Am I doing enough?

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nashelsky
nashelsky Posts: 28 Member
in Food and Nutrition
I just started getting back on track with my fitness. Let me give you a little bit of background information about me so you know where I'm coming from: About 9 years ago, I lost 40 pounds going from overweight to underweight. I developed a pretty intense eating disorder, which I have *mostly* recovered from (although, same as most who have been in that scenario, the mental part hasn't left me fully yet). In the past two years my weight has leveled out and I have been trying not to count calories or worry about what I eat. I am a vegetarian, and so is my SO but he doesn't eat veggies so it is pretty hard to eat healthy with him (his diet is mostly cheese/carbs/starches).

My current plan is to pack a ton of fruits/veggies into shakes WITHOUT dairy, along with some protein powder and chia seeds; for breakfast and lunch, then eat whatever I want for dinner (so long as I don't exceed my calorie goal). I am also doing Jillian Michael's 30 day shred. I am worried that letting myself eat whatever my SO is having for dinner is going to make all this effort pointless. I just don't want to fall into the disordered eating cycle again and I don't want to shame myself for eating delicious, cheesy food.

What do you all think? Will these two changes (smoothies and exercise) help me move the numbers on the scale (I only want to lose 15 lbs)? Do I need to commit more and eat super healthy at dinner too? How can I maintain this balance? Thanks for any thoughts on this.

Replies

  • astronomicals
    astronomicals Posts: 1,537 Member
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    lmfao.. a vegetarian who doesnt eat veggies.... thats a new one on me.... I guess hes living the good life eating cheese pizza 7 days a week.

    i dunno what youre asking really... eat your allotted calories and try and have a nice balance of macro and micro nutrients.

    fruit smoothies can have a LOT of calories...


    i cant really regulate cheese and starchy stuff so I avoid them mostly. if you're me, you avoid pizza cuz anything less than 100% of a pie is failure. I honestly feel like leaving 2 slices is some sort of crime against humanity. Cant do it.
  • nashelsky
    nashelsky Posts: 28 Member
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    Ha, yes, he eats like a child... Cheese pizza, grilled cheese, burritos, mac n cheese.

    My food diary is public as well, so feel free to check that out if it gives any insight as to what my dinners look like (except v-day... That was bad).

    My smoothies are pretty low cal, I'm actually trying to up them a bit to stay full until dinner and get protein in.

    I guess my intended question was: Am I sabotaging my efforts by "letting myself go" to a certain extent at dinner?
  • florentinovillaro
    florentinovillaro Posts: 342 Member
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    Why not eat it whole and have the protein in a shake. Your stomach will feel fuller longer. Liquids digest faster than solids, for obvious reasons. Calories in calories out. As long as your under your "correct" goal, you will lose.
  • FlaxMilk
    FlaxMilk Posts: 3,452 Member
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    It's probably not the best plan for you. If you feel like eating two smoothies one day, do that. That's not a problem. They are delicious. But if you restrict yourself to only smoothies everyday except for dinner, you're going to find yourself dreading breakfast and lunch or not sticking to your plan at all and feeling bad.

    Just eat at a small deficit and be aware of good nutrition.
  • tiddles_yeah
    tiddles_yeah Posts: 117 Member
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    I agree with the other person

    You would be better off eating the veggies as they are, in solid form, as it will help you to feel more full for longer and is sort of more of a 'real' type of meal, if youre worried about disordered eating

    Having the protein shake and maybe even adding in a bit of fiber to the shake too will help you feel full

    Dont worry about 'treating' yourself

    As long as it is within your cal goal/macros etc then theres nothing wrong with it :)

    Why dont you try just making your own dinners or trying to introduce some delicious but veggieful/healthy meals for your SO?
  • RunMyOregonBunsOff
    RunMyOregonBunsOff Posts: 862 Member
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    I feel like you may end up walking a thin line. It seems like two smoothies a day without snacks and then just a regular dinner is maybe a bit of a gateway back into the eating disorder.

    Also, with only 15 lbs to lose you could be better off at a small deficit and taking the slow and steady approach.

    Great job with having the exercise in there. In fact, in your case it might be good to choose fitness related goals and not focus too much on the scale. If you train for something that could be fun and uses body strength plus some endurance (a race like warrior dash or something) , you will still be moving towards your weight goal without as much risk of falling back into your eating disorder.

    Good luck with it all!
  • nashelsky
    nashelsky Posts: 28 Member
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    Thanks for the responses!!

    Surprisingly, I haven't been getting bored of my smoothies yet - I like to keep a good variety. I've found that the smoothies are good for me lately, because I've been very "on the go" and booked with meetings at work throughout the day, so I don't really notice that I'm drinking my cals rather than eating them.

    tiddles - Great feedback :) Usually I make my own sides (steamed veggies) for our meals and don't eat AS much of the crappy stuff, but it is really difficult to sit there with a veggie-centered dish while he's eating cheesy pasta. And he's very hard to manipulate into eating vegetables ;) Last night we had brown rice - his was filled with cheese and soy sauce, mine with veggies and a little bit of goat cheese. So I guess that's a start!

    Thanks again to all for the feedback so far. I'm going to very closely monitor myself to make sure I don't start getting obsessed again about cutting calories too drastically.
  • SuperSvelteLana
    SuperSvelteLana Posts: 10 Member
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    If he's not into changing his eating habits along with you then tell yourself that his meals aren't part of YOUR plan and stick with it.

    If you are limiting your sugar intake and have a quality protein in sufficient quantities in your meals you are bound to see results.
  • RunMyOregonBunsOff
    RunMyOregonBunsOff Posts: 862 Member
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    I'm glad to hear you are being sure not to get obsessed. It's great to want to lose weight and want to look our best but our health should come before anything else. Keep up the great work! :D
  • GertrudeHorse
    GertrudeHorse Posts: 646 Member
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    I'm going to very closely monitor myself to make sure I don't start getting obsessed again about cutting calories too drastically.

    In my experience "very close monitoring" is usually a slippery slope back into obsessive or unhealthy patterns. Although that's just me...it might be okay for you to self-monitor. Given you are in recovery my main advice is to avoid strict rules about only eating X at Y time, or things like that. Just don't punish yourself if there are days when you bend the rules, or make the rules flexible enough to cope with real life intervening. Good luck!

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