Advice for a yo-yo dieter?

meglxmas
meglxmas Posts: 3
edited November 9 in Health and Weight Loss
About a year and half ago I was obese - over the next year and a bit I managed to lose a lot, around 90 pounds, but in the end my weight was nearly 'underweight', and I ended up with a little bit of an eating disorder (very controlling about food, had certain safe foods, etc, this is what caused me to lose more than I intended.)

When I started university in September, I managed to break free from these issues, but kind of went the other way, doing a fair bit of bingeing, and so gained maybe 35-40 pounds. I am now technically 'overweight', if only by a little bit, and because of the nature of the food I was eating, this weight gain is pretty much all pudge!

I'm now at a point where I'm really not happy with how I look, and I would like to lose weight in the new year, but I'm concerned about going back to how I was before with food - there's a part of me thinking that it would perhaps be better to be slightly large and not have food problems than to be a healthy weight but very obsessive.

Therefore if anyone has any advice about how I should approach this I would be very grateful! (I am currently speaking to someone about food/self-esteem etc, but they're not a qualified dietitian and don't really like giving me advice about this sort of thing - it's also not very easy for me to go see a dietitian either.)

Many thanks!

Replies

  • lifeskittles
    lifeskittles Posts: 438 Member
    Usually when you have a binge eating disorder it seems to be because you're either eating too many processed foods, too many of the same foods, or not enough delicious foods to mentally satisfy you. You should always have a variety in your food. Forcing yourself to eat the same foods over and over again is just asking for disaster. Try new foods and new recipes that you like, track your calories and macronutrients, but only to find out where you are maintaining at. Then slowly decrease your calories in a way that is comfortable for you. If you start getting hungry then replace carbohydrate rich foods with ones more high in protein. If you start weaning your body off of processed foods you will start to crave refined sugar less and will binge less. Even if that means switching out a processed frozen meal for a "no preservatives" one you will notice a difference. I had a binge eating disorder for a long time. It wasn't until I started eating more wholesome foods that I got over it.
  • IamAddictedtoCoconuts
    IamAddictedtoCoconuts Posts: 24 Member
    edited December 2014
    Lifeskittles said it well.
    Also "
    thinking that it would perhaps be better to be slightly large and not have food problems than to be a healthy weight but very obsessive. "

    Not true at all. You have to change your mindset. You can eat chocolate, mcdonald and literally anything you want and still be at a healthy weight, it's about moderation. Right now your mind is in a state of "all or nothing", you're relating "healthy" with "eating specific things" You get into a zone where you become anxious about food because that's what you associate with "healthy eating" It doesn't have to be like that.

    Start right now, this day. Make small changes, right now its all about caloric deficit. Start by thinking of what meals you'll be eating, go grocery shopping for the week. If you like chocolate, have it. Like cake? have that too BUT keep it in a small portion and in moderation. Don't try to cut "bad food" out. This is a lifestyle, it's not just weightloss. You've done this once so you know how it goes. Remember, it's all in your head, food isin't the problem.

    Also don't look at your weight gain as a setback, if anything this should motivate you. That sadness you're felling right now, probably some anger too - take all of that to the gym. Your pain is your greatest motivator. As you already know self-esteem will be going up once you start controlling your eating habit and work out. Start imagining yourself looking the way you want, if you can see it in your mind - you're already halfway there.
  • peter7361
    peter7361 Posts: 20 Member
    What do you do for exercise? For me, I knew that beyond a certain point, I wasn't going to be able to keep up with dieting for the long term. While I cut out most fast food and don't drink soda, there was no way I was going to give up pizza (I usually order a pizza and a side once a week or once every two weeks), and I'm not a big fruits and veggies person. Instead, I decided to focus more on exercise than on diet, and started running in May of this past year. In the past seven months, I've lost just over 20 pounds, putting me at a healthy weight (down to 180 lbs now), but more importantly, my blood pressure is down into the healthy range, as is my cholesterol and my resting heart rate is in the low to mid 60s.

    I started using MFP to determine how much I need to exercise in order to eat the way I do. I also found that just because I'm exercising, I don't need to eat more. I need to eat about 2,500 to 2,800 calories to be satisfied, whether I exercise or not. Eating that much, I can sit on the couch or run five miles and be just as satisfied either way. I use that as motivation when I'm running, thinking to myself "You've got to keep going if you want to eat the way that makes you happy." Everybody's different, and you've got to find what's going to work for you long term. It's not just losing the weight, you've got to make the long term changes to keep it off.
  • RodaRose
    RodaRose Posts: 9,562 Member
    meglxmas wrote: »
    About a year and half ago I was obese - over the next year and a bit I managed to lose a lot, around 90 pounds, but in the end my weight was nearly 'underweight', and I ended up with a little bit of an eating disorder (very controlling about food, had certain safe foods, etc, this is what caused me to lose more than I intended.)

    When I started university in September, I managed to break free from these issues, but kind of went the other way, doing a fair bit of bingeing, and so gained maybe 35-40 pounds. I am now technically 'overweight', if only by a little bit, and because of the nature of the food I was eating, this weight gain is pretty much all pudge!

    I'm now at a point where I'm really not happy with how I look, and I would like to lose weight in the new year, but I'm concerned about going back to how I was before with food - there's a part of me thinking that it would perhaps be better to be slightly large and not have food problems than to be a healthy weight but very obsessive.

    Therefore if anyone has any advice about how I should approach this I would be very grateful! (I am currently speaking to someone about food/self-esteem etc, but they're not a qualified dietitian and don't really like giving me advice about this sort of thing - it's also not very easy for me to go see a dietitian either.)

    Many thanks!


    Some of the important parts of weight loss involve changing your environment and making choices in who you want to be around so that you can be successful. Consider what you can do to help make healthy weight loss easier for you.
  • Liftng4Lis
    Liftng4Lis Posts: 15,151 Member
    Perhaps you should focus on a recomp instead of dieting.
  • WalkingAlong
    WalkingAlong Posts: 4,926 Member
    meglxmas wrote: »
    ... I would like to lose weight in the new year, but I'm concerned about going back to how I was before with food - there's a part of me thinking that it would perhaps be better to be slightly large and not have food problems than to be a healthy weight but very obsessive...
    Congrats on the big weight loss!

    I sympathize. Try to view it as a pendulum and each swing you learn more about how to keep the swings smaller and keep your mindset healthier. With practice you can learn to find a smallish range that is the best balance of physical and mental health for you. It doesn't have to always be 'fat' or 'food obsessed'.

    Pay attention to the 'all or nothing' thoughts that contribute to the extremes. You don't HAVE TO weigh all food or not count calories at all, for example. You don't have to be under calories every single day. And so on. Success lies in the gray area.

    Good luck!

  • leggup
    leggup Posts: 2,942 Member
    It sounds like you are stuck in the "All or nothing!" mindset. Have safe foods (and unsafe foods) and be underweight or binge and be overweight. This is flawed thinking that I'm sure you'll be discussing with your therapist.

    Have you tried calorie counting without restricting food groups? Since you have a history of extreme eating and you're overweight, not obese, I would recommend setting MyFitnessPal to .5-1 lb/per week loss and calorie count.
  • 47Jacqueline
    47Jacqueline Posts: 6,993 Member
    If you're in school, there's probably a dietician available to you. No one ever said going to one would be easy - or that changing the way you live will either.

    Just keep at it.
  • kristimason3
    kristimason3 Posts: 131 Member
    What are your goals? Why are they your goals? Maybe it would help to examine that a bit? I have been at both ends of the spectrum myself. Yoyo dieting was my life for a long time. Sometimes my obsessive thoughts would lead to losing too much and issues with food. Then I would find myself going the other direction and unhappy with myself, like you described. Do you have the option at school of taking some anatomy / physiology / kinesiology classes as part of your studies? That really helped me. Learning what an amazing machine we are living in can change your mindset and goals. I now try to think of eating as fueling my body to be as strong and healthy as possible instead of thinking of it as a rollercoaster of deprivation and over indulgence with goals of being at a certain number or certain size. I still battle with it sometimes but, for me at least, it helps tremendously to keep refocusing to health and strength. Good luck to you! I hope you can find what works for you!
  • GaleHawkins
    GaleHawkins Posts: 8,159 Member
    lifeskittles wrote: »
    Usually when you have a binge eating disorder it seems to be because you're either eating too many processed foods, too many of the same foods, or not enough delicious foods to mentally satisfy you. You should always have a variety in your food. Forcing yourself to eat the same foods over and over again is just asking for disaster. Try new foods and new recipes that you like, track your calories and macronutrients, but only to find out where you are maintaining at. Then slowly decrease your calories in a way that is comfortable for you. If you start getting hungry then replace carbohydrate rich foods with ones more high in protein. If you start weaning your body off of processed foods you will start to crave refined sugar less and will binge less. Even if that means switching out a processed frozen meal for a "no preservatives" one you will notice a difference. I had a binge eating disorder for a long time. It wasn't until I started eating more wholesome foods that I got over it.

    I have yo-yo'ed for 40 years and have stopped trying to lose weight by dieting per se but but as likeskttles states I am now eating more wholesome foods and ditching junk processed foods because Sugar and Salt seem to be all of them.

    In my case weaning off processed foods was not working out (perhaps an age thing) so the first of Oct 2014 I went off of them 'cold turkey'. Yes I thought I was going to die at first but a funny thing happened to me after two weeks. Yes I was still alive BUT without my craving for junk food with added salt and sugar.

    The average weight loss has been one pound per week and I do not go hungry any longer or get meaner than a junkyard dog like in the past.

    Read up on what lifeskittles writes about and see what you think. I wish I had done so 40 years ago because yo-yo'ing I think is a potential killer.

  • TimothyFish
    TimothyFish Posts: 4,925 Member
    I don't think your idea would work. Even if you choose to maintain your weight at a technically overweight level, if you don't watch what you eat, you will likely gain weight until you are obese again. If you're going to watch what you eat anyway, you might as well aim for a normal weight. I'm no expert, but it seems to me that it might be helpful for you if you took it slow. Figure out how many calories you need to maintain your goal weight and use about 100 calories less than that as your daily goal. Don't limit the types of food you allow yourself, but try to get more of your calories from vegetables when you can. Instead of obsessing over reduced eating, focus your obsession on eating at your calorie goal.
  • meglxmas
    meglxmas Posts: 3
    Thank you for the advice everyone! One of my new year's resolutions is to run a half marathon at the end of March, and to complete the 30 Day Shred again, so I'll have that to focus on, and I'll be eating less, but not too much less - I'm going to do as suggested and focus on wholesome foods and hopefully I'll completely cut out processed foods for good. I'm hoping that a combination of these will mean that I'll be much happier and healthier by the end of the half-marathon!
  • elphie754
    elphie754 Posts: 7,574 Member
    lifeskittles wrote: »
    Usually when you have a binge eating disorder it seems to be because you're either eating too many processed foods, too many of the same foods, or not enough delicious foods to mentally satisfy you. You should always have a variety in your food. Forcing yourself to eat the same foods over and over again is just asking for disaster. Try new foods and new recipes that you like, track your calories and macronutrients, but only to find out where you are maintaining at. Then slowly decrease your calories in a way that is comfortable for you. If you start getting hungry then replace carbohydrate rich foods with ones more high in protein. If you start weaning your body off of processed foods you will start to crave refined sugar less and will binge less. Even if that means switching out a processed frozen meal for a "no preservatives" one you will notice a difference. I had a binge eating disorder for a long time. It wasn't until I started eating more wholesome foods that I got over it.

    No. Eating disorders are I psychological issue, not caused by specific food.
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