All should read! EDs, calories, and the truth

Altruista75

So happy to hear you got everything under control!!! This was well written and hopefully it will help a lot of people out there!! Too many people are under eating and they don't realize what it's doing to their bodies.

alzaman5925

Experience everything, indeed. When you are craving that ice cream, you eat an ice cream. And when you are full, stop. Eat when you're hungry, stop when you're full. You will lose weight, but I think that is less important than being satisfied with yourself. Because you're a human person and deserve pleasure and love.

No, I absolutely will not.
Afraid you are most definitely wrong in regards to me in this case.
I certainly don't get the 'full' feeling as quickly as others do. Everyone is different and while that may well work for you, it doesn't mean it will work for me.

It's probably worth mentioning that some people are simply more genetically disposed to eating greater amounts of food than they actually need. There have been experiments conducted on elementary school kids where after school lunches, additional delicious snacks were set down on everyone's table and the teachers observed the pattern of children who simply ignored the food because they weren't hungry, and those who kept eating the yummy snacks even though they were already full from their last meal. Some managed to clean the entire plate, whereas others didn't even touch a crumb.

My point is that I'm the sort of person who *has* to be mindful of what I'm eating all the time, otherwise I will just start putting on weight again. I eat what makes me feel good and when I like, but unfortunately that's usually more than I need. I don't really understand modesty, and I do a very bad job of practising it. My mind is just greedy - being hungry and craving is pretty much the same thing to me... that's exactly what got me to this stage of weight gain.

So I sort of agree with the above poster, that some people just have to be more ritualized about their eating, because to them doing things that feel good don't fall in line with doing things that are good for their body. Having suffered from a malnourishment-based eating disorder, I would suspect that the OP is in fact in the opposing category, therefore "enjoying life" is a piece of advice that will work well for her.

However, I suspect that if I'm not always careful about my food, I will never lose this weight or succeed in keeping it off for good.

geebusuk

Wow, the OP was sharing the learnings and realisations that she gained during recovery from an eating disorder. Why would you want to go out of your way to try and disprove a set of beliefs that helped her recover from an illness that kills more people than any other psychological disorder???

This place baffles me sometimes :noway:

Let us take the Topic title as an example of why I thought it was worth offering my opinions:
>>All should read! EDs, calories, and the truth<<

Had she used the following as a title instead, it would have been a lot better to my mind:
"My experience! EDs, calories and what worked for me"

But instead she is saying everyone should read it (so I did), then putting it forward as the truth.
I then took issue when she tried to suggest that this was what would work for everyone.
That is just bad advice and should be challenged - if I was offering advice on something that others knew to be wrong I'd hope someone told me. If I still believed it was right, I'd then offer my reasoning, ideally backed up by research.

I don't think this applied to you and your response was completely uncalled for . This is the type of insensitive reply that makes MFP one of the worst "support" systems (while also being completely amazing in other regards). I cannot believe you went out of your way to refute the OPs points when clearly you have no experience with an eating disorder. You should be ashamed of yourself, just saying. She's a young girl encouraging other people who might be suffering and you just want to pick a fight.

I do have experience with my personal eating disorder. The fact I have many times been at 60lb more than I am now shows that - the fact that it is 'many times' part of that. The fact that I still have to often do a half hour cycle ride at 11pm to match my calories up before midnight shows I'm definitely not over it either.
I also am friends with people that have had eating disorders on the other side too. I have been accused of that myself too and certainly display a load of the signs, though that's certainly not the case for me (or so I'm pretty sure, in reality my goals are considered pretty realistic.)

Do you think people should ignore or encourage bad advice which will harm and could even be dangerous to other people on the basis they should be 'supported'?
In this case her response to my post used the words 'you'. While my post may seem arrogant, it was in reply to someone telling my something about myself which I will know from experience is not true.

I well appreciate what she's done and what's worked for her.
That does not mean it will work for everyone or is true for everyone.

Unlike others, I appreciate; I'm not on this site for emotional support.
I am however here for good information; so why wouldn't I respond to a post which says 'All should read!' and 'the truth', yet did not usefully cover either of those.

One of the problems I see with this site is so many that presume that worked for them most be the only way it will work for others. Then others will defend information that if considered a little must logically be wrong, because it "works for them" or because people offering alternate opinions are 'being nasty' and so on.
The human body and mind is vastly variable and this isn't a good tactic to take. If you are going to, it's nice to present some good research to back it up, so we can see why people hold that opinion.

kelly_e_montana

The number of *experts* on this site is hilarious. To the OP, you go girl. No good deed goes unpunished.

dawndw

I have enjoyed reading this. Your very wise for someone so young.

Thanks.

i second this!!

Aye

Awesome read thank you!

mdcjmom

Your post was amazing thank you.

RVfrog

A lot of what is said here makes some sense. But no one set of rules works for everyone. I have high cholesterol, diabetes and high blood pressure. Plus I do need to lose at least 20 lbs. In order to get my numbers down, I do need to regulate everything, i.e calories, protein, carbs, fat, cholesterol, salt. Myfitnesspal keeps track of all of these numbers for me. It is quite the balancing act on 1200 calories. And yes I am hungry and do feel deprived; but it is so much better than going on insulin or ending up with a stroke. I think to myself "there is no other option; I have to stick with this plan. It is a matter of life or death." Anyone else out there in the same boat and want to connect? Please do not hesitate.

I'm in the same boat. I use this site to help me and all of the tools do. We are all different and we do what ever we have to . Glad you have insight for yourself. I'm happy with myfitness pal and what it offers for free to me.

NoahandPresleysMom

I agree with everything EXCEPT number 5. Processed foods ARE unhealthy. Period. Its scientifically proven. Other then that my love well written!!

skinnymini_wannabe

Bump, saving this to read over and over.

angiechimpanzee

I believe that there are unhealthy foods & healthy foods. Some foods contain much more nutritional value per calorie than others, that's just a fact.

& there's nothing wrong with working out to look good.

onyxgirl17

I don't deny I have many times 'comfort eaten' to make me feel better.
But I do this because in the first place I enjoy eating food.
If it wasn't was for the consequences I would happily eat a lot more even when I'm in a very good frame of mind. I do have plenty of 'bad history', but that's far from the complete story blaming it on that for me.

Your body's survival method is not eating everything in sight immediately; that is what it has been trained to do, perhaps.

In an evolutionary sense it certainly makes sense that those who ate plenty of high calorie foods were more likely to survive to an age where they could procreate.
Do you have any evidence to suggest this is not the case, or is it just your opinion?
Either way, what are you basing this on?

If you eat below your maintenance level of calories, all you do is train your body to be more efficient in conserving and storing calories.

Again. Eating below maintenance is the ONLY way to lose weight by definition.
So it's certainly not 'all you do'. I've lost around 60lb since May be eating between say 3000 and 1000 calories under what would be required for maintenance (starting higher and reducing as I got nearer my 10% BF goal).

Experience everything, indeed. When you are craving that ice cream, you eat an ice cream. And when you are full, stop. Eat when you're hungry, stop when you're full. You will lose weight, but I think that is less important than being satisfied with yourself. Because you're a human person and deserve pleasure and love.

No, I absolutely will not.
Afraid you are most definitely wrong in regards to me in this case.
I certainly don't get the 'full' feeling as quickly as others do. Everyone is different and while that may well work for you, it doesn't mean it will work for me.

I think the way you approached this was insensitive as well. I thought the topic was very helpful and many other people agree. She learned things along the way that helped her and "could" help others, that of course doesn't apply to everybody.

RVfrog

Cam you said this "People call MFP a great tool for weight loss, but I respectfully dissent. Calorie counting is quite unhealthy. " I don't agree. MRF is a great tool, most people need to count those calories to realize what they are eating and how fast those calories add up. I for one need this. I also have a dietitan who helps me and she agrees this is a great site and it helps to see where you are at in a day of eating. It is a tool for weight loss and there are many tools to use out there. I am grateful for MFP and so are many others.

I'm glad you got the help you needed but there are others who do not have your problem and we need these tools to help us. Glad you got your help . Good luck

I am thankful for MFP and friends on here that help me. Just my 2 cents worth.

Sarauk2sf

5. There are NO healthy or unhealthy foods. This was the first thing that my nutritionist told me. I had been categorizing, like many of you, food into "healthy", "okay occasionally," and "bad for you!". She debunked this rather quickly. Huge amounts of anything can be harmful. But no one food can destroy or restore health, so no one food is healthy or unhealthy.

Some people seem to be missing the point that the well written post relates to people who have an ED and are in recovery or looking to recover. However, the point above is particularly relevant for everyone.

kenazfehu

Eat until you're no longer hungry is exactly where I fell flat on my fat face. Apparently, to me, eating until I'm no longer hungry means eating until I'm so stuffed I'm miserable. I did that for years expecting that eventually I'd settle into my happy place weight-wise and stop gaining weight. At 207 pounds on a 5'7" medium frame is where I decided to engage my brain in the process. You better believe I'm going to count calories! I have no wish to weigh more ever again in my life!

ravenrxx

Wise words have been spoken. Thanks so much, My Dear.

Sarauk2sf

I believe that there are unhealthy foods & healthy foods. Some foods contain much more nutritional value per calorie than others, that's just a fact.

& there's nothing wrong with working out to look good.

Like what?

Pohudet

This is a very sensible post. However, such an approach does not work for all people. If you are a postmenopausal woman, it is natural for you to put on weight. However, you will be healthier if you do not. May be it is natural for people to die at 60, but i want to live long and healthy, be strong and muscular, and have a good heart rate and blood pressure. If it takes calorie counting, i dont mind! Mfp is great help!

swat1948

Very good post, but I have to say, I can't eat till I am full or eat when I am hungry because I am always hungry. Now whether this is my actual appetite or just an emotion appetite is debatable. I also have hypothyroidism and I can tell you, unless I count calories I will gain weight. I have to be aware of what I am eating...no choice here.

kdub67

Wow, what an amazing young woman you are! Kudos to you on writing this post...very well written and very smart!

gothicfires

This was an awesome post.

To those who are so quick to say 'this doesn't apply to me' or 'that's why I'm fat'. Keep in mind that the OP was sharing what she learned and what worked for her in hopes that it would help other people.

For the parts that don't apply to you, ok they don't apply to you. You don't have to tear her down because of that. Learn what you can learn or what you are willing to learn and move on.

I don't get hungry and the reverse. when I eat I don't fill full until it is physically uncomfortable but I could see that what she was saying made sense for others.

She didn't say be irresponsible with eating what you want. She didn't say eat a huge amount of what you want. In fact she said even eating too much of what you considered 'good' was bad. So if you got fat eating what you want and you griped about it... you still missed the point of what she said.

again Cudos to the OP. I think most of that has needed to be said for a while now.