Are you still playing diet games?

TerezaToledo

New blog post from one of our newest additions to Team EM2WL: Kelly!!

"I can remember being asked the simple question “How are you?” And my answer would always be based on what the scale said that morning – If it was down, then I was happy. If it was up, I was angry/miserable/sad/confused etc..."

http://eatmore2weighless.com/still-playing-diet-games/

Tereza
Team EM2WL CPT and Coach

Jdkbs

Hello,

I'm a re newby. I have been reading on the em2wl website, bumping up my protien and slowly adding strength training to my workouts.

I am obese for my height and am faced with joining an optifast program to get into a healthy weight range offered by a local hospital OR trust the em2wl program.

I am scared and tired of the starve depression binge cycle.

Has anyone been obese and succeed in this program? Please share your experience.

Thanks❤

zanyzana

Hi there, I know how you're feeling - I've wondered the same thing myself. I've been following this approach since October and am now approximately 93kg (204lb) at 5"2'. While finding TDEE, I gained a little bit, and I'm now resetting. Every day I fight the urge to cut calories. I've been resetting for about 3 weeks, I think. My feet are killing me. My left hips aches in bed, my lower back sometimes twinges and my knees are just cactus. But... but I know that cutting now would shortchange my body's repair. It is healing and I am learning how to maintain weight. I've been dieting since 13 or 14 and my body has never maintained a weight. I don't think I have a "set weight" to return to - I've always either been gaining or losing, starving or bingeing. If you've ever tried shakes to lose weight before, you know that the rapid loss is followed by a rapid gain. And that you end up heavier and more full of body hatred than ever. And shame. And anger. And fear. I can't vouch that EM2WL will work, as I've not seen it through yet, but I can vouch that nothing else will work long term. And I tell you what, not bingeing at night because I'm not hungry is worth the sore feet and knees etc. this is definitely the tortoise approach, but the hare's way has never worked, so I'm sticking it through. I hope somebody can answer your question positively, I'll be watching, but if they don't, it doesn't mean that Optifast is the way forward. Because the hare's tricks only work in the short-term....

hbunting86

Hi - I've been on MFP for quite a long time now, and I can say with confidence that EM2WL IS a successful way of losing weight and getting healthy. Using this approach not only resets your body, but it also resets the way you think about food as a whole. Food isn't just a number of calories, and you are not just a number on a scale. Food is essential to life, and it's there to be enjoyed and for me, I think to enjoy it you have to understand it. Understand how it affects your mind and body and how you can eat in a way that promotes lifestyle change rather than focusing on reducing numbers on a scale. The numbers don't hold the key to sustainability or happiness. We can all grab a shake or smoothie, cut calories and eat ourselves crazy by working out how much a deficit we can 'get away with' - but it's not a long term solution. You'll always FEEL like you're on a diet and when you FEEL like you're on a diet, subconsciously you're always trying to find a way to come off it. The end goal is always to finish the diet and have that 'aha' moment where you can eat normally and maintain the weight you are when you were 'on' the diet. It doesn't work like that I'm afraid because it's not a lifestyle change, therefore any alteration to a particular pattern of food intake you're doing will result in the proportionate changes in your body. It's a bit like a maths equation.

But still.... it's taken a lot of mistakes and learning for me to come to the conclusion that the only way to get to your own PERSONAL sustainable weight and activity level is by changing your lifestyle. Eat clean, don't rely on processed quick fix meal solutions. THINK about the nutrients you're putting in your body and treat that body with the respect it deserves. It carries your around for your whole life, so it deserves to be fed with good stuff!

So in reply to your post I'd avoid the Optifast solution - quick fixes are exactly that. It's like putting on a sticking plaster. At some point it'll get wet and fall off, or gradually peel away or just get ripped off in one go. My point is, the plaster is no longer there and you're right back to square one feeling more desperate, more depressed and even less enthused about taking on another new 'diet'. So think of it as a lifestyle choice - food is not the enemy. Make friends with it and you'll be fine

Jdkbs

Thanks hbunting86. I needed to here that. Optifast does not seem to be the solution. Even if my Dr. has prescribed it. I don't think I have it in me to diet anymore...
I'd love to feel freedom with food once and for all as I continue to also make more nourishing choices.

I am happy to find this group and your support to get my head straight when needed. ❤

scaryann1

I too have decades of disordered eating. Until this past year I only ever hit 2000 calories once a week or so. I got up to 305 pounds by eating under 800 calories a day on average. And that was with the once a week having a binge of 2000 - 2300 calories. There were many days that I was eating 500 calories a day. I was exhausted all the time. I spent 10 + hours a day sitting on my reclining loveseat. It has taken me a full year to get to 2300 calories a day consistently. As of this morning I weighed in at 293. Within a month of getting my intake up to 1200 I was down to 279, but then started gaining again rapidly, so I knew I still wasn't eating enough. I'm finally up to 2000 - 2300 consistently. I'm hovering right around 290 pounds. I now have the energy to wash my dishes and sit without reclining all day. I have a connective tissue disorder so I have to be very careful with any movements I do, so I can't do a lot of housework or lifting. But since I started working with beads I have noticed my fingers getting stronger as my bead work is getting tighter.

I feel so much better than I did a year ago, and isn't that the best part of it all?

Raynn1

@hbunting86 May i quote your post for our NSVs? Its full of amazing things Id like to share with the fam! Thank you so much for your words. You nailed it!

Yes, @Jdkbs EM2WL is completely different than anything you have done before because it is NOT a diet. We are trying to get you to understand that dieting and restriction programs are quick fixes where eventually those wont help you anymore.. Like many,I imagine the first time you dieted, the weight came off really fast.. then the second or third time, it took a little longer to lose the same amount.. by the tenth or twentieth time on a diet... it becomes near impossible to have ANY success, let alone reach our supposed goals.

We are teaching how the body actually NEEDS food, and far more than any diet or doctor have ever said. Remember, your doctor is a GP.. that means hes studied everything, but nothing intensely.. so the nutrition part of their education might have been on a few days or a week tops... Even some dieticians havent quite figured out that starving on 1200 cals or so is not healthy... But look between the lines and you will find the industry is shifting and more and more studies are showing the damaging effects diets play on our bodies.
Metabolism is essential to burning fat in your body.. so if its not burning at its potential, it cant get the fat off.. Therefore the goal is to get your metabolism burning where it needs to be first, THEN worry about cutting cals after..

I would encourage you to read through our stickies at the top of the community page to have a better understanding of how things work so you know what you are getting yourself into.. Its a long, very long process and will absolutely NOT happen in the same timeframe that diets do. This is about taking back your life and never having to jump down the dieting rabbit hole again.

Kelly
Team EM2WL