I've come to the realization that having my calories too low hurts more than it helps.

Geocitiesuser
Geocitiesuser Posts: 1,429 Member
edited November 18 in Health and Weight Loss
After losing 130lbs, I plugged my new stats into the calculator, and for 1.5lbs of fat loss per week MFP told me 1500 cals + exercise cals per day. This isn't a lot of food (I'm 6' and was like 185lbs at the time). It's not a lot of food, but it's sane, and doable. With exercise on most days that would be in the vicinity of 1800 cals a day.

In my infinite wisdom I decided that I needed to "double and triple down" because it was the home stretch.

There were lots of days where I ate 1500 cals and did not eat back my exercise calories. There were also a lot of days where I was only eating about 1200 calories.

For weeks that was fine. I got to my lowest numbers. But something was happening... I was not performing well in workouts, and my hunger was slowly growing. I was still losing fat, but it was coming at a price that I didn't realize. Eventually the food cravings got so bad that I ended up going on a binge three weekends in a row. During the week was self inflicted punishment of fasting days, banking calories, trying to make the numbers work out, but all the fasting was making it worse, my hunger was insatiable.

For the first time 130lbs of fat loss I lost control of sanity and will power. For the first time maybe in my life, I went on food binges not because of emotional reasons, but because I was honestly and truely hungry to the extent of losing control. I was not eating enough calories to support myself in a healthy manner, and in many ways I was "starving" myself. I put that in quotes because I'm sure I could survive at those calorie levels, but the amount of exercise at my size with that low of calories was effecting me negatively.

So, starting with a fresh slate. No more fasting days trying to make up for binges. No more super low calorie days or going below 1500. From now on I am going to make sure I ingest 1500 calories a day no matter what. I'm convinced that this will solve my diet will power issues, and that this is the way forward.

You can't starve yourself and expect good results. Treat your body good, and your body will treat you good. Weight loss means nothing if you don't have health to go with it. I've put on 20lbs these past three weeks. Some I'm sure is water, and I am certainly ashamed, but it's time to move forward, and to move forward in a more sane manner. No more fast fat loss.

That is my rant.
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Replies

  • Ironandwine69
    Ironandwine69 Posts: 2,432 Member
    Fasting for binges can be done by IF, and works great for many many people.
    I am a big believer that the body is not machine, it doesn't need exactly the same calories every single day.
    But I agree, eating too low will make your workouts weaker. I myself am okay with that during a cut cycle. But it can't be done for a long period of time.
    It's all about what works for you. And good for you for paying attention to your body and getting under control.
  • MelanieCN77
    MelanieCN77 Posts: 4,047 Member
    I don't have anything to add to the discussion but I love the username.
  • amtyrell
    amtyrell Posts: 1,447 Member
    At 185 lbs 1.5 lbs a week is too aggressive on its own. You might do better at 1 lb or less.
  • Geocitiesuser
    Geocitiesuser Posts: 1,429 Member
    vespiquenn wrote: »
    Live and learn. Thankfully you are catching this now and rectifying it. For some, that's not always the case. So kudos to that.

    I'm really good at learning things the hard way, lol.
  • Nony_Mouse
    Nony_Mouse Posts: 5,646 Member
    Geocitiesuser wrote: »
    Ironandwine69 wrote: »
    Geocitiesuser wrote: »
    Ironandwine, IF is a lot different than this situation. IF is something planned, and controlled, and usually involves a 500 calorie meal on the fast day. What I was describing was multiple 250 calorie days in a row to offset weekend calories, losing control, then repeating the process. IF is a diet style. Not eating to undo calories eaten from a surprise binge is a haphazard eating disorder that is not sustainable. The two can't really be compared. One is planned and thought out, the other poor eating habit.

    Multiple 250 calorie days in a row??..That's not good. Glad you're changing your habits

    Yeah, I was going off the deep end. It's still taking a lot of mental strength to not keep going down that path. I think a lot of us struggle in that way, wanting results "now" and not later. There is a part of me that still wants to "make up for lost time" and all that would do is cause me to relapse again. So part of me making this thread was sort of reconfirming to myself what I need to do... eat like a sane human being!

    If you're still struggling with this mentally, then I seriously think you would benefit from seeking professional help. Yes, a lot of people struggle with wanting instant results, but few push it to the extreme of an eating disorder. Knowing you need to eat like a sane person and actually being able to do it once you've gone down the rabbit hole are two very different things. I know of what I speak here ;) Step One is admitting you have a problem (yay, you've done that!), Step Two is getting help to overcome it.
  • SCoil123
    SCoil123 Posts: 2,111 Member
    Geocitiesuser wrote: »
    Being a man and going to a therapist for an eating disorder is mostly futile. I've lost over a hundred pounds multiple times in my life, and have attempted to seek therapy for my eating disorders many times from binge issues to purge issues. Each as useless as the last, basically an eye roll and an insistence that there must be some other reason I'm there. There are unfortunate cultural stereotypes that permeate how people are treated even in professional settings. The fact that I'm concious of my behavior and can actively work to fix is far more valuable than any number of hours wasting time talking to a therapist about doing what I already said I was going to do in the first post.

    My brother had a similar experience. He struggled with anorexia in his depression. Lucky for him he had a big sister already in EDA who sent him the eating disorder 12 step recovery work book. He said he really got a lot out of it and may work it again someday.

    Both therapists dismissed him because he is male. It made me very angry as a protective big sister and as someone who knows how hard ED recovery is.
  • CharlieBeansmomTracey
    CharlieBeansmomTracey Posts: 7,682 Member
    Geocitiesuser wrote: »
    Ironandwine, IF is a lot different than this situation. IF is something planned, and controlled, and usually involves a 500 calorie meal on the fast day. What I was describing was multiple 250 calorie days in a row to offset weekend calories, losing control, then repeating the process. IF is a diet style. Not eating to undo calories eaten from a surprise binge is a haphazard eating disorder that is not sustainable. The two can't really be compared. One is planned and thought out, the other poor eating habit.

    thats one type of IF when you eat 500 calories for a few days and regular calories the other days. There are other types.
  • bbell1985
    bbell1985 Posts: 4,571 Member
    Man. I'm 5'4" and 140 and consider my 1500 calories to be poverty macros. It's not a walk in the park. I don't know how you did it.
  • Geocitiesuser
    Geocitiesuser Posts: 1,429 Member
    bbell1985 wrote: »
    Man. I'm 5'4" and 140 and consider my 1500 calories to be poverty macros. It's not a walk in the park. I don't know how you did it.

    Exactly. I kept powering through at the cost of my well being until eventually the hunger was literally insatiable. A lesson hard learned!
  • bbell1985
    bbell1985 Posts: 4,571 Member
    Geocitiesuser wrote: »
    bbell1985 wrote: »
    Man. I'm 5'4" and 140 and consider my 1500 calories to be poverty macros. It's not a walk in the park. I don't know how you did it.

    Exactly. I kept powering through at the cost of my well being until eventually the hunger was literally insatiable. A lesson hard learned!

    Word. Why don't you have a re-feed day? My Saturdays are 2030 and it makes life so much better.
  • CharlieBeansmomTracey
    CharlieBeansmomTracey Posts: 7,682 Member
    Geocitiesuser wrote: »
    CharlieBeansmomTracey wrote: »
    Geocitiesuser wrote: »
    Ironandwine, IF is a lot different than this situation. IF is something planned, and controlled, and usually involves a 500 calorie meal on the fast day. What I was describing was multiple 250 calorie days in a row to offset weekend calories, losing control, then repeating the process. IF is a diet style. Not eating to undo calories eaten from a surprise binge is a haphazard eating disorder that is not sustainable. The two can't really be compared. One is planned and thought out, the other poor eating habit.

    thats one type of IF when you eat 500 calories for a few days and regular calories the other days. There are other types.

    Planned vs bad eating habits. The two aren't comparable.

    you can plan to eat bad,not saying everyone does it but.just saying there are more than one type of IF. But I get what you are saying
  • jemhh
    jemhh Posts: 14,261 Member
    Good for you for getting back on the right track, OP. It's a hard lesson to learn. I had a time when I went way too low to make up for high days as well. That's a tough cycle. I don't require myself to eat the same number of calories every single day now but I do use +/-200 cals as the limit as far as my variations go now.
  • leejoyce31
    leejoyce31 Posts: 794 Member
    Is there a chance that these recent urges to binge are stemming from something psychological instead of food restriction? I am sincerely wishing you all the best. My heart goes out to you. I know this is physically and emotionally challenging.
  • lilolilo920
    lilolilo920 Posts: 184 Member
    *stands up and slow claps*
    This is great. Good for you!!
  • JennifrClaire
    JennifrClaire Posts: 141 Member
    That's a more extreme version of my own experience. Super low-calorie eating, to get past a plateau, after losing most of the weight I wanted too lose, didn't work at all. I had already read, countless times from countless sources, that it wouldn't.
    I thought it had to work: 800 - 900 calories a day, with at least 800-900 calorie cardio burn? Science, duh.
    But no.
    Undeniably, unbelievably, no weight lost, plus my family thought I'd gone mad.
  • EmbeeKay
    EmbeeKay Posts: 249 Member
    I have experienced this, not to as large a degree, but I have learned over restricting leads to over eating. Every time! Don't beat yourself up for "learning the hard way"... in a case like this, where the price is not too great, you can afford to let it be a lesson learned by personal experience.

    I wish you the best of luck in the rest of your journey!
  • snickerscharlie
    snickerscharlie Posts: 8,578 Member
    edited May 2017
    JeromeBarry1 wrote: »
    You'll feel better about the whole operation if you set your weight loss goal to 0.5 lb per week. Psychologically, it's easier to face a higher calorie target.

    ^^^This.

    OP, now that you finally realize the damage you've been doing, slow your rate of loss right down to allow yourself to break the vicious cycle you've set up for yourself. The closer you get to goal, the smaller your weekly weight loss needs to be anyway or you will simply end up in a rinse/repeat cycle yet again.
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
    edited May 2017
    Geocitiesuser wrote: »
    So, starting with a fresh slate. No more fasting days trying to make up for binges. No more super low calorie days or going below 1500. From now on I am going to make sure I ingest 1500 calories a day no matter what. I'm convinced that this will solve my diet will power issues, and that this is the way forward.

    Good plan. I'd add that at the level of activity you have outlined, and being close to goal and a guy, that still seems pretty low, but at least is a better place to start. I think it's quite likely that bingeing is related to overrestricting and would add that beating yourself up for it tends to play into the same cycle so try to be more understanding of yourself.
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