Diet. Has anyone else had this problem? or have any advice?

[Anonymous]

So I'm twenty five years old and have been very overweight most my life. I've tried losing weight in the past and have failed miserably. I'm 4'11 and once weighed 189. I've lost 26 pounds since than, and have been doing well at not gaining anything back. I'm trying to reach my goal weight of 115. I recently started being more active and have been eating a lot less/better and am more aware of what I eat, however I find that even when I'm not in the mood to eat I'm always thinking about it. I sometimes can't seem to focus on other things and its distracting. Other times I get really hungry, but won't eat for fear of going back to old habits, gaining, or sabotaging weight loss. It's emotionally draining because it was a lot more easy to just eat whatever I wanted and not think about it and just enjoy life without worrying about all the things in my head - " Am I eating too much?" " If I drink this coffee will it be too many calories for the day" "I'm hungry, but should I eat?". - At the same time being fat and feeling unwanted and unattractive has ruined most of my young life and my relationships and friendships, which is just as bad. People do treat you differently and see you differently and you hate yourself. Has anyone gone through the same thing?

[ironeddie]

Yep. Been there done that.
I found to help control the hunger issues. Actually I wasn't so much hungry but was craving sugar and fatty foods. I would eat a sugarless whole grain cereal. Mix a serving size container of yogurt into it, flavoured or plain. The yogurt because of the creaminess will trick your brain into thinking it's fat. Slice some banana or other fruit into it (raisins work well too). The natural sugars help control the sugar craving.
by the way you can eat as much fresh fruit and vegetables as you want while trying to lose weight. Literally. There are all kinds of different ways to prepare them online. That way it's not celery and carrot sticks every day. There are great low fat/ low calorie dipping sauces too. Black coffee is about 2 cal./mug. Google is your friend.
I'm sure you've heard this. But do not eat items with refined sugars and or flours (refined = white sugars and flours). Only eat products with whole grain flours and natural sugars ie cane sugar. A Googily search will give other examples. Refined sugar/flour will not help control cravings. This crap is in cookies, cakes etc. That is why you still want these or similar items.
Alcohol contains a lot of sugar. Refined sugar. Eating the natural stuff will reduce or eliminate the desire for booze. Been there done that. Here's some interesting and useless info (I have a lot of that :-) ) A. A. meetings serve cookies, do-nuts etc. They replace the sugar in alcohol with sugar in food. So alcoholics who use A. A. will always have higher sugar cravings. This makes "falling off the wagon" more likely over the long term. A. A. long term success rate % is low. 15 years ago it was around 27%.
Losing weight is a lot of work and slow (and expensive with healthier food and new clothes) but worth it. 26lbs is is great. Once you hit your goal weight you'll be so hot... Guys will be lining up to date you. ;-)

Keep up the good work!!

Good Luck!

:-)

[ironeddie]

Thank you for most helpful. :-)

[Rocco-K]

Congratulations on losing 26 lbs. I read somewhere that coffee is not necessarily about calories but that it also increases your cortisol levels which would make you gain weight in the long run, so perhaps you can google that one. If you get hungry try to eat low caloric foods that are high in fiber and will fill you up such as fruits and vegetables.
In addition, do not feel bad about yourself. Little by little you will lose more and more weight and feel better and better about yourself; just don't give up its all mental. I wish you good luck and let us know when you reach your 115lbs goal :)

[Jbgurl20]

I'm 4'11 too. I'm not a very active person but I don't eat a lot a night. I do eat like it's the end of the world at breakfast lol. I'm 110lbs atm.