Cravings, lack of willpower, health issue or…?

WimmBillDann

Hi everyone! I am here to share my story and humbly ask you all for advice and any ideas that I could use in my weight loss journey, as I am trying from a very long time, but not being able to hold the consistency and control my cravings… 😓

Well, I will start from the beginning: I’ve been trying to loose weight since I remember myself, starting from my teenage years, (although in my childhood I was very thin and fit) then I was gaining more and more, at that time I had lack of information on how properly do it, so it was always on and off, and weight also was going up and down until I reached 105 kg with my 166 cm height, and it was going only higher.

Then one time (only once in my life) in my 20s I managed to reach to my perfect shape and loose weight by eating extreme small portions, doing gym, and having fasting days (not eating at all ) 2-3 days a week. I was young and although it sounds hard now, at that time it was easy and fun especially when I just made up my mind and did it, within 1 year or less I was very happy with my weight. It was perfect.

It lasted not for long but long enough to keep me happy for 3-4 years, then I slowly started gaining again, without noticing I gained back almost everything I lost. Thanks God I opened my eyes when I reached 90 kg, and started doing sport again, trying different diets, and calorie counting, it all worked when I had the consistency, fast enough I was loosing with all the efforts and my weight usually always stuck on 80-83 kg, which is not bad! I can be happy in that weight too.

But the major horrible situation with my weight started now, in my 30s…
When I got pregnant with my first child, some lousy doctor advised me to “eat every thing and anything whatever I like” during pregnancy, and this like gave me a green light to all my forbidden foods, so all my pregnancy I was overeating until I can’t breathe, then I gained 30+ kg in 9 months which is awful and too much…

Then after giving birth, and passing those stressful days of not sleeping nights with the newborn baby, which lasted almost a year, I finally decided that it’s time to lose all this weight which stayed with me after delivery as well and slowly was going up.

I tried everything! Everything what I’ve tried before and it was working, now none of these I could follow up or keep the consistency or actually see any progress: I tried fasting, couldn’t do it, hunger is so strong that I get depressed if I don’t eat… tried to do some sport, could continue as well, with this much of weight lots of pain in legs and back doesn’t allow me to be active as before. I even tried weight loss injections, and they helped at first, but then, made it worse, i believe it’s the injections opened in me different cravings which I didn’t have before, like sugary things and sweets, before I could have once a month or even less, but now… now I can eat full day only sweet things until I disgusting from it, but still will crave again the next day…

No matter how hard i try to stay away from sweets, or replacing it with healthier options, the longest I could do is 4-5 days and after that usually it’s a blast of ordering non stop and eating more like 7k+ calories in one day of sugar stuff only…

I checked with doctors, did blood tests, everything is fine and normal, I have no stress and I am fine mentally, no any issues, but the cravings just won’t stop…

Even now I downloaded this app 3 days ago, and was so excited to start, kept up for 3 days almost perfectly and today for no reason just ate all the sweets in the world which ruined all my calorie calculations for the day…

Did anyone had similar situation? How did you cope up with it ? How to work on it? Anyone please advise me anything… I am so scared I will make myself reach to diabetes or anything else with my current horrible eating habits…

I actually do see results when I follow the rules of right eating, but struggle hard to keep it consistent more than 3-7 days, and once I break dieting streak, I break it for long… it could be overeating for another week, waiting for new Monday to start again…

I don’t know how hopeless is my case I hope anyone could give me an advice I will be very grateful as I think this app is my only hope now, after I’ve tried everything else.

I apologize for typing such a long post, hope it won’t bore you and I get some helpful replies on that. Thanks a lot.

nicolletteleroux

Hi. I really don’t have any advice, because I am also trying to get in better shape and struggle with cravings. I live red wine and chocolate (anything sweet really). But I am hoping you get some good feedback. You go girl!

mrscosto

I’m sorry you’re having a hard time. A lot of what you posted sounds very similar.

For me, I found that when I started eating enough protein, I lost almost all of my cravings, and don’t feel hungry all the time. I try to get around 150 grams of protein every day (your target may differ - I’m a 300 pound woman, so my calorie/macro needs will be different from yours). I’ve lost almost 30 pounds since July 1st by counting macros and getting at least 20 minutes of movement in almost every day.

I would also make sure you are not setting your calories too low. It is much more sustainable (and more enjoyable) to eat at a moderate calorie deficit than to have a very aggressive deficit. I don’t know what your calorie goal is, but this could also explain why you are hungry and have cravings.

If you tell yourself you can never have sweets or treats, you will be setting yourself up for binge behavior. I used to do that myself (although for me, it was carbs and salty snacks). I started journaling after these episodes to try to figure out what triggers the behavior. For me, stress and being overly tired triggers binge eating behavior. Once I figured out my triggers, I could come up with a plan to prevent them, or alternative things to do instead of eat. I’m not perfect, but this has definitely helped me considerably.

Make room in your calorie budget to enjoy a treat every now and then. This will not be sustainable for you if you never allow yourself to eat things you enjoy.

I’ve really had to work hard to change my “all-or-nothing” mindset. If you have a binge episode, or eat way more calories than you wanted to, you just have to track it and move on. No guilt, no regrets. What’s done is done - but you can control what you do next. Don’t wait for the next day, week, or month to get back on track. Start at the very next meal.

If you have time (and podcasts are something you find useful), check out the “Embrace Your Real” podcast. I’ve been listening to it whenever I go for walks, and it has really helped me to internalize some of these mindset shifts.

This ended up being way longer than I intended, but I hope you at least found some part of it helpful. Know that you’re not alone! I wish you the best of luck in your journey!

candyj4205

It’s incredibly hard to lose weight as you get older. Making little changes over time and understanding that it is a process which takes time really helped me. Seems like it is easier and faster to gain weight than to lose weight. I finally decided to seek nutrition counseling, this has helped tremendously. I’ve stopped the mindless eating, which you described. Several of my coworkers are using weightloss meds and are losing weight incredibly fast. It bugs me to no end. Because I’m barely losing 6-7 lbs per month, but I’m doing it the right way for me.

elisa123gal

You touch on an important point. Until a person can get control of cravings and what makes them eat too much, it is a constant struggle. All I know.. is the more you eat of something, the more you crave that food. So, it is making a switch to finding healthy foods that you like .. eating them a lot.. and toughing it out while you abandon the trigger foods that make you overeat. When you fix that... it is so much easier. But .. it is so individual for all of us.. but it can be done. Keep trying... you will figure it out.

poodle_whisper

if its valid that you are actually eating more than 7k calories in a day...that is enormous amount of calories and not many people could actually eat that much in a day. that's what a 600-700 pound person would eat in a day to maintain their weight.
have you considered that you may have Binge Eating Disorder or BED?

neanderthin

Yes, I have a very similar situation and need to keep sugars to a minimum. Can I ask first, what kind of foods make up your normal daily calorie consumption, maybe a few days of the foods you consume other than those days where you binge on sweets. Try to be as honest and as specific as you can, thanks. Also if you've had a blood panel drawn, which your Doctor I suspect did to rule out possible situations would you know what your triglyceride levels are and your fasting A1C, just curious

AshtonCail

Hi there ☺️! Don’t give up, I don’t believe you are hopeless!! It sounds like you have just been in a tough phase of life right now as a new mom. I just discovered a YouTuber who has been really motivating for me on my weight loss journey, her channel name is “Chelsea Mae”. I’m not vegan, but I still find her channel extremely helpful.

I have started making a big effort to get to bed by 9pm (it’s currently 9:49pm as I’m typing this…but I’m working on it lol) and making sleep a big priority in my life because if I don’t, I notice I crave anything with sugar because I’m constantly tired and feeling like a zombie. So maybe look into your “sleep hygiene” and see if you are getting enough rest. I need at least 8, if not 9 hours. Just a thought to look into.

Anyway, I just wanted to reach out and tell you that you are not alone, I’m working on my journey too!! You got this!!💪🏻

Bloodroot11

Sugar. It rules our gut in conjunction with Candida. Our cravings ceased after we dropped all sugar... It took about a month of being free from sugar, processed foods, and dairy.

https://www.google.com/search?q=candida&oq=candida&gs_lcrp=EgZjaHJvbWUyBggAEEUYOdIBCDE3NTRqMGo3qAIPsAIB

ddsb1111

Binge and restrict cycles do this. You only need to eat 250-500 calories below your TDEE daily. You can also figure out what calories to eat by entering your goal to lose 1 lb a week. If you track and weigh your food using mfp, and allow room for food you enjoy, you’ll likely stabilize your cravings and gain some (eating) consistency in your life. So much of dieting starts in the mind, and if you don’t have control of your peace then you certainly won’t have control over your diet.