing the stresses of feeding the whole family, plus some of her health issues would make for an excellent first or reset/restart post. It seems a bit irresponsible to me to pour on any of these additional manipulations in the face of these health issues (I'm lumping sauna et al in the same category due to the IMO broad statement of a bodybuilder prepping for competition). What if her true diagnosis is contraindicated with any short term protocols she follows? But I suppose none of us knew; the info wasn't shared up front.

    So your tell me, that if you had a chance to win a few hundred dollars, that you wouldn't modify your diet to try? Because I know I would.

    And we are literally only talking a few more days now. And if the OP started to experience worst symptoms, that solution is easy.. stop following the protocols. Not everything has to be intended as a life change. Also, if she does have IBS, than reduce carbs might be helpful. But it's hard to say. And she will have enough time prior to going to the GI to return to her natural dieting.

    If I was having health issues and did not even have a diagnosis yet, no, I would not worry about some competition. Can't go to the bathroom, in the midst of other health problems, and the next question that comes up is how do I lose five pounds to win a competition? The phrase that comes to my mind is 'penny wise and pound foolish'. Isn't our health worth more than a couple hundred bucks? If she started to experience symptoms, how would you know that's not the beginning of something more serious or permanent? We don't even know what's wrong with her.

    However, her doctor does and evidently (based on the info she provided them) agrees with this diet.

    Whats ironic, is that the manipulation of her diet to support winning the competition has improved has she has felt in the past two days. If she does have IBS, a diet higher in fiber could cause flare ups. So it's quite possible that what she is doing is actually going to help provide more answers and improve her health.

    And again, something I can't stress enough, the OP is only modifying macro's; not taking sweeping reductions in calories. And she largely eats whole foods. I am not sure how reducing carbs and increasing fats/proteins will somehow negatively affect her health or condition.

    Based on how the OP feels, I would think it's extremely foolish to continue to eat in the same manor which causes them pain. If I was in her shoes, I would modify the foods and macros I ate to figure out what foods where causing the biggest responses. After I ate, I would document how I felt and any symptoms. This way, she has more data available for a discussion with the doctor. Something, my wife and I did prior to all her appointments.

    I do agree with the idea of manipulating foods for the purpose of resolving her health issues. Having lost 20 lbs in eight weeks or 2.5 lbs per week and now wanting "help" from MFP losing another five lbs in one week just reeks of red flags to me. We'll just have to agree to disagree on this being a reasonable and responsible path to physical and mental health.
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