A lot has changed for me this past month, the biggest change would be working again so now I have a wage. Work is boring and sometimes stressful due to being around too many people so I think to combat that stress I’ve been going to the store at a certain time and buying nutrigrains and heating them in the microwave, I eat about four of them at work and the remainder at home. I have an obvious eating disorder I don’t want to gain any weight so I’ve been on a strict diet of rice and bean every day for the past year. The diet didn’t come about because of my ED it came about because it was the cheapest option for me but now even though I can cook other things I don’t really want to change anything, except now after adding nutrigrain to my diet.
I don’t feel that great, I’m very tired now when I used to have a lot of energy, I want to sleep more and stay in bed and not get out, I feel really down, I keep pinching my tummy and don’t like how I look even though there is probably no change visually I just feel like there is. I don’t know if this is depression from work or depression from adding bad sugars to my diet, the stress from the job makes me eat more and want to just dump my diet or whatever it is and just start eating whatever I want, that’s what a lot of my coworkers have done because I guess they’re depressed too, my supervisor told me he used to be active then he just started eating more once he started working here, I feel like that has stuck and I’m now just going off on a binge of nutrigrains.
How do I stop eating sugar
I had this rule when I became a mod that I didn't want to let people glorify disordered eating. There was an early post about ACAB (all calories are bastards) that didn't sit right with me. To that end, my response to you would be addressing the disordered eating instead of tips to eliminate sugar. Cause cigarettes and coffee would probably do it, but that's not what we're promoting on the fitness board even in this case for which I have, in a practical sense, abdicated responsibility.
Though rice and beans compliment each other to create a complete essential amino acids profile, I wouldn't say that eating those alone would create a paragon of athletic performance. I would assert, probably unopposed, that your food insecurity contributed negatively to your health. So maybe you got used to it, you were already vulnerable to not feeling great. Perhaps when your diet changed a little, the sensation was big because you were already walking that direction. It would be presumptive of me to make any claims about the mechanism - like assuming the big dump of sugar was a lot for your weakened digestive system.
My prescription would be to focus more on your athleticism than your aesthetics. Clearly the oversight of a therapist and a nutritionist would be good for your health, mental and physical. If you had a modest layer of fat that you could rely on for fuel for running, but you could run 20 miles at a time, your athleticism would be superior even if you perceived your aesthetics more negatively. That capacity would indicate a healthier body. If you address the lethargy with foods like fibrous, green vegetables, lean meats (or veg equivalent), and oils+nuts+butter you would feel better.
This would mean taking responsibility for your diet and exercise - meal prepping, calorie counting, and cardio/resistance training. The pay off would be energy and capacity that would be opposite of feeling lethargic like you don't want to get out of bed. And this would also be asking yourself to sidestep the impulse that no doubt contributes to an ED - wanting to simply be skinny. The intention would be to fuel you for athletic activity. Not keep you as skinny as you can bare on a restrictive diet
To that end, we have resources in the sidebar. R*ddit has a comprehensive guide and we also have the comprehensive guide from... another origin. Either of those would get you ready to go find a cook book you like and double the recipe and freeze some for meal prepping.
Yep it does that to me every time.
You can get sugars from grapefruits and oranges without destroying yourself. All the plant matter really helps.
generally sugary breads etc will just annihilate me too. Sugary drinks are generally verboten. I'd rather rub pumice on my teeth. Unless I have a toothbrush on me lol. (Ok maybe this is melodramatic if you also have some water to rinse it out, it can't be that bad) If I make a smoothie or something I add fiber powder to it & I brush after
I have an eating disorder, too. I think a good way to start doing something about it is to focus on just one good meal rather than trying to tackle the eating disorder itself. If you look at it as a looming thing that hangs over your entire life then it's going to be very difficult to will yourself to fight it, but one good meal? That might be more achievable.
I haven't succeeded with this, FYI, but the advice might serve you better than it has served me!
Sugar isn't bad in of itself, it's just carbs. The problem is if you are eating excess carbs all the time and never converting them into ATP. Like if you are finding yourself eating 3000-4000 calories a day, that is going to cause problems within a couple of months. Fortunately, limiting yourself to 2000-3000 will generally be enough to maintain without additional exercise, as even just sitting around doing stuff burns about 1500 calories a day.
Additionally the big key is to either eat more protein or vegetables, and still eat until you are full, but make sure it is mostly those foods as they are less calorie dense. You will find that you get fuller faster on those diets, even if they are not as 'cheap' overall.
What definitely helps is getting healthy snack foods, like carrot sticks or even salami. Sure nitrates aren't good for you, but overall salt is preferable to sugar. Also, drinking water when you are hungry helps a lot, and having cold water around is fantastic.
Otherwise yeah, depression is tough to beat. Highly recommend medication if you can afford or get it.
Sugar isn’t bad in of itself, it’s just carbs.
What makes you say that? Complex carbohydrates will burn 35% of their calories as heat during digestion. Sugars only 2-10%, it's like drinking predigested food. It causes diabetes & wrecks your intestines. You can still get then from fibrous fruit and in moderation, like tea. It's not that bad but crazy to say carbs are just the problem imho.
Plus many complex carbs come with fiber, like durum, potatoes, and beans. You can get very ripped just eating that stuff. See the world record vegan bodybuilder.
tl;dr - balanced but large amt of complex carbs and proteins with a small amount of fats emphasizing omega 3s (this seems to have helped but who knows) fixed my lingering coldness and anxiety
Vegetables and citrus are fine, oranges and apples aren't even considered to be a fast-break by most people
Oh also potassium is really important for your brain, heart, and muscles LMAO, eat a bag of cabbage or spinach every 2 days. Or like 5 potatoes a day mix and match with other stuff 💀
Because most athletes and body builders eat sugar like mfs, but they are burning through it with their workouts. It's not ideal, but stressing about it isn't the issue. Sugar isn't the problem, it's working through the carbs that is the problem. And as you've pointed out, complex carbs are easier to work through.
However, for someone starting out who isn't looking to get ripped, basic calorie counting will make a night and day difference, and then you can move from there towards more specific dieting and looking for a specific body-type. Hell, even just cutting pop, beer and white bread does wonders for most basic Americans, you don't even have to cut candy unless you are eating like a bar a day.
it’s working through the carbs that is the problem. And as you’ve pointed out, complex carbs are easier to work through.
No I meant sugars are the problem. But in terms of lowering the total % of calories coming from fats+carbs to <=protein calories yes carbs are the problem for most people. Also listed contexts where they're fine. Complex carbs like in chickpeas are harder to work through and yield like 30% less calories, also you have to chew them which is good for your jaw & facial muscles.:bateman-ontological:
high end endurance athletes like rowers and runners eat a lot of carbs upwards of 300g but I see people banking energy using complex carbs. I don't know anyone who drinks sugar while working out. I take oranges with me as a snack if I'm going to bike really far.
For fats specifically for like a huge ass super muscly but not scary looking dude you take up to 55g of fats 150+ grams of protein & carbs each typically. (Protein going up based on physique really and carbs being there for energy of course, because the body loves to eat muscles alive unfortunately protein is a great energy source)
Btw vegan protein powder is cheaper
I know alot of body builders, basketball, football and rugby players who, through their 20's, would basically eat a bag of candy a day. Now, mind you, they were also all on junk, but the point was that they were eating like shit and seeing great results regardless. Now, that can't work in the long run, nor is it sustainable, but for your average American who isn't looking to get yoked or cut, simple calorie reduction will get a world of help, and worrying exactly what kind of food you are eating is way more work than it's worth and not sustainable unless adopted in small forming habits.
If you really get into the science of it all, pretty much everything we eat is bad for us, with processed food being worse over-all, but it's also unclear exactly how bad it is, because human double blind trials are difficult. The only simple solution is and always has been calories in/calories out.
All of that stuff you are talking about is true, but you are deep in the fucking weeds right now, which is super unhelpful. For god's sake you are talking about facial muscle crap like some sort of /r9k nerd. Come back to the fairway. What this person seemed to be looking for was simple shit to do to feel better, not carb/fat ratios. That is the advice I was providing.
Eating that many nutrigrain bars in a day may be unhealthy in the long term because of the sugar content. You may also be deficient something in your diet and your body is trying to get that from the nutrigrain bars as it kind of sounds like your rice and beans diet is a little too restrictive. Maybe you might be interested in taking a multivitamin? Those can improve your energy levels and mood a lot if your diet isn't complete.
I would recommend not being too hard on yourself - it's not a morally bad thing to eat what you want to as an adult. It sounds like the change in energy could be from your diet, but if you've been spending a lot more mental energy worrying and ruminating that could account for it too. If you can, find something fun to do that you feel like you haven't had the energy to do, and see if you can do it - even if you can't do a great job or do it for a long time (like art, reading a book, going for a walk, watching a special movie or TV show, etc). Give yourself something to occupy your time with other than sleeping, pinching your belly and worrying about eating a box of nutrigrain bars. Breaking the mental cycle of rumination and self punishment is as simple as making your brain do something else sometimes.
Good luck! :juche-rose:
