Britt's 30th Birthday Challenge! (September 22 - January 21)
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Absolutely, I fully believe that everybody is different and what works for one person will not work for another... Best of both worlds sounds awesome and sounds like it totally fits in with your lifestyle. Good luck on your new plan!!1
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It definitely takes some tweaking and experimenting to find that sweet spot. I hope this is it for you. It sounds like it fits in with your life so I believe it will work for you. Rooting for you all the way!1
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Thanks, @tlblanksfit, and congrats on entering maintenance!!!0
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Today's OMAD (eaten around 2:00 - we got a late start this morning):
Chocolate waffle with cream cheese maple syrup (I should've whipped these instead just melting them together, but I was super lazy)
Pan-fried swai over cheese grits
Eggs
Broccoli
Mango-carrot applesauce pouch0 -
brittdee88 wrote: »@tlblanksfit @minigrrll thanks, ladies! Not eating enough bit me in the butt, and I ended up having another meal about 12 hours later when my hunger and headache became unbearable, but I am prepared for my big breakfast tomorrow.
Getting too aggressive almost always backfires for me also. Some can do it but I'm not one of them. Slow and steady is what I need to do.1 -
brittdee88 wrote: »Weighed today to see where I am after all that mess: 159 - I am actually REALLY happy that my body is seeming to stay put in the 150s even with crazy eating. It sucks because I always seem to get stuck in the 150s, but I guess the silver lining is that I most likely will not see the 160s again.
I have abandoned keto because although I was satisfied, I just know that it will not work long term. My fiancé is Puerto Rican, and we eat a lot of Caribbean food that is absolutely NOT low carb. I know our future together will include lots of family get-togethers, and I just don't want to set myself up for failure. It's funny because I tried to "moderately" add carbs back in during a trip to Puerto Rico 3 years ago after being keto for months, and that was the beginning of the spiral to gaining back the almost 50 pounds I lost. Puerto Rican food will be plentiful in my life moving forward, so it really makes NO sense to think I will stick to keto religiously. Carb weight regain is so quick and substantial, and I think that would really throw a wrench in my maintenance.
Also, our relationship has already been improved just by my re-inclusion of fish because now we can order from the same places if we eat out, and we have gone back to cooking together at least one night a week. I don't think I realized just how much intimacy is involved in cooking and eating meals together. I don't want to go back to the way it was by restricting my diet anymore (beyond pescatarianism). I want to continue to eat carbs, and I know OMAD is the only way I can really make that happen without calorie counting.
I'm toying with making breakfast my OMAD and just changing it to later meals as needed for special occasions. I have always been a breakfast skipper, but when I have had it, I do enjoy starting my day with a nice meal. I have been reading a lot about the metabolic benefits of eating a big breakfast, and because it's my fiancé's favorite meal, we will get to spend weekends making big breakfasts together like we did when we first started dating without it impacting my weight loss goals. I miss those, and I am looking forward to that again. I also know that if I eat enough at breakfast that I am definitely not hungry later.
Unlike when I made this thread, I am not looking to make anything complicated anymore. I have exactly 11 weeks until my birthday and a lot of weight to lose, but I want to take things one day at a time and let others emerge organically as I go through the process. I don't know that I can lose all I want in these 11 weeks, but I will be entering maintenance on my birthday no matter how much I weigh.
I ate today around 9:30. It was a decent-sized meal but not enough because I hadn't decided fully what I was going to do, but luckily I can sleep most of today. I will be ready tomorrow with a nice big breakfast, and I will be posting here from now on.
Full-time keto for me is a no-go. DO NOT LIKE IT! Anyways, I still use it as a tool and if I'm eating multiple meals in a day, I usually try to make the early meals keto style, that way I don't get the carb crash and hunger later on. I save my carbs for the evening meal usually. Any protocol can work if we stick to it, it is just what is easier for us to do. Eating breakfast for me would be very hard but it might just be right for you. You can try and see how it goes. You can mix and match strategies, you might make your breakfasts low carb and eat carbs later or do the opposite if you eat multiple meals. I've got a friend that just snacks all day and doesn't gain (probably not good idea for me). Just make sure you weigh so you know if what your doing is working or not. Good luck!
PS I just discovered a new co-worker lost 70-lbs doing IF (16:8) in just 4-months. He is a big guy about 6'2" and started at 290 and is now about 220. He eats a little snack at about lunch and then he eats a small meal at about 2:00pm then a little snack (protein bar) at 4:00 pm, then a small dinner, then another small snack at about 8:00pm. That worked really well for him. Lots of ways to skin a cat!2 -
brittdee88 wrote: »I keep flip-flopping, but my new plan is exactly what I need. My best friend is following a traditional weight loss plan with MFP, and I have decided to join her because I really need the support. Doing this alone is just not working. This community is absolutely amazing, but I need someone I can call at 2 AM to talk me off the ledge. Having an eating disorder just complicates things. So we are calorie counting together, which is actually very easy because I eat on campus during the week, and there are calorie counts available for everything. We both began yesterday and are both already feeling more successful doing this together. I dropped 1.6 pounds overnight by sticking to my calories and eating 3 meals without any urges to binge.
On the weekends and for events/special occasions, I am going to follow OMAD because I know it works, and it's incredibly convenient. This way, I can enjoy my big breakfasts with my fiancé every weekend without having to worry about calculating recipes, and I can also attend events where there is homemade food or food without available calorie counts. These are what put me off calorie counting in the first place because breaking all the recipes down or trying to eyeball measurements for the purpose of guessing calories became really complicated and annoying.
This seems like the best of both worlds: eating 3 square meals a day completely stopped binges for me and OMAD provides effortless weight loss without counting and the benefits of fasting. I firmly believe that this is what I can and will stick to after all of the changes and experimentation, and this seems like a very reasonable structure for my lifestyle moving forward.
Thanks for your continued support, everyone! You are all gems.
I will post my weekend/special event OMADs and Monday weigh-ins here.
Again, I think you can mix and match to what works for you like others have said! Just weigh yourself and you will be able to tell. As long as it is sustainable to include food prep, counting, hunger, etc.. you can succeed! For sure check in and let us know how your doing. Good luck!1 -
Thank you so much, @blambo61! You're always so supportive and thoughtful
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I didn't get a pic of today's OMAD, but it was a small gluten-free pizza (~900 calories) eaten around 2:30 PM. We were too lazy to cook today, so we got Domino's.0
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Hi Britt! Happy to hear you're working out the kinks and finding what works for you Excited to see how your progress goes 1
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Thanks, Steph!
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I didn’t post last Monday because I don’t weigh on my period, but my weigh-in yesterday put me at 155.4 (-3.6).
Because of my crazy midterm schedule, I have been following OMAD pretty much every other day and following the Food Addicts Anonymous plan (which is amazing) on off days. The plan puts me at or a little under 1200 calories a day based on a bunch of calculations I did of my typical intake that would fit within that plan, so I’m happy I don’t have to do daily calorie counting while following it. I’m basically just eating according to that plan when I am hungrier and following OMAD when I’m not as hungry. The FAA plan does something to my appetite, so I haven’t binged at all, which is my ultimate goal. This seems like it’s working pretty well, so I’m not going to make any more changes.0 -
Congrats on the -3.6!1
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Glad you found a system which works for you.
I never heard of FAA before.1 -
I've never heard of FAA either!1
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Nice loss 1
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Thanks, everyone!
FAA had been suggested to me in the past when I was first diagnosed with BED, but I think I was too proud to admit that I am an addict. Following it has completely changed everything. No binges, no eating when I'm not hungry, no obsessing about food constantly. It is absolutely amazing. And because of it, I have been following OMAD almost daily this past week because I have not only not been craving food, but I haven't been eating or thinking about food at all until I'm hungry, which only happens once a day!0 -
So glad FAA is working for you!1
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brittdee88 wrote: »Thanks, everyone!
FAA had been suggested to me in the past when I was first diagnosed with BED, but I think I was too proud to admit that I am an addict. Following it has completely changed everything. No binges, no eating when I'm not hungry, no obsessing about food constantly. It is absolutely amazing. And because of it, I have been following OMAD almost daily this past week because I have not only not been craving food, but I haven't been eating or thinking about food at all until I'm hungry, which only happens once a day!
Nice, on the main boards, under a Jason Fung thread, a guy was getting skewered because he said that he had fixed binge eating with a keto diet. Folks railed on him that you haven't been diagnosed with BED and stop saying you were, and that it is something that can't be fixed and must be delt with everyday. Seems like you have been helped a lot with your diet choices with BED.1 -
Nice, on the main boards, under a Jason Fung thread, a guy was getting skewered because he said that he had fixed binge eating with a keto diet. Folks railed on him that you haven't been diagnosed with BED and stop saying you were, and that it is something that can't be fixed and must be delt with everyday. Seems like you have been helped a lot with your diet choices with BED.
Very interesting! He may have meant he has gone 21 days without binging, which is what they say means you are on your way to recovery, but I wouldn’t consider that “fixed” by any means. It is still a daily struggle for sure. Maybe that’s why people were angry? Because it definitely doesn’t get taken seriously in the “regular” world or the eating disorder world, so I think people become very sensitive if someone suggests it’s an easy fix.
Different things definitely work for different people. Keto definitely did not help me - it just enabled me to binge without gaining weight because of the lack of carbs. It helped my appetite somewhat but I would still binge because I was addicted and knew that I could. I would eat a whole pound of bacon in one sitting easily, and I would still eat lunch and dinner, too.
I don’t know why this plan works, but I am assuming there is something scientific behind it (I haven’t started attending meetings yet). In any case, I am actually able to wait until I am hungry now and am not obsessed anymore AND something that’s really huge: I don’t always finish my food. I almost cried the other day because I ate a half of a sandwich, put it away, and didn’t spend the rest of the day obsessing over wanting the other half before eventually breaking down and devouring the other half at 2 am. I think people without EDs or food addictions take that for granted — the sheer amount of time you spend in a mental battle with yourself about food. I almost feel like I eat normally now. Food is still very appealing to me, but it is starting to lose its grip on me, if that makes sense. I don’t think about it constantly anymore, and I can actually STOP. This is such a big deal!!!0 -
Good for you. The gentleman I referred to has not binged for years I believe with his WOE. Anyways, I thought people went off on him when he was trying to be helpful. I'm glad you found something that works for you!1
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Good for you. The gentleman I referred to has not binged for years I believe with his WOE. Anyways, I thought people went off on him when he was trying to be helpful. I'm glad you found something that works for you!
Oh, then that is strange! Maybe it was the use of the word “fixed” that bothered people since I don’t know anyone who would say an alcoholic was “fixed” because they were sober for x amount of time. It’s acknowledged as a “legitimate” addiction that requires daily commitment for life while food addiction isn’t (at least not yet). Maybe that is the issue? I don’t know - I am always curious about how other people think and perceive things. It always sucks when you’re trying to be helpful and you end up offending people.
Anyway, thank you again! It’s going well, and I am feeling much happier and much less stressed. My RBPM has steadily fallen since I began this plan, so I am all-around satisfied.
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The people on some of those other boards are so weird they way they get so angry about stuff. I never post on any of them and don’t read any of them any more. This board is so nice and friendly.
It’s very interesting about your food thoughts @brittdee88 - I wouldn’t say that I necessarily have anything that could be diagnosed as an eating disorder, but I definitely used to spend way to much time thinking about food and trying to stop myself eating it.
The eating half a sandwich thing is definitely me though. Before OMAD it would have been an impossibility to eat half a sandwich.
But I do think that the intermittent fasting has been a miracle for me in that respect. Especially once I cut out artificial sweeteners and milk/cream in my coffee and started fasting “clean”. I don’t really think about food at all in my fasting window - even when I’m around other people who are eating. I don’t start to think about food until about an hour before my eating window opens when I assume I’m actually truly hungry...
I actually can keep certain foods in the house now and not obsess over them (nuts, peanut butter, cheese). I can even keep chocolate in the house and just have 2 squares a night. And sometimes I even forget to have the two squares. It really kind of blows me away.
I do credit most of this to the “clean” fasting though. On the rare occasion I’ve had milk in my coffee or a Pepsi Max, I’ve had to white knuckle it to my eating window and the obsessive thoughts come back in full force. If someone had told me that 6 months ago, I’d have though they were a conspiracy theorist or something!
It’s also amazing how everybody is so different and some people can handle the artificial sweeteners or some cream in their coffee, but I clearly cannot.1 -
brittdee88 wrote: »Good for you. The gentleman I referred to has not binged for years I believe with his WOE. Anyways, I thought people went off on him when he was trying to be helpful. I'm glad you found something that works for you!
Oh, then that is strange! Maybe it was the use of the word “fixed” that bothered people since I don’t know anyone who would say an alcoholic was “fixed” because they were sober for x amount of time. It’s acknowledged as a “legitimate” addiction that requires daily commitment for life while food addiction isn’t (at least not yet). Maybe that is the issue? I don’t know - I am always curious about how other people think and perceive things. It always sucks when you’re trying to be helpful and you end up offending people.
Anyway, thank you again! It’s going well, and I am feeling much happier and much less stressed. My RBPM has steadily fallen since I began this plan, so I am all-around satisfied.
I'm glad this is working for you 1 -
@minigrrll that is AWESOME! That’s so interesting about the artificial sweeteners and cream! I’m happy you were able to put two and two together and make changes! I haven’t had sweeteners in a very long time, and I like my coffee black, so I never really noticed. (I do notice that I used to drink coffee daily, and I haven’t had any in quite a while.) Sugar usually takes me completely off the rails, but something has really changed. I thought it was because the desserts I have been having with my OMAD are homemade and organic and not pumped with all that addictive crap they talk about, but I had a scoop out of a frosty yesterday and felt completely satisfied afterwards. A SCOOP. A standard ice cream scoop! Isn’t that insane?! What’s really mind-boggling is that I took a scoop from a small cup and there was STILL at least 4-5 scoops left in that cup. I can’t believe I used to eat a large one WITH a meal.
I am so happy we are finding what is working for us.0 -
8 weeks until maintenance!
Weight: 153.4 (-5.6)
I’m really hoping to get out of the 150’s by next week, even though that is a long shot. But whenever it happens, my reward will be starting my yoga practice again. Studios are so expensive, so I have been putting it off, but I really want to celebrate that I beat these stubborn 150’s once and for all. I know that will throw a wrench in weight loss numbers, so I want to see the 140’s first. Any time I begin any type of exercise, I stall or gain, but I am really feeling invigorated lately and want to get back into my practice. I know I will build muscle and start leaning out, so I think I will post weekly about sizes or measurements instead of weight at that point. Truth be told, if I can just get comfortably into the half of my closet that I intentionally bought a size down (S/M and US 6 stretchy or US 8 non-stretchy) by my birthday, I will be satisfied regardless of the scale number. If I know I can go in my closet and put on absolutely ANYTHING I want because everything fits (for the first time in my life), I will be ecstatic.0 -
Britt, you are doing great. I believe with your new plan, you will be in the 140's before you know it. Being able to fit into anything you want will be a great victory.
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Thanks, Tracey!0
