I can't overcome the fear of eating too many calories
Now I've heard all the facts and read tons of info on dieting and healthy weight loss and everything that is associated with the battle of trying to lose weight. I have been a calorie counter for some time but slacked off for a while and now I've started a fitness challenge in our town and happen to be captain of our team and I'm having a REALLY hard time getting more then say 900 calories on a good day. I know I need to eat more to lose weight more efficiently and not fall off the wagon from too little calories hurting my metabolism, but I can't do it. I'm terrified that I'm gonna binge and not be able to stop. I'm really not crazy I swear. the last few days have been 970, 685,755,683,655 and so far today 570. I'm trying really hard today to make myself eat over 1000. I'm not eating unhealthy stuff at all, but I just can't do it. I'm still getting my daily exercise in, working full time, raising 2 kids, and general keep house functioning and hubby fed so why can't I realize that a few more calories aren't gonna kill me and I'll burn them off at the end of the day. Please help without yelling at me for not eating enough. I'm trying.
Are you currently talking to anyone about your binging problem? Having been through that myself, I would recommend Over eaters Anonymous and getting your own councilor.
The problem isn't that you don't know what you're doing, because you obviously do. But you really are going to need to take care of your relationship with food. Until you are able to get to a place where you and food can be allies (or at least not enemies), it's not very likely that you will be able to healthily establish permanent weight loss.
That being said, while you're working on your relationship with food, I would recommend these activities to help prevent you from binging:
1) eat foods that are good for you, but not with flavors that "you can't get enough of". Most people won't binge on salmon and brown rice (or something like that), so you're less likely to want to binge
2)keep yourself busy as often as possible.
3) eat without distractions (except talking to other people). Focus on your food- no music, tv, etc.
4)sit down at the table
5) practice good grooming- don't eat when your hair is all tangled and you're in your sweatpants. Make sure you take care of how you look, because binging is a behavior that's just not compatible with feeling clean and pretty.
If you don't have to worry as much about binging, hopefully you'll feel able to feed your body what it needs. At this point, in the way you're doing things, it's far better for your body to overeat slightly than to under eat like you've been doing.
If you're worried that eating more will lead to binging, perhaps go about adding calories in a controlled, healthy way.
You can create healthy snacks in advance (an apple and a handful of almonds, celery and peanut butter, plain yoghurt with honey) in increments of 200 or so calories. Eat 2-3 of those snacks a day.
If you eat 600 calories a day, you're starving yourself and it'll backfire in later binging. Eat more to lose more! Just do what you have to do to maintain control. Good luck!
I don't have a binging problem, I just don't want to get to the point where I feel like I'm starving and want to eat everything in the house. I'm eating healthy snacks and healthy food, but it's just not adding up like all the crappy food that I used to eat. I don't feel hungry so I don't think I am starving myself. I wouldn't say that I have an unhealthy relationship with food, just a relationship with unhealthy food. I'm breaking those habits and creating new ones. I know that the calories that I'm eating are too few, and I'm trying to fix it. I just don't want to eat unhealthy things or eat when I'm not hungry. I don't know maybe I'm sorry I said anything. I'm working on it like everything else in my life. Thanx though.
It looks like you are going lower and lower everyday! In your situation I would try to at least shoot for 1000. You don't have to add unhealthy foods to get more calories. Don't be scared of falling off the wagon. You are smart enough to know when enough is enough and if you happen to eat too many calories 1 day it will not hurt you and you can reassess yourself the next meal or the next day. Don't be so hard on yourself when it comes to food. Just take a deep breath and try planning your meals for tomorrow so that you can get over 1000 calories . Good luck.
Would it work to plan the whole day in advance? If you planned a certain number of calories for each meal and then followed thru...you are in control of it.
You HAVE to eat more. Your body needs fuel.
Last edited by chick_in_the_hat; 01-19-2009 at 06:41 PM.
all I can say is that if your are working out every day and only eating that little every day you are burning close to all the calories you take in and what does you body have left to run on???? You will get sick from not giving your body what it needs! I eat peanut butter to get some of the extra calories I need and its a nice treat try some little things like that but please dont starve your body of what it needs.
OK, as someone said, plan out your day. Add up the calories ahead of time, and see what more you can put in.
The best way to increase your calories while eating healthy is by having larger portions. That way you are still eating healthy, just more. They are still measured portions--don't worry! For example, instead of 3 ounces of chicken breast, have 4 ounces. Or have 2/3 cup of cooked brown rice instead of 1/2 cup.
Don't forget that good quality fats are allowed in small, measured amounts as well. How about using lowfat instead of fat-free food products? For example, 2% cottage cheese, lowfat string cheese, part-skim ricotta?
And increase your fruits and vegetables! Apples, oranges, fresh berries... cantaloupe!
At your current weight, you can probably eat more than 1200 calories and lose weight. If you had eaten fast foods in the past, you were likely eating two or three times that many in a day.
If I was you I would seek some medical attention. Too few of calories will lead to an unhealthy You AS WELL.You could totally pass out or something eating like that or even die. Your at a very dangerously LOW CALORIE LEVEL.Please eat more or seek help immediately. OR BOTH.I am worried about you.
If calories are freaking you out, what if you tried an exchange plan instead. They're still a way to count calories, but the focus is not on calories, so it's a bit easier on yourself regarding calorie counts - it also ensures some balance.
For example a 1200 calorie food plan (there are several, in fact the hillbillyhousewife website lists three different levels of carb content, the middle one is the one I'm referencing) might be 4(oz) bread, 5(oz) protein, 4 vegetable, 3 fruit, 2 milk, and 2(tsp) fat.
The tops.org website even has daily journals you can print out for free (under the tools tab) that has boxes to check off to make counting easier.
Taking the focus off of calories may help. I think for myself if I don't get in my milk calories, I don't think "oh good, that means I'm saving calories," I tend to think that I'm missing out on calcium. Same with fruits and veggies, I think of what I'm missing, not on what I'm saving. I also don't tend to pick veggies based on how low a calorie they are, because I see them as basically equivalent.
My one friend STARTED her diet last year at 1200 cals. She lost 50 lbs fairly quickly, but now she can't seem to lose a lb.
I told her this would happen.
if you are eating 1500 cals a day, your weight stalls, and you can go down to 1400 to compensate. but if you are eating SO few cals, once you stall, you have NOWHERE to go and just get stuck.
I'm sure you probably know this, I'm just reminding you.
I agree about planning a day in advance.
If you think about it, eating so little will be more likely to lead to binging than eating a healthy amount. You will end up so hungry that you will just start pigging out because you are so deprived. Moderation is mastery. It will keep you satisifed. As far as "i'm just not hungry eating more than 600 calories a day" i"ve GOT to say, if that were true then you wouldn't b eoverweight in the first place. I don't say that to be mean, just trying to give some perspective.
grilled chicken, sweet potatoes, various veggies, avacado, nuts, cottage cheese, lean means in general, beans (black beans have a good amount of cals and are very filling and very good for you with lots of fiber so a little goes a long way) I"m sure you can make it work and you will be more likely to keep it off in the long run. You can do this the right way. light margarines or olive oil even, can add quite a bit of healthy fats/cals.
I can't overcome the fear of eating too many calories
. Good luck.
