Posts by carbfrenzy

i might try it when the budget eases up a little!

Kudos to Steve for being motivated enough to lose sleep over it.  In my opinion, sleep is one of the most precious things that you can have, and losing it causes cravings, water retention, bottomless hunger, and all sorts of waiting-for-setback activities.  

I say if you're in it for the long haul, take a long approach to it.  2 lbs/ six weeks translates into 17 lbs for the year.  Is that biggest-loser worthy weight?  Of course not.  But 17 lbs is definitively a dress size, more if you're petite.  

LOL, that's a healthy attitude.  Way to give yourself a break.  And I can't image that you ate 27000 calories in four days, so you're prbly just fine :D

I guess I want to clarify--I'm not stressed, just immensely tired.  I have had some long days, but I have been well-prepared for them, so they are not stressing me out.  I have just not been getting enough sleep and I feel like it is triggering these binges.  When I am stressed, it doesn't necessarily incline me to eat differently.  

Yes.  They have two sizes, and neither matches the calorie information on cc.  I did choose the appropriate size. 

I don't know if this will help, but if you are doing this because you love food and being around it is comforting, maybe start cooking.  It helps me be around food more, and take pride in manipulating and creating it.  It feels good to make your own "fancy meals."  I love stuffing chicken breast with delicious things (sun-dried tomatoes and artichokes, or tender asparagus and spongy pieces of mushroom), and they are surprisingly lower in calories than fast food burgers and fries.  It also kind of desensitizes you to food.  Part of the addiction of fast food is the fast bit.  You see your food instantly and you inhale it.  Seeing your food in the grocery store, preparing it, waiting for it to cook, it's almost therapeutic so that when you're sitting down to eat it, you've had so much time with it, it feels okay to eat less.  

I don't know if any of this makes sense, but it really helps me with my fast food binges.  I find that the weeks that I don't cook, I have bigger urges.  And don't just cook diet food--cook portion controlled GOOD food and pair them with low-cal sides.  I think you need to focus on having a healthier relationship with food before you can restrict your calories.  I only am aiming for a 400 cal deficit because I realize I can't change my binging and restrict so much at the same time.  The restriction just brings on more binges. 

:(  good luck, and stay in touch.  I have trouble with this too.  

Hi guys...wow, thanks for all the input. 

Thanks for the encouragement.  I have dropped from a 14/16 to a 12/14 while only losing 2.5 lbs.  So I am smaller, and not because of the measly weight loss, lol.  My energy is okay, better than before, but still not great.  Starting to kick the caffeine addiction a little, which is nice.

 I might be asking for things too quickly--I have been at this for maybe 1.5 months.  Maybe I have not hit the tipping point of building muscle vs. losing weight.  Thanks for pointing that out. 

Again for everyone commenting on my low deficit.  I have binging issues, and really do not want to trigger that again.  I still binge when I am bored sometimes, but I don't want to go back to 3500 cal days and then trying to make up for it by eating less the next day.  I especially binge when I feel deprived and exhausted.  

Also--180 g carbs is not high--its a touch on the low side of normal, or the high side of low, aka around 25% of total intake, according to the nutritionists that I work around.  It is mostly good carbs, and I am really not willing to go any under this.  Thanks for the advice and the encouragement.  I will maybe try inching my deficit up a little bit to see if I can find results, but I will never up it past 500 cal because of other issues.   I also work full time and take a half time load of classes.  I need the energy.

Any suggestions for beginning weight training?

Thanks for the info guys. 

To answer a few questions:  I have replaced most beverages with water, and some with diet soda (1/day or so).  Otherwise, I exercise mostly cardio (25 min/session, medium intensity), plus occasional walks.  I do not weight train. 

My original base calories averaged out to be around 2500/day.  I had some 3500 cal days, and some 1200 cal days.  A great part of what I am trying to accomplish is to stop the binges and bad days and instead even out what I am eating.  Right now, I am eating around 1800-2000 calories, depending on exercise, and netting around -400 calories/day. 

Should I increase my deficit?  I am a little afraid that when I feel deprived, I binge, and I need to stop doing that.  I am five eight, and weigh around 218 lbs and female.  I do like the idea of doing it once or twice a week though.  

thanks for the help. 

me too.  cut down to 1-2 cups coffee/ day, plus coke zero when i need a pickup.  Cut out the sugar, replaced it with stevia sweetener, and went down one creamer.  result isn't too bad about 40 calories a cup.