I was doing well for 2,5 weeks, then I entered 5 days of binge eating, and since this wednesday, I'm back on track - now I'm trying to investigate what went wrong, and actually making a good plan and being a little more kind to myself. Any advice is always appreciated. :)
The what and why
I'm a 35 years old woman, 180 cm (5' 11"). A few months ago I noticed 80 kg (176 Pounds) on the scale, and ever since then I decided to start doing something about it. 80 kg is the border for 'unhealthy' on BMI scale for my height. I'm at about 78 (171.912 pounds) now.
So I read a little bit on this sub, created an account on a calorie-tracking app, and got started. I think where I went wrong is that I was calorie restricting too hard, and not going for long term weight loss. I regularly felt really hungry and like it was torture what I was doing, and really miserable. I don't know why exactly, because on the one hand I knew it wasn't logical and I was setting myself up for failure. Maybe I was impatient and also wanted to punish myself a little bit by restricting so hard.
My mental health has been going downhill this year, I think this is also one of the causes of me eating unhealthy and gaining weight. I have set up a meeting with my GP to start treatment for this, too. Sometimes eating seemed like the only thing to soothe my emotions. I noticed while I was binge eating, that I wasn't enjoying it so much. I felt nauseated, the chocolate or crisps didn't taste as well as I had imagined, and I knew I was going to make it hard for myself later. I was thinking often 'why am I doing this, I'm not even enjoying it'... Basically just another self-harming behaviour.
Caloric needs...
I find it quite difficult to know what my caloric needs actually are. The base BMR is 1,569 kcal +/- 20% (+-313.8 kcal). My exercise, usually:
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Climbing/bouldering for 2+ hours 2-3 times a week
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Skating for 1-2 days a week, inline skating and rythm skating
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I don't own a car and use my bicycle/walking and public transport to get around, so usually at least 30 minutes of walking / bicycling each day.
I really like exercise, and it's very important to me, and for my mental health.
So what multiplier do I need?
Little or no physical activity - Calorie-calculation = BMR x 1.25
- Light work activity and/or exercise/sports 1-3 days/week - Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.4
- Moderate work activity and/or exercise/sports 3-5 days/week - Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.6
- Hard work activity and/or exercise/sports 6-7 days a week - Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.8
- Very hard exercise/sports & physical job or 2x training - Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.9
I think I might be somewhere between moderate and hard based on the amount of exercise I get, so I took 1.7.
So, caloric needs 2510 kcal - 2824 kcal using the estimated BMR. If I also take into account the 20% uncertainty in BMR, the range would be: 2196 kcal - 3137 kcal.
That's a huge range! So what should I set my goal calorie counter to? In my previous attempt I set it to 1900, which may have been too low, as I felt too hungry often, to the point where I sometimes felt I had no energy while exercising. Maybe I should set it to 2200 kcal this time, and see if I lose fat over a month? If my 'real' BMR is on the low end, I might simply maintain weight. If my real BMR is higher, I will lose fat and notice this. But it also feels like so much effort to track all the calories all the time for over a month, and not be guaranteed result.... But, long-term fat loss is more important, and the chances that I achieve it are higher if I aim a little bit higher this time! Maybe I should set it even higher than 2200 kcal, then?
The reasons
My skating rink has a poster that says: 'if you have a hard day, remember why you started...' skating can get hard sometimes, you get stuck learning a trick, and it can become frustrating when you feel like you aren't making any progress. I wanna apply the same thought here. I will write all of these down and put this up in my house somewhere. If somebody else has more good reasons, let me know:
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Being healthy and staying healthy in the long term - I am objectively pretty healthy right now, and I'd like it to stay that way. I'm at an age (35) where being health conscious starts to become a must if I want to live a long, active and healthy life.
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Easier to move around, enjoy physical activity even more (especially for climbing where weight/strength ratio is important)
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Not using unhealthy food as a mood regulator / way to 'soothe' myself
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Looking better, able to fit into clothes of a few years ago again
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Cheaper - eating less means less money spent on food :)
The plan for a bad day
So I resorted to binge eating and quitting the restricting calories. How do I prevent this from happening again? Something happened in my life last week, and I felt really bad. I didn't really care about the weight loss anymore and felt like nothing really mattered, and I ate unrestricted for 5 days.
When I am in such a situation again I need to remember the following things:
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Remember that it does not solve anything, and does not even really make me feel better in that moment. Like drinking alcohol to escape your problems, it usually doesn't really make me feel better at all, just worse. Even at that moment itself.
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If it happened one evening, do not give up and get back on track the next day. I'm not a failure after one day of losing control. Be kind enough to myself to allow me to make mistakes.
Things I can do instead at that moment (some of them guilty pleasures but relatively harmless):
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Exercise (if at all possible, maybe not realistic)
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Calling a friend or family
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Gaming
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Knitting
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Shopping clothes / yarn for knitting
If somebody has more advice on how to deal with this, let me know please! :)
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from loseit - Lose the Fat https://www.reddit.com/r/loseit/comments/1fly8tq/accountability_thread_so_i_dont_push_it_too_far/
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