Inspired by Ahna's 3FC goal thread and her blog, I have decided to embark upon my own bite counting journey.
I am a diagnosed binge eater (BED) and have always been overweight. I was put on my first diet at age 5, and I have really never stopped trying to be on one. I have tried (and failed) so many diets in my 29 years.
I am attracted to bite counting because:
1) I experienced great success in the past, but I became impatient with the steady weight loss and jumped into something else that would give me quicker results (keto),
2) it teaches portion control easily, which is incredibly important for me as a binger (calorie counting was really tedious and complicated as someone who eats at home 95% of the time, and when I lost a ton of weight on keto, I was still eating tons of calories/food, so the weight came back on extremely quickly when I decided to start eating carbs again since it hadn't done anything to teach me about portions),
3) I can eat what I want, and
4) it is forcing me to eat more slowly and mindfully, which has been preventing binges so far.
Only time will tell, but I think this may be just what I need to be successful! I am vegan this time around, so we'll see how it goes!
I began my journey on Tuesday, March 14, and I will continue for 90 days as a trial period! I started this week with 35 bites per day, which seems to be around what Ahna was eating when she was about 40-45 pounds from her goal, which is where I am currently. I will be posting here for accountability purposes.
HW: 179
SW (3/14): 167.8
CW (3/16): 163.6
GW for the 90 days: 145
UGW: 125
Day 1: 3/14
Weight: 167.8
Binge-free days: 0
Bites: 35
So far so good. Nothing too interesting to report, though I did get SUPER hungry between lunch and dinner. I packed a snack for the next day to help.
Day 2: 3/15
Weight: 164.4
Binge-free days: 1
Bites: 35
Today's snack helped, but I had about 4 bites that were larger than normal at dinner. After that, I began focusing on putting the right amount of bites on my plate - ~1 tablespoon per bite - but putting small amounts on my fork to force me to eat much slower. I am requiring myself to completely finish chewing each forkful before picking up my fork again, which is very different from what I've done in the past, which is inhale thousands of calories at a time in a matter of minutes. Most times I barely tasted what I ate. This practice has really been helping me feel when I'm actually full, and because it is taking much longer to eat, binging has lost its appeal since it takes away the instant gratification part.
Day 3: 3/16
Weight: 163.6
Binge-free days: 2
Bites: 36
I was a bit sad tonight and I had to fight really, really, really hard not to binge. It was a solid two hours of looking at takeout menus and talking myself out of it. I'm happy I didn't succumb, but it was really hard.
Day 4: 3/17
Weight: 163.2
Binge-free days: 3
Bites (planned): 34 (to balance out yesterday's additional bite)
I'm happy for this loss, but I am also a bit disappointed that it's so small. I know that is super unreasonable considering how much I lost the first day, but I am just ridiculous that way. This is why I can't weigh everyday. I would rather see a big(ish) drop once a week than see days like this where I feel in some part of my brain that I should've been "rewarded" more heavily for not succumbing to a binge, drinking 6 more cups of water, and getting in 1000 more steps than the day before. I really need to realize that dropping 0.4 IS a reward! Not gaining is a reward! I would go absolutely berserk if I had gained 0.4, so I don't know why I can't realize that losing it should be just as significant! The mental part of weight loss is always the hardest for me.
All of yesterday's whining makes me feel pretty dumb now after this nice whoosh I need to get it together!
Today is my first weekend day on the plan, and I am excited! I think making it through day 3 was the hardest. Yesterday was very easy, though I was very busy most of the day. Even still, I got home earlier than usual and made it without wanting to binge. Evenings are usually when the cravings kick in hard, and I made it through! I'm feeling good
Whoop whoop! So close to 150s! I think I'm going to TRY to stop daily weighing once I hit 155, but who knows if that will actually happen. Daily weighing is going well for now, but I also haven't gained yet. At that point, daily weighing becomes hard for me.
I was a little bummed to see this little gain, but I am still happy that I lost 6 pounds in 6 days! Plus, I definitely felt that I was overeating yesterday to hit my bite count. I knew this would happen eventually, but I didn't expect it to happen so fast! Especially considering that I burned more calories yesterday. But as I was finishing up my meals, I felt satisfied and still had some bites left that I ate anyway just to keep things easier for tracking purposes. Today, I am going to drop down to 30 since that was around the point when I felt satisfied yesterday. I think bite counting is going to make transitioning into more intuitive eating pretty seamless for me! I think I just had to get to a place of not overeating consistently (and eating slowly!) for me to actually feel when my body is satisfied.
After doing some research and lots of soul searching over the past few hours, I have decided to abandon bite counting and move completely into transitioning into a more IE-based lifestyle. I will still be weighing, and I still need to lose weight, but some of the principles of bite counting (eating slowly, chewing fully, monitoring my satiety while eating) really put me in a place where I am much more attuned with my hunger and fullness than I was even a few days ago. I don't want to obsess over food anymore in any way. I'm tired of its stronghold, and I will break it!
Yeah... no. I'm not yet ready for IE like I thought. Definitely jumped the gun and was doing well, but I overate pretty badly and immediately the binging thoughts resurfaced. Maybe I can use IE as a maintenance tool instead, as I would really like to get to the place where I can eat intuitively forever.
I'm sure I ate enough to constitute a gain today, so I don't want to weigh tomorrow. I will try to use that as impetus for my weighing once a week goal.
Day 1: 3/23
Binge-free days: 0
Bites (planned): 25
Finally back on track, and think I have broken the incessant need to weigh multiple times a day since I completely abandoned the scale for the past two days. I will be weighing in on Sundays from now on.
I'm happy to be back on track, and I look forward to adopting IE in the future as my WOE. I'm not quite ready yet, but I really hope to be soon.
Officially moving on to OMAD. Counting anything is, for some reason, giving me some sort of anxiety. I feel neurotic counting everything and keep feeling like a failure when I mess up. I will keep up with the behavior of eating slowly, but I definitely need a new WOE.
90-Day Bite Counting Challenge
I need to get it together!
