Winning Friends with Salad

Hi there,
I have been reading your blog for a few weeks now and I do believe that your binges are due to the low amount of calories you are allowing yourself to eat. After having read your stats in your bio, you are tall and very active and should allow yourself more calories. I think it was yesterday that you mentioned that you scheduled an appointment with a dietitian and I was happy for you b/c I have thought for a while now that your calorie count is too low. FYI I am an Exercise Physiologist not a dietician but I do work with many people who want to lose weight and a lot of times they will have more weight loss and muscle tone development when they up their calorie intake. I will often hear people say “you want me to eat that much!” and a few months later they see why.
Thanks for reading! Keep up the good work you are doing so well, and don’t ever beat yourself up your body is just telling you to adjust something

Kate,
I have been reading your blog for a few weeks now (got it through kath’s blog) and I have to say I love it! It seems that you and I have a lot in common when it comes to issues with food and the goal to lose weight while gaining a better relationship with food and exercise. So, with that said, don’t worry about that “binge” you can get right back on the wagon and move forward. I agree with the previous poster that the “binge” may have been due to low calorie count, I know that is often my downfall as well. I can’t wait to hear about your meeting the RD. Thanks again for a great, truthful and inspiring blog! M

Kate~
I recently started reading your blog (got it from carrotsncake) and I really enjoy your posts! just wanted you to know that a binge every once in a while is pretty normal even if you typically get enough calories. it may help to increase the calories you eat for breakfast so you feel fuller throughout the day but fon’t get too down on yourself - and most importnantly, don’t starve/restrict yourself the day after a binge -best thing to do is eat normally again and start over!
thanks for your posts- they’re great!

Just to throw my two cents in (because I had similar issues when I started trying to lose weight post college) I think the calorie level aside, I think your hunger issues might also be coming from another source: not enough protein. You don’t seem to consume very much protein, and protein is quite satiating. When I first began losing weight I had a very hard time because I was eating lots of salads and grains but very little complete protein. Once I upped my protein and fat and dropped my carb consumption, I found it easier to lose weight and I had fewer hunger/binging issues.

No worries about yesterday…just count it as your “cheat day” for the week and move on!
I agree that you may be consuming too few calories. You’re much taller than me (I’m 5′2″) and with your vigorous workouts, you should definitely try eating more! I eat about 1800-1900 per day (I think…I quit counting) and work out for about an hour/day. You should easily be eating more than that since you’re taller! I’m sure your RD will be able to give you some pointers tomorrow as well!
Thanks for being honest with us…we’re all here to support you and your healthy lifestyle, so no need to feel bad!

I applaud your honesty when it comes to your food ‘binge’. I was doing well on my weight loss plan and had a ‘binge’ the other day. I was just like you, happy and about to go to the gym! I don’t know what happened but I had a bowl of cereal and something snapped… I still made it to the gym but I agree, this kind of stuff sucks when you are working so hard to lose weight.

I looked back in my calorie logs and noticed that I was averaging 1200 calories a day- the minimum of my range! I am adding things like a tbs of peanut butter to keep myself a little higher in calories and I really think we just don’t eat ‘enough’ and it leads to this overeating. Don’t worry about it and seriously, I am so proud of you for mentioning your ‘binge’! This post just made you my favorite blogger

I appreciate your honesty since I binge sometimes too. It’s embarrassing, but nice to know I’m not some freak. I am curious to see what the dietician says about your calories, let us know.

Yum. I love Indian food, but unfortunately I feel like most dishes are high in calories from the restaurants. Anything with tikka in front of it (they have it in almost all meats and veggies) is one healthy option. Most lentil dishes called DAL are also healthy dishes. But there is often a lot of cream and butter in most dishes. I can’t tell what you had from the picture, but more importantly did you like it???

Hi Kate & others,

I too have binges that leave me feeling guilty, and lately they have been happening more and more frequently. I was just wondering what you guys consider a binge. I’m sure we all have different ideas or opinions, but I have a hard time distinguishing between my body wanting/needing more food and my mind or my mouth just thinking that it wants more food. What are everyone’s thoughts or experiences?

Thank you so much for sharing that you had that slip up, because I just let it happen to me today too. Same situation, my pre-workout snack turned into 600+ calories and lots of fat. It makes me feel a lot better knowing I’m not the only one that has these slip-ups and maybe I will learn why this happens to me as well because I wasn’t that hungry and wasn’t upset or anything. Thanks for sharing and being honest, it really shows that not everyone is “perfect” and you’re not on here trying to be, so thank you for sharing and being so real, Kate

Hi Kate,

I hope today is a little easier for you. Believe me, I’ve been there and it’s so easy to get down on yourself. Enjoy your evening out, eat well, and put it out of your mind.

Ashley, I think binges are the product of two things: partly real nutrition needs, but more importantly, emotions. As Americans, most of us are not lacking major nutrients (that being said, we ALL need to be mindful!) We might crave something and respond accordingly, but binging isn’t usually about that. Sometimes your body wants something - fat, protien, carbs - and that’s real, but when you’re mindlessly eating something and then, all of sudden, you’re out of control…that’s not your body, that your mind. We binge because we’re responding to something else. For me, that something else was (I’m much better now!) anxiety and stress. It sounds like psycho babble, but when we’re busy and stressed, it sneaks up on you and you don’t even realize that the uncomfortable feeling you might have had when you stared eating was a REAL feeling. Binges are tough, but use then as a reminder to PAY ATTENTION, slow down, and see what’s really getting to you. It’s probably not food.

Whoops, that comment was meant as a response to Tina’s question, not Ashley. Sorry, I was reading too fast!

Our Beautiful Kate- More than anything, please don’t be ashamed. It happens to a lot of people who are trying to lose weight, and even a lot of people who aren’t. That day is over, love. DOn’t worry. It will not haunt you. Every time you feel yourself haunted by it, close your eyes and take a deep breath. Feel at peace. Take several deep breaths. And feel yourself coming back to peace. With the release of each breath, let that anxiety leave you completely and all of the negative thoughts associated with it. It might happen again. It might not. But what is important is that you stick by yourself through it all and remember that there are no rules for YOU to live by. Just do what makes you truly HAPPY. And trust that you will be much happier if you do not punish yourself (mentally/emotionally) by being angry/ashamed with yourself, you know? You’re an amazing person and have all of my support and love and more. Don’t forget to breathe and let it go

I think I’ve commented before, but if I haven’t…hi! I love your blog, and your approach to food, and how EVEN if you have a binge you don’t over-restrict the next day. I used to have..well..issues with eating. I wasn’t eating nearly enough calories in a day to fuel me through my days. I found myself binging all.the.time. Seriously, it was horrible, especially since I would binge to the point where I thought I would throw up unless I just went to bed. Slowly, slowly, slowly I weened myself onto more calories a day (about 1800 - 2400…and I’m not as active as you are) and the binging stopped. Now I don’t even count calories, but I eat everything in moderation and sure, sometimes I feel like my eating might be a little “off” for the day, but NEVER a binge. The best part about upping my calorie intake? My stomach’s never been flatter!

Good luck, you have an awesome blog and attitude.

I too have issues with binging. I thought I had wrapped up these issues (hadn’t binged for over 3 months), and completely coincidentally I binged yesterday too!!!! Only here is what my binge was….(clearly Lily is an alias so hence my brutal honesty), I went to whole foods and bought a bag of those uncle eddies’ peanut butter and choc. chip cookies, and ate it. Ate THE BAG people. 12 cookies at 140 cals each. Oh and then guess what? I ate two pints of ice cream (real, full fat ice cream. one was a butterfinger pint and one was brownie cookie dough). I felt so sick that I literally could barely see (b/c i had a massive sugar/fat induced headache). The thing that may be worst about all this (most impressive?) is that I only weight 110 pounds and I’m 5′5. Imagine if the grocery store boy who checked out my cookies only knew that I was about to down the whole bag. Today I weighed 112, and I truly believe I could have gained two full pounds not water weight simply because I literally ate enough calories to equal two pounds. Anyway, your honesty kicks ass, I’m sure my binge put your bunnies to shame, and yeah, just if I over-restrict I die. Another weird thing is that I too was in a really good mood and hadn’t been restricting for like a month. I just wanted the tastes in my mouth.

Kate, I don’t know if you’re going to see this because it looks pretty old, but man, you have to come over to my house sometime and have some of Ranbir’s homecooked Indian! It’s way better than Indian restaurant food. Definitely healthier, too. Also, I’m going to have to take you to have really good Indian restaurant food — a lot of places in the city are just really mediocre, spicy for spicy’s sake just like you said. Indian is a great cuisine to have up your sleeve, though, if you like eating vegetarian.