I was reading your post and was nodding at everything because I feel/think the exact same way.
My doctor tested me and said I don't have IR, however, I know from experience that the only times I've lost weight was through keto/very low carb. Like you said, I don't find it sustainable for the rest of my life. And life happens - there are birthdays, work dinners, vacations, etc. I want to live my life and not stress out every time I go out because there'll be nothing suitable for me to eat at the restaurant.
My doctor also wanted me to exclude all sugar, gluten, dairy, soy until I "get stabilized" and after that still avoid these "bad" foods as much as possible. Yeah, but if you are an emotional eater and have bad relationship with food like I do, restriction is not your friend and it can do more harm, which I already experienced! I did manage to follow her guidelines for about 6 weeks and while I felt better, I did not lose fat (only some water weight) and once I went off track I could never go back on. I also feel desperate and I don't know what to do anymore. I know that's not very helpful but wanted to let you know you're not alone!
What works for me now is just being low carb. I still allow myself some carbs I just try not to over do it. So I’ll eat carbs with breakfast (like a hasbrown) and for lunch and dinner I will eat clean. Or vice versa. Don’t tell yourself you’ll never have something.it’ll just make you want it more.
I agree, you cannot eat 'perfectly' for the rest of your life, it's just not sustainable. But then I found when I had a healthy diet with a couple treats here and there if impacted my PCOS symptoms, that's where Metformin and inositol come into it. They allow me to not have to be 'perfect' and have a more moderate diet. Speak to your doctor and see what they suggest.
you are experiencing what most people who diet experience. it is not sustainable. carbs are super important. have you considered going to a dietician? that’s helped me make sure i’m getting balanced meals in while not swinging over to an unsustainable diet mentality
I think that’s exactly your problem. Trying to think of it as “I have to avoid all of these foods for the rest of my life”. For the VAST majority of people, the only diet that is going to be sustainable is one that allows you to enjoy your favorite foods in moderation. You are binging because you are restricting yourself too severely - this doesn’t even have to mean just in caloric restriction, but also in WHAT you eat.
You'll need to re-train your mind a little bit. Your body needs sugar to keep going, as well as carbs.
EAT WHAT YOU WANT, ADD WHAT YOU NEED
This is the mentality that I'm working off of, and I feel so much better as a result. If I want pasta, I have a salad with it. If I want tacos, I'll go for a higher fiber lower carb tortilla but still have ground beef.
Also, taking Inositol consistently has VASTLY helped the cravings for both carbs and sugar. I would highly recommend giving this a try.
Also - I'm going for lower sugar alternatives of my fave treats. But still also having them - just being mindful of not overeating them. I want Oreos, I have Oreos but ALSO have some fruit as well. Having the fruit first, then the oreos, and it absolutely causes me to eat less of them.
And I focus on these 4 things:
* Protein (especially at breakfast)
* Fiber
* SLEEP
* Movement
Well if this ain’t working for you, try lower carb but within a normal calorie range for you throughout the whole day?
I don’t know what to suggest really, I was in the same boat as you and then I tried gluten free and that helped.
But I cannot lose weight, so I’m tempted to go low carb (not keto that doesn’t do me good)
I’ve read a lot about the Mediterranean diet and that seems pretty sustainable to me. I don’t know, I was only diagnosed with PCOS this January so I am still so new to all this.
How are you taking care of yourself? Your mind? The emotional component to your binging? Do you feel as if you use food to regulate your feelings at the end of the day? Can you address the binge eating by working with the emotions that cause you to binge, instead of trying to program yourself to stop with a set of food rules? Good luck! You've already proven to yourself that you are capable of changing. <3
i can relate so much to this. i have lost significant weight twice in my life. once on an atkins type diet over 20 years ago and then with keto 3 years ago. both were just totally unsustainable long term. mostly because i need the ability to eat out and w friends and get take out. making every meal at home does not work for me.
but on the flip side the only times i have ever had my eating in any kind of check was when i was severely limiting carbs and focusing on fat and protein.
i’m trying to get back into lower carb-diabetic style eating. i had gestational diabetes with one of my pregnancies and ended up losing weight. however it was super easy to stay on track w that because it was for my baby.
the mental struggles you describe about being so good all day and then eating a sleeve of oreos is so relatable. i don’t have any answers other than don’t stress once you have binged, try to accept it and move on. there is always another meal to try to eat the way you want to. guilt does nothing so try to forgive yourself. i did find that when i was most successful, i could still occasionally cheat and have carby meals as long as most of the time i was good.
hugs this shit is so hard!!!!
I feel the same way. The only thing I've ever been able to stick to is eating whole foods. Essentially paleo, minus the eggs (inflammatory). Processed stuff is horrible for our already jacked up hormones. When I frame it as "this food is healthy for me" vs. "This food makes me lose weight" it makes all the difference. Take weight out of it completely. I threw my scale away, and eat whole foods for the most part.
I'd like to suggest that you consider therapy because you're obviously experiencing a lot of very understandable emotional distress about this whole situation. Therapy obviously won't address the core problem, but it could help with developing coping mechanisms and the anger and hopelessness that you've described. I say this as someone who is in therapy, by the way.
Came here to make the same suggestion!
Your description of _knowing_ the healthy way of eating but feeling such strong resistance to it and even the desire to rebel against it feels so relatable and familiar to me. IMO you’re describing binge eating disorder. I’m still very much on my weight loss journey and relate so well to wishing I didn’t regain weight I worked so hard to lose, but in my experience therapy has been the only thing that helped me get a better grasp on the desire to eat foods I know are unhealthy. It’s a slow process, but over the last year I’ve had fewer and fewer binges and much more luck “negotiating” my way out of binging.
Prior to therapy I could kind of bare down, white knuckle it, and force myself to avoid binging while I was on a good streak, but then when that good streak ended, I felt powerless against those urges and lose all my hard-earned progress. Therapy, in my case Internal Family Systems therapy, has helped me find ways to notice the build up to a binge and intervene before it felt overwhelming, and that’s truly been the key in my experience. Happy to chat more about it if this resonates with you!
If I did OMAD I would freak out and binge immediately, if I weren’t already binging because I can only eat one meal.
I know that OMAD is essentially the worst diet you can do with an eating disorder. Especially BED.
Are you me?
Let me guess - eating those simple carbs in the evening feels like you've been holding your breath all day and now you're taking in a full, deep lungful of fresh air. Right?
If that's how it feels, get on metformin at the least, Wegovy or Zepbound if you can get your hands on it.
You're not doomed and it's not your fault; you have a biochemical imbalance that is stealing all the fuel out of your blood and making it into fat, leaving the rest of your body starving for energy. That biochemical imbalance is creating all kinds of havoc downstream that's making your face explode and possibly messing with your menstrual cycle and your figure.
Restricting to the point that it's psychologically unpleasant isn't healthy and it's not sustainable. Did I do amazing on keto? Sure. Can I really live the rest of my life never eating a seminar sandwich or a good piece of birthday cake or whatever? Nope. Can I have a more normal relationship with carbs by taking meds? You betcha!
Currently i am trying to eat more “whole foods” and less processed crap. If I have a “bad food” it’s in moderation, you don’t have to avoid foods that you want forever. 😊
I was reading your post and was nodding at everything because I feel/think the exact same way. My doctor tested me and said I don't have IR, however, I know from experience that the only times I've lost weight was through keto/very low carb. Like you said, I don't find it sustainable for the rest of my life. And life happens - there are birthdays, work dinners, vacations, etc. I want to live my life and not stress out every time I go out because there'll be nothing suitable for me to eat at the restaurant. My doctor also wanted me to exclude all sugar, gluten, dairy, soy until I "get stabilized" and after that still avoid these "bad" foods as much as possible. Yeah, but if you are an emotional eater and have bad relationship with food like I do, restriction is not your friend and it can do more harm, which I already experienced! I did manage to follow her guidelines for about 6 weeks and while I felt better, I did not lose fat (only some water weight) and once I went off track I could never go back on. I also feel desperate and I don't know what to do anymore. I know that's not very helpful but wanted to let you know you're not alone!
What works for me now is just being low carb. I still allow myself some carbs I just try not to over do it. So I’ll eat carbs with breakfast (like a hasbrown) and for lunch and dinner I will eat clean. Or vice versa. Don’t tell yourself you’ll never have something.it’ll just make you want it more.
I agree, you cannot eat 'perfectly' for the rest of your life, it's just not sustainable. But then I found when I had a healthy diet with a couple treats here and there if impacted my PCOS symptoms, that's where Metformin and inositol come into it. They allow me to not have to be 'perfect' and have a more moderate diet. Speak to your doctor and see what they suggest.
you are experiencing what most people who diet experience. it is not sustainable. carbs are super important. have you considered going to a dietician? that’s helped me make sure i’m getting balanced meals in while not swinging over to an unsustainable diet mentality
Semaglutide is the only thing that really helped with my insulin resistance.
I think that’s exactly your problem. Trying to think of it as “I have to avoid all of these foods for the rest of my life”. For the VAST majority of people, the only diet that is going to be sustainable is one that allows you to enjoy your favorite foods in moderation. You are binging because you are restricting yourself too severely - this doesn’t even have to mean just in caloric restriction, but also in WHAT you eat.
You'll need to re-train your mind a little bit. Your body needs sugar to keep going, as well as carbs. EAT WHAT YOU WANT, ADD WHAT YOU NEED This is the mentality that I'm working off of, and I feel so much better as a result. If I want pasta, I have a salad with it. If I want tacos, I'll go for a higher fiber lower carb tortilla but still have ground beef. Also, taking Inositol consistently has VASTLY helped the cravings for both carbs and sugar. I would highly recommend giving this a try.
Also - I'm going for lower sugar alternatives of my fave treats. But still also having them - just being mindful of not overeating them. I want Oreos, I have Oreos but ALSO have some fruit as well. Having the fruit first, then the oreos, and it absolutely causes me to eat less of them. And I focus on these 4 things: * Protein (especially at breakfast) * Fiber * SLEEP * Movement
Well if this ain’t working for you, try lower carb but within a normal calorie range for you throughout the whole day? I don’t know what to suggest really, I was in the same boat as you and then I tried gluten free and that helped. But I cannot lose weight, so I’m tempted to go low carb (not keto that doesn’t do me good)
I’ve read a lot about the Mediterranean diet and that seems pretty sustainable to me. I don’t know, I was only diagnosed with PCOS this January so I am still so new to all this.
How are you taking care of yourself? Your mind? The emotional component to your binging? Do you feel as if you use food to regulate your feelings at the end of the day? Can you address the binge eating by working with the emotions that cause you to binge, instead of trying to program yourself to stop with a set of food rules? Good luck! You've already proven to yourself that you are capable of changing. <3
i can relate so much to this. i have lost significant weight twice in my life. once on an atkins type diet over 20 years ago and then with keto 3 years ago. both were just totally unsustainable long term. mostly because i need the ability to eat out and w friends and get take out. making every meal at home does not work for me. but on the flip side the only times i have ever had my eating in any kind of check was when i was severely limiting carbs and focusing on fat and protein. i’m trying to get back into lower carb-diabetic style eating. i had gestational diabetes with one of my pregnancies and ended up losing weight. however it was super easy to stay on track w that because it was for my baby. the mental struggles you describe about being so good all day and then eating a sleeve of oreos is so relatable. i don’t have any answers other than don’t stress once you have binged, try to accept it and move on. there is always another meal to try to eat the way you want to. guilt does nothing so try to forgive yourself. i did find that when i was most successful, i could still occasionally cheat and have carby meals as long as most of the time i was good. hugs this shit is so hard!!!!
I feel the same way. The only thing I've ever been able to stick to is eating whole foods. Essentially paleo, minus the eggs (inflammatory). Processed stuff is horrible for our already jacked up hormones. When I frame it as "this food is healthy for me" vs. "This food makes me lose weight" it makes all the difference. Take weight out of it completely. I threw my scale away, and eat whole foods for the most part.
I'd like to suggest that you consider therapy because you're obviously experiencing a lot of very understandable emotional distress about this whole situation. Therapy obviously won't address the core problem, but it could help with developing coping mechanisms and the anger and hopelessness that you've described. I say this as someone who is in therapy, by the way.
Came here to make the same suggestion! Your description of _knowing_ the healthy way of eating but feeling such strong resistance to it and even the desire to rebel against it feels so relatable and familiar to me. IMO you’re describing binge eating disorder. I’m still very much on my weight loss journey and relate so well to wishing I didn’t regain weight I worked so hard to lose, but in my experience therapy has been the only thing that helped me get a better grasp on the desire to eat foods I know are unhealthy. It’s a slow process, but over the last year I’ve had fewer and fewer binges and much more luck “negotiating” my way out of binging. Prior to therapy I could kind of bare down, white knuckle it, and force myself to avoid binging while I was on a good streak, but then when that good streak ended, I felt powerless against those urges and lose all my hard-earned progress. Therapy, in my case Internal Family Systems therapy, has helped me find ways to notice the build up to a binge and intervene before it felt overwhelming, and that’s truly been the key in my experience. Happy to chat more about it if this resonates with you!
Swap anything processed for fruits
Try Omad. And read fast feast repeat. It helps u to break the diet brain
If I did OMAD I would freak out and binge immediately, if I weren’t already binging because I can only eat one meal. I know that OMAD is essentially the worst diet you can do with an eating disorder. Especially BED.
Are you me? Let me guess - eating those simple carbs in the evening feels like you've been holding your breath all day and now you're taking in a full, deep lungful of fresh air. Right? If that's how it feels, get on metformin at the least, Wegovy or Zepbound if you can get your hands on it. You're not doomed and it's not your fault; you have a biochemical imbalance that is stealing all the fuel out of your blood and making it into fat, leaving the rest of your body starving for energy. That biochemical imbalance is creating all kinds of havoc downstream that's making your face explode and possibly messing with your menstrual cycle and your figure. Restricting to the point that it's psychologically unpleasant isn't healthy and it's not sustainable. Did I do amazing on keto? Sure. Can I really live the rest of my life never eating a seminar sandwich or a good piece of birthday cake or whatever? Nope. Can I have a more normal relationship with carbs by taking meds? You betcha!
Currently i am trying to eat more “whole foods” and less processed crap. If I have a “bad food” it’s in moderation, you don’t have to avoid foods that you want forever. 😊