Starve Binge Dieting Cycle

This started for me in my late teens early twenties when I first started dieting. I've been on all kinds of diets but my own downfall has been restricting what I eat by eating very small amounts of the wrong foods, especially on days where I want a glass of wine or three in order to stick to plan. It seems so simple now, getting the most amount of food for the least calories by choosing wisely 5% mince instead of just lean, removing fat and having a third of a plate of speed food. But, until that lighbulb moment clicked on and started shining I'd eating small portions of high calorie foods! I got to target, but then what? I'd add more points, calories or drop the shakes choosing treats in order to try to maintain and fell easily back into bad habits. The problem I find is when you've been restricting your food intake and let go of the reigns a bit with treat food the bloody horse takes off and you're galloping back down the road to binge central!



At the time you don't think you are starving yourself, you're genuinely not interested in anything that's not on plan and can easily skip a meal or eat very little because you're focused, your goal is in sight and you're losing weight at the rate of knots! By restricting the food intake you can get the wine in and you hit target!

I initially resisted Slimming World because I thought portion control was my whole issue and thought by giving me free reign to eat as much of certain foods as I wanted would send me spiraling out of control and end up with me being bigger than ever.

For me once the control has gone and I've gone back to eating without counting points or calories the weight starts to pile back on, and it's then really difficult to snap back into "starve" mode to get it back under control. It was at this point I decided I might as well give Slimming World a go! I'd got to target, I'd started putting weight back on and thought the way I'm going it's not going to make any difference.

The first week I went for it with everything, all on plan but let myself eat as much as I wanted, and couldn't believe it when I lost 3 1/2 lb! By about week three the novelty of a cooked breakfast and huge lunch, and a huge dinner had begun to wear off and gradually over the weeks the meal sizes reduced as I settled into the plan and the weight came off.

I had tried a few time in the past that "diet" where you say to yourself I'll just eat what I want and eventually if I'm not restricting myself I'll naturally lose weight as I wont be craving anything. You can probably guess how that worked out for me.....not very well. This is the closest thing I think I'll get to it! If you're realistic and you struggle with your weight you have to restrict some things. It's a simple calories in versus calories out sum at the end of the day, but if you can still enjoy normal everyday foods just tweaking things here and there and watching out for synned food and your HEXA and HEXB, which is't really difficult then it's as close as I think you can get to that ideal.

I love the way that Slimming World educates you about food, I love the way they and their members are so inventive. If there's something you love, and miss you can bet there's a Slimming Worlded version of it somewhere on the internet, and nine times out of ten it's good enough to satisfy! I love you can feed the family the same things as you're eating and how they encourage you to eat normal every day foods and cook from scratch. It doesn't feel like a diet in the traditional sense of the word, but a re-education to learning a new normal way of eating and a normal relationship with food.

I'm sure I'll be in for some up's and downs as I try to stay at target but I feel like I've already made some important changes and am learning a new normal way of eating!

Check out here to see the kinds of things you eat on Slimming World!