Loss & Gain vicious cycle

Hi Leila,
I certainly know how frustrating it can be to be on a loss and gain cycle. I did the same thing myself for years before finally getting to the point where I found something that worked and was able to keep the weight off. The main thing is to just stay committed to eating healthy and making sure to exercise at least 5 times a week. You don't want to do a diet that only last 3 months and go back to the old habits. You want to do something that is doable and can be maintained long-term as a lifestyle change. The key is to find healthy alternatives to things you like to eat. For example, instead of having deep fried chicken wings I cut up chicken breasts into wing size pieces and have those with buffalo sauce. Instead of sour cream on tacos use greek yogurt, etc. Also, this doesn't mean that you can't ever treat yourself. As long as 80% of what you eat is healthy you can treat yourself to a dessert or some kind of treat and be ok. The important thing is to not go overboard and to stay in the calorie range that works for you. If you have a hard time with staying in that range try planning your meals for the day so you know exactly how much you are going to eat during the day and don't go over that. I hope this helps. Feel free to ask me any questions if you have them.

Not knowing anything about you but what you have stated here I will say one thing. You are most likely being too restrictive in your 'diet' mentality. Stop dieting!! If you want sustainability Stop being so restrictive. How tall are you? How much do you weigh? 1200 calories may not be enough. It usually isn't for most adults. And is that total consumed or NET calories?

I used to be chubby as a kid, but as I became older, I took control of my eating habits once and for all. Now, I weigh 5'4 116 lbs. (I have a small frame.) and have been able to maintain this weight for years.

The best advice I can give you is:

1) Know your BMR and TDEE if you don't already. http://iifym.com/iifym-calculator/ Use this calculator to find those numbers out. Then, calculate your weekly fat loss rate. You might already know how to do this, but if not, here's an example:

My TDEE is 1533. If I were to eat 1200 calories a day, I create a caloric deficit of 333 calories a day, or 2331 calories a week. If I divide that by 3500 (calories in a lb. of fat), I would lost .6 lbs. of fat per week (and more in water weight). Of course, my fat loss rate is slow because I am in the normal weight range.

2) **Pick a sustainable caloric deficit.** Don't try to starve yourself (AKA net below 1200 calories) because you can't sustain that without either relapsing or risking having a heart attack down the road. It might work for a short amount of time, but you would slow down your metabolism tremendously, so even if you did it for a short time and it worked, when you start eating normally again (because you'll have to if you want to survive), the weight is going to come back on due to your slowed metabolism. So, don't go below 1200 no matter what!

3) Weigh yourself weekly or even monthly (if you can handle the suspense). Since your weight fluctuates daily due to water weight fluctuation, it can be depressing to see the scale go up ~2 lbs. one day even if you know it's just water. Monthly weigh-ins are the best because you will def see good results if you diet properly.

4) You just have to come to terms with the fact that binge eating isn't doing you any favors. If you go on a diet and you're eating mostly vegetables, fish, light yogurts, or what have you, you can't get off the diet by switching to white breads, pastas, pizzas, burgers, chocolate, and ice cream. You have to eat the same foods, but just increase the amounts of those foods or add some healthy snacks here and there to get up to your maintenance calories. This doesn't mean you can't have something bad for you once in a while, but if you can limit yourself, so that you at least stay within your calorie goal, it would be a lot better. However, IMO, you should cut out as much junk as possible and eventually, if you stick with it long enough, you won't even crave those foods anymore! It's true! It happened to me.


Above all, the most important thing you have to do is be tough on yourself, but don't starve yourself. Eat at a reasonable caloric deficit, so that you won't be super hungry and go binge.

Just stay strong and don't give up! Think about how great you'll look afterwards and look up pictures and videos of what you want to look like, and remember, you're doing this because it won't only help you physically, but in every aspect of your life.

"Eating something against your diet is only enjoyable for as long as it takes to devour it. Immediately after, you're stuck with the guilt and you've only prolonged your goal." - Me

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Not knowing anything about you but what you have stated here I will say one thing. You are most likely being too restrictive in your 'diet' mentality. Stop dieting!! If you want sustainability Stop being so restrictive. How tall are you? How much do you weigh? 1200 calories may not be enough. It usually isn't for most adults. And is that total consumed or NET calories?

This.

You need to decided that it's okay to lose it slowly. Every time you do a crash diet, you lose muscle. This means that every time you lose the weight quickly, you've made your metabolism that much slower. It might only be a tiny bit each time but if you repeat the cycle over and over and over again, it begins to add up.

You need to eat at a MODEST deficit. Find out how many calories your body uses in a day and only subtract 200 to 500. Make sure you eat enough protein and do enough resistance training (body weight to start is fine) in order to maintain the muscle you have left.

Don't go insane with exercise. Do things you can picture yourself doing for years. Start with walking a few miles a day. Once you've kept up with that, try a bit more of something you enjoy (or best tolerate) like running, biking, swimming, weight lifting, etc.

Stop with the all or nothing mentality.

I know what you're going though. I used to do the exact same thing and I did it for 30 years. Don't set goals of '30 lbs by X date'. Set a goal of 'a little today, a little tomorrow and a little the next'. You need to take the pressure off yourself and let yourself breathe. The moment YOU make it a manageable task will be the moment you're able to manage it.

Good luck.