Regaining the weight fast, cannot stop overeating
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11718100
Posts: 18 Member
Hi everyone,
I need some help. I was on this site for a while but I left last May. I had almost hit my goal weight, losing almost 60 lbs. Since May however, I have just ended up gaining weight. I do okay for a few weeks to a month, eat 1300 calories or so, then I binge for 2-4 days, then I eat okay for a few weeks.
I have gone up from 107 lbs to 115 lbs. I look at myself, my fat that is growing by the day and this makes me want to just give up and binge eat. I think to myself, I've messed up anyway, so I may as well just eat what I want, what difference does it make? I then eat until I feel sick and I'm usually so full, it's painful.
I know this is an idiotic way of thinking, but every time I see how much weight I've gained, I just feel so down. Especially as I am often hungry on 1300 calories. If I stick to 1300 calories, I lose weight at a rate of 1 lb every 2-3 weeks, which is too slow when I'm counting down the days until weigh day. I never used to be hungry on 1200-1300 calories, but nothing helps now.
I've considered joining the gym, but I hate exercise and most of all, how much time it takes up. Walking to the gym in the cold, spending 2 hours there, then walk back. All in all, it can take around 3 hours. But, I'm desperate. If I were to join the gym this week, work out 5 days a week, how much weight could I expect to lose per week? I'm thinking of increasing my calories to 1350- 1400 maximum, that should be sufficient, I hope.
I need some help. I was on this site for a while but I left last May. I had almost hit my goal weight, losing almost 60 lbs. Since May however, I have just ended up gaining weight. I do okay for a few weeks to a month, eat 1300 calories or so, then I binge for 2-4 days, then I eat okay for a few weeks.
I have gone up from 107 lbs to 115 lbs. I look at myself, my fat that is growing by the day and this makes me want to just give up and binge eat. I think to myself, I've messed up anyway, so I may as well just eat what I want, what difference does it make? I then eat until I feel sick and I'm usually so full, it's painful.
I know this is an idiotic way of thinking, but every time I see how much weight I've gained, I just feel so down. Especially as I am often hungry on 1300 calories. If I stick to 1300 calories, I lose weight at a rate of 1 lb every 2-3 weeks, which is too slow when I'm counting down the days until weigh day. I never used to be hungry on 1200-1300 calories, but nothing helps now.
I've considered joining the gym, but I hate exercise and most of all, how much time it takes up. Walking to the gym in the cold, spending 2 hours there, then walk back. All in all, it can take around 3 hours. But, I'm desperate. If I were to join the gym this week, work out 5 days a week, how much weight could I expect to lose per week? I'm thinking of increasing my calories to 1350- 1400 maximum, that should be sufficient, I hope.
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Replies
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Maybe you should speak to your doctor about this.5
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kommodevaran wrote: »Maybe you should speak to your doctor about this.
I haven't seen my doctor since I was a teenager, many years ago. I don't intend to go see her now, she's unhelpful and rude. I want to help myself, before I regain all the weight back.3 -
Okay. 115 pounds is very little. How tall are you?2
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kommodevaran wrote: »Okay. 115 pounds is very little. How tall are you?
115 lbs looks very large on me as I'm only 5'1 and I have a larger percentage of fat compared to most people. I've never enjoyed exercise, so weight loss was exclusively through changing my diet only. Even at 107 lbs I had a lot of excess fat compared to most people that weight.4 -
sam2018100 wrote: »kommodevaran wrote: »Maybe you should speak to your doctor about this.
I haven't seen my doctor since I was a teenager, many years ago. I don't intend to go see her now, she's unhelpful and rude. I want to help myself, before I regain all the weight back.
Maybe you could find a different different doctor who is helpful and polite?7 -
go to youtube, and look up Lyle McDonald. He did a video with a guy named mario about the psychology of weight regain. its a 2 part interview. Listen to it. It might help! I am still new to maintenance myself and am just learning about trending weight. I could go into things about leptin and ghrelin hormones, but do a little research. Best of luck! Wish me luck!4
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Hi Sam, I’m sorry to hear you’re having a difficult time. Sometimes eating has an emotional component.... are there other stressors in your life right now? Could seeking therapy, taking up meditation, or something else help?
Or maybe you’ve lost too much weight too fast? When I first used My Fitness Pal, I lost almost 60lbs and was hoping to get to 125lbs. But once I hit 135 I became food obsessed: I thought about food non-stop, I dreamt about eating every night, and once I stopped and stared at a window display of cupcakes for so long that my husband asked me if I was ok. I had to accept I would never be “skinny”, and found that being 145ish was a happier place for me food and life-style-wise.
And exercise can help, as it gives you more calories to eat that day. But maybe instead of joining a gym you could go for a walk daily? A shorter walk in inclement weather and a nice hour long stroll when the weather is good?
Hang in there. Remember that not everyone can be a super-model, and if you’re always hungry then you won’t be happy, and won’t be able to maintain.
Let us know how it goes, and feel free to share your feelings here. We are all in the same boat and I’ve found the MFP community to be a very supportive place.
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psychod787 wrote: »go to youtube, and look up Lyle McDonald. He did a video with a guy named mario about the psychology of weight regain. its a 2 part interview. Listen to it. It might help! I am still new to maintenance myself and am just learning about trending weight. I could go into things about leptin and ghrelin hormones, but do a little research. Best of luck! Wish me luck!
Thanks, but I saw that video in October. I then did a 2-week diet break, joined the gym, worked out 5 days a week, and ate at what I thought were my maintenance calories. However, it didn't help. I felt hungrier than ever, even though I had increased my calories so much, then I binge ate for 3 days straight and went back to 1300 calories with additional weight to lose.
Hope you have better luck!2 -
When I started at the gym, I was there for about 20min 3x a week. When you start out it doesn't need to be a 3h round trip 5x a week. It sounds like you would benefit from a recomp and putting some muscle on, so find a beginner lifting program and go from there.3
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If you want to lower your body fat%, you have to do some exercise -but in the form of a structured strength training program. You don't have to use a gym, you can do it at home, using your own body weight. (I don't exercise much myself, so I can't help you there.)sam2018100 wrote: »kommodevaran wrote: »Okay. 115 pounds is very little. How tall are you?
115 lbs looks very large on me as I'm only 5'1 and I have a larger percentage of fat compared to most people. I've never enjoyed exercise, so weight loss was exclusively through changing my diet only. Even at 107 lbs I had a lot of excess fat compared to most people that weight.
But I think most of it is your mind, we are often our own worst critics. I would suggest setting your goal to maintenance, and aim to eat regularly, first. Get your relationship with food sorted. Then google/ask for help (on the exercise/fitness board) on body recomp.3 -
sam2018100 wrote: »kommodevaran wrote: »Maybe you should speak to your doctor about this.
I haven't seen my doctor since I was a teenager, many years ago. I don't intend to go see her now, she's unhelpful and rude. I want to help myself, before I regain all the weight back.
If the current doctor you have is unhelpful and rude, you should probably find a different one. You should be getting an annual physical where they do standard blood work. Sometimes, they find things in the lab work that indicate something is not right, and waiting before getting treatment can severely limit options.6 -
Hi Sam, I’m sorry to hear you’re having a difficult time. Sometimes eating has an emotional component.... are there other stressors in your life right now? Could seeking therapy, taking up meditation, or something else help?
Or maybe you’ve lost too much weight too fast? When I first used My Fitness Pal, I lost almost 60lbs and was hoping to get to 125lbs. But once I hit 135 I became food obsessed: I thought about food non-stop, I dreamt about eating every night, and once I stopped and stared at a window display of cupcakes for so long that my husband asked me if I was ok. I had to accept I would never be “skinny”, and found that being 145ish was a happier place for me food and life-style-wise.
And exercise can help, as it gives you more calories to eat that day. But maybe instead of joining a gym you could go for a walk daily? A shorter walk in inclement weather and a nice hour long stroll when the weather is good?
Hang in there. Remember that not everyone can be a super-model, and if you’re always hungry then you won’t be happy, and won’t be able to maintain.
Let us know how it goes, and feel free to share your feelings here. We are all in the same boat and I’ve found the MFP community to be a very supportive place.
I can't bear the thought of never being slim. I've been struggling with it so long, since I was 9/10 years old. I was almost there, but have messed up. I don't know why, but I know that I have to try again to get back at least to what I was last summer. I guess I ought to exercise, but I hate every form of it. I barely move all day and am constantly making excuses for why I can't take a walk, or workout at home or join the gym yet.
Also, I could never consider therapy - I like to keep my thoughts private and can't imagine it doing me much good anyway. Thanks for your help.4 -
I think I am starting to sound like a broken record because it feels like this is the third time or so I am saying this these past few days.
You are 5ft 1", 115lbs, BMI 22 You have body fat level goals but you're not currently willing to put in the work in terms of exercise to accomplish muscle gain (or even any exercise based on your description) and thus you are under muscled and over-fat by your description and perception (which may or may not be in agreement with what others would perceive)
But guess what. At BMI 22 you are, with a very high degree of probability, NOT MEDICALLY OVER-FAT.
So, you have some fat. But your current mind-set and hormonal levels are not allowing you to deal with it the way you probably should which is by exercising and strength training while eating at maintenance as you're definitely in the don't lose weight it's time to recomp stage.
So. What do you think is more important. Protecting your effective loss of more than 50lbs which has you smack dab middle of the normal bmi range... or aiming for an extra 8lbs which you've already proven you have a hard time maintaining?
And if you're having a hard time eating at maintenance when you're 8lbs more than your goal... what happens when you're at goal?
Yes, your hormones have reacted to the way you lost weight. They tend to do that. Their job is to get you to eat more especially if you are trying to restrict. They are currently winning. You're not helping things by continuing to restrict. Normalisation happens at maintenance.
Fight to maintain your current weight and/or allow a very very slow regain till your hormonal levels stabilise as opposed to desperately fighting to lose more and achieving the opposite because of emotional reaction to perceived failure.
It is time to regroup and consolidate your wins. You may even need to allow for a partial regain, or may have to hold the line for a year or two, or both, till things normalise.
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When I started at the gym, I was there for about 20min 3x a week. When you start out it doesn't need to be a 3h round trip 5x a week. It sounds like you would benefit from a recomp and putting some muscle on, so find a beginner lifting program and go from there.
I have a all or nothing mentality. I think if I'm making my way there, then I might as well make the most of it. Plus, I'm usually very motivated for a month or so, before I give up.0 -
you should probably talk to a professional about these thoughts/feelings - they are often a precursor of disordered eating9
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sam2018100 wrote: »kommodevaran wrote: »Maybe you should speak to your doctor about this.
I haven't seen my doctor since I was a teenager, many years ago. I don't intend to go see her now, she's unhelpful and rude. I want to help myself, before I regain all the weight back.
If the current doctor you have is unhelpful and rude, you should probably find a different one. You should be getting an annual physical where they do standard blood work. Sometimes, they find things in the lab work that indicate something is not right, and waiting before getting treatment can severely limit options.
I don't even think they do checkups, not for people my age. Think that's for people 50+, or maybe 40+ in the UK. I've never had a reason to go thankfully, so I've just kept her.1 -
Then you know what you have to work on - your all or nothing mentality. This is hard work, much harder than starving yourself. But also way smarter.sam2018100 wrote: »When I started at the gym, I was there for about 20min 3x a week. When you start out it doesn't need to be a 3h round trip 5x a week. It sounds like you would benefit from a recomp and putting some muscle on, so find a beginner lifting program and go from there.
I have a all or nothing mentality. I think if I'm making my way there, then I might as well make the most of it. Plus, I'm usually very motivated for a month or so, before I give up.3 -
Sorry luv. At some point of time you're closing the avenues yourself.
You will not have energy if you continue to under-eat and are in a perma-cut. Your body will try to limit your activity as much as it can.
If you have an all-or nothing mentality that is up to you to control and fix. If you can't fix it then you need to talk to someone who can help.
If you're obsessed with something since age 9 and it interferes with your life you talk to someone who can help you and **kitten** the fact that you like to be private: your obsession is interfering with your life.
Or you can keep bashing your head against the wall. The wall might break. Chances are really high, however, that your head will get hurt quite a bit in the process and might break first regardless of whether the wall breaks or not.14 -
sam2018100 wrote: »sam2018100 wrote: »kommodevaran wrote: »Maybe you should speak to your doctor about this.
I haven't seen my doctor since I was a teenager, many years ago. I don't intend to go see her now, she's unhelpful and rude. I want to help myself, before I regain all the weight back.
If the current doctor you have is unhelpful and rude, you should probably find a different one. You should be getting an annual physical where they do standard blood work. Sometimes, they find things in the lab work that indicate something is not right, and waiting before getting treatment can severely limit options.
I don't even think they do checkups, not for people my age. Think that's for people 50+, or maybe 40+ in the UK. I've never had a reason to go thankfully, so I've just kept her.
That's unfortunate. I have had annual physicals since my 20's, and something was spotted in my blood work recently, that if left unattended to, could have led to serious problems.0 -
Well from my personal experience, I completely understand what you are going through. The constant thinking about food/ fixation. What my RD calls the head snap to high caloric foods. I have and still have them. I have been very lucky so far. I have not binged, but can totally see why someone would. The Hypothalamus goes haywire when we loose weight. It wants us to get back to a certain BF %. It stimulates the food reward area in the brain. Then effects the frontal cortex I believe that is responsible for decision making. Its not just you. Many of us have the problem. I get hungry easy. Food does not fill me up like it used to. I believe its a lowering of leptin and increase in ghrelin. the yy peptide goes down in weight loss. If I remember correctly, it makes the stomach empty faster. I was told by one member here that it gets better after a year or two. I have also read research that showed that it does improve, but does not go back to baseline. I hope you can figure out what works for you. I am still working on things for myself as well. I feel for you. I will tell you this, there are many supportive people here who have lots of more experience than we do. Listen to them. They have helped me! Find a better Doctor BTW! FIRE HIS/HER *kitten*!7
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