Dieting and throwing up

I decided to start to lose some weight again. I went to the doctors and found out that I'm 4 pounds overweight for my height.

I'm very short, I'm only 4'11 apparently. I have to eat very little in order to lose weight, probably less than 1200 cal a day.

I've started to throw up the food I eat. I eat normal amounts of food and I throw it up because I feel like I'm going to gain weight if I eat.

I'm worried about electrolyte in-balances. Is there any way to correct them?

Sigh, I don't know how to lose weight in a healthy way. I need some encouragement and help in losing my weight. I want to be 100 pounds or less. I have 15 pounds to lose. My weight has stayed the same for years. It's going to be really hard to lose it.

Greenleaves,
Please go back and read the thread you started elsewhere about this same topic in the past. It had very good advice.

Throwing up food in order to lose weight is a very very very bad way to do it. It's not all that effective, either.

gg

I know gg. I just feel so bad after eating.

I did it again...I haven't had a meal today where I didn't throw up. I keep eating too much.

I throw up as punishment for eating too much.

I really have to eat less to begin with so that I don't have to throw up. I'm going to try everything I can to not eat so much tomorrow. I don't want to be bulimic.

I struggle with eating too much, too. I finally realized that the best way for me to try to cope with that and to lose weight is to start exercising. I looked up how many calories you can burn during walking and other exercises--even housecleaning, and I think that will make a difference for me.

Incentive to walk the dog (at least when it's not blowing tree limbs down with major wind gusts!) and to vacuum.

I think if you try that, you might find it's a more effective way than throwing up. And you have no reason to "punish" yourself for eating too much. Punishment is not a very effective method for behavior change, anyway.

Exercise is also excellent for keeping moods more even.

Wanna try with me?

gg

Sure gg.

I'll try to exercise tomorrow.

Okay, then. Me too. I'll take the dog for a walk.

gg

Hi

Throwing up is very bad for you in many ways, not only to your electrolyte balance, but also to your oesophagus (the acid will cause irreparable damage and can result in all sorts of horrible and/or fatal diseases) and to your teeth (the acid will wear away your enamel, cause decay etc).

Please try to stop now while you're young enough to recoup on any existing damage.

Sorry to sound so doom-laden but the facts have to be faced. It's no good being an ostrich and pretending things will turn out OK.

Funnygirl

OK, I just ate the first meal of my day, half a whole wheat pita stuffed with lettuce, 2 slices of low fat turkey, some skim milk cheese and about 1 1/2 tablespoonfuls of low calorie peppercorn ranch dressing.

I'm not going to throw it up, but I have to make sure I don't eat anything else now until dinner time. I also have to get in some exercise.

That's good, Greenleaves, excellent, keep it up, you can do it.

FG

I did it again.

I started out good, but I was still hungry after eating my pita. I opened the fridge and saw this chocolate cake my Mom bought. I ate a small slice and a mini pizza. Then I topped it off with a few chips too. :-(

What is with me and binging like this?

I think that by the time I ate that mini pizza I knew I was going to purge again so I ate the chips for the sake of eating.

I don't know if I can diet to lose weight. For me dieting ends up equaling purging.

I'm OK when I'm not dieting. When I'm not trying to lose weight I can maintain my weight without binging or purging. Maybe dieting is not healthy for me.

I want to lose weight so badly. I don't even have a huge amount of weight to lose, like other people. I still can't seem to do it.

OK, before I put anything into my mouth, I'm going to write about it here first. Hopefully that will stop me from eating and therefore purging.

Throwing is really gross. I really should stop. I get grossed out when I do it. It's really hard to do too. It's not very efficient so I have to do it many times.

I should just stop eating to being with. That's much better than having to throw it all up.

I wish there was an easy way to lose weight. I technically only need to lose 4 pounds to be in the normal weight range, but I want to lose 15 to look better.

I want to be able to starve myself. I wish I could do that, but I'm too weak...I get hungry and then I eat.

Maybe I should write down what I eat everyday.

Yes, write down what you eat every day and get some exercise. There is no reason to CREATE an eating disorder if you don't already have one. You're smart enough to know better. Although part of me thinks that you don't get nearly enough attention from your parents

Don't go down the starvation route, that's not exactly easy or pleasant either... and you only end up binging and feeling guilty about it.

Hi GL

No - don't start fasting, because you will definitely start binging as your body will think it's starving and force you to eat. It's nature's way. It will act as if there has been a famine followed by plenty. Stone Age rules.

Can't you ask your mother not to stock the fridge with things like chocolate cake, which is only junk food and something that no-one needs to survive. It's laden with fat and sugar and is just bad for you, bad for your mother, bad for everyone.

I never buy junk food (potato crisps were my weakness) or any kind of stuff which I know will tempt me and just cause more struggles with my self-control.

You can actually train yourself to hate chocolate.

Keep at it.

FG

GL, grrr!

Listen closely, because I know what I'm talking about here:

Restrictive eating is setting yourself up for a binge. It will also screw your metabolism, which will lead you to gain weight.

You really want to lose weight? You serious about this and not just playing? OK, here's the deal -- eat three meals and two to three snacks per day. Every day. And I don't mean made up meals like half a salad without dressing. I mean real meals. Just make them normal meals -- not a huge amount, but not starvation rations, etiher.

And then go for a walk.

You will lose weight, you will be healthier, and your mental issues wil limprove, too.

Agh, I think you're right Genevieve...

I've been dieting since Mon, eating about 900 calories or less a day.

Hmmm...lets see...250 cals + 150cals + a small meal, how many calories would that be? Maybe closer to 700cal per day...

I just ate a lot of Doritos. Now I feel horrible...like I want to throw it up, but I won't.

I think maybe the key is to not get too hungry...

I better get me some healthy snacks.

I really do want to lose weight.

greenie,

maybe you should fill yourself up on fruit and vegetables. They are not fattening and will stop the hunger pangs. Its not a diet you should be thinking about, healthy eating will get you there in the end

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allthegirls6 said:
greenie,

maybe you should fill yourself up on fruit and vegetables. They are not fattening and will stop the hunger pangs. Its not a diet you should be thinking about, healthy eating will get you there in the end

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AGH! No, filling up on any one sort of food will not bring about weight loss. In fact, by depriving your body of the nutrition it needs, that's likely to lead to increased hunger, increased risk of binging, cravings, and weight gain.

Your body needs all sorts of foods. You need fat as much as you need protein. Trying to fill up on vegetables will not reduce your body's need for proper nutrition.

Eating three meals and two to three snacks per day, not going more than 2.5 to 3 hours without eating, never allowing yourself to get too hungry, and eating a balanced diet -- those are the things that will help. Eating a minimum of 1200 calories per day, that will help.

GL, there is a scale of hunger that a lot of dietitians use: 1 is weak and shaking from hunger, 5 is neutral, and 10 is too stuffed to move, and feeling sick. The goal is to stay between 3 and about 6. You will inevitably get to 7 now and again, but the goal is still to stay around 3 to 6. 3 is "strong urge to eat, but could wait a bit." That means that when you think to yourself, "oh, I can wait another hour or two before I eat, that would be better for my diet" -- you ignore that voice, and you eat. Have a glass of milk -- low or non fat -- or a piece of fruit, or both. Then, when the next meal comes around, have a mix of fruit, vegetable, protein, and carbohydrate, with some fat, too. Maybe a sandwich and a salad, with an apple. That would be a good meal. Then a couple of hours later, when you're hungry again, have another snack. Maybe some nuts, or some milk, or something like that.

Good luck.

Thanks for the hunger scale. I think you're right about that ignoring hunger thing. I tend to binge if I get too hungry.

Today I screwed up my diet and ate Doritos. I tried to throw it up, but I couldn't! I don't know what is wrong...I couldn't throw up. Did I screw up my gag reflex or something? Sigh, maybe it's for the best. Now I have to force myself to eat healthy foods and not rely on throwing up.

GOOD! I'm GLAD you couldn't throw up. That's your body protecting you from doing something really stupid and harmful.

I screwed up again and ate some chips and Doritos (the same giant bag).

I tried to throw up again, but couldn't yet again... just a a whole lot, and I mean a whole lot of saliva...

Argh, I hate how my Mom keeps buying junk food. She bought more chips the other day.

Why can't I throw up? I don't get how people with bulimia do it so often and so long.

Greenleaves.... come on....

Greenleaves, we've been through this a number of times now, you realize? You say you're trying to make yourself throw up, you get a lot of good responses and say you understand -- and then you come back and say that you're trying to throw up.

I'm sorry that you feel the need to do this. Both to do something as profoundly stupid as trying to develop an eating disorder, and that you feel as though the only way to get attention is through this sort of behavior and communication. I've given you advice you know is good. I have had an eating disorder since before you were born, and I know how much misery is involved. I know how angry I get when I hear jokes about anorexia or bulimia, and you know what? That's what this is feeling like to me now -- as thoughtless and cruel as a lot of those jokes. If you really want to make yourself vomit, and you aren't planning to stop, that's your choice. Go ahead. But I won't play that game anymore.

No more, on this subject. I will no longer respond to anything you write about making yourself vomit to lose weight.

Yes, I agree with what the others have said. My job involves dietetics and I do know how much damage is caused by constantly throwing up or simply trying to throw up. You will do irreparable harm to your throat, stomach, teeth, blood etc. Please ask your mother not to stock up on junk food so you won't be tempted. If she refuses and continues to buy, simply throw the stuff in the trashcan until she does take on board what you are trying to communicate to her. Remember, some mothers equate feeding with love!

FG

I'm sorry, no more on this subject.