How to find a balance??

[treehugger06]

Dear friends,

I'm going to admit I haven't been in the best state of mind these last few months. It all started about 5/6 months ago when I decided I wanted to lose a couple of lbs. Unfortunately, I realized I was never quite satisfied and it eventually spiralled into anorexia. Thanks to my lovely friends I managed to turn that around but it has started to go the other way. I've started overeating and gaining more weight than I need to. I'm back to a little bit above my old weight but I'm struggling to find a balance. How can I get out of this cycle? In the future, I would like to lose the few lbs I've gained from overeating and then start trying to gain a bit of muscle. Does this sound like a good plan and could you give me some tips on how to go about this without it spiralling out of control? Some example meals would be helpful too. (I'm a vegetarian who eats vegan whenever I can so I understand that to gain muscle I will have to eat more protein-rich foods like eggs and nuts.)

Thanks for all your support!

[junemc]

I have to admit that I don't like slimming diets. I suggest that you diet for your health not your weight and concentrate on this. If you eat healthily you will gradually lose excess weight anyway. As you are vegetarian I assume that you are eating plenty of fruit and veg so this is a good start. You don't say what you are eating to make you put on weight. Are you eating lots of sweet things/lots of carbs? You need to identify what your weakness is and avoid it. Plan your meals in advance and only buy what you need. Always know in advance what you are going to eat so you always have something healthy ready to eat. If nothing else is available you will be tempted to eat the wrong things. So think healthy, not thin. You overall health is far more important than your weight, particularly if you are only a few pounds overweight. Does it really matter if you are a few pounds heavier than you would like to be? Don't beat yourself up! I am not vegetarian so can't offer you any recipes but there are loads of vegetarian/vegan cookbooks out there. Good luck!