Am I ready to lose weight again?

Cutting calories when you're already stressed could be a bad idea. It's basically another form of stress on your body, as is exercise. I find there's only so much stress in the different forms that I can take at any one time and one effects the other whether you're talking about mental or physical stress on your body. As I think some others have suggested (I haven't read the thread), I would focus on prioritising stress relief which could take many forms (such as exercise, meditation, yoga, therapy or just making sure you are taking time for yourself). Also make sure you're prioritising getting enough good quality sleep as this will impact on so many areas of your life.

Perhaps in terms of food you would benefit from taking the focus off of weight loss and just making sure you're getting good nutrition with a variety of whole foods to support a healthy mind and body.

bbell1985 wrote: »

GottaBurnEmAll wrote: »

bbell1985 wrote: »

GottaBurnEmAll wrote: »

cerise_noir wrote: »

bbell1985 wrote: »

MichelleLei1 wrote: »

I don't really have anything to add that hasn't been said. But just know that I still think you're amazing (as with many of us on here). It's tough, I feel like I'm in the same boat. I too have gained like 15 pounds in the last year due to stress and major life changes... but that's how life goes. Life will sort itself out, along with your weight. You're still a badass Steph.

lol everyone knows it's me. Love ya guys. Glad to know I'm not alone and that you don't think I'm psycho.

You? Psycho? Psssh!
You're cool.

And...pssst.. I too, had and stil have those same thoughts regarding meal times, how satieted a food will make me and for how long. I still have around 45lbs to go.

Let's kick some butt!
( would use the usual a word, but I don't feel like kicking kittens. )

Same. And I've noticed then when I get dragged that way, it pulls me further off course. I do my own version of CBT/self talk and try to catch myself in this kind of thing by trying to pull myself back to basics and the beginning. I never had all the food hang ups when I first started eating at deficit because it was all learned behavior when panic mode set in over being hungry. Why am I so damned afraid of being hungry that I've got all this crap set up around food is what I end up asking myself over and over ... and starting over from scratch with meal planning.

It works... until I get stupid again. Because sometimes it takes me a while to learn a lesson. After all it took me 40 years to learn to diet in the first place. I'll give myself a break on this.

Get what I'm saying here, Steph?

Yes...I get a lot of things. That's how I know I'm not completely nuts. I just need to figure out why I FEEL so bad, when I know I'm not a horrible/fat/lazy person.

I don't understand which CBT book to buy? Help?

Well, if you need a diet specific one, go with The Beck Diet Solution. If you need CBT for more than diet and life in general, try CBT for Dummies.

Yeah I don't know. I need diet help in regards to my poor relationship to food but also need help for stress/anxiety/sadness. I'll think on it.

CBT can be applied to ANYTHING...in my job, I've used it with substance abusing behaviors (both drugs & alcohol-I used to teach treatment professionals CBT use & ran some groups) and I know people who use it to treat self injurious behaviors and batterer intervention/anger management. It can be used for smoking, eating disorders or even weight loss, as discussed here.

bbell1985 wrote: »

ronjsteele1 wrote: »

kshama2001 wrote: »

bbell1985 wrote: »

As far as the cortisol and stomach issues go, I'm just CURIOUS. I mean, I literally can't poop for 5 days at a time. It clearly shows on the scale and makes things a little confusing.

Try powdered vitamin c to bowel tolerance. I haven't had a problem with constipation since I started taking this in the AM.

Disclosure - tastes AWFUL. I'm anemic and take it in warm water with a teaspoon of blackstrap molasses, which makes it somewhat more palatable. Or just chug it. But start with the recommended dose and work up as needed, or else beware

If Vit. C doesn't work for you (and oh yes it's awful! My boy use to have to take it in applesauce ) then try magnesium oxide. Usually a couple of capsules a day will work for most people. Might take a few days to take affect so give it at least a good 7 day try. If two doesn't work after a couple of days you can up to 3 caps, etc. They generally run about 500mg a capsule. If you find a dose that works, make sure you take it daily after that and cut back if you hit bowel tolerance.

lol. I take magnesium. I drank a bottle of the liquid stuff and it didn't do anything.

If you're talking about magnisium citrate, it is different than what ronjsteele1 was talking about. MC is popularly referred to as Four Flavors of Satan (for good reason, google it...there is a site called Poop Report which frequently mentions it...funny & horrible at the same time) but you have to drink a LOT of water for it to work properly. Probably true of oxide as well.

Hydration should help with that as well. And if magnusium of either type or probiotics or Vit C don't help, you might take a look at Miralax...it makes it soft.

I think the main thing is that you realize that you developed a disordered relationship with food. And it was calorie counting that did that. It's no wonder you don't want to jump back in it.
Obsessive calorie counting is definitely a form of EDNOS. Does everyone on this site suffer from an eating disorder? Of course not. But thers are definitely a few. Obsessing over anything day in day out for years isn't good for anyone's head.
I think the therapist is the way to go. Once you find someone to help with your feelings then you can start thinking about how/why you want to lose weight.

I am so late to this but wanted to chime in with support.

Basically my life is one entire merry go round of stress and trying to deal with the crap my brain throws at me daily. I've also had a pretty crap year topped off by some particularly stressful events that threatened my income. To the point where currently unmedicated me trotted back to the doctor and in two weeks I will be back trying out the psych meds that I try to avoid for as long as possible.

So last year I did pretty well self managing my condition and hit my 1lb per week goal almost effortlessly. This year it has been a lot harder but for the most part I have continued to lose. Most recently, I have found setting my MFP goal to sedentary and just trying to end the day somewhere in the green has been a lot easier psychologically for whatever reason.

But whatever approach you take, remember to be kind to yourself. I'm a firm believer that no good comes from smacking yourself up side the head with negativity, the world shoves enough of that down our throats without us talking *kitten* to ourselves too.

And yoga can be brilliant but for me, I actually get much more stress relief from 20 brutal minutes of HIIT/Tabata style bodyweight stuff. And Youtube psoas releasing stretches, they work pretty great (I get sciatica and despite being a former gymnast/dancer am the laziest damn stretcher ever so my sciatica plays up far more often than it should!).

Feel better bbell! Find something to laugh at...laughing is so much more fun than crying...there is a hilarious paleo forum out there...well, I think so, possibly not others.

Wishing you a good day tomorrow, bbell1984! A fresh new month...

Hi Bbell. It sounds like you've got a huge amount on your shoulders at the moment, and I really hope you can find someone to work it through with and get to a better place.

I would really echo the calls for you to focus on baby steps right now, with regards your weight. I really feel that using hatred of your body as fuel for self-control is a recipe for disaster. If you do really do want to lose weight at the same time as dealing with other things, I would encourage you to at least re-frame it as something positive ("eating healthily will give me the energy to deal more effectively with the other stressors in my life"), rather than in terms of "this will stop me hating what I see in the mirror".

Best wishes, OP. Things will get better.