Help: stopped binge eating but not losing weight ?

beccabmoran

Hi, I have a question. I haven't had a true binge in about two and a half weeks. Granted, I haven't been perfect (not by a LONG SHOT). I've eaten more than I've meant to, had unplanned snacks, etc., but I haven't had a binge of several thousand calories. I've been working out, eating (relatively) healthily...but I have remained at the same weight. I keep losing and gaining the same two to three pounds. Does anyone have any idea why this is happening? My diary is public, so if you have any questions about my food intake, I'm an open book. I'm putting in the work, so I'd like to see the results! Any thoughts?

crepes_

Are you sure those calorie burn estimates are accurate? If you're working out more than before, your muscles would be retaining some water during recovery.

sherambler

After I stopped bingeing it took several weeks before I could lose weight. Several people told me that my body was retaining water because I was exercising so much (plus we had a month heat streak) and that my metabolism was trying to readjust itself. I don't know if this is scientifically accurate or not, but after a few weeks, almost a month, my body finally recovered and I started losing weight. I went through the same period of losing and gaining, but it eventually leveled out. I began really scrutinizing my portions.

If you wait it out and nothing seems to change then it can only be one of two things: 1. the calorie burn isn't accurate. We know MFP generally over estimates. But you could also be misreading your energy level (moderate, brisk, etc.). However, I don't think this is the problem seeing as how you don't ever seem to eat back even half of your exercise calories.

2. So I think the problem is that you might not be 100% accurate in your eating. I don't think you're doing it on purpose or anything and I know that this is the most frustrating thing to hear, especially for someone recovering from binge eating, but I've found that sometimes I can underestimate the size of an apple, which could be 20-30 calories more. Times 2 or 3 a day and you've got yourself nearly a 100 calorie margin or error.

The only other things I can suggest is that you tend to consume a lot of sugar. I do too, but sugar becomes fat quickly. You're also eating a lot of what seems to be processed snack bars. You may want to start trying to substitute more veggies for some of those. It'll give you more of a deficit.

That being said, I think you should cut yourself a little slack for a bit. You're overcoming one of the hardest obstacles--the bingeing. So enjoy that for a little while. Too much stressing over not losing weight when you seem to be doing things right could set yourself up for a binge.