How do you start fresh after a long stretch of gaining weight and being very unhealthy? So stuck.

alp_19 · February 2016

I'm having a very hard time getting out of this rut that I've dug myself into. I struggle with binge eating and emotional eating and over the past few months I've let myself get bad. I still lift weights, but with eating absolutely terrible my body looks worse than I can ever remember it being.

I've been waking up every morning ready to start fresh and eat healthy. Today and yesterday I even managed to have a healthy three meals. But both days I ended up binging a ton at night. I feel like binging and snacking are so engrained and normal in my routine now, that it makes me anxious and so uncomfortable when I'm trying to fight against the urges. And I end up giving in and then feeling awful and giving in more. I can't remember the last healthy day I had. It feels like I'm in a dark hole and I keep getting close to the edge and then falling back down. I just want to get back on track again. I miss feeling okay.

Does anyone have any advice?

RosemaryBronte · February 2016

Instead if thinking what to cut out, think of adding things into your diet. E.g think of an apple as a big red dieting pill. Have one each day. I cut it into tiny pieces and eat it on cereal. Write in your diary each day you eat one. Next day add in some other healthy food e.g. oatmeal for breakfast. Add that to the apple. Forget the other junk. Eat it or not. As you gradually include healthy food you feel satisfied and want the junk less. The good crowds out the bad. Think of the good food as your way of loving yourself. Find a soothing meditation and love yourself with that daily. Little by little reassure yourself that you WILL look after yourself and you will let go of your junk food. As you also include fun and friends in your life you will need less junk.

seska422 · February 2016

No diet works if you won't stick to it.

Start fresh.

Forget about focusing on eating "healthy." When you get overly restrictive, you crave what you are restricting.

You can eat anything. Nothing is completely off limits.

Concentrate for a couple weeks on staying at or slightly under your calorie goal. Eat your foods in amounts that fit into your calorie goal.

After a couple weeks, you might start making different choices within your foods that you consider healthier.

Mersie1 · February 2016

Read brain over binge. I've fought all forms of eating disorders over two decades. I'm the most recovered I've ever been. It's a great book. Wishing you the best!

bruhaha007 · February 2016

I would remove any foods you tend to binge from your house. Instead eat an apple or pear and to curb your hunger up your protein intake which keeps you feeling fuller longer. If you do eat some of the foods you binge on take a few out of the container, count out a few, and then put it away and don't touch it again. I never sit down with a bag of chips but I may grab 6-8 just for the taste and hide it away. Obviously it takes will power to not go back but you have to train your brain to reduce the cravings. Easier said than done, I know.

RedLipsRedDress · February 2016

I can definitely relate to this post. Breaking the bad habits is tough, so tough it almost hurts. If it was easy, anyone would do it.
I liked the first advice given about including one healthy food a day.
Here are some ideas that helped me so far
Set certain goals that you can measure and take before photos. You need to actually record how bad you look (or at least you think you look bad) and record how badly you're eating. Start writing everything down or logging it to Mfp. This helps a lot. Logging my food has changed my life.
The other piece of advice I can give is start with small changes and don't shock your body. You have to be patient, though. You can start by gradually reducing the amount of carbonated drinks and alcohol. If reduction is hard, try substituting one thing for another like white bread for whole grain, sugar for honey, half of your fries with veggies you like, etc. Anything that's a little bit more natural.
I think small changes matter the most in the long run. You should celebrate every small success

srujana_kanneganti · February 2016

I recently also got out of a rut of eating bad/not exercising that lasted about a month
I understand how hard it can be to break the cycle.

My strategy is a little different from everyone else's here, but I need the cold shock of something strict when I fall into the dark hole..."anything in moderation" is too much freedom when I feel I've lost control.

So, I implement a temporary strict diet when I fall off the wagon....I just find, for me personally, setting rules helps "reset" my mental relationship with food.
Like right now, I'm TEMPORARILY limiting my [net] carbs to under 50 with a light cal deficit. I'm finding this is forcing me to stick to healthy foods and say no to bad foods and snacking and binging (I'm particularly a sugar addict lol).

When I feel like I've broken through, I go back to my normal way of eating. Usually takes me about 1-2 weeks. The last time I fell into a rut, which was last year, I did 2 weeks of IF and it helped similarly.

Also, I reach for herbal tea whenever I want to night time boredom-eat. And stay busy--find something enjoyable to do aside from eating!

MondayJune22nd2015 · February 2016

I ate normally for the 1st day, to gauge how many calories I was consuming; then decreased them by 100 every week. This kept me from feeling deprived/hungry, from a sudden & large deficit, by letting my body become use; to a gradual change instead.

ilanag1836 · February 2016

I think the most important thing to remember is to not beat yourself up over a binge. It happens to the best of us! I find that by not dwelling on what I did wrong, I can get back on track much more quickly. It took some time to learn how to not beat myself up over binging, but I promise when you do your healthy lifestyle change becomes much easier.
My worst binge time is at night, so I find that if I'm in bed with teeth brushed early I can sometimes help prevent it.
I know that I also binge when I am stressed. If I am actually hungry I will eat something and not feel guilty about it. If I can sense that it is emotional, I try to find a pleasant distraction, such as watching TV or a movie, reading etc.
Good luck with your healthy lifestyle and don't get too down about the binging. You can bounce back!

amusedmonkey · February 2016

srujana_kanneganti wrote: »

I recently also got out of a rut of eating bad/not exercising that lasted about a month
I understand how hard it can be to break the cycle.

My strategy is a little different from everyone else's here, but I need the cold shock of something strict when I fall into the dark hole..."anything in moderation" is too much freedom when I feel I've lost control.

So, I implement a temporary strict diet when I fall off the wagon....I just find, for me personally, setting rules helps "reset" my mental relationship with food.
Like right now, I'm TEMPORARILY limiting my [net] carbs to under 50 with a light cal deficit. I'm finding this is forcing me to stick to healthy foods and say no to bad foods and snacking and binging (I'm particularly a sugar addict lol).

When I feel like I've broken through, I go back to my normal way of eating. Usually takes me about 1-2 weeks. The last time I fell into a rut, which was last year, I did 2 weeks of IF and it helped similarly.

Also, I reach for herbal tea whenever I want to night time boredom-eat. And stay busy--find something enjoyable to do aside from eating!

I tend to do this as well. I find it easier to restart my progress if I first start with something that has some rigid rules where no means no and deviation is unacceptable. It re-trains my "no" mental muscles after which I can confidently loosen up and freely eat whatever I want with sound judgement. I don't do the low carb thing because it's more frustrating and anxiety inducing for me than helpful, but I do pick up a random fad diet with some arbitrary rules for a week or so, after which getting back on track is easy in comparison with the strict week I spent. Everyone is different though. When I first started I did do the gradual change thing and it worked brilliantly, but I find I don't need to do it anymore as I already know a lot about the ins and outs of dieting and only need to rip that laziness bandaid.

I second tea. I've always been a heavy tea drinker and a fan of the vast variety of tea flavors, but when I'm dieting I find myself utilizing it even more.

alp_19 · February 2016

Thank you all so much! I have an exam tomorrow and don't have time to respond to each post individually at the moment but I've read all of the messages and they helped me tremendously. Today was the first successful day that I've had in so so long. I stayed within calories and I didn't binge. I'm so beyond thrilled.

The support from MFP always blows me away. And even though I've been struggling with eating for a long time, I always manage to discover new strategies and ideas that help me a ton. So really, thank you all. I should've come back to MFP weeks ago, this was just the boost out of my rut that I needed.

cside691 · February 2016

I have been the same and found taking each day at a time helped. Planning the days meals and snacks and taking all my snacks with me to work looked like a lot but I knew I could eat them all and still be in goal. I then found that because I could, my desire to eat them reduced. If I wanted to eat anything else, I logged it first and usually the amount of calories put me off. I also tried eating pischatio nuts, by the time I had taken the shells off and eaten 3 I had enough. I also try distraction techniques like going and doing a quick chore before o allowed myself to snack again taking away the desire. Walking has also helped. Finally if I have had a bad day or moment, I don't beat myself up about it, just see it as it was A moment or A day, not an excuse to give up completely. Good luck x

Lizzy622 · February 2016

Great advice. Just one little thing to add. If you feel like you are in a rut do something outside your comfort zone. If you are studying at night find a new spot (where food and snacks are not very accessible). If you are relaxing watching TV get your hands busy with a hobby like crocheting or go for a walk instead of sitting on the couch.

Mersie1 · February 2016

Well done! The boom brain over binge is a fascinating/helpful book. Sending you hugs and high fives!

How do you start fresh after a long stretch of gaining weight and being very unhealthy? So stuck.

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