Junk Food

AnnaMorganmfp

I managed to stay under 1,200 calories for a couple weeks and lost 2 pounds. Then life got more stressful and I’m giving into my cravings for sugar and greasy food. Now Ive put back on those 2 pounds plus 2 more.

neanderthin

Newtons 3rd law is alive and well "For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction" which leaves the door open for another try.

ninerbuff

So have a diet that INCLUDES a little of both of those so you don't go crazy not having them at all.

I eat fast food at least once a week and there's candy or some sugar laden thing daily in my diet.

A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
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Been in fitness for 35+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

lisakatz2

1,200 calories seems a little extreme. How much do you weigh? How tall are you? Are you active at all?

I binge on candy and fatty things like chips when my calories are too low. Also if I'm not eating enough protein and healthy fats like nuts, avocado, and fish oil. Is your food diary public? Maybe we can take a look and offer suggestions.

crb426

Like others are suggesting, you may be going too extreme. Unless you are very short and petite, you probably need more calories.

Also, sugar is not the enemy. You can try incorporating some of it in your daily intake. Just make sure to balance it out with a lot of the good stuff like fruits and vegetables.

AnnPT77

It's unclear what timespan you're talking about here.

If it's quite short (month-ish or less), some of the initial loss would be water weight, and eating a bunch of so-called junk food would usually ramp that water weight back up again, maybe plus some. (Extra carbs and sodium mean extra water retention, and so-called junk food is usually high in carbs and sodium.)

To gain 4 pounds of fat, you'd need to eat roughly a cumulative 14,000 calories above your current maintenance calories. If you didn't do that, I'd expect a good bit of the scale gain to be water weight that will drop off after the next week or two, if you go back to a healthy routine. There's zero point in beating yourself up about it.

I agree with others that if you're over-restricting (calories or off-limits foods), that has potential to cause deprivation-triggered binges. There are other things that can also trigger episodes of over-eating.

Take a few minutes to figure out why this happened, and adjust your plan going forward in some way that minimizes chances of a repeat. ("Try harder" or "be motivated" are not changes in plan. I'm talking about choosing different eating patterns or slower weight loss, changes in other factors like sleep or stress management, etc.)

You say "life got stressful" which suggests stress-triggered (or emotional) eating might be part of the problem. If so, look for other practical ways to manage your stress that you can use instead of eating. (Other people use things like mild exercise, meditation or prayer, journaling, calming music, hot aromatherapy bubblebaths . . . .).

If "life got stressful" simply means that you didn't have time or mental energy to make good choices, make a list (yes, on paper) of food choices you can make when things get busy/stressful that are more health- and life-enhancing. That can even be choosing some of the more calorie-reasonable nutritious options from fast-food places, frozen dinners, rotisserie chicken from the grocery store plus frozen veggies, etc. Next time chaos strikes, choose to eat items from that list.

Don't give up. Spend a few minutes making your plan more practical and achievable, then get back on a healthy track. Only giving up gets you nowhere. Analyze what happened, adjust your plan . . . you'll succeed long term.

Best wishes!