I’m sorry for the super long post – it’s been quite helpful just writing it all down though! Also I am a regular, but name changed as I don't want this associated with my usual name.
I have been doing a low carb diet since the beginning of January. It is going very well, I have now lost 12lb (I have over 5 stone to lose so this is a sensible amount). I am finding I am not very hungry and am not craving my usual sweet things very much. At the moment I don’t feel like I’m going to fail, I’m very positive and enthused about it.
However… I’ve been trying to lose weight for the last 6 years or so, and in the classic pattern I start a diet, lose some weight, never as much as I’m aiming for, usually the diet only lasts for a few weeks max before I fall off, have one bad day which turns into several, than just lapse back into bad eating habits and binging on sweet things. I regain all the weight I’ve lost and more, and it’s often several months before I’m in a mental place to start eating healthily again.
It feels like there’s a switch in my head, I’m either eating healthily and excited about losing weight, then the switch flips and all I want to eat all the cake and chocolate and biscuits I can, and I stop caring about all my aims and plans.
So my question is, how can I make sure that I keep at it this time? My bmi is 35 (was 37.5 when I started), I’m worried about the effects on my health. Failing is not an option, nor is staying still, eating healthily but not losing weight.
I am doing this diet sensibly; I’m cutting out pasta, rice, bread, potatoes and sugar for most of the time, eating meat, fish, dairy, fruit and lots of veg. But I’m allowing my treats every now and then, I have started a system where I ‘earn’ calories towards a treat for every good day I have, and I’m finding this helpful to know I can have a treat if I really want one (but just one! And out of an earned budget). Also, if I have a day of normal eating, e.g. eating round someone’s house and having pasta, that’s fine, I just don’t earn calories that day but don’t lose them either, and I will carry on the next day.
I also have target weights to break down the long way I have to go and am planning to associate a (non-food) treat with achieving each one e.g. a new haircut, a shopping trip.
But over all this good stuff I just have this fear that the switch is going to flip and there’ll be nothing I can do about it. I know it’s ultimately my choice what I eat and if I fail, but it doesn’t feel like it.
It’s probably worth noting that I’m fairly sure I have Binge Eating Disorder so this diet is all tied in with trying to beat this.
To pre-empt some points (not stopping anyone from posting anything though!), this diet is healthy, I’m confident I’m getting all the nutrients I need, I’m not doing super strict low carb, I’m not counting carb values in fruit and veg etc, just having a vague idea which are high carb and best to not have too much of. I’ve also read up on the science and evidence behind low carb vs low fat and everything seems to say that low carb is a healthy way to lose weight and generally has better results than low fat. Though pretty much any diet, if you stick to it, will help you lose weight, the key is sticking to it!
TL;DR: what strategies could I use to make sure I don’t fall off my diet?!
Thanks very much