Eating Disorder Support Thread: "Take Action" (part 3)

[MosToorani]

But you also have dealt with restriction at the same time, which it sounds like (from the last bold lines) means it doesn't meet the description... unless I'm reading it wrong.

Yes .. I've forcefully stopped myself from overeating since I started lifting again.. I guess being able to hit the gym again brought some sense of relief? I don't know..

I'm still facing the hunger issues though.. and I eat voluminous foods in order to stop myself from overeating .. I just tell myself "no problem, you'll eat these cravings tomorrow"

Cheers

MT

[Tinytobig]

How did/do you guys deal with exercise during weight restoration? Did you do any at all, or did you cut it all out for a period?

[AdamWW]

How did/do you guys deal with exercise during weight restoration? Did you do any at all, or did you cut it all out for a period?

Depends on the person, their ED, how much damage was done, etc...

In almost all cases of restrictive disorders where significant weight was lost/needs to be gained, cardio is a no-no. In fact all means of exercise outside of simple, brief walking and what needs to be done to accomplish other normal habits is usually advised against.

Personally the only cardio I get now is when I golf on the weekends but even then I am now no longer waking, I am taking a motor cart.

Weight training can be OK from what I hear, but again is almost always advised against and in cases where it is done must be limited in duration.

You need your body to prioritize the use of calories to repair your organs, nerves, tissues, etc and NOT to for the use of muscle building. Staying alive is more important. Could you, in theory, be OK doing exercise? Probably, but you're also further risking your health and prolonging the physical recovery because your body is working extra hard as it is to spare calories.

There are many web pages and YouTube videos on the subject.

[MosToorani]

okay.. I had to post this because I seriously need to differentiate between extreme hunger and physical hunger.

It's been 45 minutes since I had my lunch which was just under 1k cals.

Without going into details of what I had exactly, but lets just say it was around 1kg worth of food. Proteins, Carbs and Fats.

Yet, I feel hungrier than when I first started eating. Stomach-wise, i feel sort of full .. As in, my stomach is pressing against my shirt due to being filled-up? but, i feel like i can eat a lot more .. craving savory and sweets.

As I'm going to embark on a month-long of eating without tracking, I need to differentiate between these hunger cues. If I just respond to my cravings, I'll probably hit 5k cals each day without an issue, which to me, is worrying.

Cheers

MT

[AdamWW]

okay.. I had to post this because I seriously need to differentiate between extreme hunger and physical hunger.

It's been 45 minutes since I had my lunch which was just under 1k cals.

Without going into details of what I had exactly, but lets just say it was around 1kg worth of food. Proteins, Carbs and Fats.

Yet, I feel hungrier than when I first started eating. Stomach-wise, i feel sort of full .. As in, my stomach is pressing against my shirt due to being filled-up? but, i feel like i can eat a lot more .. craving savory and sweets.

As I'm going to embark on a month-long of eating without tracking, I need to differentiate between these hunger cues. If I just respond to my cravings, I'll probably hit 5k cals each day without an issue, which to me, is worrying.

Cheers

MT

Extreme hunger and physical hunger aren't mutually exclusive. Extreme hunger can have a physical or mental origin. You already know why you crave sweets and fats... you're still over stuffing will carrots and lettuce... etc...

[MosToorani]

Extreme hunger and physical hunger aren't mutually exclusive. Extreme hunger can have a physical or mental origin. You already know why you crave sweets and fats... you're still over stuffing will carrots and lettuce... etc...

Well.. If you insist..

I had 500g carrots .. 400g lettuce .. 250g chicken breast.. a handful of roasted almonds (30g), a fitcrunch snack size bar and a fiberone brownie .. all for lunch ..

Isn't that a balanced meal? If I cave in to my cravings then it would be .. alfredo pasta .. cheesecake .. etc.. all dense/calorific foods..

What do you suggest then? Think of it while being in my shoes please.. I'm up for suggestions!

Cheers.

MT

[gbullock32]

Well.. If you insist..

I had 500g carrots .. 400g lettuce .. 250g chicken breast.. a handful of roasted almonds (30g), a fitcrunch snack size bar and a fiberone brownie .. all for lunch ..

Isn't that a balanced meal? If I cave in to my cravings then it would be .. alfredo pasta .. cheesecake .. etc.. all dense/calorific foods..

What do you suggest then? Think of it while being in my shoes please.. I'm up for suggestions!

Cheers.

MT

Ditch the protein bars and have more real food.

[MosToorani]

Ditch the protein bars and have more real food.

It's to suppress the sweet-tooth craving..

[gbullock32]

It's to suppress the sweet-tooth craving..

So... eat a sweet... You seem to be going for high volume and low calorie food just to fit in a few hundred calories from protein bars; actual candy bars are comparable in calories to those.

[MosToorani]

So... eat a sweet... You seem to be going for high volume and low calorie food just to fit in a few hundred calories from protein bars; actual candy bars are comparable in calories to those.

So you think if the low cal, high volume food isn't doing the job to suppress my overall hunger .. then replacing a protein bar with a candy bar would do? Thanks.

MT

[gbullock32]

So you think if the low cal, high volume food isn't doing the job to suppress my overall hunger .. then replacing a protein bar with a candy bar would do? Thanks.

MT

More meant you are sticking to eating a lot of low calorie foods just to allow an 'indulgence' in the form of protein bars, rather than just composing a meal that would just fit your needs/craving.

You say you'd eat pasta, ect?

Pasta with chicken would be a good meal, and maybe a small candy on the side. Rather that than loading on veggies and likely bland chicken just to feel 'full'.

[AdamWW]

Well.. If you insist..

I had 500g carrots .. 400g lettuce .. 250g chicken breast.. a handful of roasted almonds (30g), a fitcrunch snack size bar and a fiberone brownie .. all for lunch ..

Isn't that a balanced meal? If I cave in to my cravings then it would be .. alfredo pasta .. cheesecake .. etc.. all dense/calorific foods..

What do you suggest then? Think of it while being in my shoes please.. I'm up for suggestions!

Cheers.

MT

When did I Insist you share that information?

Mos, you know what you're doing. This repeated song and dance is growing old. Either take people's advice or dont.

PS - hunger is meant to be satisfied, not 'suppressed'. Stop fukking with your body and mind with these tricks. It won't work, it's what got you here to begin with.

[MosToorani]

When did I Insist you share that information?

Mos, you know what you're doing. This repeated song and dance is growing old. Either take people's advice or dont.

Yes .. I do .. I'm just worried about the effects of overeating way more than my TDEE.. It's very difficult to accept it mentally. Extremely difficult.

I posted what I ate because I got frustrated with the fact that I keep on getting called out for the foods that I eat. I choose volume to stay satisfied.. to curb my hunger .. but it's not working ..

I honestly don't know how a bowl of pasta, being similar in cals, would curb my hunger than the meal that I just had..

MT

[AdamWW]

Yes .. I do .. I'm just worried about the effects of overeating way more than my TDEE.. It's very difficult to accept it mentally. Extremely difficult.

I posted what I ate because I got frustrated with the fact that I keep on getting called out for the foods that I eat. I choose volume to stay satisfied.. to curb my hunger .. but it's not working ..

I honestly don't know how a bowl of pasta, being similar in cals, would curb my hunger than the meal that I just had..

MT

Yes, you do know why the pasta is more satisfying. You're playing dumb again. We've been through this.

Calories aren't all that matter here. You're choosing to eat things you don't want, over and over and over, to 'suppress' your hunger, instead of satisfying (not suppressing) your hunger by consuming things you do enjoy.

Gee, I wonder why you crave things?

And spare me the immature "oh so your saying just go eat 100000 cookies then?" Nonsense. Be an adult, feel free to consume some healthy stuff, but also feel free to actually enjoy your food so you don't feel so inclined to "suppress".

This is shyt you already know dude. Strike some kind of balance.

90% lettuce and 10% stuff you enjoy isn't anywhere close to balance...

[MosToorani]

@Adam

It's difficult to accept it mentally .. It's fueled by fear of not being satisfied and you know the rest of the story..

I'll see how it goes during my test month.. I need the support of you and the members here since I do not have anyone else for support than knows this topic as well as you guys do.

Thanks for the help.

Cheers

MT

[clk99]

@Adam: In regard to the diagnostic criteria for BED you posted, this is what the ED Institute has to say...(hopefully this is helpful for some of you)




- Yes, you will eat food that is larger than most people would eat in that time because you have a starved body that needs loads more energy than most people.

You will absolutely feel a lack of control because your eating disorder (which gives you the illusion of being in control) is not driving this: your body is, and therefore your ED will feel out of control.

- Yes, you will probably eat rapidly because your body wants to get energy is as fast as it can because it is desperate for it.

- Yes, you will feel uncomfortably full because a) your stomach is shrunken and b) this is an amount of food that your stomach is not used to at all.

- You may not feel physically hungry because extreme hunger can be experienced in many different ways. Extreme hunger can be the feeling of hunger and tummy rumblings etc, but for the most part, from talking to people and experiencing it myself, it comes in the form of feeling empty and/or intense urges to eat/mental hunger.

- Feeling embarrassed, disgusted, depressed, and guilt, along with marked distress, whilst and/or after eating a large amount of food, is quite obviously going to be experienced by someone with a restrictive eating disorder.

- Again, it can be experienced every day, or on and off on some days and some not, or once a week, or not for a week and then constantly for weeks, etc etc.

- Now if we take a look at the last in that category, I want to draw your attention to “does not occur exclusively during the course Anorexia Nervosa, Bulimia Nervosa, or Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder“. You are in recovery from one of these eating disorders (or OSFED/EDNOS). This means that you still have that eating disorder, because even though you are moving forwards from it, it is still active for you, until it is inactive and you are in remission. Meaning that you do not have BED. You have anorexia, bulimia, OSFED, or ARFID, and your body is trying to recover from the physical effects that this has had on you.





https://everythingedrecovery.com/201...ars-explained/

[Grappa]

@Adam: In regard to the diagnostic criteria for BED you posted, this is what the ED Institute has to say...(hopefully this is helpful for some of you)




- Yes, you will eat food that is larger than most people would eat in that time because you have a starved body that needs loads more energy than most people.

You will absolutely feel a lack of control because your eating disorder (which gives you the illusion of being in control) is not driving this: your body is, and therefore your ED will feel out of control.

- Yes, you will probably eat rapidly because your body wants to get energy is as fast as it can because it is desperate for it.

- Yes, you will feel uncomfortably full because a) your stomach is shrunken and b) this is an amount of food that your stomach is not used to at all.

- You may not feel physically hungry because extreme hunger can be experienced in many different ways. Extreme hunger can be the feeling of hunger and tummy rumblings etc, but for the most part, from talking to people and experiencing it myself, it comes in the form of feeling empty and/or intense urges to eat/mental hunger.

- Feeling embarrassed, disgusted, depressed, and guilt, along with marked distress, whilst and/or after eating a large amount of food, is quite obviously going to be experienced by someone with a restrictive eating disorder.

- Again, it can be experienced every day, or on and off on some days and some not, or once a week, or not for a week and then constantly for weeks, etc etc.

- Now if we take a look at the last in that category, I want to draw your attention to “does not occur exclusively during the course Anorexia Nervosa, Bulimia Nervosa, or Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder“. You are in recovery from one of these eating disorders (or OSFED/EDNOS). This means that you still have that eating disorder, because even though you are moving forwards from it, it is still active for you, until it is inactive and you are in remission. Meaning that you do not have BED. You have anorexia, bulimia, OSFED, or ARFID, and your body is trying to recover from the physical effects that this has had on you.





https://everythingedrecovery.com/201...ars-explained/

Beautiful post my friend beautiful!!! Hope u are doing well btw!

[Grappa]

Well.. If you insist..

I had 500g carrots .. 400g lettuce .. 250g chicken breast.. a handful of roasted almonds (30g), a fitcrunch snack size bar and a fiberone brownie .. all for lunch ..

Isn't that a balanced meal? If I cave in to my cravings then it would be .. alfredo pasta .. cheesecake .. etc.. all dense/calorific foods..

What do you suggest then? Think of it while being in my shoes please.. I'm up for suggestions!

Cheers.

MT

Balanced meal? Dude we are feeding our deers with carrots + lettuce.

[AdamWW]

@clk

I read those as well a while ago... and I think it goes to show that across the board every source agrees you cannot treat your situation as similar or even remotely comparable to someone who does not have a restrictive past or present relationship with their food.

Mental or physical, people need to heal, but from everything I have read the treatment is very similar if not the same when extreme hunger occurs.

I would also add that, based on some other research I saw (wish I still had the links for it), the more 'head first' or aggressively you attack the problem by not holding back on your calories and food choices the better your chances are at full and long lasting recovery. People who slowly ween themselves back into the process usually gain more unwanted weight and are more likely to relapse or become stuck in 'pseudo-recovery'.

[MosToorani]

Balanced meal? Dude we are feeding our deers with carrots + lettuce.

Thanks lol

[Grappa]

Thanks lol

it is actually true, no joke. So Mos, u want to break out from your eating habits right? Do you feel even a slight improvement? Cuz for me it seems that you are facing the same problems over and over and over again, we give you the same advices over and over again. Instead of you i can not eat, instead of you i can not respond to your hunger, instead of you i can not make changes. I am not going to lie to you that " good job pal, keep on the good work " cuz u are stucked in your own mindset, and u can not break out from it. If u feel powerless to get over with this things, it is not a shame to admit that you have a problem and u reach out for help to professionals. Cuz it is hard for me to see that u are suffering so much. I know that deep inside you want to change, but u are unable to do it by yourself. For your own good, reach out for help cuz u are unable to do things alone. And a last thing: You can load veggies, fluffs, filling crap i do not care, strange for me but i really do not care what others eat. It all comes down that at the end of the day u can honestly tell yourself that i do not have a problem. Keep this in mind.

[AdamWW]

it is actually true, no joke. So Mos, u want to break out from your eating habits right? Do you feel even a slight improvement? Cuz for me it seems that you are facing the same problems over and over and over again, we give you the same advices over and over again. Instead of you i can not eat, instead of you i can not respond to your hunger, instead of you i can not make changes. I am not going to lie to you that " good job pal, keep on the good work " cuz u are stucked in your own mindset, and u can not break out from it. If u feel powerless to get over with this things, it is not a shame to admit that you have a problem and u reach out for help to professionals. Cuz it is hard for me to see that u are suffering so much. I know that deep inside you want to change, but u are unable to do it by yourself. For your own good, reach out for help cuz u are unable to do things alone. And a last thing: You can load veggies, fluffs, filling crap i do not care, strange for me but i really do not care what others eat. It all comes down that at the end of the day u can honestly tell yourself that i do not have a problem. Keep this in mind.

My thoughts exactly. I don't care if you think you're gaining fat too fast Mos, the issue is how it's effecting your mind, focus, mood, and life. Don't compare yourself to others as an excuse to only eat the bare minimum. A mental disorder is a mental disorder no matter how you look.

[clk99]

How did/do you guys deal with exercise during weight restoration? Did you do any at all, or did you cut it all out for a period?

Per everything Adam said. In addition, if you've used exercise as a means of control over your weight and caloric intake, it needs to be cut out entirely to repair your mental relationship with exercise and food.

If the example helps, I used to compulsively over-exercise while under-eating and it took a solid month of being sedentary to shake off the addiction and compulsive-ness. I experienced legit withdrawal symptoms during this time...emotionally one of the worst periods of time in my life...but it was well worth it in the end.

If this doesn't apply to you then just ignore all that and ease off the activity with body repair in focus.

[clk99]

Regarding the talk about tracking during "binges"...

I've personally found that the more casual and less rigid I am about what I eat during extreme hunger, the easier it is to become satisfied. I'm definitely guilty of tracking and backtracking my intakes and in my experience handling the hunger is a lot easier when I don't track. When the priority shifts from consuming as many low-calorie foods as possible ----> supplying your body with energy as efficiently and comfortably as possible, life is SO much more enjoyable. Instead of agonizing over how many ounces of yogurt or how many berries I ate, I'll dig into a pot of mac-n-cheese with little thought to it...and ultimately, I'll feel satisfied in the end.

Taking Adam's comments earlier...how hunger is not meant to be suppressed, and that giving in to hunger right away is proven to be more productive than putting it off. Starting a "binge" (in the case of extreme hunger) with "clean", low-cal foods is stupid because you're only going to be left unsatisfied and craving those foods that will truly satisfy the raging hunger...sweets, fried foods, whatever it is for you. Going for those foods right away is something I'm currently working on that is showing good results in what can be super frustrating at times.

Beautiful post my friend beautiful!!! Hope u are doing well btw!

Thanks bud, same to you! Happy and grateful to be alive and well. I'm doing great honestly...enjoying the truly important things in life without much interference of the eating disorder. I'm far from recovered for sure, but I've become so much more casual and have shaken off a lot of the habits and fears...feels good.

[Grappa]

Regarding the talk about tracking during "binges"...

I've personally found that the more casual and less rigid I am about what I eat during extreme hunger, the easier it is to become satisfied. I'm definitely guilty of tracking and backtracking my intakes and in my experience handling the hunger is a lot easier when I don't track. When the priority shifts from consuming as many low-calorie foods as possible ----> supplying your body with energy as efficiently and comfortably as possible, life is SO much more enjoyable. Instead of agonizing over how many ounces of yogurt or how many berries I ate, I'll dig into a pot of mac-n-cheese with little thought to it...and ultimately, I'll feel satisfied in the end.

Taking Adam's comments earlier...how hunger is not meant to be suppressed, and that giving in to hunger right away is proven to be more productive than putting it off. Starting a "binge" (in the case of extreme hunger) with "clean", low-cal foods is stupid because you're only going to be left unsatisfied and craving those foods that will truly satisfy the raging hunger...sweets, fried foods, whatever it is for you. Going for those foods right away is something I'm currently working on that is showing good results in what can be super frustrating at times.






Thanks bud, same to you! Happy and grateful to be alive and well. I'm doing great honestly...enjoying the truly important things in life without much interference of the eating disorder. I'm far from recovered for sure, but I've become so much more casual and have shaken off a lot of the habits and fears...feels good.

I am proud of you! Recovery takes time, it does not happen in a span of weeks/months, but u are in an awesome road!! I am glad u are breaking out from your old habits, one of the best feelings in the world!

[AdamWW]

Thanks bud, same to you! Happy and grateful to be alive and well. I'm doing great honestly...enjoying the truly important things in life without much interference of the eating disorder. I'm far from recovered for sure, but I've become so much more casual and have shaken off a lot of the habits and fears...feels good.

Sounds like you and I are both in a similar spot... I am far from recovered, but the mental growth alone I have experienced so far has been transformative and I feel quite confident I will be steadfast in my recovery.

[clk99]

@Grappa Thanks so much! Being free of past habits and addictions is one of the most amazing feelings ever, hopefully it can stay that way.

@Adam Good for you! I always tend to focus more on the mental side of things because without the right state of mind, it's impossible to properly make steps toward physical recovery on your own. I don't think I'm even gaining weight right now, but the steps I've made in reversing my bad perspectives on food and exercise are big accomplishments to me. My personality, lifestyle, and general behaviors have been extremely affected so returning those to normalcy is very important to me.

[Vanzero]

Sorry for the rant guys but I feel like I need to get this out of my chest.

Went to the doctor to get a checkup and turns out I have high blood pressure. It measured at 140/80 in the Dr.'s office and it doesn't seem to get lower than 130/70...oh and my heart rate has 43..."you must be quite fit" were his words...

Now I know that almost everyone from my dad's family has hypertension but honestly it sucks, because now I'm literally freaking out (hypochondriac crew...) and the ED inside of my head tells me it is my fault, I should be restricting and punishing myself...

Sorry for being such a downer especially when most of you are doing great, but I needed to share this with someone...

[AdamWW]

Sorry for the rant guys but I feel like I need to get this out of my chest.

Went to the doctor to get a checkup and turns out I have high blood pressure. It measured at 140/80 in the Dr.'s office and it doesn't seem to get lower than 130/70...oh and my heart rate has 43..."you must be quite fit" were his words...

Now I know that almost everyone from my dad's family has hypertension but honestly it sucks, because now I'm literally freaking out (hypochondriac crew...) and the ED inside of my head tells me it is my fault, I should be restricting and punishing myself...

Sorry for being such a downer especially when most of you are doing great, but I needed to share this with someone...

Blood pressure readings in a doctors office are not always very useful. Google 'white coat hypertension'

You need a series of measurements over time and during a state of actual test.

My heart rate is also low, it has sometimes reached below 40.

Listen to your doctor.

[Strawng]

Blood pressure readings in a doctors office are not always very useful. Google 'white coat hypertension'

You need a series of measurements over time and during a state of actual test.

My heart rate is also low, it has sometimes reached below 40.

Listen to your doctor.

This. Before I began treating my PTSD, my heart rate would be as high as 160+/90 in the hospital and about 80/50 or even lower at the same weight/etc at home (this was when I was at a very unhealthy weight). Blood pressure can be affected by a myriad of things...particularly stress. DO NOT view your hypertension as related to your diet, because it is almost certainly attributable to other factors in your case.