Feeling burnt out from eating healthy, and haven’t been eating great lately can anyone relate?

bloomblythe5

Hey everyone I started my fitness journey earlier this year so I’m on like month 5 of eating healthy and “clean” or whatever, I rarely “cheated” and was pretty proud of myself for getting my over eating/binge eating and crazy cravings for candy bars and sweets under control. I was actually enjoying feeling so in control of my food and my clean eating was working I lost a lot of fat and gained some muscle but out of nowhere a few days ago I suddenly just started feeling so burnt out of this food. Not working out, still love doing that. But honestly all I’ve been thinking about it’s getting a burger from my favorite local restaurant and a milkshake, eating a KitKat bar for the first time in months and then having normal *kitten* ice cream and not diet ice cream in the same night, wanting to eat Froot Loops for breakfast instead of annoyingly high protein eggs and toast, and not feel bad about any of it! I don’t want to abandon my clean eating because I don’t really support all the added sugars in food and it’s not like I want fast food either. I just wanna eat the food I miss eating and haven’t let myself have but I know if I fully give in I WILL gain weight. It’s just science right like I can’t go from eating 150g of protein every day and 1800 calories of all clean and Whole Foods, to a bowl of Froot Loops for breakfast, pasta for lunch, and a grilled cheese sandwich for dinner (which is what I really want to do). The craziest part is when I think about cooking one more freaking meal with some type of chicken, veg and carb, I literally feel sick. The idea of eating sugary not nutrient cereal is more appealing to me now than my normal Whole Foods.

I don’t know if this is just a phase and it’ll clear up in a few days? I want to let myself satisfy all those cravings but I’m also terrified that I’ll undo so much progress, I’ve only lost about 8 pounds and I know how easily I could gain those back after working SOO hard to lose it.

Has anyone been in this situation before? What did you do? Any words of advice or just share your own story and experience? Really looking for some support too I’m so confused and just so freaking hungry, more mentally than physically honestly. I can’t stop thinking about getting buttermilk pancakes from a local diner!! But I know they’re probably half or more of my daily calories in one meal

AshHeartsJesus

For me I make a healthier version of what I am craving. Like pancakes I eat keto coconut flour ones. Tonight I am making a keto chocolate chip cookie. I am not on a keto diet,but I do carb cycle and have cut out about 85 percent or more of the added sugar I use to eat. On a rare occasion I will cheat but I try hard to work it into my macros. The scale does go up a smidge for a few days, but that is water weight and it stays within two pounds. I have consistently lost 1.5-2lbs a week for 5 months. I do eat hamburgers made at home with slice cheese,but never on bread. I love it it is one of my favorite meals.

rosebud333mjmj

I can totally relate. I'm doing my best to keep going as well but tbh sometimes my "cheats" help keep me sane. I think thats the point of them. Ur making a lifestyle here not punishing yrself by depriving urself of everything. Maybe that's why u feel sick?

bloomblythe5

AshHeartsJesus wrote: »

For me I make a healthier version of what I am craving. Like pancakes I eat keto coconut flour ones. Tonight I am making a keto chocolate chip cookie. I am not on a keto diet,but I do carb cycle and have cut out about 85 percent or more of the added sugar I use to eat. On a rare occasion I will cheat but I try hard to work it into my macros. The scale does go up a smidge for a few days, but that is water weight and it stays within two pounds. I have consistently lost 1.5-2lbs a week for 5 months. I do eat hamburgers made at home with slice cheese,but never on bread. I love it it is one of my favorite meals.

Hey! Yea I totally feel you, around the 3 months mark I started to get really into, and excited, about being able to make my favorite baked good and stuff in healthier version and that kept me going for a while! But this phase I’m in right now... even those substitutes aren’t cutting it /: that’s how I know I’m really going through it right now haha

AnnPT77

There is so. much. middle. ground. between eating all clean all the time, and eating all the nutrient-sparse calorie-dense foods all the time. Yes, I understand that you've basically said that you can't even put one foot on that path of eating some of the foods you've been denying yourself, sometimes, in reasonable portions, because the dam will break and you'll eat all those things all the time and your healthy routine will be done. over. kaput. forever.

I don't mean to be harsh here. Try to think of me as your anxious, concerned old internet auntie, because I'm for sure old enough, . . . an auntie who really cares about you, and wants you to succeed. Because I do.

What you're doing here is painting yourself into a corner. You're thinking of this in a way that gives you no path that's sustainable: It's either "all clean" or "all over".

That's actually not true. But you're defining it that way. How we define ourselves mentally is important.

Try thinking in a more nuanced way, by experimenting with a combination of mostly healthy and some just fun to eat foods, to find a sustainable balance - which will probably involve some mistakes along the way, I admit. You can find a path that's sustainable for you, that balances out nutrition, calories, enjoyment, practicality, and more, so that you can reach a healthy weight and active life, and stay there long term. (I wish my younger self had been smart enough to do that, frankly . . . but you are showing in your post that you see more clearly than I did at your age. You have a chance here! Your future self will thank you, if you commit to working this out.)

Think about some options, maybe just having that pasta for lunch, but a protein-rich breakfast and a healthy, calorie-efficient dinner. Or maybe save some calories to have Froot Loops for an evening snack. (Maybe you can do them at breakfast, but if I do the sweet/low protein breakfast, I'm crave-y all day - but heck, try it. It's only one day, as long as you commit to abandoning the experiment and going back to a healthier routine as soon as you find out it's unworkable . . . and it might be workable, for you, who knows).

You're not going to undo all your progress. You've lost 8 pounds. That's 28,000 calories. Even if you eat 2,000 calories of Froot Loops because, oops, you have plenty of room to get back on track. You can, you will. You've come this far, so even if the horse bucks you off once or twice along the way, you can get back on and tame that sucker.

So, that would be the long-term goal, IMO: Figure out how to balance healthy eating and fun eating, within reasonable calories. That's not a crazy goal. It's an achievable goal. (I've recently figured it out, I think, in my 60s. Don't wait that long. You can avoid some Very Bad Consquences for your future self if you get it sorted now, trust me on this.)

Now, that said, about the long term goal of balance. As a short term goal, you might want to think of taking a couple of weeks to eat at maintenance calories (stable weight), with slightly more relaxed rules. This would give you a mental break, but it can also reset some strange hormonal stuff that can pop out as cravings and stress. There's a thread with details about that here:

http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10604863/of-refeeds-and-diet-breaks/p1

Then, long term, work on losing the "all or nothing" thinking, and finding a hybrid path you can stick to, permanently. You can. It's worth it.

Wishing you the best!

Safari_Gal_

@bloomblythe5 - congrats on the weight loss and dedication! I hear you talking about a phase - and wanting to give in to your mental cravings.
Maybe try to switch up your menu? There is a whole international world of culinary arts out there! Maybe try something new?

littlegreenparrot1

I have learned in the past that if I don't just have the cake, the chocolate, the burger, or whatever it might be when I want it, eventually I will scoff my way through a pile of it - much more than it ever would have been in the first place.
So for example, on Saturday we were out and had some delicious burgers for lunch. Dinner was chicken and salad.

This morning I've already had a chocolate biscuit with my tea break. It won't negate the salad I've packed for lunch.

Any eating plan needs to leave room for life to happen. You are not a bad person if you eat a kitkat.
(Years ago I stopped going to weightwatchers because one night the ladies in front of me in the queue were going on about eating a kitkat like it was the end of days. I don't find that kind of thing helpful.)

ninerbuff

You DON'T have to eat "clean" to lose weight. Nor to be fully healthy either. If you're meeting your RDA's in vitamins and minerals, and eating a balanced diet as well as staying within calories, WHAT you're eating is of little concern. Food is so demonized these days that people who diet to lose weight have become neurotic to any "unclean" eating at all.
Go to other countries where they have processed foods. Know why they are still lean? They don't EAT SO MUCH.

A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

janejellyroll

If what you want is "a bowl of Froot Loops for breakfast, pasta for lunch, and a grilled cheese sandwich for dinner," there are ways to do that within 1,800 calories. So if you're seeing the results you want on 1,800 of "clean" food, don't be afraid to do that on 1,800 including more foods that you truly enjoy.

The key is portion control. If you find that a day like that leaves you hungrier than a "clean" day, then you still have options. You could mix and match what you're eating, making sure to include the aspects of the "clean" day that you find more filling (is it protein? fiber? something else?). You could make adjustments to the meals -- for example, I still eat pasta, I just make sure to mix it with lots of vegetables and protein and I watch my portion sizes.

The mindset of "I have to eat 'clean' or I might as well not bother" was toxic to me. You can meet your nutritional needs with all types of foods, including pasta. Life is too short to eat meals that make you feel sick. It's way better to eat a variety of foods at your calorie goal than it is to throw in the towel because you've determined that eating "clean" is just too restrictive and hard.