41–50 of 69 posts
Woah don’t do that. That is a bit too much. Just pick foods that you won’t eat. Highly processed or highly fatty or whatever. Personally I stopped eating cheese and it’s been good for me.
- Nothing "extreme" works for me, as it's not sustainable for periods longer than a few months. I did keto... works for some time, then a total rebound. In the end it seems that a "balanced diet" works. For me (and my training regimen) this means 150g protein, 180g carbs and 50g fat per day.
- While you are cutting, you have to weigh everything you eat. There is no good way around this as you cannot control what you don't know and you can't know how much you eat unless you measure it.
- It's perfectly fine to eat completely uniform food every day for some months. For the first months, for me it was chicken breast, raw cabbage, peaches, cheese and the occasional high-protein pudding. This puts the dopamine under control, as you (or at least me) get trained to not expect anything "special", ever. After some months I was able to start varying a bit, while still staying 100% within my macros (no more and no less of each macronutrient). After some time I stopped weighing the veggies I eat and now I eat all of them (like broccoli, kale, turnips, tomatoes, cucumbers, salads etc.). I eat all kinds of meat and seafood. Mostly never eat any vegetable oil, as meat and cheese provides the needed quantities.
- Yeah, what I described above is almost exactly the same as your described "quitting food", just it's "healthy", as you consume enough fibre. Yeah, do supplement with some multivitamins.
- You have to cook, no way around it. But it's not as frightening as it sounds. Once you accept bland (and uniform) food... it's easy. Buy an Instant Pot and start prepping the meat there. 2 kilos of chicken breast under pressure for 10 minutes will last you a week.
- Always have your "correct" food handy, so that you don't need to eat something else, or think what to eat. (yeah, buy the instant pot).
- Throw away all the "junk" food you own and never buy any.
- If you are out and you are not able to eat your "right" food, just fast and eat at home whenever that is. Yeah, I get it it might not be possible for everyone, but it's possible for me.
- Don't do this initially (the first months), but later... everything is allowed if you do not exceed your macros. French fries? Alright, you can have that now and then. Pizza? Sure thing, I am having a slice or two almost every week. But never exceed macros.
- Artificial sweeteners are your friend when you are in a crisis. (Ab)use them as much as you want and you are still better than being fat (or having bad lab readings as you mentioned).
- If you are still hungry, always have cabbage/kale/etc. handy. You can eat as much as you want in raw form (and in several months you will start to like it, I promise).
- Fasting is mostly not a great idea as it doesn't help you learn how/what to eat and how to control your cravings. After lots of experimentation with it, I arrived at 3 meals a day with carbs early in the day. Breakfast in the morning, then lunch, then a light dinner around 4 and no food afterwards. Yeah, if you are a social person it will suck. But I guess you can find your own thing... but don't be afraid to experiment and don't have prejudices. I always thought that having breakfast is not my thing (or a good idea) despite the overwhelming evidence for the contrary. Yeah, there are actually studies that show that it's beneficiary to eat early in the day, opposed to late. But if your body is broken you will need time to arrive to this.
- Despite the previous point, initially do whatever works. At least for several months. Then what works will change. Do not be afraid to follow along.
Please, please, please: live naturally. Respect nature. You are made of nature. Treat yourself properly. If it is unnatural, do not do it. You take an award for having introduced to our collective mind the unthinkable concept, «abstain from food for a full year».
If you have strong will power, consider the game of "forcing yourself to the healthiest diet ever".
(Since you are there, consider proceeding to considering the game of "forcing yourself to the healthiest life ever". There may be a chance that it could help with the «obsessive» side and finding some better «escape valve».)
Why not just start with that instead of "abstain[ing] from food for a full year"? That's what a nutritionist is FOR!
If you got strong will power, but weak moderation it means you just need structure.
But if you have to do it yourself, why not count calories?
It's simple and works for many folks. Select nutritious foods that you like and that comports with your culture, weigh yourself everyday and count calories (using one of many apps that even break it down to your component nutrients). Limit calories to a level that lowers your weight 1-2 lbs a week. Adjust as needed... but keep doing it even after you've leveled off to your target weight, do it until it's a habit, and start again if your clothes get tight.
>my blood work is starting to approach the higher ends of what is considered ok. Your blood work is showing you are healthy. It doesn't sound like there's any need to change your diet.
I just want to second this - Ranges in your blood work are not hard limits on the acceptable range. They are the normal ranges. If you fall anywhere in them, high or low, you are fine. If you fall a bit outside the range you are probably still fine. Doctors get concerned when you are multiples of the ranges. So the higher end of normal is just... normal.
It's the modern day smoking, just because everyone is doing it, doesn't mean it's good.
Another way to go cold turkey is to ban all 'junk food & carbs' paraphernalia and just go whole foods / non-processed veggies and meat.
As others have suggested. Seek out a therapist to CBT or some such instead. Possibly you have non-food related issues you’d rather tackle on its own. Also, eating disorders has a tendency to get worse when tackled individually, so really do get help if there is a need.
As for fasting, I found 3-5 days is all it takes to recalibrate hunger and kick sugar cravings. Make sure your not malnourished before fasting. Either way, _do not_ fast (or cut out selected nutrients) for long periods without consulting a doctor.
As for diets, probably no need to go for any crazy fad diets. Just go with the current science: make sure you have enough fiber, polyphenols and other prebiotics (eat your fruits and vegetables as it were) cut down on fat, salt, sugar and meat.
It takes 14-days to rebalance your micro biome, so just stick with healthy foods for two weeks and you'll probably find that will be what you crave after that.
Let me suggest you likely have some kind of vitamin deficiency making you obsessive. Address that and your relationship to food may stop being so problematic.
Not a vitamin but NAC helps me with obsessive behaviors and changing habits. Hilarious that the FDA threw a fit over it.
> I've tried fasting and I was able to do 18h fasts daily with no problem and even go over a week without eating, just on water and herbal tea. But that completely messed up my habits, metabolism and relationship with food, and I'm now struggling to follow a schedule and any kind of diet. This is called restricting, and it's classic eating disorder behavior. > I'd love to know if anyone has been able to completely re…