[toastedsmoke]

Over the last couple of months (or more), I've been struggling with finding a balance. I'm either working out too much and undereating or overeating. It started when I decided to get back into working out seriously (as opposed to 1ce a week). Before I knew it, I was working out really intensely 2-3 hours a day 6-7 days a week. Like it consumed all my free time. I upped my calories to 1500 but often didn't eat much more than 1200 and I kind of stalled with weight loss (I'm sure water-retention related). I decided to tone my workouts down a notch to 1-2hrs, 4-5 days a week, and try to stay more around the 1500 calorie mark and this helped get the scale moving.

The past week or so I've been struggling with overeating. I've hit 2200+ calories (allegedly my maintenance level for a moderately active lifestyle) a three times in the past 7 days and the other 4 days have not been so great. Then the days I've overeaten, I'm like killing myself late at night for hours (well 2ish hours of intense cardio) working out really hard to try to compensate. And yes, I know you can't out-exercise bad eating, but it at least helps me feel I'm doing something about a rough day food-wise.

I know I need to get back some balance and control food-wise and I am working on that even though I don't feel solid in that respect yet (a lot going on emotionally). But I'm wondering is it THAT unhealthy in the short-term to try to create some deficit with working out whilst I'm out of control with food? Or am I just setting myself up for burnout? Any advice? Suggestions?

[JayEll]

My suggestion is that you seem to be slipping into a form of bulimia. Overexercising to try to control weight is one type of bulimia. But I'm not a doctor or other health professional. This isn't just a matter of burnout, and yes, in my admittedly unprofessional opinion, it is unhealthy.

It might be good to do some research, maybe think about seeing a therapist or registered dietitian who has experience with this sort of situation.

Jay

[April Snow]

do you think that you are freaking out a little bit about being so close to losing 100 lbs? It's a positive milestone but many positive things in life are also very stressful.


between that and the other stressful things going on in your life, it certainly couldn't hurt to talk to a therapist as JayEll suggested, just to help you clarify your priorities and how you want to address them.

[toastedsmoke]

Thanks so much for your advice. I definitely needed a fresh perspective, it's so easy when you're on this journey to slip into behaviour that may start out seeming innocent/not too bad and slip into obsessiveness and unhealthy behavior.

Jay-Ell, I definitely hadn't thought about what I was doing as that disordered but you definitely are making me think it over and I will do some research. Where I live, there's not really a culture of seeking counseling for things like this even though it IS certainly a needed service. I do know a couple of dietitians but they mostly deal with malnourished children and pregnant women (I work in international development). However, this IS something I need to deal with anyway. Before it turns into a serious issue. This attempt is my first serious foray into the weightloss/journeying world and I definitely don't want it to end in something unhealthy. I definitely want to step away from the 3rd round at the treadmill now.

April Snow, I think the upcoming milestone is part of everything. I've recently been questioning things like where my life is going, what I should be doing, especially since all my friends seem to be doing so well and I feel like I'm stagnating and the 100lbs is just another thing that has been so close for a while now and just one more thing I'm not achieving. It's an added stress but I don't know if that's the main source of the overeating. I feel like I've just been a little greedy, craving certain tastes, like I want bread and rice and chicken and chocolate and macadamias and meat pies and basically everything. I need to go back to my mantra and remind myself that the food will be there tomorrow and I don't have to have everything today. AND that way not feel like I have to compensate with exercising so hard. AND that way have time to figure stuff out and figure out what I should do with my other issues.

I know I shouldn't be as consumed with food and exercise as I've been. I've definitely gotten the wake up call now.