Afraid to start eating again
 

Sounds stupid, especially since 2 weeks ago I weighed 285 lbs. Today 269. I knew how to eat for sure. I made a decision that I would try to eat as little as I could and see how long I could do it. I average 450 to 600 calories a day. I know now what it feels like to be hungry. It actually hurts. Today (it is 840pm) I have had 2 string cheese (80 calories each) lots and lots of diet coke and pepsi, 1 hard boiled egg and a 40 calorie V8 juice. If I cant stand it later on 1 have 2 cucumbers in the fridge I will allow myself (not both). Next Saturday am going blueberry picking and plan to eat only blueberries for a week. For the last couple of days I have been thinking of having a meal but am afraid I will eat like 2 weeks ago. I had some shocking news 2 weeks ago and think this may be my way of taking control.

Honey that is not a sustainable plan and it sounds like anorexia nervosa. Please seek help for these unhealthy behaviors. They will only harm you in the end.

Please do not continue eating this way. You are going to mess your body up dramatically - you could damage your heart and even die if you keep it up. If you feel you must eat this way to stay in control, SEEK COUNSELING because you are developing an eating disorder.

I want to keep doing it until I am under 200 at least. This is the first time I have ever been able to control myself for this long a period. I think willpower is a gift and dont want to squander it. When I am hungry I tell myself that after these pains go away I will eat the next time I have hunger pains..then I do it again.. I have been overweight for most of my life (47 years old) and this may be my one chance.

Can it be that bad if I keep it up for another month or two only ?

Yes, it can be that bad.

Seriously, get help.

Hey,
Read book 17 day diet and follow that plan. You will not feel hungry and will lose weight. do not drink diet soda. Drink pure water. If you cannot, then put some lemon drops and truvia. Drink 10 glasses. You will lose weight just by drinking that much water.
I do not know how old are you, but if you are below 40, you will lose weight
By doing small small changes.
Like drinking water, eating non fried fish/ chicken/eggs or some other form of protein with each meal. Also, include some veges with each meal.

Cke

Yes. It's that bad.

This is incredibly unhealthy and you need to seek out help NOW.

This is not the proper way to lose weight, and not only is it PHYSICALLY unhealthy, but it's MENTALLY unhealthy.

Please. Go talk to a doctor.

You saw how big I am right...269 this morning (hopefully less by now, I jump on the scale a few times a day but my weight increases as the day goes on even if I don't eat a thing so I only count the first weight of each day) .

2 weeks and I should be under 250

I concur with everyone else. This is a very dangerous way of eating, and you could do long-term damage in a very short amount of time. The worst part is that the further you go, the more disordered your thoughts will become. Take it from someone who knows - you do not want to do this.

I had a friend who wanted to be a doctor, but she engaged in this kind of behavior, and ruined her heart and her hands shake now. She can't be a surgeon.

Please seek help.

It is too early to class this as a problem for me. I am waiting for a significant thing to happen then plan to increase calories. Significant like feeling really faint ( have felt woozy, usually sit down, have a drink, piece of gum and it passes..have not had to eat at those points), no more bathroom needs for more than 3-4 days...that kind of stuff...Ate 1 cup steamed cauliflower last night with a hint of low calorie dressing with salt (love my salt) and 6 pickled onions. Lucky find in the fridge, only 10 calories for 6 onions...Am VERY proud of not having 7 onions...no more upsizing for me...ha..ha

This sounds disturbing. I understand the desire to want to lose weight, and how good it can feel if you can control yourself. But maybe try to control yourself by making sure you eat atleast 1200 calories. This does not sound like you are in control, but more like you are out of control.

Really - read these boards about HEALTHY weightloss and come to the conclusion you are doing yourself harm. You need enough nutrition. It's "easy" just not eating. It's harder eating the RIGHT things on the right time. Maybe take that challange. If you can't... then a visit to the dr might be in order.

Goodluck.

It almost doesn't sound like you want people's input. I doubt if there's a poster on here who would agree that what you are doing is a good idea.

As far as it being "too early" for you to have a problem. I have to disagree. It sounds like you already do. Please seek medical attention. Even if you lose weight this way, you can damage your body and mind and make long-tern sustainable weight loss even more difficult for yourself.

Troll?

I don't know if this a cry for help or what..it sounds like you are making a mockery out of the weight loss struggles we all have..

All of us struggle with controlling our eating habits and want to lose weight.. We have sought out healthy eating plans with the intention of making our bodies healthy through HEALTHY eating..

What you are asking your body to do in such a short amount of time is a death wish..

GET REAL.. go to your doctor and explain what is going on.. To me it sounds more like you may be suffering from depression and/or Compulsive obsessive disorder.. think about your family and how much they need you to be healthy..
what you are doing now is not healthy.. conquer you fear of eating..but really it sounds like you fear losing control in general and you need mental/ emotional support via a mental health professional..

The thing is...i ate 500 calories a day for 2 monthts on the hcg diet i lost over 50 lbgbs BUT ..... once you go off of the 500 calories ....your body really does try to make up for it... your metabolism slows wayyyy down on a starvation diet...... so when u begin to eat regular you will gain weight easily....gaining is only temporary once you begin eating healthy.

MeltingAway THANK YOU. I didn't think anyone was ever going to get it like you did. After you stopped (was it hard to stop ?) and started eating more how much more did you eat ? Did it increase slowely or quick (days or weeks). Did you see the pounds come back...did you stop weighing...How much can you eat and maintain...I would be willing to eat 1200-1500 a day after I lost the weight. Did your metabolism go back up (slow or at all) when you started eating again ? Were there any lasting medical effects.

Again Thank you and I cant wait to hear the answers.

Troll ? Not even close, just a woman who may have lost her way and though that this may be a safe place to figure things out.

I ate very low calorie for 17 years with only a break during pregnancy (in which I ate very moderately and gained 70lbs!) - Eating Disorder Not Otherwise Specified (ED-NOS). My metabolism is SHOT, and I was and still am in the overweight category. When I started the re-feeding process with my nutritionist a year ago, I gained 15lbs by eating 1200 calories a day.

Don't start this. You can have willpower by following a healthy eating plan and you won't go through the ups and downs like I did. I wish I listened to everyone else and ate healthily the whole way through. You will gain nothing, not even permanent weight loss through this, and destroy your body and spirit in the end.

Have you considered doing something like Medifast or Wonderslim? Those are very low-calorie diets that are nutritionally balanced and result in very rapid weight loss if you can stick with them, with plans for transitioning back to real life and real eating. We have boards for both of them here. Also, Medifast and similar plans are sometimes covered by insurance.

What you're doing right now doesn't sound like a "plan" as much as a test of willpower. You're setting yourself up for a massive binge. Not only that, but you can actually starve to death, mess with the delicate potassium/sodium balance in your body's electrical circuitry, and your body is feasting on any muscle you may have because it's starving. You said you were 47, grow up and do this the right way, the maintainable way, and the healthy way.

15 lbs up on 1200 calories...not what I was hoping for...I am afraid that I will not have the willpower to lose any weight once I start eating more than I am right now. I am afraid it will be like the many other times I have tried and failed. This feels like it could be long term.

I like the idea of medifast so that the calories I take in a the best ones I can get. That way if I short on the daily recommendation sometimes will still be getting good nutrients.

Grow up ? That stung more than a little. If one day you were able to control your calories so much so you could see the scale change everyday ? Would you not think about taking advantage of something that felt so easy to do this time ? Would you not think this time I am going to do it, I am finally going to stop being fat, I am just going to do this for a while...The temptation is very strong.

I do agree that this is a test of willpower and it seems like there is no way to really win.

(was it hard to stop ?) No it wasnt hard because my mind wanted all that food i wasnt supposed to add but my mistake was that i would eat to much and get sick and throw up. ... so i would suggest adding lean white meats first. like fish (tilapia) or chicken breast. for a week or so. another thing i ate was lowfat low sugar yougurt that seemed to help me shed weight as well on my "cheat days" the other thing is i transitioned to the 1200-1400 calories per day weekly.. 3 days out the week i would eat 1200 to 1400 calories the rest i would stay aroung 500. within three weeks i was alternating between 1200 and 1500 calories per day.
Now i did not lose weightwhile i was awitching bet tween 500 cals and 1200 cals i was stableized but once i transitioned completely 1200-1500 calories i began loosing a pound a day.
i still weighed every day and i only gained when i ate out of control. i have had no medical problems.

Some of you guys are really judgemental i thought this was a support site GEEZ...@pickes another thing pay attention to your bodies tru craving if your cravin a specific veggie or fruit or nut eat it... normally when you crave food like this your body is defficent in a specific nutrient that veggie fruit or nut provides. lastly dont be discouraged by a weight gain just keep to the 1200-1500 the weight WILL begin to drop off again...

And another thing... the diet cokes are no good.belive it or not the cause you to retain water BAD.its going to reflect on the scale as extra pounds. try to transition to water or tea if you can. Stevia is an excellent sweetner to sweeten your tea. or lemonade or coffe. YUM!

That happened to me because of YEARS of doing what you're starting now. If you switched to a 1200-1600 calorie diet, you'd probably still lose weight at this point.

It took me about one year to start losing again because of the "willpower" and damage I did.

Funnily enough, when I started, I was lower than my goal weight.

ETA: I still have willpower "issues" and it basically just means I stay on plan without deviation. The way I do this healthily, is plan my entire day's meals before eating (I sometimes do a week at a time).
I eat according to my healthy plan, and don't eat off of it. That's willpower too.

This is an extreme diet that is probably not sustainable for the long term. However, people go overboard with this starvation mode theory and as long as you have fat to burn, your body will use it. You will most likely lose a lot of weight. However, as the poster above who lived on a very low cal diet for 17 yrs indicated, you won't keep it off long term if it's too low cal. She re-gained on 1200 because after 17 yrs of living extremely low, her metabolism was probably shot. But that's also an extremely long time to live on such low calories and most people won't be able to do that either. You need to learn how to eat in a way that's sustainable. I have yo-yo dieted my whole life and have been down that road, only to re-gain.

A friend of mine lost 55 lbs on a 500 cal/day diet. She kept it off for a few months, and then gained it all back because in all her weight loss, she didn't learn how to eat sensibly.

We are all aware that we have the option to starve ourselves, but we think about the long term. Most of us here are working towards healthy eating that we can sustain for a lifetime, rather than crash dieting now with promises to learn to eat right later.

If you need to learn/gain advice, there is lots of it here...promise. Please let me start you out with:

A personal note: I have struggled with eating disorders since being a teen - doing things "right" (as so many told me) is not easy, won't lie... but it is more effective and leaves you feeling way more accomplished...I promise you. There is a huge sense of accomplishment that CAN come - and with you seeming so determined, I am betting you have the drive needed to also gain those accomplishments! You CAN do this right... it's IN YOU!

Another personal lesson: My daughter has struggled with anorexia. She is 5'1 and got down to 71Lbs WITH us trying to help. You don't even realize it's a problem, all you feel is exhilerated from "feeling" like you successfully beat your body... but hon... you aren't winning this way. She left herself open for some bad things, and it seriously makes me cry. She now has an immune-deficiency disease that has escalated in scary levels that was aggrevated by this, they fear later in time that her liver may be at risk. She is now on a LONG trail of trying to learn how to be healthy... but please, stop yourself before it becomes too late for those lasting effects.

Please know that I totally, personally, understand that "high" of feeling like you found the answer. We are usually the personalities that will tend to everyone's needs before our own, which means we look for a quick control method and feel so happy when we do. Personal experience, this isn't it. I am also still in learning process and would be happy to share information if you like to help. First off, per my nutrionalist, no adult should ever consume less than 1200 calories/day. This is where the strength and drive come into play though, they need to be healthy foods and proper servings. If you feel like the food will be too hard to stop eating, eat your planned amount and remove yourself from the house, go for a walk, etc... it will redirect your thoughts. Sorry for the long post, but just had to let you know... you aren't alone in your frustration... but even early on, it can do damage and YOU CAN succeed the right way ;)

Aclai..I guess the difference for me was I was never able to lose it before, even when I said I would not eat I did not have the will power or whatever it is you need to succeed. This time I do have the will power and I am not sure if it will come back if I stop now. I tried to do it the healthy way 100 times and failed..This may be my chance.

MA...you know what it feels like for sure. I can here my body asking for stuff. The other night I had a small part of a spoonful of cream cheese as I thought that was what I wanted. When it was in my mouth I knew that wansnt (spit it out, not worth the calories) and had a small piece of feta and that hit the spot. Must have needed the salt. Nuts are soooooo high in calories (it is funny to talk like this...2 weeks ago this almost 280lb + person wouldnt care if there was 100 calories in 1 nut).

I think the hardest, if I can do it is the diet coke. I average 2-3 litres a day.

Strange how you started losing again after moving up in calories and not switching it up. I love yougurt so that will work for me :-)

Today's a great day, about 150 calories consumed so tonight I can have something tonight..had a moment earlie, took son to the movies and the popcorn smelled great. When I looked at his glistening hands from the popcorn I was ok.

I'm thinking another 2 weeks of this and then start adding.

What you are doing is dangerous. You are starving your body of essential nutrients. You're feeling good now because the pounds are dropping but you can't starve yourself forever. Your metabolism is also dropping and when you start eating more the pounds will come back with a vengeance.

Trust me on this. My idea of dieting used to be eating as little as possible. I did that on and off in my teens and twenties (I'm 50 now). I lost weight, true, but I also messed up my metabolism to the point where I would gain weight on 800 calories a day. It took years to repair the damage.

I agree with the posters who think you should get help now.

ItsMyTurn- That is EXACTLY like I feel...Amazing because I beat my body, I won this time. The closer I get to the end of the day without cheating the better I feel. Today I am at less that 150 calories and I feel like a million bucks. Will eat later tonight. Tomorrow will go up to the 500 .

We are much alike as I am one of the givers as well and want to fix things when I can. What happened a couple of weeks ago I can't fix but I can fix the food thing...I think that is what my brain is running with.

You are not fixing the food thing. You are breaking it, and yourself, even more.

Please, please, please SEEK HELP!
I think you need more than an internet forum can give you right now.
And I am NOT saying it to be mean, I'm saying it because YOU NEED HELP. Like, REAL help!

VLC diets need to be medically supervised. I have a friend at church who has had very good success on Medifast. She is monitored by a doctor to be sure she does'n't become malnourished.

My DH and I know a guy who will periodically completely stop eating for a month or so to lose weight- essentially becoming anorexic. It never seems like he can keep the weight off for more than a month or two. I just don't see how it's a good idea. Your muscle and tissues need nutrients to function correctly.

I can relate to what you're doing, and why. I am not saying it is the healthy way to lose weight, and the people here are probably right that it is not the healthy way to lose...and could be dangerous. However, I do 'get' why you feel the need to stay so low cal. Sometimes, for some of us, it's easier to just not eat or eat hardly anything, than to add more foods. I recently went four and a half months without having one bite of solid food. All I had was Atkins shakes and protein powder mixed in blender with water...and vitamins. That's it. I lost a bit over 50 pounds in those 4 and 1/2 months. For me, it got easier and easier as time went by. I started eating again, all the wrong foods...all the crap that made me gain weight in the first place, and have gained back almost all of my weight. I should have started eating low cal, low carb, and healthy choices...stupid me. Now I will begin again, but be more careful with my eating choices. Like I said, I'm not saying this is the way to go. It's just my tale to tell. And I must say, after about the first 3 weeks or so of no solid food, I felt great. No sugar, no flour, etc...my fingers weren't stiff anymore. I felt wonderful. No ill effects at all. Be careful. I am not a doc and can't recommend this, but it was good for me, except that I blew it when I started eating THE WRONG FOODS. Good luck!

...And no, it's not sustainable, We have to eventually start eating again...just have to be careful to eat healthy (NO SUGAR/FLOURS) and stay low cal, and for me low carb, too. Everyone is different. It's not good or healthy to be fat/obese, either. Listen to your body. Again, good luck, to all of us.

Hatgirl..we think the same way. i know this isn't the "best" way but it is the only way I can seem to do it and it seems to be ready to be done right now. I already feel it easier not to eat. I am going to look at some shakes tomorrow, mabey some vitamins/supplements.

I still am worried about when I am going to eat again and if I will loose control then...but that is not today ...

Pickes - Learn from my experience. Like I said, I did not eat for 4 1/2 months and lost over 50 lbs, but when I started eating again, I did lose control and gained most of it back...so whatever you do, always eat healthy foods. I think if I would have stayed totally away from sugar and flours, I'd have been fine. I've learned my lesson the hard way, as usual, but I have learned. NO SUGAR and NO FLOUR is what works for me. I can't speak for anyone else. Good luck!

This is indeed a support site for those who are aiming to lose weight in a healthy manner.

We can't support disordered eating.

The OP is looking for validation in eating ~500 calories a day without a doctor's supervision. Everyone is being INCREDIBLY supportive by saying "Get to a doctor NOW". We say it out of concern.

APPARENTLY im not referring to the ppl who are saying it respectfully out of concern but some of you ppl are being rude and attacking this womans character..be constructive theres a disclamer at the bottom of this page...these are just opinions.I SAID MYSELF 500 calories is no good....NOBODY asked you to support disordered eating. (ADDING WRDS TO MY POST) she asked how to go about transitioning to eating more....AND you should check with your DR before starting ANY diet plan....... not just vlcds...

cuttin out carbs alone will make you drop a ton of weight. @pickes you really shld be careful... i remember days i felt like i was gonna die...... thats not a good feeling. ALWAYS give into healthy foods that your body is craving.