[brokenlegsofthelamb]

this is something brand new i'm trying, and i would love to hear what you
think. my psychiatrist has been encouraging me to follow the glycemic index, rather than count calories and fat grams. i have been counting and recording them for nearly three years. wow, i said i would feel so unstructured doing that. wildly reckless even, ha, ha! i said it would make me more anxious to do that, but then it occured to me that it might really make me LESS anxious. he said I WOULD NOT GAIN WEIGHT
doing this, as there have been science studies done. i started doing this last friday, and plan on doing it for the rest of the week. i also run regularly, and he said that THAT would make it even LESS LIKELY that i would gain weight. it's true; my weight hasn't gone up. it's been (SIGH)
in what would be considered one criteria for anorexia, though i hate to use that word. i am amazed by how little i am thinking of what, when, and amount regarding food. if i keep doing this it would mean i don't have an eating disorder, right?

[UESTasha]

It is pretty freeing not to count every calorie ... I used to have a big problem with it and it ruled my life ... it didn't happen overnight... I have been fighting the eating disorder for years.. but it gets easier and is so nice that I don't even know the calorie counts of everything automatically anymore...

I had to switch up some of the foods I used to eat and am still more conscious about it than I want to eventually and with some foods I can still only buy certain brands because I can't un-memorize all the contents.. there is also a challenge because NYC has a law that most restaurants have to post the calories for everything which causes a lot of anxiety... but I try to go to places that the laws don't apply to and don't let myself read food labels when shopping and often times close my eyes with a black sharpie to black them out when I bring things that have them on them home from a store...

I have not ever tried to follow the glycemic index and have always worked with my dietitians on an exchange system or specific goals but I think it is great that you are giving the advice a try because the switch doesn't happen overnight... but it does end up making a big difference in the long run....

[brokenlegsofthelamb]

it does feel pretty freeing to not count calories. i always read food labels, though,
checking for amounts of fiber, fat, etc. and, yes! i can't unmemorize(great word)
the calorie count in a lot of foods either. not eating processed foods, or eating mainly healthy fats, avocados and natural peanut butter, and avoiding foods high in
sugar, are all healthy for everyone to do, whether they have an eating disorder or not. did you find your weight staying pretty normal when working with dieticans?

[UESTasha]

I have been really lucky to have had a couple AMAZING dietitians that I have worked with the past like 10 years. Honestly, it has depended on how much I was working to follow their advice and work towards the goals we set. There have been times when my body has stayed constant within its set-point and other times where because of the eating disorder it changed a lot while working with them but I will say that rationally I have had great dietitians I could really trust that were not trying to get my weight anywhere besides my natural healthy maintenance point... if I would have been following their advice 100% of the time all these years my weight probably would have just had normal small fluctuations and stayed right in the healthy range they want me in (even if at times I won't admit that is true because of the eating disorder)... They have literally been life savers for me.

[brokenlegsofthelamb]

Originally Posted by UESTasha

I have been really lucky to have had a couple AMAZING dietitians that I have worked with the past like 10 years. Honestly, it has depended on how much I was working to follow their advice and work towards the goals we set. There have been times when my body has stayed constant within its set-point and other times where because of the eating disorder it changed a lot while working with them but I will say that rationally I have had great dietitians I could really trust that were not trying to get my weight anywhere besides my natural healthy maintenance point... if I would have been following their advice 100% of the time all these years my weight probably would have just had normal small fluctuations and stayed right in the healthy range they want me in (even if at times I won't admit that is true because of the eating disorder)... They have literally been life savers for me.

i do hear about set point a lot. before i became a vegetarian, and a runner, my weight was normal bmi, wise. its about 20 lbs less now, but i feel and am very healthy, and my diet is not as restrictive. its hard to understand why... i'm so glad to hear about your progress! it is encouraging! do you have a t as well? that always seems to be part of
the "recovery" package.

[UESTasha]

Yeah... the mysterious set point... and to be honest I have made a lot of progress but have been having a few really rough days so trying to figure out how to keep them isolated... yeah I have a therapist... I have been lucky to have a few great ones of them in private practice, treatment centers, or programs as well over the years.

Been battling my eating disorder and in and out of treatment for the past almost 20 years (when I think of the house I could live in and own if I hadn't had to spend so much money on treatment ha ha)....

I try to say that I really trust them because I haven't liked some of their answers lately so I think I am trying to remind myself that they do have my best interest at heart and that I should trust them and not my eating disorder but the last week has been really hard because something has me totally triggered, frustrated, confused, and totally in my head.

I would be careful with rationalizing being below a healthy weight... I too was an athlete and I used that to hide my eating disorder behind that and until my college coaches/team/trainers confronted it people let me... yes I was an athlete and did have very demanding workouts and all because of that but I was also compulsive with my exercise and that has been a hard part of my eating disorder to battle... it was also one of my ways of purging that I downplayed because it seemed "healthy" when it was not at all healthy and very dangerous. It is all about balance and if someone does workout a lot then they need to be in-taking more nutrients to sustain the activity... just my two cents from my experience....

[brokenlegsofthelamb]

twenty years is a long time to battle an eating problem. i feel for you.
there are setbacks, and slips, and it's hard to know if we actually HAVE made progress or not. my dr. my family dr, not my psychiatrist, recommened an ABA group we have here-Anorexics and Bulemics Anonymous. i said i don't, because of what i'm following now. there's no way i restrict myself, and don't have bulemia, either. the running part is
something i've enjoyed for a few yrs. now. i don't feel i am "purging" by doing it, but i love how it makes me feel. i would like to feel the eating stuff is all behind me, because i haven't counted calories for 10 days now, but my husband is cautioning me that a habit so long practiced, doesn't get broken easily. but maybe since this is something different, i just might be free from it. yes, my weight is well below what is considered healthy, but i don't know what i should do about it. sometimes i wonder if i will have health consequences. thank you for listening to my problems. i hope i'm considerate of yours as well.

[AlabasterMoon]

Hmm, first I'd like to say that NOT counting calories is as impractical as NOT knowing the price of an item before you purchase it. Research has also shown over and over that people who count calories lose and keep the weight off. If you're one to eat homemade and/or processed, plus restaurant food, you will NEED to count calories to manage your weight. Eating disorders do not consist in your counting calories, but in what LIMITS you placed on your total daily calorie intake. As long as you are eating a healthy amount of calories daily, counting calories is HEALTHY and responsible. Therapists don't always have wise answers.

[FooZe]

Disclaimer: I've never been diagnosed with an eating disorder and as far as I know, don't currently have one.

From time to time over the years I've found myself weighing more than I really wanted to. There are two completely different ways I've responded to this at different times: (1.) weighing myself often and (at least casually) monitoring calories; or (2.) noting but "forgetting" what I weigh, going about my business, and letting my weight take care of itself.

With the second way, I've found that my weight fluctuates within a certain range (depending on things like how much exercise I get) and typically ends up somewhere in the normal range.

With the first way, especially if someone else is leaning on me to lose weight, I've found that I usually feel hungry, I'm preoccupied with when I can eat again, and my weight either stays where it is or creeps slowly upward. My impression is that for me at least, following any concrete plan such as counting calories is a slow and painful way to gain weight.

What happens when I ask myself, "Do I want to eat this?" seems to depend on where I'm coming from. If I've promised someone (doctor, family, friend) to eat a certain way, my usual answer is "Hell yes, I want to eat it, and if it weren't for my deal with (whoever), I would (mutter, grumble, , ...)" If I don't have anything of the sort hanging over me, I can listen for my own answer -- which, to my surprise, will sometimes be "Not really..." and other times, "Yes, I do."

[brokenlegsofthelamb]

Originally Posted by AlabasterMoon

Hmm, first I'd like to say that NOT counting calories is as impractical as NOT knowing the price of an item before you purchase it. Research has also shown over and over that people who count calories lose and keep the weight off. If you're one to eat homemade and/or processed, plus restaurant food, you will NEED to count calories to manage your weight. Eating disorders do not consist in your counting calories, but in what LIMITS you placed on your total daily calorie intake. As long as you are eating a healthy amount of calories daily, counting calories is HEALTHY and responsible. Therapists don't always have wise answers.

i have read and lloked up the calorie amounts in foods for almost 4 yrs. i can pretty much tell by "eyeballing" what a certain amount of food's calories would be. i don't think that that will ever change. when i go to a fast food place, i already know what's in the food i order. mostly, i bring my own food when my family and i go out. my psychiatrist helped me to lose weight about 4 yrs ago. i just got a little carried away, ha, ha! he's helped many patients with their eating problems. and, yes, i still keep a food journal which he looks at and we discuss.