Here we go again

ELdeve
ELdeve Posts: 7 Member
in Getting Started
I'm kinda bummed because it took me a year and a half to lose 25 lbs and I actually maintained it during Covid with exercise and eating reasonably. But with in 3 months I've nearly gained it all back. My impulse eating is worse than ever. I've had success with this app before and am using it this go round to hold myself accountable. The problem is, I really enjoy eating as a pastime. :/

Replies

  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 34,098 Member
    ELdeve wrote: »
    I'm kinda bummed because it took me a year and a half to lose 25 lbs and I actually maintained it during Covid with exercise and eating reasonably. But with in 3 months I've nearly gained it all back. My impulse eating is worse than ever. I've had success with this app before and am using it this go round to hold myself accountable. The problem is, I really enjoy eating as a pastime. :/

    Yeah, I enjoy eating, too. Food is tasty and pleasurable. I like pleasure. I'd call myself a hedonist, even.

    Soo . . . what have you learned from how the regain happened, that might help you stay at healthy weight longer - maybe permanently - this round? Any thoughts?

    (I've been maintaining a healthy weight for 5+ years now, after losing nearly 60 pounds in 2015-16. There were some ups and downs in there within a healthy range, but I'm in goal range now. For me, continuing calorie counting is a help: My hedonist side likes eating every possible calorie I've earned, and my rational side likes the realization that keeping within what I've earned is going to help future Ann have decent quality of life, too. Current-me and future-me both win. I also "calorie bank": Eat a little under maintenance most days - truly a little, like 100-150 calories under - so that I can have an indulgent meal or day sometimes.)

    I think personalizing strategies for loss and maintenance, so that those strategies work with our personal preferences, strengths, challenges . . . that's really helpful.

    Wishing you success at re-loss, and beyond!
  • ELdeve
    ELdeve Posts: 7 Member
    AnnPT77 wrote: »
    ELdeve wrote: »
    I'm kinda bummed because it took me a year and a half to lose 25 lbs and I actually maintained it during Covid with exercise and eating reasonably. But with in 3 months I've nearly gained it all back. My impulse eating is worse than ever. I've had success with this app before and am using it this go round to hold myself accountable. The problem is, I really enjoy eating as a pastime. :/

    Yeah, I enjoy eating, too. Food is tasty and pleasurable. I like pleasure. I'd call myself a hedonist, even.

    Soo . . . what have you learned from how the regain happened, that might help you stay at healthy weight longer - maybe permanently - this round? Any thoughts?

    (I've been maintaining a healthy weight for 5+ years now, after losing nearly 60 pounds in 2015-16. There were some ups and downs in there within a healthy range, but I'm in goal range now. For me, continuing calorie counting is a help: My hedonist side likes eating every possible calorie I've earned, and my rational side likes the realization that keeping within what I've earned is going to help future Ann have decent quality of life, too. Current-me and future-me both win. I also "calorie bank": Eat a little under maintenance most days - truly a little, like 100-150 calories under - so that I can have an indulgent meal or day sometimes.)

    I think personalizing strategies for loss and maintenance, so that those strategies work with our personal preferences, strengths, challenges . . . that's really helpful.

    Wishing you success at re-loss, and beyond!

    I went crazy this past month due to stress, I gave myself permission to eat things I haven't eaten in years like sugary cereal (ex:Reese puffs) and not in moderation because I was eating my binge trigger foods.

    This time around no matter how stressed I am, I will avoid my binge trigger foods. I pretty much learned that they still trigger binge eating and that indulging in trigger foods due to stress is a lose lose situation.
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 34,098 Member
    ELdeve wrote: »
    AnnPT77 wrote: »
    ELdeve wrote: »
    I'm kinda bummed because it took me a year and a half to lose 25 lbs and I actually maintained it during Covid with exercise and eating reasonably. But with in 3 months I've nearly gained it all back. My impulse eating is worse than ever. I've had success with this app before and am using it this go round to hold myself accountable. The problem is, I really enjoy eating as a pastime. :/

    Yeah, I enjoy eating, too. Food is tasty and pleasurable. I like pleasure. I'd call myself a hedonist, even.

    Soo . . . what have you learned from how the regain happened, that might help you stay at healthy weight longer - maybe permanently - this round? Any thoughts?

    (I've been maintaining a healthy weight for 5+ years now, after losing nearly 60 pounds in 2015-16. There were some ups and downs in there within a healthy range, but I'm in goal range now. For me, continuing calorie counting is a help: My hedonist side likes eating every possible calorie I've earned, and my rational side likes the realization that keeping within what I've earned is going to help future Ann have decent quality of life, too. Current-me and future-me both win. I also "calorie bank": Eat a little under maintenance most days - truly a little, like 100-150 calories under - so that I can have an indulgent meal or day sometimes.)

    I think personalizing strategies for loss and maintenance, so that those strategies work with our personal preferences, strengths, challenges . . . that's really helpful.

    Wishing you success at re-loss, and beyond!

    I went crazy this past month due to stress, I gave myself permission to eat things I haven't eaten in years like sugary cereal (ex:Reese puffs) and not in moderation because I was eating my binge trigger foods.

    This time around no matter how stressed I am, I will avoid my binge trigger foods. I pretty much learned that they still trigger binge eating and that indulging in trigger foods due to stress is a lose lose situation.

    Do you know why those particular things are binge trigger foods? Is it childhood associations, or is there some possibility of nutritional issues leading to trigger foods (IME we don't always crave the things that will remedy a deficiency - it comes out more as craving high-cal energy foods, instead, sometimes)?

    Are there habits you could adopt to help manage stress in a different way - exercise, better sleep, meditation, faith-related practices if that's in your wheelhouse, relaxing hobbies, aromatherapy bubble baths, creative hobbies . . . ?

    For me (and I've heard it's true for most people as a generality), it's easier to end a bad habit (such as stress-eating) by replacing it with a new and more beneficial habit (stress knitting? stress bubblebaths? 😉 ), rather than just trying to quit the habit via sheer willpower/avoidance.

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