[Klaha]

Hi,
this post is probably to clear my "mind's registry", or to defragment it.

I'm a 20 year old man with dieting problems, that should be weird or rare, there aren't many male binge eaters with my age (teen) actually knowing it and trying to get rid of it for 5 years. Guys say I'm just like a woman, always eating green stuff and dieting, but not only, I became "picky" everytime I go to the store to buy some food.... I even take 2 hours to buy some pants! That's because I try to find the best clothes to hide my fat.

Unlike many other binge eaters I KNOW I have a problem and I don't hide it from my family or friends. And I don't understand how can people can binge at night...that would be **** for me...having calories traveling through my body and I can't go exercise to the gym to burn them, I'm saying this 'cause I'm reading posts with people that binge at night all the time.

It all started when I was 14 or 15 years old, when some girls said something like "who would date a whale?!" to me. It was like a shock, a big trauma to know that my body was the problem. At the time I would look myself at the mirror and see myself and only...but after that incident I could only see my body trapped in a big, fluffy and ugly layer that could not be removed so easily.

My 15 yr-old body used to weight some impressive 242 pounds.
My breakfast used to be one or two big salad cups of chocolate or honey cereals and milk. My lunch would be 2 BigMacs, a cheese burger, a BIG coke, and their respective fried chips with a sundae to clean up the salt in my mouth. Later I would eat and big yogurt with a tablet of chocolate mixed with it....and dinner would be meat with rice, big portions of course.

Well, these are some impressive 6435 BAD calories (more or less), completly out of vegetables or fruit.

Haha, I still remember myself saying in my first year of dieting, "I'll eat only a BigMac and coke, I gotta lose weight!"....well....YEAH....it was an impressive evolution! I think I lost 20 pounds with that....but that would be a joke to me now :P

Next 2 years I added exercise to my diet (true exercise). I would do half an hour of running everyday or cycling. I lost more 20 pounds slowly. No food change.

Then after some more 20 pounds, people started to say that I looked "nice".....but I kept telling myself "yeah right! wait to see me naked!".
Obviously it would be "nice" COMPARED to what I WAS...not compared to other "normal" guys.

I was starting to like the fact that I could do it, that I was being successful in my diet, I was becoming too ambitious, I want to be REAL slim....I don't wanna see FAT again in my body, I wanna seel muscle!, I wanna be a real sexy man! So I started to cut on food...truly...

My diary intake would be:

--Breakfast: One or 2 apples. (60-120 kcal)

--Lunch: Salad and vegetables (raw..)....and for protein always "cooked" fish or meat (80 grams) and a bit of rice (250-360 kcal)

--4 hours later Snack: 1 bread and 1 cup of Light Milk (150-230 kcal)

--Dinner: Soup (50 kcal)

Here it is......impressive.....700 kcal daily....I did it! I can hold!

yeah right...

After 3 months...I weighted 185 pounds......I look truly slim with my clothes on....but......why am I not satisfied? why do I keep on dieting? That's because what I have lost was muscle! some fat...but especially muscle....and even if I look "alright" with my clothes on, I look horrible naked, I still have that jumping fat on my belly...it's like pudim moving over some bones...
And I think I know why people become anoretic, because the fat still lives after months of suffering, and all our body "eats" is muscle but we don't know it...we just keep on going. So I had 2 choices, or to become anoretic....or to do something else? What else did I do? I searched for help on the internet, I started to gather alot of false and true information, so then I found some website telling something about bulimia and eating disorders. After all the reading I understood something "you gotta eat to lose weight" I needed muscle to burn my calories faster while I'm on "resting mode", I need muscle to eat the remaining fat. So I tried to eat normally again, but I didn't know what kind of food do "normal people" eat, so I ate some bread and fruits to see the results. The results were laziness and impotence. And I asked myself "WHY?!, I eat more than before and I'm tired?!". Of course....bread and fruits are basically carbohydrates and no protein....which is what muscle need to build itself. I was kinda vegetarian at the time...so I got fat from the carbohydrates I ate because I couldn't do much on the gym. And then the big drepression of my life came, I gained back 25 pounds, it was like working for a year and when you are about to get paid you get nothing, and worst! you gotta pay!.....

I started to go crazy, nothing made sense to me anymore, suicide was a good option....I just didn't go out anymore, afraid of people looks.....I couldn't stand being stared.....it's like i'm reading their thoughts...."look at that fat guy"....."why don't you start a diet dumbass? haha".......I think **** would be more confortable. My initial objective was to be more atractive, well I had a girlfriend when I was in my "happy period", I looked nice and stuff but.....during this "**** period" I broke up with her because of the hatred I had on myself. My objective wasn't to be atractive anymore, I wanted to beat Nature itself.

So during the "**** period" I was at home all day except when I go to the gym...which is right next door (convenient huh?), it's like my basement, I wouldn't be seen outside. And while I'm at home I searched for a solution on the internet, getting to know all the metabolism secrets, why dieting is bad and never works out, what kind of food will be good for me without getting myself fat. I also failed that year at school (because of the stress of the diet) and I only had to go twice a week for an hour to school, so I tried harder on my diet everyday before class so I wouldn't look bad (like that would make any diference). So that "**** year" would be like a hiatus of my normal life. I said STOP....and declared war to FAT, nothing more matters...but FAT.

This **** ended when I went out of town on vacations to visit my mother. I stayed for 2 months at her house near the beach. I was against it, because I would be apart from my beloved "gym". Well, I lost 20 pounds during the visit. When I came back I wouldn't believe my eyes. I even ate normal food like everyone.......and I lost 20 pounds?! what the **** is going on?!

Well, here is where truth comes and say "hello", it is all about what you do.

The diference from my house and and my mother's was the fact that I ate the same quantity of food during the day, I mean, I didn't eat more in the morning or less in the evening....I just ate what my body needed, unconsciously. Why unconsciously? because I had something to do...I went out everyday with my friends to the pool or beach, to the movies, or just for a walk without thinking about food. Why did this happen? I couldn't stop thinking about food before? what happened to change my mind?!........I got myself occupied with interesting stuff, stuff that I like to do....and unconsciously......I was starting to feel satisfied with a "normal" portion of food because I ate the same quality through the day to keep the sugar levels at a nice rate. And unlike before, I move! I use alot the verb "to do"....and not just sitting all day at home and going to gym 2 hours per day.
So basically, what happened was that I had my sugar levels constant thanks to equal portions of food thourgh the day so I would never reach the "big hunger hour"....AND I got myself occupied, I changed my way of life completly, not only exercising HARD at a certain time of the day, but all the time with normal activity, now I know why WALK is the best exercise of all! Don't get tired and get slim as you watch the landscape.

Ok, I found the way, wow! so excited! I'm gonna do it!
But when I get back I realize that there isn't much to do, no excuses to make myself move, no nice beaches to walk or any friends that would like to do it, no pools to swim everytime I need to refresh myself. Just back to my house where I go out twice a week for school. A good thing, my energy was boosted and I can run longer in the gym, more weights and everything, I was heathier for sure. But still, if I keep myself locked in my house for 12 hours during day I will gain it all back for sure. So I started to make little changes, like instead of taking elevators I'll go by stairs...instead of going by car to school, I walk 2 kilometers, so that would be 4 kilometers. Instead of watching stupid shows on TV, try to get an excuse to go out, go shopping, instead of putting dishes on the washing machine, I wash it myself.....etc.
Another good thing, I was feeling completly diferent about food, I only thought of food when I was actually hungry, not TOO hungry, but hungry enough. I don't hold my hunger anymore, I eat what I want, every 3 or 4 hours AND, unlike before, I actually reach a point where I say to myself "I don't want to eat more". I used to be hungry all the time, no matter if I ate or not, I was hungry, it was like the cable that connected the metabolism system to my brain was unplugged.

Today, I feel good and normal, even though I haven't reached my objective weight yet, i'm 180 pounds and I should be 175, and I don't feel bad about it.

Don't worry binge eaters out there, just follow my advices, and expect some errors in the beginning, but they will fade slowly as soon as your body goes back to "normal mode" and not "starving mode". Try to eat normally though the day, and when out of the table, forget about food and get yourself occupied, go and have fun, do something!

If you need an example, I'll give you my normal intake through the day:

Breakfast: 1 cup of milk and 2 slices of bread with a slice of cheese and tomato and lettuce.

An hour before lunch: One or 2 apples or oranges, do not mix.

Lunch: 2 big spoons of rice or pasta with fish or meat, and salad or vegetables (eat those first and slowly). Eat until you feel you don't need more, and not until you are full.

2 or 3 or 4 hours later (snack 1): you can have 1 or 2 snacks before dinner (not too close). For example: One yogurt or two 0% FAT Yogurts, wait 10 minutes, if you still hungry try one bread with cheese.

(snack 2): add your favorite snack here, only if you are going to workout (or you have already done it). Be moderated and eat it slowly, eat it with all your senses. (you can't select a very fatty or with too much sugar foods, if it has to be try to eat a smaller portion)

Dinner: before the main dish eat a vegetable soup -not triturated so you can chew and not drink- and add more water than usual to fill up your stomach.
Now eat the same as lunch but alternating meat and fish. Remember to stop eating when you are not hungry. Don't eat just because it is there, eat if you need it.

If you don't feel hungry at night, drink a hot green tea without sugar from time to time, so it can clean up your body and hydratate. I know it tastes bad without sugar but the results are very nice, your anxiety reduces, you will feel it in the morning.

HoowooW.......ok....done....i cleaned up my mind :P

[cyndy]

Klaha~

Your story is so very inspiring. I would like to thank you for sharing it. I think many people here can share in your experience, as many people who are trying to lose weight have at some point dealt with binge eating.

You are in a very good place now it seems. I learned a lot from your post. I have always believed that eating according to your hunger, stopping when you feel satisfied - not stuffed, eating healthy foods throughout the day is probably the best way to lose fat and not gain it back.

I am thrilled that you were able to find your way by accident while staying at your mom's place. I am curious whether you count calories at all anymore? How long did it take you to lose the weight, and do you still weigh yourself and if so how often? Sorry for all the questions, I am just intrigued by this stuff.

Congratulations on your hard work. Keep it up and stay healthy. Thank you for sharing your story.

[Klaha]

Hi there Cindy,
I'm glad to know that my story inspired you.
Ah no, I don't have time to count my calories or to weight myself :P I have something better to do...like playing my bass, studying and going out with friends, lissen to music.
It is simply something I don't need or don't feel curious right now. Actually I'm not very worried with this last 5 pounds, since I look great.

Read this post that I just wrote http://www.3fatchicks.com/forum/show...159#post809159
might give some answers.

It seems that you suffer from binge eating, I would like you to tell me about yourself, age, what do you do daily, what do you normally eat through the day and tell me when binges attack. Tell me your completly lifestyle.

I'm asking this because I know this is what I would like to happen if I had that problem. Please release all your anger and weird thoughts, this will do you good. Then I'll give you the answer you need to hear (or read :P).

[MissyK]

Wow, Klaha. I swear I'm not following Cyndy around, but your story is truly amazing.

Although I've never been immensely overweight, my self hatred started when I was 13 years old as well. A bunch of girls told me I'd never date before age 16 because guys don't like fat girls. THen, the guy I had a crush on was dared to declare that he liked a fat girl (during a camping trip) and guess what...he hollered at the top of his lungs that he liked ME.

From that point on, I was obsessed with losing weight, trying every means possible. My BMI went from 27 to 19 by grade 11. Then, that was when it occured to me that I had 4X as many friends, and better grades. SO I thought, "could it be because I'm thin?" Yes, the eating disorders began there.

SO many people told me I was thin, and yelled at me when I said, "no thank you, I'm on a diet". I wished I believed them, because as I read my diary, I realize how much I hated myself. I'd always think, "me? skinny? yeah right...wait till you see me naked".

I starved my way down to 98lbs in grade 12, before I discovered laxatives. I thought, "wow I can eat and not gain?!" So I went from anorexic to bulimic.

I ended up gaining back up to 110lbs, which is actually a wonderfully healthy weight, but I went insane. That's all I thought about...when to eat, what to eat, if I could possibly NOT do it. I'm only 159cm tall, by the way.

THen, miraculously, the summer before entering university, I had LOTS of fun and I got down to 105lbs. Not obsessing really did do wonders.

I went up to 120lbs because I got obsessed again and tried Atkins...the diet where if you stay on it, you lose, if not, you gain. I then decided to do it the healthy way and with the help of some online buddies (Cyndy is one of them), I made my goal weight of 105lbs.

But again, after a break up, I started BINGING! To answer your question about how some people can binge before bedtime...well, why I binged before bedtime, was "bedtime" was "my time". My whole family was sleeping, and I'd be so bored and depressed that I felt I could do anything I wanted. So my binges included finishing a whole box of oreos at 1am, chowing down a whole loaf of bread, a whole cheesecake or tiramisu (at least 8" diametre)...etc. By doing that for about a month and a half, I've gained at least 15lbs...my jeans don't fit, and I've been so sleep deprived because I ate so much before bed that my heart would beat super fast.

I know my weight is not much, but I'm writing because I am familiar with that kind of psychological trauma associated with weight gain. It's on my mind all the time, and I feel like it's consuming me. Not many people understand my mindset...I lose all control when I binge, and the self hatred is absolutely overwhelming.

I am sincerely sincerely happy for you, and your incredible achievements. I'm working on obsessing less, and I hope to be at your state of mind one day.

Thank you for your wonderful post.

[cyndy]

Wow...you ask some hard questions Klaha I am just kidding because you are very right, it is so important to really look at yourself, your lifestyle, and what you do besides thinking about weight and food BUT it is not fun to do because it is easier to ignore the fact that you spend an insane amount of time with the stuff (ahem *me*). Okay, time to get this all out...

"I would like you to tell me about yourself, age, what do you do daily, what do you normally eat through the day and tell me when binges attack. Tell me your completly lifestyle."

Well, I am 21 years old, go to University and in all honesty I lead a pretty boring life. On week days, I go to school except I am off Tuesdays and Fridays, also the weekend. On those days I try to study and get homeworl done (but procrastinate A LOT), I usually end up sitting at my computer reading up on this site, or counting the calories I have eaten, or researching on health and fitness and mainly weight loss. I guess I truly just am obsessed with it. Hence, I don't normally get tons of work done. Otherwise, I talk to my friends on the phone, cook, sometimes go out (not really on weekdays) or watch tv. Lately I have been working out everyday. I would love to start up a hobby like dancing but I tried once and it was too expensive to keep up with.
On the weekends, I tend to go out to dance clubs with my friend, sometimes drink but not too much or too often. I do love being social, dressing up and so on. Maybe I should do that more. Otherwise, I just do some homework, maybe go shopping (not recently), just the usual humdrum of daily life. Nothing special really, but I always always think about losing weight and how badly I need to.

I always eat breakfast - black coffee, whole grain bread or 1/2 a bagel with cream cheese (1 tbsp) or maybe oatmeal, that kind of thing. Then usually a snack, lunch, snack, dinner. Binges attack frequently. They differ, it could be like tonight where I made these biscuits and ate too many, so later on I did a 45 minute workout and felt great not intending on eating anymore but WHAM then I saw the potatoes my mom made and starting eating those, next some nuts and raisins, started feeling so guilty and topped it off with a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Sometimes it happens mid-afternoon I just get hungry and start eating a snack which turn into a binge. With me- its all fair game - I can binge anytime of the day.

It's funny because when I eat really low, like 600-1000 calories I dont feel hungry and dont binge (btw, I never eat that low on a regular basis) but when I overeat just a tad I go off the deep end.

The frustration has gotten me by the neck. I am so bloody annoyed that I can't lose weight depsite my best efforts, its like my body takes over and just starts eating sometimes, I figure "i will start again tomorrow" and then tomrrow never comes. I just keep trying to think "ok how am I going to do this?" as though the law of weight loss is going to change or something.

Sorry this is already WAY to long. Geez, I started off thinking "I have NO IDEA what to write" and then I started and couldn't stop. I still feel lost, like i will never loose this obsession.

Klaha, how did you get so wise about all of this? Where did you learn so much, do you read a lot, browse the internet? I read the post you put a link to and it was incredible...very thought provoking..

Oh, and MissyK, nice to see ya here girl

Take care, and thank you so much for listening.

[Klaha]

Ok, it seems you're still too deep into it, you gotta start a pre-diet.

On a pre-diet you prepare your body to really start your future eating habits.
First you gotta get rid of some ingredients that are very caloric and takes fat form too fast. If you have to eat something sweet eat it in the morning, there is nothing worse than eating cookies in the evening for a diet, believe me. Your body is on resting mode and don't use the calories, besides, if you don't eat in the morning correctly, you will be tired all day, and your mind will make up excuses to eat, and it will be always the same excuse like "I did OK on my diet in the morning, a bit of chocolate or cookies won't hurt now" just like a prize. But the better option would be to remove it completly from your kitchen for 2 weeks only, during the pre-diet.

Sometimes the problem is the person you live with. You gotta tell them that you are on a diet and how serious it is. Then try to convince your mother to stop buying cookies, cream cheese, any kind of butter (because sometimes we eat because the food is THERE), and start filling your kitchen with all kinds of fruit, especially apples (no bananas or very sweet fruits).

Now, during this 2 weeks, you gotta be full-motivated, since it is the most important step. If you fail the cycle will continue.

Since you don't have any more "compacted" food in your house you will have to eat "normal" food. Try to eat cooked stuff and never eat more than 4 slices of bread during this period. Start eating proteins more, for example, tuna, it is full of protein, but first you gotta remove the fat from it with your own hands, squeeze the can's content with your hands really hard to make the oil come out while cold water falls into your hands, open your hand again and squeeze, repeat the times you think you need. Then you will have a dry not very tasty fish meat, but proteins shouldn't be taken from a diet or you will loose muscle. Add that tuna to a BIG salad, add in many types of veggies, some beet, a little of corn, lettuce (how much you feel like), an entire tomato and many other things, try to select them among your tastes, then use some soy sauce over it (not too much), don't use olive oil, even though it is healthy and all, you are on a pre-diet, you will be allowed to eat it after this with moderation. With this kind of meal your mouth will feel a variety of flavors that your mind need, and will make you feel really fine, but add always some protein. After the meal GET OUT of the kitchen and start doing something. Just being in the kitchen might make you feel hungry when you are not. (use this type of salad at night, when you don't need too much energy)

Another type of meal would be....cooked rice or pasta with cooked meat or fish with some cooked vegetables, do not eat more than a patato. To know the quantity your body need or rice or pasta, get a glass of water and fill half of it. Even though it looks small, after the cooking it will be much bigger. (This kind of meal it's recommended for lunch if you feel true hunger)

One whole bread and a cup of hot milk with or without coffe/cacao for breakfast and one or two oranges one hour and half before lunch (it will reduce your hunger during lunch).

The snack that comes after lunch can be the day's most important part. After a nice day following your diet, you feel like you DESERVE some good stuff. This is the kind of thinking a normal person with eating disorder would think unconsiously. You start looking yourself in the mirror and you can see your body getting thinner already, actually, no, 90% of those visions are made up in our mind, we don't look as thin as we think, but we feel that after so many efforts we MUST have something changing.
So then your body uses that excuse to eat, "I'm already thinner so I can eat" or "This is faster than I thought! A good snack won't hurt". Big part of this thoughts are unconscious. And unfortunatly are the body's most powerful weapon against starveness. But you aren't starved, your body is completly upsidedown if you have an eating disorder, you cannot tell the diference between hunger and gluttony.

If you have the fruit I told you to buy, here will come in handy, and since cookies and other high-fat food is out of sight, if you loose to your mind, you will binge on healthy or low-fat food, which is a BIG progress.

Careful, I said "If you loose",and not "go and binge now". You will only loose if you do not get yourself busy. Try to eat an entire Manga to fill your stomach, since it is sweet it will also satisfy your mind. So now get out of the kitchen and do what you are supposed to do, or just watch TV, you don't HAVE to eat more, EAT is not a hobby, we eat to live, to recharge ourselves.

There is another symptom when we are too addicted, our mind starts to lie and says we are very tired........but if we translate to real english, you can hear a "I feel like a BIG sweet snack". This is gluttony attacking. If you are used to binge your stomach is probably bigger than usual. You need more food to fill the "stomach" not your body's energy. You will have to beat up that way of thinking now, or it will never leave you.
It is all up to you now, you are in the middle of the second snack of the day, you ate 2 pieces of fruit or a nice salad sandwich, but you are unsatisfied. Your body will gather up all the excuses in the world to make you binge. Unfortunatly, I can't do anything but to tell you to leave the kitchen and fight for yourself. You have two weeks to beat up that false-hunger called gluttony. If you can't hold (with all your strengh) eat apples, they only contain 60 or 80 calories each. Knowing that each OREO has 45 calories, 2 cookies have more calories than a big nice and tasty apple. And apple has some ingredients that might stimulate your metabolism and give you a hand on the workout. Also it has some acid that prevents 20% of fat get into the body in the next meal (2 or 3 hours later). Do not eat more than 4 consecutive apples, it will enlarge your stomach. And don't go on thinking that apple diet will work, it will only make you addicted and enlarge your stomach and it will be harder to satisfy yourself with normal food. Use apples for binging, and do it alone, with no other type of ingredients, and no more than 4. After this sit down and don't feel guilty, you only ate 240 calories. Walking in the street for half an hour will burn them off easily since the calories that come from fruit aren't as stubborn as the cookies or cheese calories.

If you survived through without binging, you are in the right path. Wait 2 or 3 hours for dinner. If you aren't truly hungry don't go to the kitchen just because 2 or 3 hours have passed, wait for your brain to tell you that.

An hour before sleeping, drink a hot green tea without sugar. It helps to control your mind and gets rid of unnecessary fat slowly.

So, now, your pre-diet will be complete when you don't binge for an entire week. Not even on apples.

Now the true and final step comes, that is to remember your body what food is and what's it for.

Start buying the stuff you used to buy. Even OREO's (cookies).

BE CAREFUL, this is the MOST delicate part of the process, if you do not moderate you will loose all the work you have done so far, eat slowly and ask yourself if you are truly hungry after each bite in the beginning. If you pre-diet was a success it will be much easier to resist to overeating. You will notice that those kind of compact food will fill you up much faster than before.

Eat 4 oreo's in the morning with milk and a whole bread, keep the oreo's box away from your eyes for the rest of the day. That way your sweet needs will fill you right when you need and not when you feel like it. Breakfast shouldn't go beyond 350 calories and less than 300. I do not count calories anymore because I'm so used to know how much calories each ingredient has that I do it unconsciously. I'm used to eat 2 whole breads in the morning with a cup of milk, sometimes with cacao or coffe. OR I eat 3 Weetabix, if you don't know what it is ( http://home.uchicago.edu/~nmchang/Weetabix%201.jpg ), is a light cereal that looks like cookies but much bigger, and has 80 calories each and it can boost your energy very fast in the morning. You put milk in it like normal cereals. And that should be around 300 or 350 calories, I don't think too much about it now, I don't take food that seriously anymore.

Eat an apple an hour and half before lunch, you should still be satisfied from breakfast,
but eat a small apple to keep the sugar levels in a normal pace. Then Lunch should have veggies (eat first) and cooked rice/pasta and meat/fish (remove all visible fat). Here in Portugal, we have a really nice and low fat meal, that is done in this way: cook 2 patatoes with cabbage and one carrot and a bit of onion and sliced garlic for 15 to 20 minutes. Then when it's almost done, start cooking for 10 minutes a pre-defrosted fish (80 grams), here we use Cod as tradition, but it requires to let it stay in the water during 24 hours to unsalt it, but if you know how to do it try it out . Or simply use normal cooked fish. This is a portion for a normal healthy person, serve it with olive oil (not too much, each spoon has 50 calories). This should be more than enough for your needs. Remember to stop eating when you feel satisfied, don't go and feel sorry for the poor people from Africa or anything, you don't have to eat it until the end, learn to unfinish food, it's a good habit. Ok, more 350 or 400 calories with lunch. You have gathered 350+80+400 (breakfast+fruit+lunch) calories, or simply 830 calories. You must be thinking that this is too much for a diet, but you will get impressed with the results later.

Now, if you feel satisfied you could eat only 3 or 4 hours later. One or two hours after lunch might be a good time to go workout, or right after the snack.

Snack, this should be light but caloric, you can have a nice yogurt or a banana, or a slice of bread with cheese. Just try not to go beyond 100-120 calories. If you didn't go workout earlier go now, your stomach shouldn't be full, so you can exercise freely without stomach pains. And thanks to the energy adquired in the morning you will feel great and ready to run 2 or 3 miles. Try to switch between running, to bike, or any other styles so you won't get bored of the same thing everday. But if you feel tired after some days with this diet it's because you ARE tired and not mentally tired. So you should just rest and do something like studying or watch TV while your body recharges itself, or if you feel like it, go for a walk with friends or alone shopping. You shouldn't feel you are getting fat while you are sitting around during this period, if your body is tired it will use the calories to restore the systems normal state. Even soccer players that are used to doing alot of exercise, they need to rest, and that's part of nature.

A normal girl should eat 1200 calories per day to mantain weight without exercise.
Until now, you have gathered 950 calories, you have 250 left.
Your dinner should have aprox. 250 calories.

You might eventually have a nice pizza, or a hamburger, or any other trash food once a week. Make it happen only on exersise days.

If you eat 1200 calories, you will lose weight on the days you exersice and mantain if not. If you can loose or mantain you will loose it all eventually. Plus, your body and mind will stop the conflict and finally start to understand eachother, making you finally feel fine with what you eat without regret.

The worst diets are the ones where we can lose weight without exercise, our body turns ON the "starving-mode" for survival and makes mental changes turning it into a eating disorder in few years. Another worst thing is to think we will "make up for it", sometimes it would be best to eat normally after a binge like it never happened, because we will only get mentally worst.

OPEN YOUR EYES, it is not that hard, is it? you will soon start to forget the importance of food and find that there is a life waiting for us, why are we here? to diet? nah, just go ahead and LIVE.


Oh, by the way, you asked how the **** I got so wise about this, well.......when I was on my **** period I did nothing but to get informed, throught anything, food was my life, my life was food, and my mood depends on how much I ate on that day. I even went to a nutritionist that gave me some clues but the answer had to be found by myself.

Well, if there's anythinh I forgot to say, just go ahead and ask!
I would like to end the suffering of many people, because I have been there.

[cyndy]

Klaha,

Your knowledge is very impressive and I truly appreciate you taking all that time to type out that response. I am going to print it off and read it over again to absorb what you're saying and understand the principles involved.

Thanks again

[Klaha]

Hey,
If you ever feel like asking something about anything just put it here.
Ask about foods, I know everything about them and what they do.
If you feel like you are going to loose control, enter in contact with me through MSN *********************and I shall give you every advice you need.

You know, if 2 persons with eating disorder lived in the same house, they would cure eachother if they both knew about it. If we are by ourselves it turns out to be harder than it really is because we see other people eating without worries and get jealous. And both would warn eachother like "what are you about to eat?!" and stuff, so it would end faster. So stop by on MSN if you need, I'll try to be the other person you need to support. 99% of us wouldn't make it alone.

[Jennifer 3FC]

I hope you don't mind me squeaking in here. I wanted to make a mention about the apples. They are very healthy, and full of vitamins and fiber, but they don't have anything in them that boosts metabolism or prevents fat. They are great to eat, however, for other nutritional purposes!

[Suzanne 3FC]

Originally Posted by Klaha

A normal girl should eat 1200 calories per day to mantain weight without exercise.

Most nutritionists say that 1200 calories is the minimum you should consume for weight loss, and even that should probably be closer to 1500 for a lot of people. If you exercise more, you can eat a little more. Calories required for maintenance will vary depending on your age, weight, and activity levels. A 25 yr old woman that weighs 130 pounds and is lightly active, requires around 2,000 calories per day to maintain her weight. This can vary widely, though. Some maintain on a lot less, others can maintain on a lot more. There are so many things that can change your personal requirements.

Hope that helps

[PURPLEPANSY]

thanx for all the info..

[Mel]

I also wanted to add that walking for 1/2 an hour is very unlikely to burn 240 calories unless you are practically running uphill, and are very overweight. Using the numbers from fitday, walking and a brisk pace (3.5 mph) on a firm, flat surface for 1/2 hour burns 81 calories. Yesterday I walked on a treadmill for 30 minutes at 3.5 mph with the incline set to 3% and burned 151 calories.

Also, to maintain you blood sugar levels throughout the day, it might be a better idea to add a little lean protein with each of those meals and snacks. Eating just fruit or grains is going to make you hungry faster than if you had a bit of lowfat cottage cheese or egg (whites) with it. Don't be scared of keeping some healthy fats in your diet. Your body needs fats from fish and olive oil to keep you brain, hair and connective tissue healthy. You don't need saturated fats from red meat, trans fats from processed baked goods, or high fat cheeses or butter.

HTH

Mel

[Meg]

Originally Posted by Klaha

Eat 4 oreo's in the morning with milk and a whole bread

I've been around 3FC for many years and this is the first time that I've run into the 'Cookies And Milk' diet. Throw in a slice of bread and I can guarantee that most of us would be GAINING, not losing weight.

Klaha, you seem like a guy with good intentions, but I have to say that most of your diet advice is pretty off-base.

[Ruthxxx]

Imagine what it would do to your blood sugar levels! Aaaarrrgggghhhh!

[Klaha]

I do know apples are great for your health, but as I can remember I read something about apples acids that could have some effect on fat absorbsion mechanism.
Maybe not everything I said is fully true, after all, internet stuff is full of false information regarding to weight loss, and maybe we are yet to discover alot of more things that will help people to get over it, but....it worked for me.

About that cookies and milk thing, you think that taking the stuff we like from our diet will help us? Sure, it might look that way, I once believed that, but taking away the stuff we like will only make us fall in temptation again and again, we record the desired food in our mind after seeing it in the store and unconsciously we gather up the desire and fall into a binge. And since when 4 cookies, a bread and a cup of milk will rise your sugar levels? It's not like your body doesn't use sugar at all. Besides, that diet was directed to Cindy and her lifestyle. If your lifestyle doesn't contain at least 45 minutes of continued exercise a day you will never reach your desired weight and keep it off. And I know that for many people a binge would be to eat 4 cookies, but for others might be alot more.

Each person should have a diferent diet depending on their lifestyles, food preferences and local temperature.

At least, that's what I have been gathering all this years. And thanks to me my brother also made it, even though he wasn't as bad as I was.

I can also see that you guys have a very bad idea of what a diet may be. Besides, the word diet should be used, that would mean "sacrifice for a short period of time", making you gain everthing again because "I can eat now, I'm thin". Your mind will stay the same and will remodel you body to your current mind state, in a state that will make you think that food is a prize and something like a hobby.

I'm sorry, but for what I have read back there, you guys have a long way to go.

Give up on diets, they never work.

I think I said enough. It makes me feel bad to see people sinking like that...