Losing weight when being "bad"

[Aurian]

Okay, I try eat healthy. Lots of veggies, cut out the bread, cookies and crappier things. Virtually no fast food, no sugary pops, etc.

 

My weight will stay stable for weeks, months when I am being good.

 

Then I have a week or two where I snap and be "bad." I buy bread. I buy cookies. I make and eat muffins and pies.

 

And I lose weight?

 

I don`t get it really. If I stay bad for too long, the weight creeps back on, but I don`t get why I lose weight when I am bad for a week or two. Was my body bored and having all that sugar in my bloodstream gave it a jump-start?

 

My mom thought it was just weight loss showing up from being "good" except no matter how long I am good for, the weight stays stable and it only drops when I finally have a craving week.

 

Any ideas? I would still love to lose 10-15 pounds and if I could figure out what is triggering the weight loss, I would like to harness it!

[HappyAsALark]

I have read in a lot of places that not eating enough can actually make you gain weight.

[RayKay]

It may be because your body does think "whoa, what's up!" and is madly adjusting to the change. Or you may not get enough calories on regular diet causing body to hold onto anything it can; once you eat it gets excited and does not need to store as much.

 

It could also be as even though you are eating "badder" you are taking in less calories, and less water/water weight (muffins have less water content then fruits and veggies) so your body retains less water.

 

Those fluctuations in diet aren't great for you though.

 

Just eat "good" most of the time, and I would not worry about a cheat day here and there - but I would be careful about making cheat WEEKS! If you feel deprived, figure out what your "craving" is and how to address it. If you love chocolate, stick to good quality chocolate and enjoy a couple squares of it a day (from a bar), savour it! If it is ice cream, have a small serving a couple times a week - get the good stuff that will actually satisfy you and again...savour it. If it's pizza, make the homemade kind and load it with good stuff and healthy whole wheat crust, fresh tomato sauce, veggies and flavourful cheese (like goat cheese) so you can use less.

 

I find if you find a way to meet your cravings in a reasonable way, you are able to avoid other temptations quite easily.

[Aurian]

Oh, that is no problem. I eat loads - I jsut try make healthier choices like veggies and low cal stuff.

 

I eat about the same during good and bad periods. I just eat WORSE stuff during bad periods.

[selkie]

I've lost weight over the last year.

Now Im less than 10 pounds to ideal weight.

 

I 've noticed I do best losing weight when I stick to clean healthy eating most of the time but then enjoy splurges every 2-3 weeks.

 

It seems to rev/trick my body into amping up my calorie burning.

 

And because I KNOW I will always be able to be bad and enjoy myself in the future, I never feel like Im lacking enjoyment in what I eat.

[Aurian]

I should explain my bad periods are not UBER bad - those weeks usually involve baking a dozen muffins and eating them over the week, or buying some french or sourdough bread and working on that. If I ate like this for more than 2-3 weeks, then the weight comes back, but eating like this for one revs the weight loss.

 

I do give myself the occasional chocolate treat and i am very good at cooking lighter versions of fast food favorites like grilling some chicken and putting it in a bun instead of a fast food burger or doing RayKay`s pizza trick, or baking slices of potato in my oven instead of having fried fries, but I really have a problem with bread and cookies. I can`t have a little bit without triggering the need for MORE. So its either none or have a lot with those things. I try avoid them most of the time, but some weeks I break down and just really want some.

 

selkie, I am glad to hear you experienced this too. I was wondering if I was imagining things or something.

[sunnyday66]

"low-cal" foods are really bad for you.. i'm not referring to foods that are naturally low in fat, but ones that are marketed as low fat, like stuff with artificial sweetners and stuff are so bad for you. they're way worse fo ryour diet than actual calories because your body treats them like toxins, and your liver has to process them. When your liver processes that, it doesn't process fat as quickly and the fat gets stored in your body.

 

but i'm not sure if thats what you were referring to or not.

[Tethys]

Hi Aurian,

 

I posted on another thread about this recently but here goes....

 

Okay, wait, back up -- one thing -- I was initially reluctant to post on enotalone about how overweight I used to be as it was mainly caused by a medication I was taking. (People don't like to hear that for some reason.) But, once off the medication, I found my body did not want to lose the weight, so I had to work extra hard to do that.

 

I lost 86 pounds in two years doing it the healthy way -- no starvation, no drastic diets -- just exercise and healthy eating. I was already a vegetarian who didn't eat many fats or processed foods, so that made it especially hard because I was gradually lowering my caloric intake so as not to lose too much weight too quickly.

 

I can tell you that your body tries to maintain your current weight and will adjust to it as you lose weight. This gets especially hard as you near a lower weight and find that, no matter how rigorous your exercise or how many calories you watch to eat -- your body will hang on to your current weight.

 

I think that's what is happening to you. When I was losing those last 15 pounds (the hardest to lose because how the body adjusts metabolism), I found I had to "trick" my body by eating a high-calorie meal one day and a low-calorie the next and keep it guessing for weeks to shed those pounds.

 

Keep that in mind as you try to lose weight -- if you are unsuccessful at what you are doing, I'll be happy to PM you my method. (This "method" was what I followed to lose the last 15 pounds, no more, no less, in the last stages of my weight loss -- I am not selling something.) Yes, sometimes eating high-calorie foods WILL help you lose weight! It depends on how you work it, space it out.

 

You need to trick your body/metabolism is all. I wouldn't give into the cookies however. They are just worthless calories with no nutrition value. Oh, okay, maybe a cookie every ONCE and awhile!

[Happy2bme]

Hi Aurian,

Same thing happens to me...I'm at the gym 4 times a week and eat very healthy but when the monthly hormones kick in its no gym and junk for about a week.

By the time 'Flo' has come and gone I have dropped as much as 7lbs/ a dress size!

Now some of this is fluid retention, but I spoke to an instructor at the gym, kept a food diary for a couple of months and when we went through it it turned out I was not eating enough during my 'good' time! He said the 'junk' was shocking my metabolism which had become 'sluggish'.

I now include healthy stuff, healthy fats (oily fish/nuts), complex carbs (brown/wholemeal),of course protein and a little bit of 'naughty' everyday and the weight loss is slow (1-4lbs a month) but consistant.....best of all, minimum PMT, no more fluid retention and no more pre-Flo cravings.

X

[zachiphus]

Like others have said, it is the adjusting of your calorie intake that probably does it. Your body is used to eating low amounts of calories per day, which is why u aren't losing much weight when u eat healthy, but ill get back to that. Anyway, you're used to eating many calories then u have a "splurge" and eat what r considered many unhealthy foods. This throws your body out of it's usual routine of low-cal foods and it burns those cals down to what you're body is used to which is why people tend to lose weight when this happens.

 

Back to what i said above about eating low-cal foods and not losing any weight is because your body is so used to burning a certain amount of cals a day from eating "healthy." The best way to lose weight is to take in different amounts of calories each day that way it confuses your body and it doesn't burn the same amount of calories each and every day. I hope this makes sense, i kinda just put all that together in 2 minutes, haha.

[Aurian]

Hmm... gonna have to think about my diet a bit then! I don`t exercise much at all (crappy back, knees, hands and feet will do that), so I pretty much just tried to eat as little as possible calorie-wise while not being hungry (so, lots of water, veggies, meat, etc).

 

Worked to get rid of 50 pounds, so I was getting a bit frustrated it wasn`t working for the last 15! When I was losing weight, buying (smaller!) new clothes was a good incentative to stay away from "junk." Its harder to stay away from junk when the weight isn`t moving!

 

Maybe it would be better to have 6 good days and one naughty day or something like that. (Well, reletively naughty anyways!)

[RayKay]

Hmm... gonna have to think about my diet a bit then! I don`t exercise much at all (crappy back, knees, hands and feet will do that), so I pretty much just tried to eat as little as possible calorie-wise while not being hungry (so, lots of water, veggies, meat, etc).

 

Worked to get rid of 50 pounds, so I was getting a bit frustrated it wasn`t working for the last 15! When I was losing weight, buying (smaller!) new clothes was a good incentative to stay away from "junk." Its harder to stay away from junk when the weight isn`t moving!

 

Maybe it would be better to have 6 good days and one naughty day or something like that. (Well, reletively naughty anyways!)

 

My boyfriend does the "one naughty day" a week; I do more of a "naughty meal" once a week; it really helps you stay true to your healthy life the rest of the week!

[selkie]

selkie, I am glad to hear you experienced this too. I was wondering if I was imagining things or something.

 

 

Yeah I actually picked up that trick from bodybuilders at my gym.

 

I wish I had known this way of eating years ago.

 

Would saved so much depression form my modleing days of starving all the time.

 

 

Also if you cant work out much, dont fret.

 

I do it mainly because I get high off of dancing.

 

But after a major death in the family i didnt want move an inch for 5 weeks and still lost weight.

 

exercise only helps about 25% or less of weightloss.

 

mainly if you can do gentle toning exercises that will help you.

[RayKay]

Exercise is still important for MANY other reasons though. Just because one is skinny, does not mean they are healthy -

 

Important for your cardiovascular system and decreases risk of heart attack, weak hearts.

 

Very good for your lungs - over time increases lung capacity (so at 85 you won't be wheezing as you move off the sofa).

 

Increases bone density which has a MASSIVE impact on reducing osteoporosis.

 

Maintains flexibility - including in the spine. You'll be thankful for that one in future! Plus, if you ever get a spinal tap or epidural, it won't hurt too bad (seriously...when I had a spinal tap the doctors were pleased my spine was so flexible as it allowed them to get the needle in easier, with a lot less pain and risk!...strange side effect, but I was pleased!).

 

HUGE stress reliever - stress is one of the BIGGEST causes of many illnesses....including heart stress, and even the buildup of unhealthy fats you CAN'T see as well in your stomach. Cortisol from stress causes this buildup and you retain fat when under stress. Part of our evolution I guess.

 

Increases muscle tone which is one of those things where if you don't use it, you lose it. I know 80 year olds whom are stronger and fitter than 20 years olds....good for them, but incredibly sad when you think about it! My massage therapist has told me I have muscles/tone where most people don't have - this is a good thing by the way (and no, I don't look like the incredible hulk!) - he tells me I will live forever (I have not told him of the low life expectancy in my family though even though they are active...lol).

 

Increases energy and vigor. Also, studies show those whom are physically active have better sex lives

 

Reduces the risk of several types of cancer - and is even shown to increase chances of those with cancer. For breast cancer (in Stage III) for example, regular exercise (even just walking at least 5 hours a week) increases survival by 50% which is VERY good as Stage III is pretty far along. This is why my mother continued to ride her bike, dragonboat, walk/run even while ill - and she is still around because of it I feel (that and her excellent doctors and treatments of course!). At least it helped her mental determination if anything and had her feeling in control to some degree.

 

Improves digestion, mental alertness, fatigue and a whole whack of other ancillaries.

 

Even if one is "thin" or genetically blessed, exercise is still a very important part of a healthy life.

 

60-90 minutes a day really should be a goal - this can be broken up in two parts over the day, and can range day to day from something lighter like walking, hiking, hatha yoga....to something more vigorous on others like running, hot yoga, cycling, classes - or a mix of both every day!

 

Plus, its fun to move your body and realize even if your body is not "perfect" - it is quite darn amazing! It was through exercise for example I took control over my own anorexia and disordered eating in the past, when I realized strength was a beautiful thing! Now I would rather be able to take pride in running a marathon, or completing an adventure race, than saying I weighed 92 lbs on the scale this morning (and that was all the energy I had to do that day!)...

[Aurian]

Wow, you sound so enthusiastic. My body has other ideas though. Car accidents (two different idiots not watching where they were going and rear-ending me!) pretty much ripped apart my back - even sitting upright is enough to make it hurt badly. My knees and feet are also genetically crappy.

 

I used to love martial arts before the accidents. These days its more like "is doing this worth a week of back spasms? No? Okay, back to the couch."