I've been stuck at around 140lbs for ages, partially because of my eating disorder history and a longass battle with binge eating that only really ended 3 months ago (12 weeks or so with NO BINGEING!!!) but I was still overeating.

I can eat 2,200 calories a day of whatever I want and maintain 140lbs if I do 30 mins moderate exercise a day, not bad, right?

But I want to be about 120lbs, trouble is, I can't physically seem to manage on less than 2,000 calories a day, even if they are good quality foods.

Well...wow.

I have IBS, mainly constipation side (TMI, sorry), and I don't like laxatives. So I bought some Benefiber, just a tasteless nonthickening powder you put 4 teaspoons a day of in whatever drink you like and just drink it, it tastes NO different, its great. No funny additive stuff or anything, its just water soluble fibre.

Not only have I started, um, going, I find it fine to eat only 1,500 calories a day. For several days in a row now, so it's not just a fluke..believe me I can't remember last time I could eat less than 1800 even in a day and not faint. Sure I get hungry but it's like..my hunger's been "dampened down".

WHY DID NO ONE EVER TELL ME THIS???

Even if I don't lose any weight, I am reassured that I am not a bottomless pit..it's like awesome. (No, I'm not overdosing on it or planning to, don't worry!)

xxx

That's great! I have a similar problem...not with keeping the calories down, but with the (clear throat) plumbing being backed up! I hope they sell this stuff here in the U.S. because it sounds like a great way to go (pun intended). I have actually recently started taking KyoDophilis which is acidopholus (sp?) from Kyolic garlic. I take one pill with every meal and that has helped some, but I feel like it could still be better. Thanks for sharing your great info!!!! I hope you will now see the results you've been hoping for after all this time!

I am so happy to see you smiling EMILY!

This is kind of the whole point of the book volumetrics (the appetite thing, not the pooping thing).

I also have IBS, and I get uh, both ends of the disorder. But that's what's great about fiber, it works if you've got diarrhea (don't drink as much water) or constipation (as long as you drink quite a lot of water).

For me, the biggest difficulty is finding the "right" balance to my eating, particularly the fiber and fat. When I was in highschool and college I had abdominal pain so badly, I was checked for all kinds of things (appendicitis and mono, included, I'm not sure what the mono had to do with it), and the doctor came up with nonspecific colitis without ulcering (one of the terms used before the term IBS was used). In college, I used to say that I was "forced" onto a balanced diet, because if I dieted (too many vegetables) or if I ate junk (too much fat), I got deathly sick. Unfortunately "quantity" of food wasn't a problem for IBS.

Summer is hardest because I LOVE fruits and vegetables, and I eat WAY more than I should in summer, because I don't want to miss out on all the good stuff (but as a result, I have potty issues and a lot of gut pain).

Some people with IBS can barely eat a vegetable without getting sick, but I can eat a lot as long as I watch the ones that give me the most trouble and gradually increase fruits or veggies rather than suddenly binge on them. This week is the last week that Ranier (wonderful, yelllow) cherries are in season (2 to 3 weeks total, and this year only 2 weeks because Washington state apparently had a freeze, according to my "cherry guy"). Every year, I eat them until I'm sick (but I always lose weight cherry week, it's just a really ROUGH way to lose a couple pounds). I know I shouldn't abuse my body this way, but they're only available for 2 weeks and they're the absolute best, bestest cherries ever (I have flashbacks of the Seinfeld episode with the "special" peaches).

I'm getting way off track, but glad you found something that works.

Benefiber is indeed available in the U.S. You can add it to drinks, even coffee. No sludge, no taste! Just be careful that you start slowly with it--that is, a small amount to start, and then build up. I had some gas from it at first but I don't get that now.

Jay

Hey Emily, that's great that you've gotten things moving along-he he
I don't have problems in the bathroom department, but I'm also stuck at 140lbs, same height as you and I'd like to be a few lbs less, and a binge eater also. I might have to try this and see if it helps curb my hunger. Thanks for the tip and best wishes to you!! Let us know if it helps in your weight loss.

kaplods, mono causes the liver to enlarge, so you might have had abdominal pain from an enlarged liver, so I'm assuming that's why they checked.
I love those Ranier cherries, too!! Yum.

thankyou everyone..some interesting stories here as well, isn't IBS a pain (literally)? I consider myself quite lucky in that it used to be a lot worse when I was younger, about 14-16. Strange. I mainly get constipation but occasionally for NO reason I get um the other side of it..oh the mystery. My mother has IBS and something else wrong with her digestive system as well..argh I forget what it is..diverticulitis I think. I reckon there's a genetic component.

thanks ddc, I've always wondered about that.

I've bought some of the Benefiber chewable tablets because they were on sale (kind of dry and chalky, and they don't seem to work as well as the stir in stuff). But, I just use the Walmart orange flavored psyllium stuff (the generic of metemucil I think). It kind of tastes like "chunky" Tang. Not bad, as long as you drink it fast and follow it with a plain water chaser.

Ordinarily, I try to get my fiber from food, but since the supplements help when I have problems, I always keep them in the house, just in case.

Thanks for the tip. Have you tried it in just plain water? That's about all I drink these days.

Benefiber - Excellent stuff! I use it in both hot tea and iced, mixed into bread dough(with dry ingredients), pudding mix, milk - can't see why it can't be used in water.

I just drink it in water usually, or green tea. hang on, don't think that addressed to me ^ ?

I use FiberOne which is the exact same thing - psyllium. I mix it in water and have a glass in the morning and a glass in the evening. Works well and you can't even tell it's in the water. Then agian, I tend to mix it in an 8oz quantity, just room temp, and drink it fairly quickly, rather than sipping on it. That might make a difference.

.

pinkcarnation, were you talking to me? I do put it in plain water, the orange flavor is already in it. I think they also carried a plain psyllium (no flavor) version, I believe. I don't remember why I chose the orange. It could have been cheaper, they might have run out of the plain, or I might have thought the orange looked more palatable. I really don't remember because the container of this is pretty huge (23 oz, 114 tsp doses), and since I don't use it daily, I've had it for several months.

I'm not sure if I could stand to drink it with no flavor. The thickness of it seems kind of weird to me any way, and I think the texture with no flavor of "thick water" would be worse. The orange flavor isn't bad, and I'm not drinking it fast because of the taste. The psyllium dissolved only partially, so drinking it quickly after stirring means that fewer particles are sinking sink to the bottom. Otherwise, the last gulp is rather is far too fibery (kind of hay-like). The extra glass of water, rinses out the hay feeling in my mouth.

There are a lot of variety of fiber supplements. I remember standing in the Walmart aisle trying to fathom the difference between all of them, and decide which was for me. I think price and calories were my main decision points. It was strange how many added quite a lot of sugar. Mine is the equate (Walmart's store) brand, "fiber therapy sugar free" (although the jar says it is not a low calorie product, the tsp dose has 20 calories, and does contain aspartame for those who are sensitive to it). On the label it says compare to Metamucil.

I remember when I was in high school, trying my grandmother's Metamucil (either for diet or for the IBS, I don't remember which), and I'll tell you they sure have come a long way. You had to drink it even faster before the psyllium sunk to the bottom, and it was hard to drink without choking on. And you'd better drink water afterward or you'd choke and cough on the "hay" that was left in your mouth. Part of the reason I drink it the way I do, probably has more to do with my memory of the "old" Metemucil than it does the current product.

Just a clarification in case anyone needs it--Benefiber is wheat dextrin, whereas psyllium is made from seeds of plants in the genus Plantago. They are different products.

Psyllium can be gritty, slimy, or chunky--Benefiber dissolves completely. (I'm referring to the powder, not the tablets.)

Jay