I'm not sure how I should start over

[varukers]

Unsure if this is in the right section but I'm mostly concerned about diet.

For the past 5-6 months I've been going through a bit of a breakdown that got progressively worse. I haven't worked out at all since December and since I haven't been working out- I have also been eating whatever, whenever I'm hungry. I mean I'm not eating ALL junk food but I'm not eating balanced meals - I'm definitely not getting enough protein and I'm mostly eating processed carbs. I've been so lenient that if I see something I want like a piece of carrot cake or a meatball sub, I'll eat it. At the same time LOL.

Now this eating problem has been going on since December so I haven't done too much damage... yet. I still fit into a size zero jean and XS shirts but my body composition is different, obvious loss of muscle and gain of fat, I have some cellulite on my legs, I can barely see my abs and have a little belly. I guess you could say I'm beginning to look like a "normal" girl. I have not weighed myself so I'm not sure if 115 lbs has changed.

I know what needs to be done as far as working out - I just don't know how soon I'll be able to get back to the gym. So I NEED to focus on diet and I'm not sure where to begin. I know the type of foods that I should be eating again and all that but my question is if I should weigh myself and eat at a maintenance or deficit or what. I'm thinking if I eat at a deficit to lose fat then I'll end up looking worse, and if I eat at a maintenance then I won't change. However I'm sure if I go back to eating clean foods it should do SOMETHING.

[vandalgirl59]

Awhile back the same thing happened to me. Faded out of the good habits, snuck back into bad ones. And BAM. Had the same issues...

I struggled to 'start over'. The real key for me was seeing it as just picking up where I left off, not starting over. Thinking of it that was was way too overwhelming for me. I just looked at is as a long break, and I eased back into the old habits with SMALL changes. Just jumping back into things 100% would never have worked. So I started slowly exchanging my bad foods with better choices. Started LIGHT in the gym with just a lil cardio here and there, then slowly worked in light weights, and kept adding until I was back to my usual self.

Its a PITA, but trust me. For your sanity, ease into it and don't beat yourself up too much! It only makes it that much harder to get back to where you were...

Good luck!

[varukers]

Awhile back the same thing happened to me. Faded out of the good habits, snuck back into bad ones. And BAM. Had the same issues...

I struggled to 'start over'. The real key for me was seeing it as just picking up where I left off, not starting over. Thinking of it that was was way too overwhelming for me. I just looked at is as a long break, and I eased back into the old habits with SMALL changes. Just jumping back into things 100% would never have worked. So I started slowly exchanging my bad foods with better choices. Started LIGHT in the gym with just a lil cardio here and there, then slowly worked in light weights, and kept adding until I was back to my usual self.

Its a PITA, but trust me. For your sanity, ease into it and don't beat yourself up too much! It only makes it that much harder to get back to where you were...

Good luck!

Thanks! And yeah, I guess a bit of gluttony took over cause I've never eaten this bad in my entire life, even before I got into working out and stuff. The other day I had chicken parm with penne from Papa Ginos, and it's funny because the friend I was with thought of that as "normal food".

I think I'm going to slowly change my eating habits.. starting with breakfast... working up through out the day.