Hi There

Another newbie to the site.

I am 31 years old and currently weight 213 pounds. I am 5feet 4 inches. I was 255 pounds at my heaviest.

I have been put on a 1200 calorie diabetic diet that has helped TREMENDOUSLY! I no longer eat out, I eat healthier. I am very limited on which excersices I can do, I am only allowed to walk and swim due to having a bloodclot in my leg. I even had to drop my gym membership.

Im just trying to get by and become healthier by making better choices. I no longer drink regular cokes, now only diet cokes. I drink more water, and since i dont like water, I buy flavor packets (no sugar ones) and flavor the water or use an artificial sweetner in my tea instead of sugar.

I am trying to break the habit of eating at night, which started again this week :(

I cant give up on myself though, so I joined this community in hopes to keep myself motivated.

I don't know who advised a 1200 calorie diet but that sounds quite low for someone your size, even given the limited activity you can do.  And I think that's why you're eating at night... because you're hungry, basically.   If you're doing your diet under supervision, talk to them about this.  It could be that you could still lose weight effectively at a slightly higher level (1400-1500) but with the same Low GI/diabetic-friendly foods.    

Also talk to your team about the diet sodas and artificial sweetners.  There is some evidence that artificial sweetners can trigger some of the same effects in the body as sugar... and that these, in turn, lead to low blood-sugars and increased hunger-pangs.  If you could tolerate moving to entirely unsweetened drinks e.g. herb/fruit teas or water, you might find that helps a lot.   I used to take sugar/sweetner in tea & dropped it entirely.  It tasted terrible for a few days but now if I accidentally get tea with sugar it makes me wince!!

Best of luck

Thank you for your reply. My team of doctors put me on the diet, it was mainly for purposes of the lapband surgery when i was considering it, but now, I have lost too much weight for it without having 2 major weight illnesses due to my weight. I have one... hypertention

I only recently again began eating at night due to stress. I have been on the 1200 calorie diet for quiet some time now. I suffer from insomnia, and am not hungry when I eat, I just eat out of stress. I forgot to add that in my first post, sorry. I actually don't get hungry at all anymore, I have to remember to eat. The calories are spread out during the day, but I do not eat after dinner at all usually, just this past week I have been pretty stressed out, leading to eating after dinner.

Your idea about the artificial sweetner makes sense. I will definately do my best to cut that down to a bear minimum!

Thanks again for your reply :)

I think, if you've lost your appetite, that could be a sign that your metabolism has slowed right down.   It's called 'starvation mode' and there is lots of information about it on CC.  It happens when people have been dieting for a long time (or crash dieting for a short time) and it's the bane of people trying to lose weight because the body tries to retain fat rather than burn it.    Has your weight-loss rate slowed up much, are you experiencing plateaus or do you still lose a pound or two each week?

If you can, try to have a day this weekend where you eat rather more than normal.  Somebody with your stats could reasonably expect to maintain their weight on 1800 - 2000 cals a day, for example.   Stay with your usual foods but increase the portion-sizes and add in a few extra snacks.  If you haven't been out to dinner in a while, now's maybe the time to treat yourself? 

What concerns me is that on 1200 calories you risk not getting adequate nutrition.   Do you take supplements?   And, if you've been sick, your immune system could be weakened when it needs to be strengthened.   I'd be willing to bet hard cash that if you had a day (or two) where you deliberately ate more you'd find that your appetite came back and your weight-loss would speed up.

Good luck ditching the sweetners! 

I am still losing anywhere for 1-4 pounds a week. i do take vitamens as well as calcium. I would be willing to try to eat more day, but the guilt would do me in.

To be honest, I dont count every single calorie, and I am sure there are days I do go over my 1200 limit, I just try not to go over it by too far. I lost 9 pounds in 2 weeks a couple of weeks ago.

I am by no means going hungry, at all. I eat until I am full, it just doesnt take nearly as much to fill me up now. :)

Then it sounds like you're still doing OK.   But do check what you're actually eating using the CC food log.  Measure things rather than guessing.   As you reach a healthy weight it gets more important.  And if you're getting peckish in the evenings... regardless of whether it's genuine hunger or not... it's worth knowing what you're taking in.

oh yeah, i mark EVERYTHING down that I eat. That is what has helped me make better food choices :)