[QUESTION] Losing the vanity pounds when counting calories leads to binges? Plus general noob workout Q's

[onmywalk]

Stats: 5'3" 126lbs 21yo

I lost 6lbs with no effort over the last 2 months simply by making small changes in my diet and starting to exercise more regularly. Now I want to focus more on losing the "vanity pounds", which I'm guessing will be around 10lbs for me. So I calculated my TDEE and started logging calories on MFP, aiming for around 1420 cals a day and eating back some of my exercise calories. But this left me feeling very weak - like, standing up was an effort levels of weak - and I was thinking about food CONSTANTLY. I know this means I should eat more but I can't help but feel that, with a maintenance of around 1797, that I need a decently sized deficit. Anyway, fast forward to the end of the week of calorie counting, and you can find me sitting on the floor of my apartment eating my way through a whole box of chocolate cereal, followed by a whole bar of chocolate, followed by whatever else I could find... I have a history of disordered eating (restricting then bingeing) that I thought I'd grown out of, but apparently ED's don't work that way. I think it's safe to say that counting calories isn't a good way to go for me.

I also recently started lifting, following a very straight forward 3 day a week full body plan I found on a body building site that uses mostly dumbbells and body weight (I'm as weak as a kitten and need to work up to using barbells). It's been nearly a month and I'm feeling good about it - while messing around at work yesterday I discovered I can do at least 5 full push ups! That's 5 more than I could do last time I tried. I usually hop on the elliptical after lifting for 20 mins of high intensity intervals, and on non-gym days I practice yoga for about an hour and try to spend at least an hour a day walking too. I feel like I should try to get another proper workout into my week, but I lift on Mon Weds Fri and can't get in another day without sacrificing a rest day between workouts. I can't run outside either (I live in China, that would be a death sentence) and I don't want to go all the way to the gym just for a bit of cardio.

So my questions essentially are:

Can I really lose the vanity lbs without calorie counting (especially in combination with lifting)? Do you have any tips for doing this?

Would you recommend doing some kind of workout video at home or is walking a lot enough to help my weight loss cause? I was thinking about adding a Jillian Micheals video on Tues and Thurs, but would that hinder recovery from lifting the day before?

I guess I'm largely looking for reassurance here, bingeing has really knocked my self-esteem and I'm questioning if I can even achieve my goals now. I want to lose the last 8lbs or so and build some visible muscle.

Oh, and here's a typical day's menu for me:

Breakfast: oatmeal with semi-skimmed milk, half a banana and a teaspoon of honey.
Snack: handful of almonds and a mini box of raisins.
Lunch: a tin of tuna served on a big mixed salad.
Snack: a wholegrain granola bar
Dinner: a chicken breast fried with seasoning and a little oil with 2-3 servings of veggies (I bought an oven at last, so soon will be able to roast instead of fry everything)
Sometimes I'll have 2-4 squares of rich dark chocolate after dinner.
I get through a few cups of English tea with a splash of milk but no sugar, and usually drink just short of 3L of water. I track my sleep and I'm definitely getting enough.

 

[jaimea1]

@onmywalk Try replacing those carbs you're eating with protein. Try an egg or two for breakfast, and ditch the granola bar for beef jerky (or just eat bigger meals instead of snacking so much--snacking is shown to lead to elevated insulin levels anyhow, which is not ideal when trying to lose fat). I am right around your height and weight and used to have the same problem, and I found that eating as few carbs as I can get away with is the only thing that keeps me from craving and indulging in them regularly.

Address this habit ASAP. I didn't, and gained back all 8lbs that I had lost initially, plus a little more.

 

[onmywalk]

@jaimea1 I don't like cutting down on carbs too much. If I have a really low carb day for whatever reason, I will feel a lot less energetic the following day. Maybe that's something I just need to power through...

 

[jaimea1]

@onmywalk It's mostly the breads and added sugars that you should be getting rid of. Eat as much fruit as you want (ideally on the low or moderate glycemic side, of course). There is little to no nutritional value in the processed wheat and sugar-loaded products on the market, regardless of whether they claim to be "whole grain" or organic.

 

[onmywalk]

@jaimea1 I don't eat bread or pasta. I'll eat white rice a few times a week because I live in China and it's next to impossible to avoid, and I'll have noodles occasionally too (less than once a week) but my carb sources are mostly oats, sweet potatoes, and plenty of fruit and veggies. I really love sweet things though, that's something I need to address...

 

[jaimea1]

@onmywalk Ah, okay. Well just know that you can indeed still say no to white rice. Its glycemic index (how much it spikes your insulin levels, promoting fat storage) is 64, higher than that of a Snickers bar...which is 55.

Sweet things are great. It's normal that we humans like sweet things because fruit and honey exist and are edible by us (and quite popular among our hunter gatherer ancestors when they could get a hold of it). Try to use honey as a sweetener in place of sucrose (table sugar) whenever possible. I use it in yogurt, tea, almond-milk-hot-chocolate, and whatever else I can put it on. While it is still pure sugar, it is natural sugar like fruit is and isn't as hard on our bodies, plus many of the nutrients contained within it have therapeutic effects. Go for dark, raw, unfiltered (and ideally organic) honey, because lighter, cooked/filtered honeys often have had many of the beneficial properties removed from them.

 

[amylw]

@onmywalk I think I get what you're asking. I hate admitting it, but developed a similar disordered eating pattern a few years ago. At 5'7, I went from 160 to 125 in like 7 months, but rebounded a bit after a couple of righteous binging phases. I'm much MUCH better now, but its because I don't engage in anything that triggers those old habits. I am NOT an expert, just offering up the things that have helped me. I can't make expert health recommendations, but I can testify to my own experiences.

I could talk endlessly about this I'll try to be concise and talk about the biggest thing that's helped me.

• focusing on forming positive habits and routines - Because of my history, I still vacillate between strict adherence to my canon of arbitrary rules or a senseless binge-a-thon (those are now confined to the two days before shark week cause there's just no winning against hormones). I remind myself that weight loss isn't linear and virtually every story I've read about losing those last 5-10 vanity pounds has taken weeks-months of being tediously consistent. A couple months back I was reading blog posts on food palatability and appetite. From what I remember, greater variety in taste drives us to eat more than when there's little variety. Stephen Guynet writes on it a bit.

 

[onmywalk]

@amylw It took me a little while to work out why "shark week" would make you eat more. I was sat here wondering whether maybe you were so scared of sharks that just the very idea of shark week made you comfort eat, but then it clicked and now I can't stop chuckling.

 

[bmende]

@onmywalk You really just might not be eating enough, still. I wasn't losing weight on a 1300 calorie diet, so I increased it to 1700 because I work out A LOT and I'm doing good now. Maybe you should increase a little more.

 

[playon]

@onmywalk Ugh, eating disorders are really really hard to shake. It's great you recognized the pattern quickly.

The content of what you're eating sounds good, fiber and protein will keep you less hungry, and help you build muscle.

I think lifting sounds like a good option for you- if you're worried about muscle pushing your (small amount) of fat into prominence, it doesn't work like that. Muscle shapes your body, so your legs will begin to look leaner, even before you drop your perfection pounds. I use dumbbell lunges and barbell squats (which feel heavy at first, but you acclimate fast). This subreddit is full of more experienced lifters than me, so maybe post the routine you're using, and see if it'll help you meet your goals?

Congrats on your weight loss so far! : D

 

[dawn16]

@onmywalk I've been having a similar problem. I don't have a history of ED but after doing a slow bulk for the past 10-11 months, I've even wanting to lose those last couple pounds. I'm pretty lean already so there's not a lot left to lose, but I've been struggling with eating 1500-1600 and I have been binging like once a week so it probably keeps me at maintenance :/

Maybe it would help you to make a meal plan that's within the calorie-goal so you know you're eating the right amount of food but you only do the math once? Maybe it would also help to have some balance and moderation as well, like by having a square of chocolate once per day. I buy Lindt's sea salt bars and have 1/4 of the serving so it's only 50 calories and really helps keep me sane sometimes! I just have trouble because of my husband not being on the same diet as me and my self control wears thin when he eats food that I want.

I think you can do it, but maybe it will take a little longer without counting calories.

 

[thedeitz]

@dawn16 I agree with the chocolate tip! I get the Ghiradelli individually wrapped squares, and they're great for satisfying a chocolate craving. I've found that the dark chocolate kind are especially effective. Probably the greater cacao content.

 

[goingupyonder]

@dawn16 Sea salt chocolate bars are the shit.

 

[cbeard13]

@onmywalk Obviously I don't know your body specifically, but I'm 5' 3" and 23 and 125 is about as small as I can go without getting too skinny. Perhaps, instead of focusing on losing weight, you focus on lifting and building muscle?

 

[apa]

@cbeard13 Same. 125 +- 5 pounds is normal for me at 5'2.5". My upper body gets quite thin but I hold onto a layer of fat in my legs. I feel like I should be able to go lower but it makes me look disproportionate, plus restricting calories makes me cranky and tired. That said, lifting is helping me to fill out my upper body, so I might be able to do a cut someday for lower body fat without looking unbalanced.

 

[onmywalk]

@cbeard13 I mean, I'm definitely considered slim, but I carry a little extra fat on my hips, lower belly and thighs that I'd like to trim. I'm guessing that would be another 8lbs, but it could be more or less. I do really want to build muscle, but at the moment I feel like my body fat is still a little too high so that any muscle I did put on wouldn't look as great as it could...

 

[cbeard13]

@onmywalk If I were you id try to build muscle and once you get to a good place with that, assess how your body looks. You can always go back to focusing on weight loss in a couple months! It's important for you to be careful while assessing how you look though, with your history of ED!