Weight loss and ED (potential trigger)

[chewiecat]

Not sure if this is the right board so will move it if so. I have a history of eating disorders (binges, bulimia)

I have mainly overcome my EDs but every time I try to lose weight, I very easily fall back into that mindset again

A lot of the advice here is on logging food and calories on mfp but that just turns into an obsession. I'm constantly thinking about how many calories this cake was and how I can get rid of those calories (purge, exercise, no more food, etc)

I've just had a baby and would like to lose the baby weight but want to do it healthily and not trigger my ED.

Any advice??

Ugh I feel awful I just posted about keto on another thread and I'll look like I'm on their payroll!

I too suffered from an ED and the first thing I would say is that you have to be very secure in your recovery to think about intentionally losing weight - 'dieting' is one of the biggest triggers there is. And with a new baby, the last thing you want to do is spiral. I deliberately stayed at a higher weight than I wanted to be, for over two years, because I didn't trust myself.

So please, take my thoughts below in relation to what I wrote above. If you're not secure in your recovery, the best thing to do is live in your skin. Having extra weight is not the worst thing in the world, though the ED voice will tell you it is.

That said: ketogenic diet. It worked for me because it avoided my major triggers - hunger and fatty foods. I was afraid of fat - low fat diets are triggering for me, as is a diet that leaves me hungry. The ability to eat 'non diet' foods like cheese, bacon, butter and cream made it feel as far away from my previous ED as possible. I set a small calorie deficit and only logged calories until I could eyeball food - surprisingly that small deficit really worked and I never went hungry. So from my own personal experience I'd recommend keto - I never went back to a normal way of eating (increased calories of course and stuck with keto because I enjoy it - there are health benefits for me not just weight ones) but did have to give myself a talking to when I reached goal weight. The temptation is to keep going - set a goal and do not go below it.

Sorry: essay! My advice would be to live with your weight for a while. If you've 'just' had a baby, don't prioritise it immediately. But if you're going to do something anyway, keto could work as the lesser of many diet evils.