This is so hard

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cocobounty
cocobounty Posts: 41 Member
in Motivation and Support
Anyone else finding this dieting lark really difficult. I am sure the harder I try the more I think about food! Does anyone know how long it takes for your stomach to start to shrink a little? or even if it ever does? I want to lose weight so bad, and i have been really good this week. Anyone got any tips on how to survive this? Also, how much is too much water to drink? I have been drinking tons!!! x

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  • cocobounty
    cocobounty Posts: 41 Member
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    Anyone else finding this dieting lark really difficult. I am sure the harder I try the more I think about food! Does anyone know how long it takes for your stomach to start to shrink a little? or even if it ever does? I want to lose weight so bad, and i have been really good this week. Anyone got any tips on how to survive this? Also, how much is too much water to drink? I have been drinking tons!!! x
  • ligytha
    ligytha Posts: 130
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    While it is possible to drink too much water, you probably aren't in any danger.
    I think it gets easier once you have a pattern established. It shouldn't be very hard on you (remember to eat all your allotted calories) except during those moments of great temptation.. If you are always feeling hungry, perhaps it has something to do with the type of foods you are eating?
  • msarro
    msarro Posts: 2,748 Member
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    Make sure you are eating foods with a lot of protein, and fat as well (fat helps to keep you well fed - thats why the atkins induction program had people eating nothing but macadamia nuts for one week).

    Your stomach is like an elastic bag, and it WILL shrink. But it will take a little bit of time. For now I reccomend you check out the recipe section and start teaching yourself about nutrition - the more nutritionally sound your food is, and the lower in calorie it is - the more you can eat! :laugh:
  • sarakenna1
    sarakenna1 Posts: 261
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    Its definatly not easy. Joining a jym and really getting into it has helped me stay on track. This site also helps. You shouldn't be hungry; if you are you may not be eating enough calories, or perhaps too many simple carbs. Try eating more lean protein and complex carbs (whole grain foods and veges). If its just difficult because you are used to eating whatever you want and now you are not, just know that it gets easier the longer you do it. You are learning how to break old habbits. The learning process takes time, so give yourself the chance to catch up, emotionally and physically, to the chages you are making for yourself. :wink:
  • briblue72
    briblue72 Posts: 672 Member
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    I've heard it takes a few weeks for the stomach to start shrinking, but only one big meal to stretch it back out...
  • msarro
    msarro Posts: 2,748 Member
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    I've heard it takes a few weeks for the stomach to start shrinking, but only one big meal to stretch it back out...

    One of my buddies from college used to compete in the 'wing bowl' and a bunch of other eating competitions (he was really good at them too!). The second to last day before he used to eat a MASSIVE meal to stretch his stomach, than take a bunch of laxitives to clean out his system quickly while leaving his stomach stretched. Not healthy to do, but for what he wanted to do it worked.

    The guy was built like a beanpole too!
  • moidyn
    moidyn Posts: 112
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    I tell you, I have been on here for some time, and I still get hungry. You just have to remind yourself of your goals and push through.
    Drinking water helps a lot, because sometimes your body can't distinguish between hunger and thirst (weird, but it happens).
    And don't give up!
  • kerrilucko
    kerrilucko Posts: 3,852 Member
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    you stomach cannot physically shrink, there have been tons of posts on this. The only way to make your stomache smaller is surgery. That said, you will be able to train your body to be full when it should be. I don't find myself hungry all the time anymore. If you are really struggling try smaller meals more frequently. Spacing your food out over the course of the WHOLE day will help you with your hunger
  • healthychic
    healthychic Posts: 298
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    I don't know if your stomach can shrink. But I have definatly noticed that after eating like this..

    breakfast: yogurt, fruit, granola bar

    lunch- tuna fish with light mayo and soy sauce on wheat bread, salad, carrots and soy milk

    dinner- salad, baked chicken with spices, 2 red skin potatoes with sour cream and chives, and water

    snacks- grapes, 100 calorie pudding, 15 calorie jello, carrots

    I can realy see that my stomach doesn't hang over my jeans at the end of the week. Specially with doing cardio 4 times a week and crunches/weight training.

    if you are eating similar to that, you will see a difference!! And if you try to buy some of those new things they have out, all the 100 calorie snacks that are cookies and brownies and chocolate. Those should help you not feel so deprived. Or even just have something small once in a while. Like your favorite chocolate or a little bit of icecream.

    good luck!:heart:
    :smile:
  • cocobounty
    cocobounty Posts: 41 Member
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    thanks guys, you have really helped me stay focused x
  • yvette2008
    yvette2008 Posts: 5
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    I know it's hard to throw ourselves into something that is going to deprive us and leave us feeling empty. We seem to use food to fill that void in us and our challenge is to find a way to fulfill ourselves and not feel empty, by ourselves using only the skills we have in our minds, instead of relying on anything outside of us to do that for us.

    I don't know if this will help you, but I made the decision to really investigate my relationship with food, look at how I was using it to fulfill my emotional needs, and now, I am talking to my friends about how I do that, how I've done it in the past, and now I'm practicing asking for what I need from people and myself. I also gave up judging myself recently. I've been doing that really well for a long time (judging myself-self loathing, etc..) and I am done with that now. Instead, I am telling myself, everytime I want to compulsively eat, "I deserve to be healthy more than I deserve to be fat--will this food make me healthy or fat/ter?" And by asking myself that everytime I think about eating, it's helping me to stop the compulsion because for years I felt I "deserved" to eat when I wanted, what I wanted, however much I wanted---that's a very entitled way to look at food isn't it? Wow.

    Another thing I'm doing to help me stick to my caloric intake goals is to eat 100-250 calories every two hours all day long, with no more food intake past 7pm. The only time I deviate and increase the calories are at the lunch hour and dinner, then I increase the calories to 350 for those meals. Amazingly, I have felt the pressure to eat more often by needing to keep to that every two-hr schedule of eating. I'm also training my metabolism to expect food, process little bits at a time which keeps my body working continuously so that it's not hungry. AND the most important thing of all is that I'm teaching myself to eat small portions. That is key for me since I come from a compulsive eating history.

    The shrinking of the stomach thing, that usually lasts for a week to a week and a half for me. Then, it's usually shrunk sufficiently for me to feel "leaner" which gives me a boost to continue on. Water intake--we should be drinking 64 oz a day ( Eight 8oz glasses per day) and more if you're exercising or it's hot outside and you're sweating a lot.

    Anyway. These are just some thoughts that may or may not help you. I wish you success in your weight loss!

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