Downwards Spiral

[sarahlouisedenton99]

If anyone has any advice for people in my position that would be fantastic:

basically, i am a large girl. 5'6 and around 13st 5lbs. however whenever i attempt to accomplish weight loss i find myself becoming less and less satisfied with the results, leading to me seeking faster weight loss 'tips' and a majority of them ridiculously health destructive. i have in the past obsessively counted calories, binged, purged, starved, tried to associate food with pain (elastic band snapping on my wrist) and tried to live on a liquid diet. i just dont how to not become consumed by the idea of how disgusting i am at my weight now and how much better it will be when im slim and how each mouthful is riddled with those unspeakable calories.

HELP

[Diana]

First tackle why food that is fuel is so consuming? My views, addiction, food memories with childhood , joy and despair.

Chose to accept that food is enjoyable fuel, try to detach being over obsesses by it, avoid temptation, plan your meals, and two snacks be distracted by other things.

Good luck x

[Lassenri]

Wo tiger! Ok, first thing. An important fact that some people don't know and I'm only saying it for the sake of saying it is that less food doesn't = slim. Your body goes into hibonation mode and you store fat. Good eating habits would be large breakfast with fruit, nuts, eggs and goodness. Small lunch and small dinner. Avoid dairy( it's meant for baby cows and bulls), snood weet ( chemicals and gluten aren't great), processed food, sugar packed ****.

Try replacing sugar with honey, soft drink with juice or water, jump on the spot while watching TV, find a cool dance and learn it- dance around the house. Watch funny videos, look at animals, listen to calm music etc to relieve stress ( stress = weight gain in itself + anger and giving up = more weight gain. When doing diets ( try the paleo diet ( only eat what you would eat if you were a cave person basically) then do it with someone). Lastly, 8-10 glasses of water a day! That is the most important!

Hope this helped at all.

[Diana in reply to Lassenri]

Much as your advice is good, so many things, dairy can be tough, so can gluten, tried dairy a tough one, I consumr hardly any, do love my butter, sometimes milk and cream.

Honey can be expensive agave syrup can be good too, gluten free stuff a lot of it is crap, spelt is good, as is rice flour.

[Fatgirl11]

aww bless you I know how you feel I have been a yo-yo dieter for 13 years and it's hard! I feel your pain. ideally you need to get to the crux of why your self esteem is low hence the low body image issues and constant dieting. then you need to stick to 3 set meals and 2/3 snacks a day. don't worry about 'good' or 'bad' foods for now! just get yourself into the habit of 3 meals and snacks so you don't feel bad about eating. does this make sense? it's difficult to explain it all on here but I would recommend seeing a therapist/having CBT for sure and they can really help you overcome the binging and purging and dieting issues. good luck and keep us updated! xx

[Diana in reply to Fatgirl11]

Well said.

[gilly57]

One thing at a time. See your GP and get him/her onboard in whatever way he/she can be. Change your meals to ordinary food. Jacket potato and salady bits is a filling one. Porridge made with water is great too. I have lots of ideas along those lines as and when you're ready. Just say. You're not a bad person! You have something that's within your power to alter. You can do it and you'll get help from like-minded people on here.

[Pigivi]

I'm not going to repeat the good advice already given... but I have to say that the thing that struck me more about your post is that you find yourself disgusting.

You are not disgusting. x

Sure, health wise there are only benefits in being a healthy weight, but being slim doesn't always equal being healthy, if the attitude to food is not a balanced one . I am fat, healthy and very active - sure, I still don't like my belly but it's there, and slowly (very slowly, a stone a year) is getting a bit smaller. One thing I know for sure , the faster the weight goes down, the faster it comes back with a vengeance, so go slow!

I've recently started the 5:2, and find it good - it doesn't make me feel deprived at all. I decided to try after hearing about the health benefits, the weight loss is just a secondary bonus

Pleae, I know it's not easy but try not to obsess about food, increase your physical activity, not only it helps losing weight, for me it also leads to healthier food choices - I don't know how active, old you are nor how healthy, so check with your GP about exercise, then if he/she gives you the go ahead and maybe try Couch to 5 k (on this site there is a great community) ?

ted.com/talks/sandra_aamodt...

toofattorun.co.uk

[Elle-j]

Hi im very similar to you I think at 5'5 and 12 st 6. I need to lose 44lb and I can l Iose a pound or two fine in the 5week days my problem is I put it back on at weekend so come monday im back at the same weight. This has been the case for months now which is why ive come on here. I have managed to lose a stone and a half last year however and I did this at slimming world although their eating plan didn't work for me the thought of turning up week after week not losing anything was enough to give me a push. Unfortunately I can't afford that at the min and im struggling to get the same results again. I al also weigh myself daily so I can see patterns depending what ive eaten. And I try to go to the gym at least 2 times a week and burn 800 calories doing cardio. I found calorie counting does work but keeping it up is hard when you get busy. I know Im no role model but I do know what works im just no good at sticking to it. :/

[returner]

Hi sarahlouisedenton99,

My advice would be to stop right there.

Firstly, stop anything that you are doing to "lose weight" that is unhealthy or destructive. There is no point whatsoever in doing unhealthy or destructive things to lose weight and throw into the bin all the fads and tricks and gimmicks.

Now, look long and slow, and with ruthless honesty at these issues:

* How much you eat

* What type of food you eat

* How often you eat

* Why you eat - i.e. what really prompted you to do that last bit of eating?

There are myriads of reasons why people eat. Many have to do with ideas about food inherited from their childhood. (e.g. mustn't waste good food, or you must finish the plate of food, or that 'good' boys and girls get treats like sweets and ice-cream). Some eat for comfort, because they are bored, for approval, because they feel they ought to.

You seemingly need to change your relationship with food. That means re-configuring how you perceive and think about food and means getting into some sensible eating habits (which might be quite different to your existing ones).

Aim to get into a sensible, healthy, nutritious eating regime which results in eating sensibly-sized, healthy meals and snacks that deliver the full range of nutrition. There's lots of free and good advice on the NHS Choices pages live well\lose weight and they have lots about nutrition, diets, a free 12 week plan, etc.

[Hidden]

The comment about you finding yourself disgusting stood out for me too. Ok let me admit for a second that possibly you are actually disgusting. What else are you? No one is ever one single thing. you could also be a lovely chatty personality, grumpy but hilarious, bulky but loyal, disorganised yet always on time. Whatever it is, find your strength. We've heard a part of your weakness and that is what will need to be dialled down. Find your strength and dial it up. Use it to your advantage, whatever it is.

I think the food is the least of your worries as it is simply reflecting the conflict or one sided negative discussion going on in your mind. Balance that out first and you might find your weight reduction efforts easier to deal with.

I think this kind of thing is generally easier to do with actual physical help possibly from a GP...