What do your meals look like (show me pictures)....

Phaewryn wrote: »

DaivaSimone wrote: »

Phaewryn wrote: »

Skinless chicken breast (probably about 6-7 ounces) topped with 2 tablespoons ketchup, with one whole package of green giant steamers antioxidant blend vegetables.

One whole box of green giant steamer chopped spinach topped with 1 large boiled egg (small 7.5 inch plate). I also had 1/3 (dry) cup oat bran made with water, with 1 tsp brown sugar and 1 tsp maple syrup, plus my normal coffee in the morning (8 oz, 1 tbls sugar, 1 tbls non-dairy creamer). That is all I have eaten today.

And that is not a proper way to feed yourself. You body need fuel! I browsed your profile when, on your last post in this thread, you said you were accidentally fasting by eating 700 cals in a day, but I thought you may be following the Intermittent Fasting protocol, so I let it go.

Now, I clearly see that you are eating less than a 1000 cals a day, and sometimes less than 700. That is dangerous! You are not eating enough protein to preserve your muscle mass, and you are not eating enough fat to maintain cognitive functions. You don't want and don't need to geopardize your health to lose weight. You have 17 pounds to lose, you can lose half a pound a week and still you will achieve your goal in less than a year. What is the point of eating 850 cals a day?!

You must not have also read on my profile that I have Metabolic Syndrome. The fact that I "don't eat enough" isn't new, I've never eaten much, what has changed is that whereas before I was eating small amounts of high fat junk foods (cheese, butter, sugar, carbs was MOST of my diet up until this month), I am now eating similar amounts of healthy foods (beans, meat, vegetables). I spent a year doing rugged camping, my body learned how to store everything and use any available source for energy. When you've lived in the forest for over a year, packing in and out everything you need on your back 8 miles, drinking creek water, and digging holes to *** in, and you've survived, then come back and judge my LIFE. I had some acute psychiatric issues come up and for over 2 years I spent a lot of time in psych wards and on various medications, several of which are known to cause irreversible weight gain due to metabolic syndrome. So, yes, I'm not eating many calories, however, I'm here because I have chosen to stop eating all BAD calories and replace them with HEALTHY ones. Yesterday WAS a intermittent fasting day, fwiw. But yes, I set my goals lower than standard, and yet, even though I'm now "dieting" I find that when I enter my meals/values at the end of the day, I haven't even eaten enough to sustain basic life for most people. YET I AM OVERWEIGHT. On the other hand, this "dieting" thing isn't proving very difficult for me at all, since I obviously wasn't eating more than 1000 calories a day BEFORE I started tracking it. It's not as if I was eating a 1500 a day diet and then suddenly dropped down to 600-1000 calories a day, I wasn't eating that many to begin with. They were just all BAD calories. Anyway, here's a few links to Metabolic Syndrome, in case you're unaware of what it is. Its actually a *really* hard thing to live with, as you can probably guess, because on the days when I do eat typical amounts of calories (like if we go out to eat and I devour a whole platter of surf&turf) I really put on weight fast, and once it's on, it's very hard to lose with this condition:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20717020
http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/733704
http://www.psychiatrictimes.com/psychopharmacology/current-and-future-treatment-options-preventing-metabolic-syndrome-due-atypical-antipsychotics
I have put protein supplements in my wish list on amazon, and after I pay my bills, if I have enough money, I plan to order them. I wasn't aware, until joining here, that I was SO protein deficient. My doctor said my bloodwork showed everything perfect all that time. I'm 5'2" and 136lbs, which is overweight. If 850 calories a day was going to kill me of malnutrition, I'd already be dead. I've had regular physicals, and bloodwork drawn, and my doctor says that according to my bloodwork, I am in PERFECT health. I'm under the care of a doctor, who said 100% yes to starting to eat better food and exercise, and under the care of a psychiatrist, who also says that eating better and exercising is good. I'm not low on anything (well, I was low on potassium once, but likely because of a hydration issue). I'm not high on anything (my cholesterol and blood pressure are textbook perfect). I don't see how replacing my bowl of mashed potatoes covered with butter, cheese, and salt for a bowl of black beans covered in salsa is making me WORSE OFF. I don't see how replacing my bowl of fruity pebbles for a bowl of oat bran with flax is making me WORSE OFF.