Starving yourself...

Lets start off 1st by saying...ok, I am expecting a lot of ridicule over this one... But there doesn't need to be!

I have to say tho, even tho I am on the healthier path, I eat healthy foods, I eat normal cals, exercise, I try to eat at least some of my exercise cals back... ... I get it. I am doing all of that.

But SOMETIMES, the "starve yourself, get there way faster" thought DOES creep into my head.

I appreciate the science of it all. I logically know that if I eat the right things ..and exercise adequate amounts... I will get where I wanna go. I know people say "eat too little, and your body will go into starvation mode.".... I sord of comprehend that...accept that any anorexic in town will tell you different. lol... if there were such a thing, there would be no anorexics. I once lived on a 400 calorie diet per day... I lost 12 lbs the 1st week. Mostly water I am sure.. BUT... Obviously it didn't work... or I wouldn't be here...

I guess I am looking for a reminder of why starving yourself for instant results .... wont equal what I am looking for long term. There I said it. Go ahead... burn me at the stake.

Do you care more about your appearance and health, or do you care more about the number on the scale?

Yarwell loves voicing in on these types of threads, but I beg you to read and internalize the stories from women who have suffered from this. None of us are here because we're psyched about our eating disorders. None of us are showing off our history of starvation and our current struggle. I would never wish this upon anyone.

You can retain most of your muscle mass on a high protein very low calorie diet, usually these are medically prescribed formulations that are nutritionally complete - but I suspect SlimFast comes off the same production line.

So with the right nutritional intake a big deficit is not unworkable.

If your fat stores can provide 30 calories/day per pound and you're running a 1000 calorie deficit then you obviously need at least 33 pounds of fat to go at. The fat reserves are there to keep you going when you have no access to food, so all this melodramatic BS about your body or brain stopping has to be taken with a pinch of salt.

If you're fat enough you can lose fast at a high deficit but for health make sure you eat all the things the body needs. A time limit of 4 to 6 weeks is usually suggested for this approach. It's often used in clinical studies to get fast and statistically significant results, for example http://www.diabetologia-journal.org/Lim.pdf

Supervised or well researched VLCD/PSMF is a lot different than "eating 400 calories" and additionally, I think it's important to consider your audience...

My daughter is I feel starving herself. She has lost about 15 pounds in 2 weeks. I feel bad because I haven't done near that, but I am doing it in a very healthy way. I haven't had a regular soda in over a month, maybe a few diet ones, but altogether find myself drinking way more water:o) I also have 1/2 the weight she does to lose, and I am proud of her for any effort she gives whatsoever.

Educate her on not just weight loss in general but fat loss and the physiological side of things.
Understand that fat/weight loss is about Nutrition first and foremost then Rest and recovery then working out.
So eat well, sleep well and workout to maintain lean mass.
=D

Read websites like www.bodyrecomposition.com for great info on how weight/fat loss works.

I suffered with anorecxia for years. Despite losing 4 stone in a matter of months, it put me in a horrible mind set. I became very suicidal and as a result ended up on a year of medication under watchful eyes. It weakens you beyond belief, your hair begins to fall and dry out, and your skin becomes horribly blotchy.

I'm much happier losing weight the healthy way, and unlike starving yourself, the weight actually stays off. If you're determined, you'll reach your goal. Don't resort to ruining your body and mind just because of some numbers.
:flowerforyou:

My daughter is I feel starving herself. She has lost about 15 pounds in 2 weeks. I feel bad because I haven't done near that, but I am doing it in a very healthy way. I haven't had a regular soda in over a month, maybe a few diet ones, but altogether find myself drinking way more water:o) I also have 1/2 the weight she does to lose, and I am proud of her for any effort she gives whatsoever.

Awwww I don't think you should feel bad at all for not keeping up with your daughter's "progress". My daughter is on here also and she's the one that introduced me to this app.and i'm the one that was eating VLC for years prior. I think that puts us (being mom's) in a very important position in modelling good weight-loss practices and weight-loss maintenance. I Have been steadily upping my cal intake since being on here and have made numerous other important health changes in my life. I think it's awesome that you are doing it properly for yourself AND for your daughter. Keep up the great work!! :flowerforyou:

Because you'll end up like me...40 overweight and finding it very difficult to lose weight because of years of not eating enough.

I know exactly what you mean, OP.
Sometimes that thought creeps into my head too, but I know it's unhealthy, just like you do. I know it takes longer this way, but I want a healthy body that I can kick *ss with, not an ill one.

I can understand why you think that, I thought that too and about ten years ago that's the way I went. At first I lost weight healthily but when I was about 21lbs away I was getting frustrated and wanted quicker results. That's really when it took over my life. I started cutting more and more calories, exercising more. I was angry at everyone, I couldn't go in supermarkets. I would have 570 calories on a good day although some days I would convince myself not to eat, Say if I was preparing something and I spilt a bit I would tell myself it was a sign and that I shouldn't eat and I wouldn't, sometimes if I did I would hit myself. I reached my goal weight and I kept going, eventually my periods were all over the place. All this from what had originally started as a normal healthy diet. Because of the way I had done it I was still saggy even with the exercise I did I still didn't look athletic. I also blacked out quite a lot, including in a bar which was very embarrassing.

Eventually I had no energy to do anything and spent months in bed, around 5. I started eating more food after this, around 1000 calories a day. I still felt shattered and gave up exercise altogether. Even though I was eating little I gained weight, this sent me spiralling out of control, I would live on around 700-1000 calories a day, sometimes I wouldn't eat until tea time. But then at weekends I would eat up to 1500. Nothing I did would help I just kept gaining weight. Eventually I ended up gaining more than I lost. A couple of years back a benign tumour developed in my right kidney, every year I have been tested and last year it had grown to 7cm. I had it embolised and it was while I was off work recovering that I discovered this site - I realised how little I was still eating, I still was in denial and felt the only thing to do to lose weight was to cut more calories and exercise more giving myself a negative net. Since starting this site I've started eating more, I can now do more exercise I eat back my exercise calories, I'm eating more than I have done in years and I am losing weight, it maybe coming off slowly but I'm happy and I just hope when I get close to the end I don't lose control again.

I know you possibly weren't expecting such a waffled in depth response but I think it's important to know how it can take over your life and also that even though seeing skeletal photos is scary most people do tell themselves they won't go that far but also that it messes with your body in other ways and you can just gain it all back. Being healthy, taking it steady means that it's a long term solution.

I still struggle now though but I tell myself if I eat too little my body will burn muscle and not fat. Muscle burns more than fat at rest so if you aren't getting enough calories it will get rid of what is using the most energy.

I still have thoughts of reducing cals to dangerously low numbers. This site has helped me immensely with these thoughts. I know that a day of low cals will not hurt me just the same as a day of very high cals but do it for a long time and it will affect your health. Increasing my cals has been difficult and so I will take a day to eat a little less. For some a cheat day is to eat more but for me it's the opposite. It's a control thing. I was diagnosed with anorexia although the only long term negative effect it had on me was mental. I'm one of the lucky ones.