What's more import? Healthy weight or healthy diet?

[Almostslimjim]

Because I can't have both.

Last year I was obese, BMI of 30.9. I was a slender (skinny intact) teen and slim up until 25 when weight just piled on and in 5 years I went from a BMI of 21 to 31 and yoyo'd since then, never getting below 26. I've tried every diet under the sun. I've tried most exercises. I can lose weight, but I can't maintain the loss. I've tried the "changes in life style" etc and I've had therapy. It essentially boils down to the fact I like to eat crap and always have. My weight gain started when I started eating 3 'proper' meals. So I've gone back to how I ate as a teen/ early 20s - eating exactly what I want, when I want and absolutely nothing else. So today. I've had nothing but black coffee until 8pm when I've eaten half a pack of biscuits, a very large bowl of cereal and half a bar of galaxy (melted in to the cereal).

Yesterday was similar. In fact most days are like that. Occasional take away pizza or a croissant for breakfast. And we've had 2 roast dinners in the last month. I made spag bol in October which I ate for a week.

My calorie intake is around 1500 per day. So I'm losing weight and keeping it off. I've maintained this 'diet' for over a year now and lost 3+ stone.

But it's not healthy. Not that I can tell that- my skin and hair is fine and I actually feel better than I have in years!

But surely it can't be healthy?

Prior to last year, I ate 3 healthy (lots of lean protein and fresh veg) AND crap. I can't cut the crap (when I do I end up binging massively) but I can take or leave the rest of it.

Suggestions please?

I've done 6 months of 'clean' eating etc but the desire for crap food never leaves.

I don't really understand how adding healthy food to the rubbish you eat would pile on the pounds.

A portion of veg probably wouldn't but a healthy meal is not just raw veg and an apple. If I ate a 500cal meal, that would put me about calorie neutral and I would stop losing weight.

@LadyJaye

Oh, and stop snacking.

Seriously, the vast majority of people in the Western world can crack on quite happily on a couple of meals a day, and plenty of water.

A huge majority of us eat too much, too frequently.

I think you're missing the point The OP can't stop snacking. So she has stopped eating normal meals and just lives off her snacks, in order to keep her weight down. Her snacks have replaced her meals. She's asking if she needs to add in extra food to ensure getting vital food groups she may be missing in order to improve health as this will also increase weight. Advice like 'stop snacking' is completely pointless in this case. I don't know why you would think it was helpful.

OP you need to increase your vegetable and healthy protein content somewhere. I agree with pp suggestion of having a 'clean' day once a week or even just one meal twice a week that contains vegetables, protein and complex carbs. Could you do that?

Have a look at time restricted eating aka fasting.
I suspect that when you eat what you want it falls within a shorter time frame than when you are trying to ensure you get 3 meals a day. So your body is getting more time in fat burn rather than fat store mode.

CodenameVillanelle you've summed it up very well and clearly understood my dilemma. Yes, 1 day of healthy eating per week would be very doable and is a great suggestion. Thanks.

Pineappleunder yes, I have done IF before in lots of guises (16:8, 5:2) etc and never lost weight, usually as I see it as a free for all within that time, and felt I needed to eat healthy stuff to justify the crap I then ate.

I would stick to the eating pattern that gives you weight loss and try to slowly make it healthier. Like a pp said I also noticed that you are naturally intermittent fasting when you eat what you want. Maybe this helps to control your appetite. There are certainly some studies showing it is healthy to IF as it helps to control insulin levels. So could you keep the eating pattern but slowly try to make it slightly healthier. Even a sandwich and a piece of fruit instead of half the biscuits would be good. I think trying to change too much, too fast will be a mistake but gradual changes may work.

Out of interest what sort of doctor are you?
Do you work shifts?

Eating healthy food as well as crap doesn’t make it a healthy diet, you need to cut down on the crap. It sounds like you need to get help for the binge eating to be honest.
You can be a healthy weight and still have dangerous visceral fat and if you’re not eating a healthy diet you can get vitamin deficiencies. I think if you focus on trying to get to a place where you can eat healthily without also eating the junk then you’ll be able to keep the weight off too. It definitely sounds like more of a psychological rather than physiological issue so you should approach it that way.

Hey OP I can relate albeit my situation is slightly different. Before pregnancy / children I was very active (gym three times a week / yoga) and would eat a large healthy breakfast / lunch but wouldn't really eat a proper dinner during the week - too late when I got home from the gym so would have toast or cereal or soup or something. Result healthy weight.

Now I'm the main cook in the house and do a lot less intensive exercise. So my diet has improved no end as I am eating much much better things but the weigh I gained during / since pregnancy is not shifting. I am trying to go to bed earlier so I'm not tempted to snack and I am only eating when I am hungry. My next step is to try and build in a bit more exercise at home.

All I can suggest is that you change one small thing at a time and try to stick to it. So maybe don't eat after a certain time one or two days a week, or chose to make a healthy meal (lunch or dinner) one day a week and don't snack that afternoon / evening. Don't reach for the snacks when you are emotional / tired - have a drink first. Good luck.

And I mean a drink of water / herbal tea / decaff coffee - not wine!

Even a sandwich and a piece of fruit instead of half the biscuits would be good

But the bread isn't good for most of us, and the OP has already explained that she would eat the "healthy" meal and then the biscuits.

OP it is well-researched that we need to eat veggies and proteins and to avoid processed sugary food. I agree with those advocating you continue to eat as you and make one small change a month. E.g. add one vegetable, such as a carrot, a day this month. Then next month add another, different coloured, vegetable so that you're eating two a day. In month 3, add a spoonful of seeds and so on.

Agree with the small changes. Also try to identify what it is about the snacks you eat that gives you the comfort and if there is any way you could replace that comforting feeling, at least some of the time, with food that is better for you.

It sounds like you need to get help for the binge eating to be honest.

I did seek support from a psychologist specialised in eating disorders who concluded that whilst I had a poor diet, I did not binge eat and as far as she was concerned I did not have an eating disorder, my relationship with food was pretty good, my food preferences are not but that wasn't a psychological issue. I continued to see her for several months and she concluded that if it were a psychological issue, she would have identified it. She concluded that I, like many, was falling victim to having access and means to acquire he food I like in almost unlimited quantities.

I'm A&E, yes shifts though fairly static.

James Smith of Inta fame revolutionised my thinking on this. Everyone already has a diet and you can start with that diet and keep tweaking it very slowly almost unnoticeably into shape rather than following someone else’s diet.

So I agree with the poster above who said start by adding fruit and veg into your snacks instead of doing meals which obviously doesn’t work for you. Then you can eventually swop out some of the calorie laden stuff over time but without a drastic diet. You sound like someone who does better on snacks than meals when you think about it that is probably how hunger gatherers lived. They didn’t sit down to 3 meals every day.

My instinct is healthy weight. Maybe supplement with vitamins and try and have some healthy options eg berries on cereal and chocolate.
I've lost 5 stone but need to eat - the thought of no food until 8pm wouldn't work for me. I eat lots of protein and veg. Chocolate I have a small amount most days eg a kit kat as I find it stops binges. But crisps I'm best not eating at all as they trigger me. You have to find what is sutainable for you.

Do you think you are addicted to sugar?

Do you think you are addicted to sugar?

I don't know. I don't think so, but to be honest not really sure how I would tell the questions I would ask regarding alcohol addiction don't really translate!

Yes, I think I will try the changing one thing at a time approach and see how it goes.

And I eat when I'm hungry, I don't deliberately starve myself until 8 pm, if I'm hungrier earlier, I eat. Had lunch on Sunday and dinner with the family on Saturday.

I sort of figured out a while ago that I was eating nutella on toast when wha I really wanted was the nutella. The toast I felt I 'should' have to almost justify the nutella. But I eat the same amount of nutella whether I eat the bread with it or not. So by eating a teasoon of nutella off the spoon, I cut the 90 calories from the bread! I don' eat more nutella, I just eat less bread.

I totally understand this OP.

I've been known to eat a piece of cake for breakfast. Because I really fucking want the cake, and if I have poached egg for breakfast I will simply eat the cake as well and get fat.

The only way to get around it is marginal changes but really really commit. It gets easier. I start with the changes I find easiest (swapping sugar in drinks for sweetener).

I also find the only diet I can stick to is 2&5. It really does work, because the fast day really just rein in the desire to gorge on sugar the following day, and so I find my week end up like this:.
Day 1: eat my usual sugary shit
Day 2: 600 cal fast. This is hard but because it's only a day somehow I can get through it.
Day 3: I find I dont quite have the cravings for much crap as usual eat more normally.
Day 4: back to the crap
Day 5: more crap
Day 6: fast day - see 2
Day 7: see day 3

I try to match the worst days where I know I will eat crap with meals out/social events or other situations where a fast day will be impossible.

Ps. It's good that you are recognising this.

from what I understand of A&E work, you'll be running substantially on adrenaline for much of the day, on your feet, little time to stop and eat "mindfully" (hate that word but I guess it fits). By the time you do stop, you're crashing and in need of an instant hit.
Is it just too much to expect for you to be able to take an actual half hour out / get some natural daylight / sit down and chew some food slowly during a shift? I wonder if it's also partly hormonal because of your style of working? (and I fully appreciate that it's slightly ridiculous me saying this to someone who is an actual doc and knows this stuff far better)

I agree with including some veg (and maybe grains?) for your gut flora and for their anti cancer properties etc.

The things you are missing are very much micronutrients, vitamins, and proteins. So I think what you could add would be fruit, veg and proteins. I agree with others that you could add fruit or veg each day then choose some days to add health protein and veg meals

from what I understand of A&E work, you'll be running substantially on adrenaline for much of the day, on your feet, little time to stop and eat "mindfully" (hate that word but I guess it fits). By the time you do stop, you're crashing and in need of an instant hit.

Don't get me wrong, I am really busy, but I do get breaks most shifts and could eat 'properly' if I wanted to. I cook for the family when I'm home - on both days off and after shifts if it's appropriate.

Sounds like you have a big carb/sugar addiction if your diet consists of biscuits, cereal and melted chocolate. Also sounds like you don't really want to change things as they are basically "working" for you.

Could you at least add in a little variety? Maybe have a small portion of cereal, the same amount of melted choc and then dip mixed fruit chunks into this, like a sort of fondue? Or have something like celery sticks and nut butter instead of biscuits sometimes? Make French Toast so you're getting some egg in there?

IrkedEssex

That's kind of why I came on here to ask. It IS working for me in that I am losing weight (which was necessary) and I'm not denying myself the things I love.

However I know that it isn't a healthy diet, and I know what healthy diet looks like. I do have some variety, occasional apple with peanut butter or smoothies (almond milk, cashew nut butter, banana, dates, protein powder and frozen spinach) and on Saturday I had toad in the hole with broccoli and Sunday I had soup (homemade lamb and veg). All eaten because it is what I wanted, rather than what I should have. But my diet largely consists of crap. Crap includes french toast occasionally though!