weight loss

[Kevin Hodge]

over the past couple of years i have been going utterly insane and binge eating to cope. over the past few months things have seemingly abated enough for me to begin controlling my eating.

since the start of my mental episode i have put on 6 stone. i never quite made it to "obese", but you know...putting on 6 stone is pretty heavy duty.

anyway. theres been a real change in my eating of late. i weighed myself today, and i've lost 5 pounds over the last two weeks. who da man?!

coming out of a serious food/binge addiction has been utterly insane. can't really begin to explain how bad it has felt at times, but i'm doing much better now.

in some ways my physical health seems to be improving a lot - it has been so very bad for so long that i wondered if i was permanently damaged in any way, because while bingeing for a few years i have been very hard on my body, have felt exhausted all the time, slept very very poorly, and so on. i have worried about things like diabetes and stuff like that, as there is a risk in my family...and diabetes damages organs and so forth. heres hoping that nothing too drastic will linger

embarassing though it is for someone who already can't stand the sight of himself, i have some stretch-marks from putting on so much weight. i'm hoping that eventually the six pack will take any hypothetical attention away from that.

anyway - losing this weight is a really positive step, but it is also an indicator of other extremely positive things. i feel good about this!

[Kevin Hodge]

Originally Posted by Alyria

It's great to hear you're not bingeing. And that you're feeling better.

thanks alyria

I know how you mean about health worries, I'm a comfort eater. And whenever I feel slightly emotional I eat. It's not good. Esp atm. But I'm working on it.

I'm 16 and covered in stretch marks. Really bad purple ones, anyone would think I'd had a baby. Got 'em other places too, not good. So i'm trying to change but it's so hard. I worry I may have eaten myself into serious health risks.

i feel embarassed, i have this idea that stretch marks are sort of a womans thing

mine are more red than purple. as if i didn't feel hideous enough from being fat, i get strecth marks too, you know? awesome, just awesome. : /

anyway, good luck with your own binging. it really sucks doesn't it?

have you thought of maybe trying an anti-depressant rather than binging to help you out?


edit - i should say that the idea of stretch marks on other people doesn't bother me. but on me, its just another reason why i'm a hideous mess, why i suck, etc

[stripeymouse]

hey cloaca - well done on losing some weight and normalising your eating. It's a horrible feeling being out of control with food.

I just reccommended this book to someone else, so might as well reccommend it here too (Alyria, you might find these useful too!)

http://www.amazon.com/Overcoming-Bul.../dp/1572243260

I borrowed it from the library and despite the title, it covers all sorts of disordered eating, not just bulimia. It poses a lot of interesting questions and gets you to look into why you may have issues with food. It's also got some good advice in it. I also read and found useful this one:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Overcoming-B.../dp/0898621798

it's quite a good idea with eating issues to do a little work on it, read up a bit, otherwise you may find yourself in a cycle of up and down weight which is bad for the body.

As for stretch marks, i think if you exercise some while losing weight, you will minimize them. Good luck people! I've been working on my food issues for a few years now and have made good progress with the help of these books, let me know if you decide to read them coz i'd love to get other peoples' opinions on them

[Diluted]

Originally Posted by cloaca

who da man?!

U Da MaN!1

[Amber Fyre]

That's great to hear It's good you are doing better now, hopefully it will get easier with time! And it's good to hear your physical health is improving, hopefully all this will have a positive impact on how you feel too!

[Andrew]

Congrats on losing weight, keep up the good work (and this is coming from someone who'd like to lose a few excess pounds himself)!

[Ashtray88]

5 pounds in two weeks is very good. But remember not to eat too little, because then you will just get too hungry and probably start binging again.

[Kevin Hodge]

Originally Posted by Alyria

I think most people see them as a womans thing, but it really isn't the case.

Well, I've been to the doctors, but cause of my age they won't put me on meds. They keep reffering me back to CAMHS (children & adolescent mental health services) But, I hate counselling so I go to food. Which results in weight gain, feelings of guilt and disgust at my weight, which makes me feel crap which leads me right back to the food. Annoying. Seriously annoying.

aw that sounds frustrating, i know how had it can be. for me, i had tried anti-ds, but you know, they didn't do it for me.

sigh. i've decided that the next time things are so bad that i have to start binging and messing myselfup like that, i will do whatever it takes to make sure i get other help that will stop it. and if that means getting putting on incapacity for doing something mental, so be it. i think its really depressing that thats what it might take, but it would be a conscious choice and it would be best for me. blegh :rolleyes:

I've heard Bio-Oil is really good for stretch marks and scars in general. They sell it in superdrug. Maybe you could try that on them, see if it improves them? I think I'm going to.

maybe i will, maybe i will cop out due to male vanity stigmas.

thanks for the suggestion either way one thing i will say is that body hair hides a multitude of sins...but then, also looks kinda groady in its own right

Anyway, good luck and keep up the good work.

hey thanks for that, and for your input. if you want some tips from a man who is conquering bingeing (), please do shoot me a pm. i'm doing really really well, and now i'm started its much easier than you might think to keep going. if you wanna know more, gimme a shout

[Kevin Hodge]

Originally Posted by stripeymouse

hey cloaca - well done on losing some weight and normalising your eating. It's a horrible feeling being out of control with food.

I just reccommended this book to someone else, so might as well reccommend it here too (Alyria, you might find these useful too!)

http://www.amazon.com/Overcoming-Bul.../dp/1572243260

I borrowed it from the library and despite the title, it covers all sorts of disordered eating, not just bulimia. It poses a lot of interesting questions and gets you to look into why you may have issues with food. It's also got some good advice in it. I also read and found useful this one:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Overcoming-B.../dp/0898621798

it's quite a good idea with eating issues to do a little work on it, read up a bit, otherwise you may find yourself in a cycle of up and down weight which is bad for the body.

As for stretch marks, i think if you exercise some while losing weight, you will minimize them. Good luck people! I've been working on my food issues for a few years now and have made good progress with the help of these books, let me know if you decide to read them coz i'd love to get other peoples' opinions on them

thanks vfor those ercommendations, maybe i will check em out, if i start to hit problems

i have read a shocking amount on nutrition and have conducted many experiments on myself regarding the effects of food, and this awareness helps me to understand when my brain and my addiction is just fcking with my head, it helps me get outside it, you know? but reading someone else's psychological treatment of this topic could be a very good help.

[Kevin Hodge]

Originally Posted by Diluted

U Da MaN!1

[Kevin Hodge]

Originally Posted by amberfirez

That's great to hear It's good you are doing better now, hopefully it will get easier with time! And it's good to hear your physical health is improving, hopefully all this will have a positive impact on how you feel too!

thanks amberz

yeah i feel positive about my weight loss, it feels like SOMETHING IS GOING RIGHT IN MY LIFE!

but apart from that, bingeing makes you feel like hell...but i needed that to cover up the worse hell i was feeling that made me start binging. but anyway...onwards and upwards

[Kevin Hodge]

Originally Posted by Andrew

Congrats on losing weight, keep up the good work (and this is coming from someone who'd like to lose a few excess pounds himself)!

cheers mate, good luck getting the weight off

[Kevin Hodge]

Originally Posted by Ashtray88

5 pounds in two weeks is very good. But remember not to eat too little, because then you will just get too hungry and probably start binging again.

thanks, good advice that. i'm concentrating on keeping the old blood sugar levels nice and even, that keeps the cravings at bay, and it really seems to make the weight drop off me

[Kevin Hodge]

ama fuckin weight loss machiiiiiiiiine...i've lost almost a stone in about four weeks.

i just lost four pounds in about ten days...before i weighed myself i was worried i might not have lost any weight this week and that i'd have to really start trying next week

i set a sort of short range-target, when i could sort of stop stressing about my weight so much and start to even out a bit...still losing weight but nopt worrying about it so much...so...i'm now only two pounds over that short term goal

fuckin shit man i'm so stoked...y'all wanna lose weight you come speak to the master

it ain't even been hard, sad to say

[SoftlySpoken1]

I want to lose weight!!!!

[Amber Fyre]

Wicked! Way to go man, you go girlfriend.. and all that

[GinInTeacups]

Originally Posted by cloaca

...y'all wanna lose weight you come speak to the master

What's your secret cloaca? I'm all ears

[Rick Sanchez]

It goes without saying that I love you as you are skink. I mean, I'd love you long time, no matter what weight you are, but anyway, seriously well done. I know you've struggled with your weight a lot recently, so it must be difficult for you.

[Kevin Hodge]

to those of you looking to control weight -

i advise yous to look into a glycaemic index diet. this means that each food has a little number you can look up in a chart to see if it will make your blood sugar soar.

if you eat stuff that makes you blood sugar high, your body has to get this sugar out of your blood FAST to stop your organs getting damaged. wanna know what it does with the sugar? stores it as fat.

now heres the thing - when you eat foods that make your blood sugar high, you get a buzz, the well known sugar rush. this rush is temporary tho - your body actually overcompensates for the rush and you end up feeling really lethargic as your body sucks ALL the sugar out of your blood. does this make anyone else reach for a can of coke and a snickers bar?

keep your blood sugar under control and you therefore eliminate part of the cycle of naughty cravings.

i also gave up coffee, because yuo get a similair rush and slump cycle with it. i just cut it out to be rid of unhelpful cravings.

now - i swear this is true for me at least - now that i'm free of the sweets and caffiene addictions (i had an additional binging addiction, man that was whack ), i SWEAR that most of the tendency to want these things at all is gone. i decided to treat myself today with a sweet and a can of coke since i've done so well - but i can't really be bothered!

now, also, i swear this is true - my mood/anxiety levels are MILLIONS better now i have evened out my blood sugar. this is the way your body wants to be. high blood-sugar foods are 99.99% unnatural processed stuff - your body isn't designed to thrive on that stuff, its man-made and evil! you will feel better if you learn about the effects that food have on your blood sugar and start to control yr sugar levels

i also have another secret weapon. if i don't get enough sleep, i feel shattered all day and want to boost myself with coffee, cola, sweets, cakes, anything, comfort food, whatever, just anything bad, you know? make an effort to actually get a decent amount of sleep (my magic number seems to be 8 1/2 hours). this way you don't need to eat rubbish just to get through the day.

i would even go as far as to say if you have the option, if you are tired through the day, have a flippin nap! thats what you need when you are tired - not coffee or cola or something.

anyway, sermon over. point is, it certainly works for me. twelve pounds in about four weeks?!

in summary -

1. learn about the glycaemic index (GI), there are many GI diet books, yo ucan probly get one out the library or even find out on the interwebshites.

2. get rid of cravings/addictions one at a time. i say caffiene is a separate craving to a sugar craving. i would say give up sweets first, then caffiene. i have more to say about giving up these addictions (its mental ) but i don't wanna go on anymore just now.

3. get plenty of sleep. this is the real answer to tiredness - not stimulants.

4. one thing that really works in my favbour is that i am carrying about 5 stone more than i ought to be. this means that simply walking around burns up a hell of a lot of calories


disclaimer - i've known all this stuff for years and was still unable to implement it until recently because my head ha been so fcked up. if things are bad for you, it might not be possible to get the weight off right now. i know all too well how a lot of eating behaviours are coping mechanisms. obv its better to be overweight yet "coping" than losing weight and not coping. we all need to at least cope.

[Kevin Hodge]

Originally Posted by Amber Fyre

Wicked! Way to go man, you go girlfriend.. and all that

yo sista!

ama try your chocolate-only diet today

[Kevin Hodge]

Originally Posted by Godfather

It goes without saying that I love you as you are skink. I mean, I'd love you long time, no matter what weight you are, but anyway, seriously well done. I know you've struggled with your weight a lot recently, so it must be difficult for you.

thanks man


*basks in the lurve*

[Kevin Hodge]

*drinks celebratory cola*

[Rick Sanchez]

I'm not a fan of Cola, but since it's celebratory Cola... *shares a can*.

[Kevin Hodge]

well, thats my first whole stone gone. things got a bit sticky for a week or so there, but, having started out at 16 stone, i am now 14 stone something. i'm just a teensy bit under the 15 mind, but nonetheless, i am not fifteen stone anything, i am fourteen stone something.

KICK
ING

ASS!!!

bah, wish i was just a little bit more convincingly under the 15, but meh...i weighed myself and the result is food. i mean good.

still look fat tho

[Rick Sanchez]

F-ck yeah!

[Kevin Hodge]

Originally Posted by Godfather

F-ck yeah!

thanks goddie, it really really helps to have support like this, because most of the motivations i have are negative ones. when i lose weight, my inner dialogue is not so much "well done, me! tally ho!", as "i should bloody well think so you hideous fat shit"


funnily enough, someone asked me today "oh, what weight are you now?"...turns out they thought i looked much, shall we say, less fat


thanks again goddie

[Bob Garside]

To be honest, man, you've shed a lot of mass. Seriously, people boast of losing two-three pounds, expect handclaps and that, sirens. You've lost - whut? - 18 pounds?? That's quite a bastard to lift with one hand.

I think the key to weight loss is the mindframe.

[custardcreams]

well done bish

[Rick Sanchez]

Originally Posted by The Quiet Dan

To be honest, man, you've shed a lot of mass. Seriously, people boast of losing two-three pounds, expect handclaps and that, sirens. You've lost - whut? - 18 pounds?? That's quite a bastard to lift with one hand.

I think the key to weight loss is the mindframe.

I was thinking the same thing.

Again, well done, man .

[CatchMeIfYouCan]

Well done!! That is fantastic Cloaca, go you!!!
Best wishes x x