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I lost somewhere around 150 lb (I don't know the exact number because I was too humiliated to get on the scale the last year of binging, and I stayed off of it for the first 5 or 6 months of dieting too) and have kept the weight off for (oh my gosh I just realized) TEN years now! I usually gain a size over the winter, but I have always managed to take it off between Valentine's day (gotta eat that candy SO buys for me!) and the first warm day of summer.
THINKING PROCESSES were the main thing I had to change to take it off and keep it off.
The first step was to realize how I was sabotaging myself, then figure out how to stop.
For example, the first thing I personally had to change was my black and white thinking. In the past I would decide (X) was poison (fat, sugar, whatever the latest diet book said). I'd decide to permanently eliminate that food, then I'd buckle down, do perfectly on a diet for months and months on end, lose 40 lb or 60 lb and then I would slip up and eat something I had said I'd never eat again. I would feel weak and worthless, and to comfort myself I'd have a binge that often lasted a year or more. I'd end up gaining back all I lost plus some.
It took some time to realize that eating is not a black and white situation. I don't have to be either on a diet or be a bad worthless person. There is some middle ground and it's okay to splurge on yummy food once in a while without feeling bad. I started planning treat days about once every 5 or 6 weeks, when I'd make sure to eat whatever I was hungry for with NO GUILTY FEELINGS and NO PUNISHMENT (ie - I didn't make myself eat only vegetables or cabbage soup for a couple days afterwards - I could just go back to my normal food regimen the next day). Just knowing that there are no permanently forbidden foods, and that I can have my favorites again in just a few weeks helps to keep me looking forward.
Another way I sabotaged myself was with the scale. If I weighed more than I thought I would, it would upset me and, since I used food to comfort myself, I'd eat lots and lots of bad food. (I don't have bad food now, I now think of it as treat food.) I justified this by thinking that it would only be a couple more pounds that I had to lose -- and what's the difference between 50 pounds to get to my goal, or 54? Not much really, right? If I stepped on the scale and weighed less than I thought, I would let that justify an extra treat day. I put myself between a rock and a hard place, it didn't matter what the scale said, I could figure out a way to let myself eat treat food.
My solution was to quit weighing. I would weigh the morning of treat day, and that's it. I would not weigh the day after, because if I knew exactly how much I gained (or didn't gain) I would use it as an excuse to eat "just one more day." Or if I didn't gain as much as usual, I'd decide I was already ahead, so I didn't have to try quite so hard the next month. I now weigh maybe once a month and usually less often, and it's SO much easier for me to keep eating right knowing I could be very very upset when I next step on the scale if I don't. Somehow, the unknown is a bigger motivator to me than knowing exactly where I am. I'm sure many people are different.
But you get the idea. Pay close attention to what your triggers are and how your mind works. Everyone is different. When you find yourself eating something you hadn't planned on eating, figure out what you just did previous to the incident, what thoughts or justifications went through your mind when you picked up that food, and then decide what you need to do to stop/remove the trigger. Then just move on, don't beat yourself up. It was a valuable learning experience that will help to ensure your long term success.
This was so important to my success after yoyo-ing weight since 3rd grade, that I'll say it again: THINKING PROCESSES were the main thing I had to change to take it off and keep it off.
I did start exercising, mostly by walking at a moderate pace for 6 - 10 hours a week. I'm not sure how much that helps in terms of walking the calories/weight off, but I do know that it makes me feel better emotionally, and it puts me in a better mood. When I'm feeling better, I'm less likely to want to use food for comfort. My advice is to find at least one exercise you enjoy, and do it at a level that you will look forward to doing, and then do it on a regular basis. You don't have to kill yourself to see a benefit.
I found that there are certain foods that trigger cravings in me. I think everyone is different, our bodies process food differently, and that your food triggers will probably be different from mine. I found that I could eat certain brands of crackers and cereals and not others. Triscuits are fine, Wheat Thins are a huge trigger. Certain fruits triggered, and others were fine. I really had to pay attention, and when I was hungrier after eating something than I was before I had taken a bite, I'd write down what I had just eaten. If it happened again the next time or two that I ate that food, I'd put it on the (mental) list to only be eaten on treat day.
I have found a few tricks that keep me from feeling hungry. First, I eat about 1/2 pound of raw vegetables for breakfast. Carrot sticks, celery, pea pods, cauliflower, whatever you like raw is fine and for me a mixture of a couple different veggies each day works better than eating just a single kind. Cooked veggies don't fill me up as well, and they don't keep the hunger away for as long. I can see a big increase in my appetite on the days I don't eat my raw veggies. I do eat cooked veggies with dinner.
I also eat a lot of shiritaki (aka yam) noodles. I just ate a big bowl of soup for 110 calories. The soup has 100 calories in 1/2 a can, and I added about 1/2 lb of yam noodles for another 10 calories. It is a HUGE bowl -- probably around 3 cups -- that fills me up for hours. (You can buy yam noodles at just about any Asian food store in the refrigerator section. Caution: Many people think they smell fishy. I used to work with chemicals, and they smell like chemicals in polymer to me - it's the preservative in the liquid that they're packed in. Rinse them well and boil them for a minute and drain, and the smell is gone. Another caution: These are NOT Italian wheat pasta. They are slick, kinda chewy, flavorless Asian style noodles. Knowing this before you take a bite and get grossed out by the unexpected may help to adjust to them a little easier.)
Of course most non-starchy veggies are low calorie, but I was surprised to find that those little miniature corn on the cobs only have 70 calories in the whole can. If anyone else has found a surprisingly low calorie food, please post!
Again, what fills you up and keeps you satisfied may be different. Try browsing the grocery store, or check online for nutrition labels and find several things you like that are very low calorie, and incorporate them into your daily diet.
Good luck with your New Year's Resolutions no matter what they may be. You can do it if you just keep with it no matter what happens, and don't give up.
THINKING PROCESSES were the main thing I had to change to take it off and keep it off.
Without change in one's thinking, there will be no change in one's behaviors. That's where it all starts. Or ends.
Now, next thing to do with your THINKING is to secure your success. You said - binges - and you take it from guy who lost ten years to drinking and is 11 years sober - THEY WILL HAUNT YOU DOWN. So stay strong - in your THINKING first of all.
I lost somewhere around 150 lb (I don't know the exact number because I was too humiliated to get on the scale the last year of binging, and I stayed off of it for the first 5 or 6 months of dieting too) and have kept the weight off for (oh my gosh I just realized) TEN years now! I usually gain a size over the winter, but I have always managed to take it off between Valentine's day (gotta eat that candy SO buys for me!) and the first warm day of summer.
THINKING PROCESSES were the main thing I had to change to take it off and keep it off.
The first step was to realize how I was sabotaging myself, then figure out how to stop.
For example, the first thing I personally had to change was my black and white thinking. In the past I would decide (X) was poison (fat, sugar, whatever the latest diet book said). I'd decide to permanently eliminate that food, then I'd buckle down, do perfectly on a diet for months and months on end, lose 40 lb or 60 lb and then I would slip up and eat something I had said I'd never eat again. I would feel weak and worthless, and to comfort myself I'd have a binge that often lasted a year or more. I'd end up gaining back all I lost plus some.
It took some time to realize that eating is not a black and white situation. I don't have to be either on a diet or be a bad worthless person. There is some middle ground and it's okay to splurge on yummy food once in a while without feeling bad. I started planning treat days about once every 5 or 6 weeks, when I'd make sure to eat whatever I was hungry for with NO GUILTY FEELINGS and NO PUNISHMENT (ie - I didn't make myself eat only vegetables or cabbage soup for a couple days afterwards - I could just go back to my normal food regimen the next day). Just knowing that there are no permanently forbidden foods, and that I can have my favorites again in just a few weeks helps to keep me looking forward.
Another way I sabotaged myself was with the scale. If I weighed more than I thought I would, it would upset me and, since I used food to comfort myself, I'd eat lots and lots of bad food. (I don't have bad food now, I now think of it as treat food.) I justified this by thinking that it would only be a couple more pounds that I had to lose -- and what's the difference between 50 pounds to get to my goal, or 54? Not much really, right? If I stepped on the scale and weighed less than I thought, I would let that justify an extra treat day. I put myself between a rock and a hard place, it didn't matter what the scale said, I could figure out a way to let myself eat treat food.
My solution was to quit weighing. I would weigh the morning of treat day, and that's it. I would not weigh the day after, because if I knew exactly how much I gained (or didn't gain) I would use it as an excuse to eat "just one more day." Or if I didn't gain as much as usual, I'd decide I was already ahead, so I didn't have to try quite so hard the next month. I now weigh maybe once a month and usually less often, and it's SO much easier for me to keep eating right knowing I could be very very upset when I next step on the scale if I don't. Somehow, the unknown is a bigger motivator to me than knowing exactly where I am. I'm sure many people are different.
But you get the idea. Pay close attention to what your triggers are and how your mind works. Everyone is different. When you find yourself eating something you hadn't planned on eating, figure out what you just did previous to the incident, what thoughts or justifications went through your mind when you picked up that food, and then decide what you need to do to stop/remove the trigger. Then just move on, don't beat yourself up. It was a valuable learning experience that will help to ensure your long term success.
This was so important to my success after yoyo-ing weight since 3rd grade, that I'll say it again: THINKING PROCESSES were the main thing I had to change to take it off and keep it off.
I did start exercising, mostly by walking at a moderate pace for 6 - 10 hours a week. I'm not sure how much that helps in terms of walking the calories/weight off, but I do know that it makes me feel better emotionally, and it puts me in a better mood. When I'm feeling better, I'm less likely to want to use food for comfort. My advice is to find at least one exercise you enjoy, and do it at a level that you will look forward to doing, and then do it on a regular basis. You don't have to kill yourself to see a benefit.
I found that there are certain foods that trigger cravings in me. I think everyone is different, our bodies process food differently, and that your food triggers will probably be different from mine. I found that I could eat certain brands of crackers and cereals and not others. Triscuits are fine, Wheat Thins are a huge trigger. Certain fruits triggered, and others were fine. I really had to pay attention, and when I was hungrier after eating something than I was before I had taken a bite, I'd write down what I had just eaten. If it happened again the next time or two that I ate that food, I'd put it on the (mental) list to only be eaten on treat day.
I have found a few tricks that keep me from feeling hungry. First, I eat about 1/2 pound of raw vegetables for breakfast. Carrot sticks, celery, pea pods, cauliflower, whatever you like raw is fine and for me a mixture of a couple different veggies each day works better than eating just a single kind. Cooked veggies don't fill me up as well, and they don't keep the hunger away for as long. I can see a big increase in my appetite on the days I don't eat my raw veggies. I do eat cooked veggies with dinner.
I also eat a lot of shiritaki (aka yam) noodles. I just ate a big bowl of soup for 110 calories. The soup has 100 calories in 1/2 a can, and I added about 1/2 lb of yam noodles for another 10 calories. It is a HUGE bowl -- probably around 3 cups -- that fills me up for hours. (You can buy yam noodles at just about any Asian food store in the refrigerator section. Caution: Many people think they smell fishy. I used to work with chemicals, and they smell like chemicals in polymer to me - it's the preservative in the liquid that they're packed in. Rinse them well and boil them for a minute and drain, and the smell is gone. Another caution: These are NOT Italian wheat pasta. They are slick, kinda chewy, flavorless Asian style noodles. Knowing this before you take a bite and get grossed out by the unexpected may help to adjust to them a little easier.)
Of course most non-starchy veggies are low calorie, but I was surprised to find that those little miniature corn on the cobs only have 70 calories in the whole can. If anyone else has found a surprisingly low calorie food, please post!
Again, what fills you up and keeps you satisfied may be different. Try browsing the grocery store, or check online for nutrition labels and find several things you like that are very low calorie, and incorporate them into your daily diet.
Good luck with your New Year's Resolutions no matter what they may be. You can do it if you just keep with it no matter what happens, and don't give up.
Nice job Brah...keep up the great work.
Sounds like a lot of your success was in changing the way you think about food and food issues......behaviour modification is very effective when it comes to improving many areas of your life.
Congratulations, Lily, and great post! Everyone needs to figure out what works for them - by the way, I don't like weighing either, I would rather measure myself and go by how my clothes fit.
THINKING PROCESSES were the main thing I had to change to take it off and keep it off.
Without change in one's thinking, there will be no change in one's behaviors. That's where it all starts. Or ends.
Now, next thing to do with your THINKING is to secure your success. You said - binges - and you take it from guy who lost ten years to drinking and is 11 years sober - THEY WILL HAUNT YOU DOWN. So stay strong - in your THINKING first of all.
Reminds me of a great saying "Life is a process of learning, unlearning, and relearning" which is what you did Lilly. Kudos to you!
Your post was very helpful and addressed so many important points, most of all the thinking processes and negative self-sabotage.
I am helping to coach a weight-loss team at my gym right now, and it seems the participants need much more direction in the areas of thought process and positive self-care than in anything involving diet and exercise. We are using a positive group "team" approach to transform the participants rather than a "quick fix." I will read your post again before we meet, you are very inspirational!
I've been using chia seeds twice a day, they make me feel full for hours and I've been able to lose weight just by adding these seeds.
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I'd end up gaining back all I lost plus some. 
If I stepped on the scale and weighed less than I thought, I would let that justify an extra treat day. I put myself between a rock and a hard place, it didn't matter what the scale said, I could figure out a way to let myself eat treat food. 
