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  #46   ^
Old Sat, Apr-30-11, 11:05
Jonahsafta Jonahsafta is offline
Senior Member
Posts: 1,304
 
Plan: Atkins
Stats: 248/149.2/148 Female 69 inches
BF:
Progress: 99%
Location: Las Vegas
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There is an art and a scienceto maintaining...a dance ...a mindset..the more peace and self awareness..the more success..jmho
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  #47   ^
Old Sat, Apr-30-11, 15:23
SilverEm SilverEm is offline
Senior Member
Posts: 1,081
 
Plan: LC RPAH/FailSafe
Stats: 137/136/136 Female 67"
BF:
Progress: 100%
Location: Maintenance since 2001
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Jonahsafta, you put that very nicely.
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  #48   ^
Old Sun, May-01-11, 09:12
WereBear's Avatar
WereBear WereBear is offline
Senior Member
Posts: 14,602
 
Plan: EpiPaleo/Primal/LowOx
Stats: 220/125/150 Female 67
BF:
Progress: 136%
Location: USA
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Jonahsafta
Its more than just the intellect..........the chemistry....there is an emotional part of us that needs to be addressed as well....a part of us that even chemistry cant explain....biochemistry doesnt provide all the answers.....just some helpful ones..


I have to say that for me, at least, I always thought of it as a emotional problem, I wrestled with it as an emotional problem, and I conquered it as an emotional problem; and I stopped binging/starving. In my early twenties.

However, I spent the next two decades still struggling to find a way of eating that wasn't a freakin' constant struggle. The answer lay in chemistry.

As Hutch said:

Quote:
When the two halves of your brain are linked effectively the control of impulsivity, the urge to do something you know is fundamentally wrong for you, is reduced because the "off switch" operates BEFORE you have a chance to debate mentally about whether to give in to temptation or not.


While I was aware of the emotional pressures pushing me to eat; it was because of chemistry. Eating sugar and wheat has a narcotic effect on my brain. This is science!

Eliminating the sugar and wheat eliminated the emotion. And the emotional struggle.

It's not a character issue. It's a biochemical issue.

Yes, mentally, I have some grooved impulses that makes me think of eating to solve stress. But I no longer have a section of my brain jumping up and down and yelling YES YES GIVE ME THE DRUG that would override my common sense. I've been back on track for a year now, and I'm attributing that to mental factors such as better understanding of how food affects my brain.

When I leave certain foods alone, they leave me alone.
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  #49   ^
Old Sun, May-01-11, 09:17
Judynyc's Avatar
Judynyc Judynyc is offline
Attitude is a Choice
Posts: 30,111
 
Plan: No sugar, flour, wheat
Stats: 228.4/209.0/170 Female 5'6"
BF:stl/too/mch
Progress: 33%
Location: NYC
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Quote:
Originally Posted by werebear
It's not a character issue. It's a biochemical issue.

So this means that you think that emotional issues are a character flaw?
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  #50   ^
Old Sun, May-01-11, 09:27
SilverEm SilverEm is offline
Senior Member
Posts: 1,081
 
Plan: LC RPAH/FailSafe
Stats: 137/136/136 Female 67"
BF:
Progress: 100%
Location: Maintenance since 2001
Default

WereBear, what a great post. I really enjoyed reading it.

I, too, have found that eating so that the brain is getting the nourishment it needs, that what used to seem an emotional trigger to eat, just isn't there anymore.

I have found Dr. Emily Deans' blog, Evolutionary Psychiatry, quite helpful in thinking through what nourishes the brain, and balances hormones, etc.

I see more and more posts on forums about folks finding a food plan and supplements that work very well for them and they report that what they used to think were things that were emotional "troubles", if you'll forgive the word choice, are all just plain chemical reactions. The troubles just go away when the right nourishment is there.

Dr. Kurt Harris' recommendations, at his blog, Archevore, and Dr. Peter Dobromylskyj's blog, Hyperlipid, have also been of great help to me.

It is grand to be able to eat those things which are good brain nourishment. It makes life calm and enjoyable.

Best wishes to all.
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  #51   ^
Old Sun, May-01-11, 09:41
WereBear's Avatar
WereBear WereBear is offline
Senior Member
Posts: 14,602
 
Plan: EpiPaleo/Primal/LowOx
Stats: 220/125/150 Female 67
BF:
Progress: 136%
Location: USA
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Judynyc
So this means that you think that emotional issues are a character flaw?


No, not at all.

I'm saying revamping our mental state won't do any good if we are not addressing the biochemical feedback that created that mental state in the first place.

I got a grip on my binging by recognizing I had developed my eating disorder as a reaction to a stressful adolescence. I binged because it was the only tool I had to make my brain temporarily feel better due to a situation I couldn't control.

When I got out on my own and could control my environment, I came up with better ways of handling my stress; and I didn't need so many, either. Making my environment better was something I could control.

But my brain still had the old reflexes that had been shaped by stress eating. I can't control the way my brain works. I can only use it to change the reflexes.

I meant my statement to be a warning against attributing our emotional/food issues to character: I don't have willpower, I'm weak, I must still have these emotional problems or why else can I not resist xx?

Having emotional issues are simply a byproduct of having emotions, and I'm all for having emotions. But using food as an emotional handling tool is a two-edged sword that can really hurt us if we don't do it right. Thinking our food issues are all emotional ones is one such trap.

Confusing what we control, and what we can't, will continue to cause us problems.
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  #52   ^
Old Sun, May-01-11, 11:27
Judynyc's Avatar
Judynyc Judynyc is offline
Attitude is a Choice
Posts: 30,111
 
Plan: No sugar, flour, wheat
Stats: 228.4/209.0/170 Female 5'6"
BF:stl/too/mch
Progress: 33%
Location: NYC
Default

Thank you for explaining your point of view, WereBear.

I think that the "striving for" is what has worked best for me. I am not now nor will I ever be a perfect person. I do the very best I can with the tools I have. I strive to be a better person.

I now have 5 1/2 years of maintenance under my belt. I have built a food plan for myself that works well for me.
I can still easily be triggered emotionally by certain things in my life and I strive to be better at not reacting. I put myself back into psychotherapy to help me do this.

Having the understanding about what sugar, any flour and wheat can do to me, I do avoid them. I do think that there'd be a lot more successful weight loss, and maintenance , if/when people would get over the shame associated with emotional/compulsive overeating. The shame is, IMO, what keeps this such a hidden subject.
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  #53   ^
Old Sun, May-01-11, 14:20
freckles's Avatar
freckles freckles is offline
Senior Member
Posts: 8,730
 
Plan: Atkins Maintenance
Stats: 213/141/150 Female 5'4 1/2"
BF:
Progress: 114%
Location: Dallas, TX
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Quote:
Originally Posted by SilverEm

I see more and more posts on forums about folks finding a food plan and supplements that work very well for them and they report that what they used to think were things that were emotional "troubles", if you'll forgive the word choice, are all just plain chemical reactions. The troubles just go away when the right nourishment is there.


This has been my experience. When I eat high carb it spirals into me being very moody, angry and eventually I go into major depression. This is the main reason that dh supports my eating lc even though ultimately he doesn't think it's a healthy diet for most people. The change in my moods is swift and drastic when I get back to lc....so hoping I can just stay there this time.
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  #54   ^
Old Sun, May-01-11, 17:16
Jonahsafta Jonahsafta is offline
Senior Member
Posts: 1,304
 
Plan: Atkins
Stats: 248/149.2/148 Female 69 inches
BF:
Progress: 99%
Location: Las Vegas
Default

Ok I gotta threadjack a minute here....I made i t to 90% of wt goal...I can post on the weekly weigh in for pre and maintainers!!!! I cant contain myself...rofl emotionally and chemically
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  #55   ^
Old Sun, May-01-11, 20:10
Judynyc's Avatar
Judynyc Judynyc is offline
Attitude is a Choice
Posts: 30,111
 
Plan: No sugar, flour, wheat
Stats: 228.4/209.0/170 Female 5'6"
BF:stl/too/mch
Progress: 33%
Location: NYC
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by Jonahsafta
Ok I gotta threadjack a minute here....I made i t to 90% of wt goal...I can post on the weekly weigh in for pre and maintainers!!!! I cant contain myself...rofl emotionally and chemically

Yayyy! Welcome Back!!!
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  #56   ^
Old Tue, May-17-11, 14:04
Jonahsafta Jonahsafta is offline
Senior Member
Posts: 1,304
 
Plan: Atkins
Stats: 248/149.2/148 Female 69 inches
BF:
Progress: 99%
Location: Las Vegas
Default

Whats the best advice a maintainer gave you or you read on this board?
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  #57   ^
Old Wed, Jun-08-11, 23:10
Jonahsafta Jonahsafta is offline
Senior Member
Posts: 1,304
 
Plan: Atkins
Stats: 248/149.2/148 Female 69 inches
BF:
Progress: 99%
Location: Las Vegas
Default

bump.....this is worth a bump
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  #58   ^
Old Tue, Jun-21-11, 10:05
Jonahsafta Jonahsafta is offline
Senior Member
Posts: 1,304
 
Plan: Atkins
Stats: 248/149.2/148 Female 69 inches
BF:
Progress: 99%
Location: Las Vegas
Default

bump bump
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  #59   ^
Old Sun, Sep-11-11, 18:59
pengu1's Avatar
pengu1 pengu1 is offline
Senior Member
Posts: 826
 
Plan: Maintenance since 6/08
Stats: 250/189/195 Male 70 inches
BF:Not so much.
Progress: 111%
Location: Sacramento, NorCal.
Default

Bump....Bump.
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  #60   ^
Old Fri, Sep-07-12, 17:05
Aradasky's Avatar
Aradasky Aradasky is offline
Senior Member
Posts: 10,116
 
Plan: Atkins
Stats: 199/000/000 Female 5"3'
BF:
Progress: 100%
Location: Southern California
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by deirdra
I do agree with his 5 key points for maintenance:
tracking calories
tracking body weight
planning meals
tracking fat
measuring amount of food on plate

By my difference is that I make sure I get plenty of fat & calories. Skimping on fat & calories always led to my downfall in the past. Since I use software & have all my usual foods listed with net carbs in the dictionary, the measuring & tracking takes little extra time.


I find learning all I can is important for maintaining. Not being afraid of "trying" but doing it in control. I will follow the 5 key points when ever possible.

BUMP.....
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