Is it best to eat as much as you can?

teags84mfp
teags84mfp Posts: 49 Member
edited November 20 in Health and Weight Loss
Hello all

So this is my first post here. I have been reading up a lot on these forums for a few weeks and I must say, I am really learning so much about the mechanics of weight loss and more importantly keeping it off.

So long story short, I lost 32 kgs last year which took me only 7 months. I was not calorie counting but developed a rather bad relationship with food. I was really motivated by the huge amounts I was losing each day, but eating very very little to sustain the loss. Basically when I look at my diet at my lowest weight, I was eating far below 1000 cals for sure. I knew it wasnt right and my health suffered-huge amount of hair loss and feeling faint and dizzy.

One day I went on an ultimate binge, which triggered a non stop binge/restrict cycle, that i have been in for nearly a year now. I have gained back 15kgs and I am so sad. My body was screaming for me to eat and I did-too much. I have tried to get back to it, losing a few kgs only to gain them back again by being too restrictive. I am in a very self desructive pattern that I cant seem to escape and am scared I will never get a grip on this.

I want to lose this weight fast, but the smart part of my brain is saying "no, this has to take time, you need to eat more while losing weight so that you can keep it off forever". I dont want to eat low carb- been there done that and it works while I am losing weight but obviously does not work for me long term. Since i was 18 i have lost and gained 20kgs plus about 5 times. This time I want it to be forever.

My question is, is the trick for permanent weight loss really as simple to eat just 500 cals under my TEED, eat whatever i want, without fear of carbs, feel full and lose weight at a slower rate? And my cals will drop as I lose weight, but not so far so that when i reach maintenance I am barely able to eat anything without putting on weight, is that correct?

I am 83kgs, female and 163cms. I would like to get to 68 kgs like i was last year- high end of healthy BMI. I have worked out that i need to eat about 1700cals plus exercise on top of that to lose 500gms a week, so 1500 cals after exercise- I hope this is right ;) My apologies for people not familiar with the metric system.

Thank you all to those who have read my first post. I am just wanting reassurance that I am going about this the right and sensible way xx

Replies

  • teags84mfp
    teags84mfp Posts: 49 Member
    Thanks for reply and advice Lilly, yes I was seriously considering going to my GP about this, because my thinking and emotions around food are not healthy that's for sure.
  • rmgnow
    rmgnow Posts: 375 Member
    teags84mfp wrote: »
    Hello all

    So this is my first post here. I have been reading up a lot on these forums for a few weeks and I must say, I am really learning so much about the mechanics of weight loss and more importantly keeping it off.

    So long story short, I lost 32 kgs last year which took me only 7 months. I was not calorie counting but developed a rather bad relationship with food. I was really motivated by the huge amounts I was losing each day, but eating very very little to sustain the loss. Basically when I look at my diet at my lowest weight, I was eating far below 1000 cals for sure. I knew it wasnt right and my health suffered-huge amount of hair loss and feeling faint and dizzy.

    One day I went on an ultimate binge, which triggered a non stop binge/restrict cycle, that i have been in for nearly a year now. I have gained back 15kgs and I am so sad. My body was screaming for me to eat and I did-too much. I have tried to get back to it, losing a few kgs only to gain them back again by being too restrictive. I am in a very self desructive pattern that I cant seem to escape and am scared I will never get a grip on this.

    I want to lose this weight fast, but the smart part of my brain is saying "no, this has to take time, you need to eat more while losing weight so that you can keep it off forever". I dont want to eat low carb- been there done that and it works while I am losing weight but obviously does not work for me long term. Since i was 18 i have lost and gained 20kgs plus about 5 times. This time I want it to be forever.

    My question is, is the trick for permanent weight loss really as simple to eat just 500 cals under my TEED, eat whatever i want, without fear of carbs, feel full and lose weight at a slower rate? And my cals will drop as I lose weight, but not so far so that when i reach maintenance I am barely able to eat anything without putting on weight, is that correct?

    I am 83kgs, female and 163cms. I would like to get to 68 kgs like i was last year- high end of healthy BMI. I have worked out that i need to eat about 1700cals plus exercise on top of that to lose 500gms a week, so 1500 cals after exercise- I hope this is right ;) My apologies for people not familiar with the metric system.

    Thank you all to those who have read my first post. I am just wanting reassurance that I am going about this the right and sensible way xx

    Damn. Don't do that to yourself.
    So many people go on the crash course and fail. Why was it so appealing for you?
    I really wanna lnow
  • Tania_181
    Tania_181 Posts: 100 Member
    For both your physical and mental health I suggest you seek help from a medical professional. Both a severely restrictive diet and a binge eating cycle are suggestive of an eating disorder (or at the very least disordered eating that could lead into an eating disorder). It sounds like you know logically what works and what doesn't - just plug your numbers into MFP and it will give you your calorie requirements - but it's important to be careful as calorie counting can also become an obsession. Best wishes.
  • Sashslay
    Sashslay Posts: 136 Member
    For me long term weight loss comes from eating what I want!

    The idea being that if I want to maintain my weight after I hit my goal weight, I need to develop those habits now. So I eat my pastas, chocolate mousse, fruits and veggies but I make sure to accurately log everything. I watch my serving sizes, drink a large amount of water and make sure I keep my steps up. (I've managed to lose 11kg in about 40 days, including 2 weeks of holidays, anniversaries etc)

    It's trial and error though, everyone has to develop their own system! The only way to start is simply to start, you'll begin to figure it out. But most importantly check in with your doc and see what they say :) Goodluck!
  • CattOfTheGarage
    CattOfTheGarage Posts: 2,745 Member
    I would absolutely say eat as much as you can get away with while still losing weight. Go for a moderate rate of loss that gives you a calorie budget you can live with - a pound a week, half a pound a week, whatever works for you.

    @amusedmonkey is right that you also need to deal with psychological matters, but I have found that these come up naturally in the course of weight loss, I didn't need to plan for them.

    I think most people probably do best without cutting out specific foods. Some folk do better on eg low carb, but there are many of us for whom rules are there to be broken and banning foods invites binging.

    Good luck!
  • teags84mfp
    teags84mfp Posts: 49 Member
    rmgnow wrote: »
    teags84mfp wrote: »
    Hello all

    So this is my first post here. I have been reading up a lot on these forums for a few weeks and I must say, I am really learning so much about the mechanics of weight loss and more importantly keeping it off.

    So long story short, I lost 32 kgs last year which took me only 7 months. I was not calorie counting but developed a rather bad relationship with food. I was really motivated by the huge amounts I was losing each day, but eating very very little to sustain the loss. Basically when I look at my diet at my lowest weight, I was eating far below 1000 cals for sure. I knew it wasnt right and my health suffered-huge amount of hair loss and feeling faint and dizzy.

    One day I went on an ultimate binge, which triggered a non stop binge/restrict cycle, that i have been in for nearly a year now. I have gained back 15kgs and I am so sad. My body was screaming for me to eat and I did-too much. I have tried to get back to it, losing a few kgs only to gain them back again by being too restrictive. I am in a very self desructive pattern that I cant seem to escape and am scared I will never get a grip on this.

    I want to lose this weight fast, but the smart part of my brain is saying "no, this has to take time, you need to eat more while losing weight so that you can keep it off forever". I dont want to eat low carb- been there done that and it works while I am losing weight but obviously does not work for me long term. Since i was 18 i have lost and gained 20kgs plus about 5 times. This time I want it to be forever.

    My question is, is the trick for permanent weight loss really as simple to eat just 500 cals under my TEED, eat whatever i want, without fear of carbs, feel full and lose weight at a slower rate? And my cals will drop as I lose weight, but not so far so that when i reach maintenance I am barely able to eat anything without putting on weight, is that correct?

    I am 83kgs, female and 163cms. I would like to get to 68 kgs like i was last year- high end of healthy BMI. I have worked out that i need to eat about 1700cals plus exercise on top of that to lose 500gms a week, so 1500 cals after exercise- I hope this is right ;) My apologies for people not familiar with the metric system.

    Thank you all to those who have read my first post. I am just wanting reassurance that I am going about this the right and sensible way xx

    Damn. Don't do that to yourself.
    So many people go on the crash course and fail. Why was it so appealing for you?
    I really wanna lnow

    Hey guys I really appreciate all the wonderful feedback, it really really helps me see a different perspective on all this.

    In response to why it was so appealing for me? Gosh what a great question. I dont know if I have the answer. I just always stupidly believed that there is a certain amount of suffering and sacrifice that comes with losing weight. The more weight I lost, and the more I liked seeing my new slimmer figure in the mirror, just urged me on in an unhealthy way where it became an obsession. I would make my kids delicious birthday cakes, taking hours to do so- and not even enjoy a single crumb. I now know that this mindset is very skewed and has contributed to where I am at today.

    My weight loss did not start out this way, I lost weight quite sensibly in the beginning. Then some weeks I wouldn't see a loss on the scale, so I would restrict my food even more to shift the weight. I really think I have developed binge eating disorder, and that its been triggered from simply starving my body of nutrients it needed.

    My question is, if I go to my doctor and tell her all this, what will likely happen? Do they refer me to a psychologist or dietician?

    I really want a happy and relaxed relationship with food, and I dont want it to be such a battle in my head all the time. It shouldn't be so hard. I got tired of cooking separate meals for my husband and kids and for myself, I just burnt out in the end. I am going to make an appt with my doc for sure and see what she says. I just fear she will see it as no big deal.
  • teags84mfp
    teags84mfp Posts: 49 Member
    gintaready wrote: »
    Look, I am similar composition - 165 cm and was 80 kg few days before. I was also trying to eat as little as I can to lose (about 1200 cals) but felt so hungry and angry all the time! Then I decided to eat more, carefuly counted my BMR - 20% and was left with about 1600 calories a day (I am not excercising by the way). Then I ate so efin much for two days, I was literally stuffing myself all the time but ONLY with very healthy food - lean meat, looots of veggies, fruits, healthy fats, whole grains for breakfast etc. And you know what - I started losing! I still can't believe this, but somehow now I eat so much, I feel healthy, my energy levels went back up and it's just amazing. Conclusion? Starving just gives you the opposite result, you CAN eat, just choose what is healthy and log everything. Count your BMR - 20% and use it as a guideline. To me anything around 1600 cals worked

    Thank you soooo much! I too know the feeling of being hungry and angry. It makes life miserable. It is so reassuring to know that eating more and feeling full can work in the long term. Thanks for sharing what works for you, it gives me hope xx
  • yirara
    yirara Posts: 9,986 Member
    Have you looked at reverse dieting? Maybe that's a way for you to stay on track... You enter your goal weight into MFP and set it to maintain weight. MFP then gives you the calories you could eat once you've reached your goal weight. Of course you'll lose weight as you're eating less than your body needs at this moment. The advantage is that you won't see the 5 week projection at the end. Well, it's still there but it will always give you the same weight if you eat all your calories.

    And yes, do go to your GP and talk about this! <3
  • teags84mfp
    teags84mfp Posts: 49 Member
    yirara wrote: »
    Have you looked at reverse dieting? Maybe that's a way for you to stay on track... You enter your goal weight into MFP and set it to maintain weight. MFP then gives you the calories you could eat once you've reached your goal weight. Of course you'll lose weight as you're eating less than your body needs at this moment. The advantage is that you won't see the 5 week projection at the end. Well, it's still there but it will always give you the same weight if you eat all your calories.

    And yes, do go to your GP and talk about this! <3

    Thank you for the suggestion. So just to clarify, plug in to maintain my current weight? That leaves me with 2130cals. Wow, can I really lose weight eating that amount? How much can I expect to lose a week eating at maintenace calories with being slightly active?
  • teags84mfp
    teags84mfp Posts: 49 Member
    I am so confused as to how this works- so sorry for sounding so dumb! So I would be eating the calories I would expect to be eating once I reach my goal weight of 68kgs in maintenance? How is it that i would lose weight and would that number change as I am losing weight? Ahhh so confusing!
  • taysukidesu
    taysukidesu Posts: 11 Member
    teags84mfp wrote: »
    I am so confused as to how this works- so sorry for sounding so dumb! So I would be eating the calories I would expect to be eating once I reach my goal weight of 68kgs in maintenance? How is it that i would lose weight and would that number change as I am losing weight? Ahhh so confusing!

    Because you are heavier than your goal weight, your maintenance calories are higher. Someone who weighs 75kg needs to eat more to STAY 75kg than someone who is 50kg needs to eat to STAY 50kg. It might not be a huge difference in calories, but there should be some difference.

    MFP's calorie goal estimation is based on your current weight, and as you update your weight on the site, it will lower your calorie goal accordingly.
  • sak20011
    sak20011 Posts: 94 Member
    I hope you can find a therapist to help you with the mental and emotional perils that dieting can trigger in some people. You don't need to be under to have a disordered relationship to food and your body. Listen to that little voice that knows you need to nourish and take care of yourself.
  • teags84mfp
    teags84mfp Posts: 49 Member
    Thank you sak20011. I agree, a huge part of my dilemma is learning to love myself and feel deserving of good nourishment and just taking good care of my body.

    Ive always had a poor body image. I think getting some help from a professional will help. I think its going to take a lot of self love to go forward with this and get to a good place mentally and emotionally. I have to love myself at any weight. It really is a big mental hurdle for me. I realise that I need to fix my way of thinking, and then hopefully a healthy life will follow. I have been punishing myself unecessarily and hurting my self for too long.
  • 1000 cals :#t626te745y2gd23.jpg
  • teags84mfp
    teags84mfp Posts: 49 Member
    1000 cals :#t626te745y2gd23.jpg

    I know, not good, I am glad it didnt take me long to figure it out. I had a very distorted thinking with food. I hope to heal myself and undo the damage.
  • skymningen
    skymningen Posts: 532 Member
    teags84mfp wrote: »
    My question is, if I go to my doctor and tell her all this, what will likely happen? Do they refer me to a psychologist or dietician?

    If they are a good GP, they will figure out with you what suits your needs more. You are very reflective and aware of your problem, I would think for a start try with a dietician. They sure have some experience with body issues and bad relationships with food. Or at least do both.
  • HeidiCooksSupper
    HeidiCooksSupper Posts: 3,831 Member
    My question is, is the trick for permanent weight loss really as simple to eat just 500 cals under my TEED, eat whatever i want, without fear of carbs, feel full and lose weight at a slower rate? And my cals will drop as I lose weight, but not so far so that when i reach maintenance I am barely able to eat anything without putting on weight, is that correct?

    That's it in a nutshell. Just measure very carefully, preferably to the exact grams on a digital scale so you get your calorie count right.
  • AngelinaB_
    AngelinaB_ Posts: 563 Member
    edited August 2017
    teags84mfp wrote: »
    Thank you sak20011. I agree, a huge part of my dilemma is learning to love myself and feel deserving of good nourishment and just taking good care of my body.

    Ive always had a poor body image. I think getting some help from a professional will help. I think its going to take a lot of self love to go forward with this and get to a good place mentally and emotionally. I have to love myself at any weight. It really is a big mental hurdle for me. I realise that I need to fix my way of thinking, and then hopefully a healthy life will follow. I have been punishing myself unecessarily and hurting my self for too long.

    Don't beat yourself too much about this. It is very common situation in our society and most of all suffer from bad relationships with food, poor body image etc. including yours truly. My advice to you is that to take it easy, and start baby steps at a time. You don't need to be perfect to lose weight, if anyone did, nobody in the history of men would have lost a grm lol. Neither the diet has to be perfect. You will have some days better than others. And that's perfectly fine.

    Why don't you start slow... I like the idea that was suggested to start with a maintenance weight goal, seems easy enough. And also, identify "trigger" foods, for example, mine is white bread, breads in general, so I limit them almost to zero. How I do that, well, I limit myself the time when it's ok to eat it. I try not to eat snacks, have two small meals a day and one more substantial. I eat chocolates and what not, as long as they fit into my daily calorie goal, and do it only at one meal, not everyday etc... those little rules that you set yourself, tiny rules, could be anything, will drive you to bigger victories. For example, I have found out that eating very little several times a day doesn't work for me because I am always hungry and thinking about food obsessively. So I eat 3 reg meals no snacking. I do eat less the time of the day I am less hungry and save the calories for when I know I get more hungry. You have to be studious of yourself, your habits, your working schedule, what foods you like, what you eat too much that you should avoid, what time of the day you get hungrier... and then when you have that ball rolling, if you want concentrate on yor macros. I personally find it hard to stick to the macros level, but I try. It's the most I can do. I concentrate most on stay on my daily calories. 1000 cals is too little you have to set a much more doable number. The trick is too do this for a number of years so your weigh sets on lower ranges. It works, but stay on that habit change for years is the challenge. Totally doable tho. Good luck, this forum and this app helps.

    Short answer: Is best to eat as much as you can? Yes, it is, within range and moderation...
  • __TMac__
    __TMac__ Posts: 1,669 Member
    teags84mfp wrote: »
    yirara wrote: »
    Have you looked at reverse dieting? Maybe that's a way for you to stay on track... You enter your goal weight into MFP and set it to maintain weight. MFP then gives you the calories you could eat once you've reached your goal weight. Of course you'll lose weight as you're eating less than your body needs at this moment. The advantage is that you won't see the 5 week projection at the end. Well, it's still there but it will always give you the same weight if you eat all your calories.

    And yes, do go to your GP and talk about this! <3

    Thank you for the suggestion. So just to clarify, plug in to maintain my current weight? That leaves me with 2130cals. Wow, can I really lose weight eating that amount? How much can I expect to lose a week eating at maintenace calories with being slightly active?

    I think what this poster was saying was to plug your GOAL weight in and then choose maintenance. Then, if you want to track your weight progress in the app, switch back to your current weight and edit your calories to match that first number. It'll give you slightly fewer calories than you need right now, so you'll lose. It will be slow, but it'll be your forever calorie goal, which can be comforting. That'll be your baseline. Any exercise you do will earn you additional calories each day or, if you choose, week.

    Good luck!
  • fiercefit76
    fiercefit76 Posts: 8 Member
    edited August 2017
    Your story sounds a lot like mine, although I've been yoyo dieting for 15 years. My approach this go round is, I set my calories on my fitness pal to maintenance and my activity to sedentary. I exercise about 30-45 minutes a day by walking or lifting weights. But I do not eat my exercise calories, just my maintenance calories. Doing this my average deficit is about 400-500 calories. My body is responding well to this and although I'm hungry I'm not as hungry as I would be if I was eating 1200. Right now I'm eating 1720 cals, and I finally feel like this is something I can do long term. Every 12 weeks I plan on taking a diet break for 2 weeks where I eat my maintenance cals (including exercise cals) back just to give my body a rest. Im finally feeling like I'm doing the right thing for my body and treating it with the kindness it deserves and it feels like I'm in control again. Don't be afraid to eat more calories. Give it a try, what have you got to lose?!

    I want to add I have my weight set at what it is now. I'm 4'10, 174 and mfp gives me 1720. I think with every 5 lbs lost, it'll go down by 30 cals. But even at my lowest weight I still will never eat less than like 1300. It's working though! I started out at 187.
  • Need2Exerc1se
    Need2Exerc1se Posts: 13,575 Member
    teags84mfp wrote: »
    Hello all

    So this is my first post here. I have been reading up a lot on these forums for a few weeks and I must say, I am really learning so much about the mechanics of weight loss and more importantly keeping it off.

    So long story short, I lost 32 kgs last year which took me only 7 months. I was not calorie counting but developed a rather bad relationship with food. I was really motivated by the huge amounts I was losing each day, but eating very very little to sustain the loss. Basically when I look at my diet at my lowest weight, I was eating far below 1000 cals for sure. I knew it wasnt right and my health suffered-huge amount of hair loss and feeling faint and dizzy.

    One day I went on an ultimate binge, which triggered a non stop binge/restrict cycle, that i have been in for nearly a year now. I have gained back 15kgs and I am so sad. My body was screaming for me to eat and I did-too much. I have tried to get back to it, losing a few kgs only to gain them back again by being too restrictive. I am in a very self desructive pattern that I cant seem to escape and am scared I will never get a grip on this.

    I want to lose this weight fast, but the smart part of my brain is saying "no, this has to take time, you need to eat more while losing weight so that you can keep it off forever". I dont want to eat low carb- been there done that and it works while I am losing weight but obviously does not work for me long term. Since i was 18 i have lost and gained 20kgs plus about 5 times. This time I want it to be forever.

    My question is, is the trick for permanent weight loss really as simple to eat just 500 cals under my TEED, eat whatever i want, without fear of carbs, feel full and lose weight at a slower rate? And my cals will drop as I lose weight, but not so far so that when i reach maintenance I am barely able to eat anything without putting on weight, is that correct?

    I am 83kgs, female and 163cms. I would like to get to 68 kgs like i was last year- high end of healthy BMI. I have worked out that i need to eat about 1700cals plus exercise on top of that to lose 500gms a week, so 1500 cals after exercise- I hope this is right ;) My apologies for people not familiar with the metric system.

    Thank you all to those who have read my first post. I am just wanting reassurance that I am going about this the right and sensible way xx

    Yes, it really is as easy as the bolded section above.
This discussion has been closed.