kajajo

I got sick of dieting constantly and watching every thing that went in my mouth, counting calories etc. I was only 6 lbs from my goal so I decided to try a week of eating like a normal person. Didn't pig out on junk and kept it real. Allowed myself a steak when it came off the BBQ. Didn't remove the skin from a chicken breast. Got to eat a baked and BBQ'd potato (small one) Ate fresh from my garden strawberries with whipped cream. Drank a coffee with cream instead of milk. Still kept away from all sugar and most fats and guess what happened? I gained 4 lbs in 1 week.

So here is my question.... Will I ever be able to eat like a normal person again? Or will I always have to eat like I am on a diet? If this is the case then I am thinking life just sucks. I really hoped that some day I could eat like a normal person.

Oh btw since I discovered this and started paying attention again I have lost 2 of those 4 lbs, but still it really makes me question why I am even bothering????

cjohnson728

Dee, I'm sorry the experiment didn't work for you.

First, take the reality check. Did you really eat 14,000 calories over what you burned? Because that's what it would take to gain 4 pounds. That's pretty tough to do in a week, even if you're trying. Maybe you weren't watching the salt as closely, and you're holding on to some water? There could be any of a number of reasons this happened, so don't push the panic button just yet.

I don't have an answer as to whether you can go to eating like a normal person...I'm not sure there is a normal, but I know what you mean. I think it is probably something that takes practice. Judging from what you listed, I don't think that food would set you off too badly.

I've been in maintenance for a while and it is, in its own way, harder than losing. I still count and log everything; I'm too apprehensive about stopping. I definitely eat more calories now, but my choices are smarter and more balanced out. One thing I am hoping to try next is to not log my food, but to write it down, then at the end of the week log it and see exactly how I did. Maybe if you did something similar for a couple days you could see what it looked like in black and white for you.

Hang in there, Dee. You WILL figure it out,and it won't suck .

Kathy13118

I have to agree that the assumption that you ate 14000 calories over your normal amount of food is probably incorrect. You might have eaten more, but not that much more.

And when you do diet and you suddenly drop 4 or 5 pounds in a week, no, you couldn't have eaten 14000 calories LESS than you normally would eat... that's a lot, lot less. So - face it, most diets have you losing water weight right off the bat. Unless it's a diet of salty stuff, that is water weight.

So, if you relax for a minute, and think about it, yeah, you ate more calories. And you put on more weight. There wasn't a direct relationship between the calories and the weight because you most likely held on to water, which you released as soon as you started watching calories and cutting down a bit. But is that so awful?

It's really so bad to be conscious of what you put in your mouth and how many calories that is? Is it so terrible to always know WHY you are getting fat? It's because of calories, the easiest thing to forget about because taste and flavorful food are so much easier to experience than appreciate the calories attached to that.

I just was without the internet for a few days and I just put the calories in fitday's food log that I was eating on vacation. Wow! I didn't stuff myself and I didn't lay on my back all that time - and when I put the food in fitday, it WAS about 300-500 calories more than I usually eat when monitoring my intake on a daily basis. So, 300-500 calories every day, that really adds up. Not thinking, it's a pound a week. By the time you notice that your clothes are getting tight, it's a couple pounds. If a couple pounds were so easy to diet away, guess what - you're on a diet. I guess it's not realistic to think you can reach a point where you EVER forget about calories. They pack on pounds eventually if you let them get out of hand, not thinking about them.

Some people take weight off when they go on vacation. Those people eat different food than they normally eat, watch their pennies, probably, don't snack, and walk more. Moving more and basically eating fewer calories, they lose on vacation. Not me! I ate fried food. I split a dessert each night. But it WAS dessert. I drank alcohol. Oh, well.... start again. Vacation is great, once in a while.

RunbikeSki

Hi Dee,
Your post caused me to think a lot about what is "normal" and what is abnormal or "diet" eating. I think, for me, the light bulb went off over my head the day I realized that what I had considered "normal" eating in the past was indeed overeating. A "normal" lunch of burgers and fries or grilled sandwich with a pile of potato chips was just more food and calories than my fairly small frame needed. So ultimately, I had to retrain my brain as to how much and what kind of food was really "normal."

So sure, a juicy steak off the BBQ is still on my menu, but instead of the whole 12 oz t-bone, I eat about half of it at 6 oz. And I still love a baked potato, but it is an occassional treat and often DH and split one. I'll still splurge now and then on a ruben sandwich with all the trimmings, and I have never been one to diligently remove the skin off my chicken, but it is all about portion size.

I apologize if I sound preachy, but as long as you relegate you eating habits to either "diet" or "normal" you will probably continue to have the internal battles between being "good" and being "bad".

I don't think that you failed miserably, I just think that you gave yourself a great lesson in how to think about food in the future.

Lizards13

Oh Dee, I just read your post after having a week of not charting and allowing myself to eat rubbish and drink wine. My lowlights were pizza, fancy chocolates, crusty bread and pate, and of course glasses of wine. This was a continuation from last weekend when I was in England with my partner, so I have had 10 days of diet carnage. I will weight myself tomorrow morning but I feel about 4/5 lbs heavier. I really understand your frustration cos even though I have listed the above foods as disasters, I know many of my friends who regularly tuck into these and are not overweight and I ate the bread and pate as meals not in addition to. But I guess that I have to face the fact that what' is "normal" for others is too much for me. I still have a long way to go and like you I wonder what do I do when I get there, if I get there. At the moment I am losing by eating mostly fruit and salads during the week and then relaxing a little at weekends, but every trip and social outing makes me slide backwards and that's really annoying cos I still eat less than everyone else around me. now I have to shake off the lethargy of this past week or so and get my butt back in gear otherwise I won't have to worry about maintaing my goal weight cos I'll never reach it.

cjohnson728

Just had to jump in and say that I love the phrase "diet carnage"!

And that's what I had last night.

It's never about eating perfectly all the time. In my opinion, it's give and take. Splurge here, cut back there. Splurge in several places, cut back the next week. Balance is hard to get, but I believe it is what works.

How are you doing, Dee?

Rubystars

You're bothering because you want to live your full life without a painful terminal illness or other complications of being overweight. I have been struggling with this too. I don't know why but some people just have an ability to eat more than others and if you're one of those who have to eat less it can certainly seem unfair.

You can eat 'normal food' every once in a while like one meal a month and maybe that will help you feel better. You don't have to say goodbye to it forever just not eat it as your regular food choice.

almeeker

I'm in a similar boat to you. I feel like I'm never going to have an appetite that matches my 5'-1 3/4" frame. So my approach is to say to myself that when I get to my goal weight that I'm going to treat it like a job, M-F I have work it, weather I want to or not, on the weekends I'm going to cut myself some slack. And the reason I'm even going to bother is because I'm worth it.

taubele

Awww! I agree with the others, I'm not sure what "normal" is. I think everyone's "normal" changes with time. It sounds like you weren't making crazy-bad decisions but just trying to see how your new lifestyle was working without any of the oversight or features that Fitday provides -- seeing how you did for a week. And it sounds to me like regardless of what the scale said, you were making pretty decent choices about food - splurge a bit, but nothing overwhelming. Compare these habits to habits that you had before you even began using FitDay -- how do they compare? If you're better, then your "normal" has changed already!

How did you feel eating like that? Did it feel like too much, just right, not enough? Try to find the good things that you have gotten from changing your lifestyle slowly, maybe.

This is about finding what works for you. It might take time, but you're in the process of figuring it out. That's not failure - that's progress!

toolarge

In my opinion, you will never get to eat like a "normal" person again. I have come to accept that I will permanent be on a "diet". I must do this just to maintain my weight. I dont count calories but never eat fried, sugary, or high fat foods...not even occasionally. For me, I know I like to eat large quantities ;therefore I cannot afford to eat calorie dense foods. Like others said, you must find what works for you. The typical American is overweight, so it's no wonder that eating "normal" will make you fat.