This is why people gain weight, and why losing it is so hard.
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So I went off the rails a little yesterday (to the tune of 900 calories). I've been doing this about 2 months, I've had a few over days but I think yesterday was the worst. I used to eat that much and more pretty regularly but I felt SO sick last night when it was all said and done. My reflux (which has been mostly under control since I started) kicked in with a vengeance, I was bloated, I just felt awful.
I'm trying to decide if my body was like "WHOA hey what are you doing there pally?" Or if I literally felt like this ALL THE TIME before and I was just used to it.
Either way, it was kind of a rude awakening. And it also kind of helps. I know eating so indulgently doesn't feel good once the food is gone. And I can make lower calorie, delicious food that tastes good while I'm eating it AND makes me feel good/fuels my life adequately.
So you can do it and it will get easier. You just have to decide it's worth it.3 -
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Sabine_Stroehm wrote: »
And again, this is why you're obese. (you're technically obese right, by medical standards?). You're seriously going to need a paradigm shift. Learning to cook is a good start. Learning, knowing, the calorie content of foods is a good start. You're probably one who would really benefit from using a scale to weigh foods (when you do eat at home).RhapsodyWinters wrote: »I dunno man. I'm 5'4F (23 years old), GW is 130. I calculate my maintenance calorie intake for being 135 lb (without exercise) to be 1700. Right now, I'm not really suffering under the calorie restriction. Some things I have to sacrifice (Like eating more than two pieces of pizza ; ; ), but it's not like I'm starving. I should be okay to follow a maintenance restriction once I get to it. Especially since I'm certain my stomach will have shrunk some. And this is taking into account that I'm not..necessarily eating clean at the moment. Last night I had a Lean Pocket and a cup of those Green Giant Steamers: Lightly Sauced Macaroni and Cheese with Broccoli things. The other day I ate 4 pieces of pizza. I went a little over, but then I worked it off with some cardio.
And I do plan to remain active. I probably won't be as active. It might end up only being 3 days a week, or when I eat a particularly big meal. At that point I'd probably just buy an elliptical for my home instead of a gym membership.
That being said, I'm not a breakfast person. I never have been. When I eat breakfast, I don't feel any different. I stop being hungry momentarily, but then I'm hungry LONG before lunch starts. That lasts a bit, and then I'm hungry the last few hours of work, and the hour after when I get to the gym. Then I eat.
However, I grew up in a very low income household, and I grew up hungry...so I'm kind of used to it. I never had breakfast, and I also never really brought lunch to school either (which is probably why I gained the wait in the first place. When I got a job of my own, I was eating so much more food than I would have eaten).
Man, that pizza analogy hits me hard though, talkin about eating two pieces and four being "overboard". I can eat an entire pizza myself, and I don't mean on a dare or because someone said I couldn't. I mean like, I ate the last piece and reached for another one and said "well hell, I guess I ate it all". I hope my appetite shrinks like everyone says, but i feel like its gonna be really hard to maintain my goal weight when I get there.
It's gotta be a life style or as you say: it will be very difficult to maintain. That lifestyle can include some pizza. But, given your height, goal weight, and sedentary lifestyle, not a lot of pizza.
When I learned how to cook, everything changed. Chicken fajitas, Thai red prawn curry, chilli, salmon and quinoa fishcakes - try eating pizza after that. It tastes gross.0 -
My goal weight TDEE is 2200 calories. It's not really that much if I want to be able to eat like I did before, just less. I still have to make good decisions and eat mainly healthy foods with the occasional treat.0
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rosebarnalice wrote: »So here's were the experiment comes into play. I thought, you know what, I've never just booked out a normal "non deiting" day, lets see how many calories that is. So I went into MFP and loaded up what I would eat on a normal day. Over 4500 calories!!! HOLY S**T!!!! No wonder people get so fat so quickly without even realizing whats happening!
I had a similar "come to begeesus" moment when ai realized what an "average" non-logging day looked like for me--around 3,000 calories.
One thing that helped me put that number into perspective was the RDA guidelines that say that an "average" woman should consume 1600 - 2000 calories, so that 3K number both (a) brought into sharp focus how crazy out of control I was; and (b) got me thinking about what non-eating changes I would have to make in order to be satisfied in the long term of ~1800 calories a day.
Some of those changes (with which I experimented while on my weight loss journey) included:- eating a LOT more high-fiber veggies like cabbage, onions, and squash--which provide a satisfyingly large amount of food for much lower calores
- learning to love SOUP! I want to feel full, and the bulk of a water- or veggie-based (as opposed to cream-based) soup fills me up without adding lots of calories
- being aware of the difference between hunger and thirst. Sometimes, a big ole glass of water is what I REALLY need. . . I just got into the habit of eating rather than drinking when I felt "that way."
- Practicing portion control, getting better at estimating portion size (and confirming my estimates with a scale) and STOPPING when I had eaten a "reasonable" portion-- not when I had an Alice-Sized portion (which was NOT reasonable.)
- focusing on some of the non-eating psychological/ emotional/ headgame things that lead to more eating-- like "I deserve a treat" mentality, or "I really need this beer to relax" mentality, or "I have to eat this or X will be sad" mentality.
By incorporating some of these changes as I worked on my weight loss, I was ready for them when I reached maintenance.
I've been maintaining successfully since February on 1800 calories--but I DO eat most of my exercise calories (between 300- 600 calories) when I work out.
Good luck to you!
This is awesome, non-judge mental advice!!!
OP, I feel for you. My tdee is much lower than I would like also, and there is only a limited time in my day to exercise to raise it, without taking time from my family, etc. So my realization is also that I will have to always want more food if I want to stay slim. Be aware, though, that there is a difference between being hungry and wanting more. And just because you want more doesn't mean you should have it! (Talking to self here too!!).
It is HARD! And I hope having some of us agree will be affirming to you and help you to keep pushing on through. Find what works for you and do it. Don't let comments sway you!
@rosebarnalice has good advice !0 -
Sabine_Stroehm wrote: »
And again, this is why you're obese. (you're technically obese right, by medical standards?). You're seriously going to need a paradigm shift. Learning to cook is a good start. Learning, knowing, the calorie content of foods is a good start. You're probably one who would really benefit from using a scale to weigh foods (when you do eat at home).RhapsodyWinters wrote: »I dunno man. I'm 5'4F (23 years old), GW is 130. I calculate my maintenance calorie intake for being 135 lb (without exercise) to be 1700. Right now, I'm not really suffering under the calorie restriction. Some things I have to sacrifice (Like eating more than two pieces of pizza ; ; ), but it's not like I'm starving. I should be okay to follow a maintenance restriction once I get to it. Especially since I'm certain my stomach will have shrunk some. And this is taking into account that I'm not..necessarily eating clean at the moment. Last night I had a Lean Pocket and a cup of those Green Giant Steamers: Lightly Sauced Macaroni and Cheese with Broccoli things. The other day I ate 4 pieces of pizza. I went a little over, but then I worked it off with some cardio.
And I do plan to remain active. I probably won't be as active. It might end up only being 3 days a week, or when I eat a particularly big meal. At that point I'd probably just buy an elliptical for my home instead of a gym membership.
That being said, I'm not a breakfast person. I never have been. When I eat breakfast, I don't feel any different. I stop being hungry momentarily, but then I'm hungry LONG before lunch starts. That lasts a bit, and then I'm hungry the last few hours of work, and the hour after when I get to the gym. Then I eat.
However, I grew up in a very low income household, and I grew up hungry...so I'm kind of used to it. I never had breakfast, and I also never really brought lunch to school either (which is probably why I gained the wait in the first place. When I got a job of my own, I was eating so much more food than I would have eaten).
Man, that pizza analogy hits me hard though, talkin about eating two pieces and four being "overboard". I can eat an entire pizza myself, and I don't mean on a dare or because someone said I couldn't. I mean like, I ate the last piece and reached for another one and said "well hell, I guess I ate it all". I hope my appetite shrinks like everyone says, but i feel like its gonna be really hard to maintain my goal weight when I get there.
It's gotta be a life style or as you say: it will be very difficult to maintain. That lifestyle can include some pizza. But, given your height, goal weight, and sedentary lifestyle, not a lot of pizza.
When I learned how to cook, everything changed. Chicken fajitas, Thai red prawn curry, chilli, salmon and quinoa fishcakes - try eating pizza after that. It tastes gross.
EVERYTHING changed for me. I still like pizza, but not fast food pizza!0 -
Ok, I know that the OP wasn't looking for advice, but I'd also recommend that the OP look into mindful eating. There are all sorts of books and websites, but here's one to get you started:
http://amihungry.com/what-is-mindful-eating/1 -
I also think you have to question (you as in the general sense) the what ifs and self doubts. Are they a road block?
I used to worry about perfection at goal..loose skin and maintenance for example like you, but I realised that that kind of thinking was stalling any attempt to be healthier - not quite an excuse but the fear would stagnate me.
You change so much as you lose, particularly large amounts I feel. Simply because you have to undo a lot to redo and for a long time. So you can't ATM imagine the psychological changes that will happen that mean it won't be as difficult as you imagine. You get better at choices, at activity as you go along. It becomes a new normal.
I stopped worrying about certain aspects at the end...just head down, do the best you can and see where you arrive at.
A lot of it is a head game.2 -
midwesterner85 wrote: »I have always counted calories daily, but I've read that some people say weekly is the way to go. Do any of you guys kinda not really worry about daily and concentrate on weekly? Eating heavy one day and light on another day to make up for it?
This is exactly what I do. I will probably eat 3500 calories today but balance it out over the week. And I'm in a deficit.
I tried something very similar to that once, but it didn't work out because I was still in a deficit. There were days where I would eat less than 500 calories some days in order to eat what I wanted other days. It came out to about 7K surplus for the week overall. So it is worth repeating this point: something that works for you might not work for those of us who have bigger appetites. For some of us, this plan doesn't help eliminate both hunger and weight, which is really the problem OP expects to encounter (and a problem I'm already encountering as I get closer and closer to goal).
Here is how that works for someone like me: I'm hungry all the time anyway, whether eating 500 or 1,500 or 2,500 calories... so no difference on most days. On some days, though, I can eat as much as I want and am not hungry. So then it is a matter of figuring out how often to have a day where I can eat as much as I want and still lose weight, and how much I can eat on other days. So figure 10K calories is what it takes to satisfy me in a day. If I do that once every 10 days, I can still keep an average deficit of 250 calories per day (1/2 lb. per week loss on average) as long as I eat 500 calories the other 9 days. For 9 days, I'm hungry no matter what, but at least once every 10 days, I am not hungry because I can finally eat. Of course this is a terrible idea and I'm not suggesting it. I just want to illustrate why those last few lbs. are so hard to lose for those of us with big appetites and a decreased RMR. Your weekly average idea is a daunting suggestion that is probably great for those with mediocre appetites, but not so great for others.
as a type 1 diabetic you are killing yourself...you will have issues with your limbs, kidneys and eyesight if you don't get control of yourself...I know as I have a brother who has been a diabetic since he was six.
You remind of the other diabetic I knew who didn't want to exercise but the food they needed to keep healthy was a lot...and they got chubby so they stopped eating most of it...they nearly killed themselves and have lost limbs...and partially blind now...
smh...you know you have a condition and don't do what you need to do to stay healthy...wow just wow.
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