First week observations

[zafzafzaf]

Okay guys it might be slightly long but bear with me. I have a lot to say after doing a week losing weight and its quite positive.

A few years ago I lost around 2 stones over 3/4 months, I was in good rhythm and losing weight and also building muscle. I had compliments from everyone about how well i did and my transformation. What derailed me was ramadan - I started fasting for around 16 hours and the parents were making all sorts of amazing fried up to break the fast and before I knew it I spiralled out of control.

This is not to bash ramadan in anyway, some people fast without following ramadan but more about how the key to our body shape is our mind. Having lost all that weight my mind said 'its okay, you've lost all that weight before so even if you eat now you can easily lose it by going to the gym again'. So it continued and before I know it I had put on the 2 stones I lost and more on top. I never went to the gym, I got depressed and ignored it and continued eating. The bigger I got the more the thought of losing the weight and the hardship of the journey dawned on me. During the whole time, the people who complimented me for losing weight began commenting on how I lost it and put it all back on. It became a vicious cycle which became so so hard to step out of.

From where I see it there are TWO big problems and problem ONE is; the longer you leave it the bigger the battle of losing weight seems. Your mind reminds you how painful it was slogging away on the treadmill and rower and everything else. It doesn't remind you about how good the workout felt. Your mind says 'yes we need to go to the gym again, were going to restart soon so its fine, eat whatever for now'. That false pretence leads you down a very long downhill battle. Occasionally I'd buy a lunch box or something to tell myself I'm going to meal prep soon as a way of comforting myself like some sort of assurance that I'd be starting the weight loss journey again soon. All the time I'd tell myself how I was waiting for something to start. It would be 'yeah I'm going to finish this course then I'll start'. 'I might as well wait till this happens then I'll start' etc etc.

Problem TWO is that unhealthy food and big portion sizes have a lot of bad side effects. Big unhealthy, fatty, processed food tastes amazing, yes - however they make you feel lazy and sleepy. I would come home and eat so much that my next move could only be the couch watching something pointless or falling asleep on the couch. The fatty/processed and sugary food also does something else which is what really makes things worse. A big meal of rice or fatty carbs made me feel so lazy I'd need sugar to pick me up and perk me up. This meant taking a tea/coffee to the couch and eating high sugar/calorie biscuits for the energy to not feel lethargic. Another thing was breakfast, I'd have 4 white toasts with loads of cheese and tea and I'd tell myself I need a big breakfast otherwise I'll feel hungry soon. Of course, the toasts would give a massive spike in energy and by 10 or 11 I'd be ravished and I'd have another hour till lunch. And so the cycle continues, a spike in sugar levels mean a decent boost followed by extreme hunger which seemingly came out of nowhere and in my mind to combat it I felt I needed to eat a bigger breakfast. Whats worse when the hunger came out of nowhere after a spike in sugar, I'd feel so hungry I'd pick up more unhealthy foods from the shops for lunch. The mind is trained to do it, when your sugar drops you literally run for a sugar hit as your mind is trying to protect you from a sudden massive drop in energy, its there to keep you alive but in the modern day it means you walk to the takeaway or the shop and buy something unhealthy even if you didn't mean to before.

The mind rules over everything, your subconscious and conscious mind work together, your subconscious pre-programmed mind pushing you to get a sugar hit for survival and your conscious mind wanting the pleasure and reward of something that 'tastes'nice.

Which brings me to my final point - we find solace in food. Often when were tired, anxious, depressed, busy, our reward is something which tastes amazing. After all, no one wants to be depressed and binge on broccoli - it does NOT give the same comfort as an unhealthy half pounder or big mac. That surely for myself is a learned behaviour as comfort and solace can be found in other things. We can talk to someone, we could exercise more to feel more energetic. We could go for a walk. But we train ourselves and learn to eat unhealthy and binge to rid ourselves of the hardships of life.

So after finding myself back on the weight loss train, this post is motivation for me never to fall into the cycle again. To counter all the tricks of the mind I have done the following and will (hopefully continue the following);

Eating more healthy, whole foods which yes -may not taste amazing but are good for me. I am telling myself what I'm eating now is what my body needs, it maintains my sugar its enough to keep me going, I've calculated exactly what my body needs (using the nhs calorie calculator) and giving myself more than what I need is unnecessary.

I will eat more this time, and not have bouts of feeling hungry/starving and then falling off the weight loss train after 3 months, this time I will eat as healthy and as close to what the nhs recommends as possible so I dont feel the need to fall of the train or binge.

I will maintain my sugar by eating brown bread, brown bread, weetabix, oats and other foods which slowly release energy through the day, thus not needing to bunge.

I will plan my meals and log them, and instead of a big unhealthy breakfast I have a coffee and some mixed nuts. Then have my breakfast around 10/10:30 when I start feeling hungry. There was never a need for such a big breakfast at 7.15am in the morning.

I joined an expensive and GOOD gym. I feel amazing going there. I pay 70 per month but I tell you what its worth it. Its spacious, it has all the swimming/Jacuzzi/sauna I need and I feel like going there.

In conclusion, losing weight is about re-altering your thinking and controlling your mind! Hopefully when and if i ever come close to giving up I can re-read this.

[S11m]

Hi, zafzafzaf ... Good Luck.

I eat carbs for breakfast - but non-cereal carbs (buckwheat Muesli).

Raw porridge or fat would be more sustaining.

[BridgeGirl Administrator 2 stone]

You mention maintaining your sugar: are you diabetic or pre-diabetic?

[zafzafzaf 3kg in reply to BridgeGirl]

sugar levels drop for normal people as-well its a known effect of having sugary food, Im not diabetic

[Icandoit2019]

You sound very determined this time round good luck

[Tiggerr]

Some valid points and I know various people will see parts of those points in their own journeys, including myself.

Eating plenty is a good starting point. Creating hunger points can often lead to bingeing.

As an aside and I don't want to make a big deal of it but those of us on lchf aim to make fat about 70% of consumption as it's not quite the demon it's been made out to be. There's plenty of info online as to how that works (eg. DietDoctor) or the LCHF group on HealthUnlocked.

It's obvious how good a place you're in at the moment and enjoy your time down the gym.

I also think it's been good that you've been using this forum to help with your ongoing journey.

Good luck!