food issues...

[strongchick]

I've read zandria72's thread but I didn't respond because I have just the opposite problem...

...I have no craving for junk food at all, and I hate eating any hi GI carbs except for rice, potatoes and bananas.

i'm a little worried that my nutritional balance is not right...I've been dieting for so long (going on 11 months now) that my body rejects foods most people eat....

...I can't eat Chinese food (egg foo young gave me the worst bloating and digestive 'issues'). I ate a calzone once and it just ruined my energy and I bloated for almost two days after.

The only things I eat are lean meats and veggies (all kinds), protein bars or Designer Protein drink with occasional rice or bread or potato so my diet doesn't stagnate. I consider it "cheating" when I eat Sushi once or twice a week. Pasta, even in small amounts makes me feel heavy too.

It's like I've taken one food obsession and traded it for another. Can a person eat this kind of limited diet forever and have no side effects? Will my body get so used to this eating that I'll no longer be able to lose fat if I want? I think it was Sassy69 that said she dieted this way for too long.

Should I take a break and make myself eat a few plates of pasta, or is rice/potato/bread enough for carb cycling?

Or do I have nothing to worry about?

 

[wavywoman]

similar problem here

I have no answers for you, but I have a similar kind of "food obsession" and sometimes I wonder if I'm headed in the wrong direction!
Unlike you, I'm not really super-conscious of carbs, etc., but I'm a die-hard calorie counter. Usually I try to limit myself to 1700-1600 at the most, but lately I've been eating under 1400 somewhat consistently, and I have a hard time trying to get myself to eat more. It's like I tell myself "Your workouts are getting harder, you're moving slower, your brain is getting foggier, you haven't had a natural period since January, you need to eat more" but then a little voice goes off in my head and says "BUT when you ate 1800-2000 this last winter you GAINED eight or ten pounds of flab!" I'm about 5'4", 110-115lbs, I'm sure my body fat isn't as low as most of the posters (about 17% or 18% I'm guessing). I was 120 last Jan, but I felt like a cow since I was the weight I am now or lower last July. I also over-do cardio, about an hour on the elliptical 6/7 days or more. I'm totally not into increasing food or decreasing exercise, because I have a totally irrational fear that I'll gain fat, reverse all the good I've done with my body. I'm not really focused on losing weight, though.
Right now I have this real aversion to any food I deem "high calorie". If someone offers fried chicken I'm totally repulsed-- any fatty buttery foods, or foods like tons of pasta, make me all bloated and I feel nasty afterwards. Right now I know I'm going to have to eat some potato salad tonight and it sort of freaks me out. I can't eat more than 400 calories at a time without feeling gross physically and out-of-control mentally. I wonder if this is a good or bad thing.

 

[Sassy69]

Welcome to the part of body building (or healthy lifestyle - whichever applies) that is a lifestyle. You literally have to adapt a life view of it. But it often goes against accepted practices - for example the group at the office who goes out to eat for lunch and end up discussing major decisions during these sessions. You skip out because "lunch time" doesnt' occur at the same time as "meal 3" and they like going to the italian buffet and you run screaming from pasta. No fair. People look at you like you are nuts as you walk around with your liter bottle of water and cooler full of protein mix, chicken & veggies, etc. but don't think twice about making a "run for the Border" or stopping in at the Golden Arches for a second Big Mac.

So as we discuss our diets, carb cycling, protein/carb/fat ratios, etc. of course we end up becoming hyper-aware of our food intake. Almost to the point of either being obsessed with food or being scared of food. Too much or not enough, the wrong kind, the wrong time, etc. etc.

God love those who don't have obscene carb cravings or dive for food as a comfort buddy, but I'm not one of them. This lifestyle a change in eating habits, but also a change in behavior. I can eat the same food for 6 weeks at a time without a second thought - this is the optimal type of fuel that my body needs to run and achieve my goals. But then one day comes and I just can't look at another chicken and start drooling as I drive by the local Dairy Queen.

I think it takes two things to successfully make these changes and have them stick - the decision to make the change and not let food control you and then the effort to find a way to fit this change into your lifestyle.

Or at least that's what I keep telling my self

 

[keiko]

This is why I'm sold on Isocaloric eating. I can eat this way forever--33% of fats, protein, carbs. I can eat a side dish of pasta (only Americans eat it as an entree, anyway.) I can eat butter or olive oil on my bread. I can eat dessert. It really works. I try not to eat processed, prepared food, including protein bars (I do use protein powder).

But, I don't belive that not craving junk food or KFC etc is anything to worry about. I love being American, but we have some of the worst dietary habits of any developed nation. Maybe because my husband's a chef, I tend to be pretty strict about what goes in our mouths in my house. I only buy organic, locally-grown, in-season, etc. When we travel in the US, it's very hard to get the same quality of local food that we can in Europe.

I think food and eating are sensual, social pleasures. but I don't want to eat at lousy chain restaurants--I would rather carry my cooler and eat real food.

As some of you regulars may know, I started here at 170 and I'm at 145 now--and I lowered my BF% from about 30% to 19. (I'm 48) I knew how to exercise, but I used to eat low-carb. I really think Isocaloric dieting made my fat-loss more successful and I know it was a helluva lot less painful.

 

[chabbah]

Keiko...More About Isocaloric?

Keiko, thanks for the info again about the isocaloric diet. I've been very curious about the 33/33/33 ratio. I'll be competing next week and am starting to think about a post-contest/maintenance program to keep from losing all of my gains. Generally speaking, I've done very well with high protein/low carbs until I start to eat higher carbs. I rebound like you wouldn't believe. So I'm wondering if isocaloric might work for me. Advice?

 

[keiko]

Here's the link to Dan Duchaine's rationale for Isocaloric.
http://home.earthlink.net/~vinnyi/dieting/diets.htm


This is still not any huge amount of carbs (obviously it's higher than Atkins,e tc.) and it's higher in fat than most other weight-loss schemes.

I think it works well for preserving gains--I'm still making strength gains. I have 1 cheat meal a week, as well but I'm more like to cheat with fat than with carbs.

I'm not knowledgeabout enough about physiology, etc. to guarantee that this will work. I do know that after low-carbing, you have to add carbs ve-r-r-r-y slowly.

 

[AJD]

chabbah - what are you competing in next week??

 

[BigEasy]

Have you ever been tested for food allergies?

StrongChick,
What you described with the loss of energy, water retention, and general malaise sounds more like a food allergy. I wonder if perhaps you are one of those people that are sensitive to wheat glutens, yeasts, or other common starches?

It might be worth getting a screening done just to answer that question. You will need to eat 'clean' for about two weeks before hand with no ECA or clen in your system four days prior to the testing too. Don't be surprised if you are sensitive to yeasts or molds based upon your description of what happens when you eat carbs. Some people cannot eat some whole fruits and and beans for the same reason.

Also, with regards to the GI and carbos. Pasta IS A REFINED CARB, unless it is made with unbleached whole wheat and includes the bran. White rice is a refined carb too, just as is almost every kind of commercially available bread. The better carbs are fruits (whole if you can eat them, peeled if not) beans and peas, dark green leafys, broccoli, cauliflower, squashes, (low sugar summer varieties are better) and yams/sweet potatoes. Fruits to avoid or severly restrict are the sugary grapes, rains, plums. bananas, and most melons. Avoid all fruit juices unless you need an insulin boost for a long time because fructose tends to have that affect.

Anyway, you don't sound like you are getting too obsessive because you are questioning yourself. And you admit to trying carbs without getting sick just from the thought. Keep up the good work.

BE

 

[chabbah]

To AJD

I'll be competing in a figure show. My first contest since I did a BB show two years ago. I'm not sure I'm ready, but I guess you always feel you can do better when you get down to the wire. Anyway, I'll be happy to get it over with.

 

[X.X]

Stronchick and Wavy:
I know that when I get used to eating certain foods or eating very clean, then when I go back and eat, say, the calzone, it does feel 'heavy' to me, but only if I have a big meal, so I guess that makes sense. Also, like Strongchick, I don't want junk food when I haven't eaten it for a long time. But I always try to eat a lot of different foods and not limit myself that way for a long time.

I do not feel gross about eating any particular food though. That worries me a little that you feel this way. I'm not strict about watching exactly how many calories I eat. I have an idea, but I know that moderation is important.

I agree with Keiko about food being a sensual and social pleasure.
1400 calories is not enough and you know that in the long run you are cheating your body, slowing your metabolism, and limiting your nutrition. Your body needs to be well-fed. If it's not, it also affects your mind and can lead to a sort of malaise or even depression/obsession with food, which of course makes it all worse and more desperate.

We can be so hard on ourselves. I used to be bulimic/anorexic. I'm 5'3" and weighed only 90 pounds for a while there (that was about 12 years ago). But I know now that all that obsession and severe limitations only served as self-destruction. It did nothing for my body, my mind, or my well-being. I weigh about 120-125 now and eat about 1700-2100 calories a day. I want to be healthy when I'm an eighty year old woman, so I do what I need to make sure that my quality of life (and sanity) takes precedence over my level of body fat. Not to say that I don't work hard! I lift weights and run regularly, but still, there's only so much I'm willing to do for that ideal body. I can't outsmart it! I can force it to do what I want for only so long, then it resists like crazy. Hey, my body is normal! Of course it won't listen to my obsessions. It's trying to protect itself.

Okay, I know this was long, but I do worry about other women suffering needlessly when I know you are so beautiful and so fine the way you are. Wanting to improve ourselves, I think, is a form of self-respect, but so is self-acceptance.