Help! I think I eat too much...

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Help! I think I eat too much...

Postby fruitfulveganmama » Wed Nov 11, 2015 11:37 am

Hi everyone! I'm hoping some of you more seasoned McDougallers can help me with a problem. I eat too much. Seriously, I do. I've been like this for as long as I can remember. I am not a large person, I am 5'1" and right now my current weight is 126 pounds (my highest was 160 about 10 years ago). My lowest weight was 114 pounds, which I managed to get down to while eating a 100% fruit-based raw vegan diet (a la 80-10-10). I know that way of eating is not recommended here, however, I will admit that I love eating that way, and I always feel my best when eating 100% raw...however, it is simply not sustainable for me. The longer that I eat raw, the more fruit I crave, the more expensive it gets, and then we can't afford to do it any longer. The longest I have been raw was five consecutive months, and that's when I got down to 114 pounds.

When I'm not eating raw, I'm eating the regular McDougall diet. I absolutely always gain weight on the regular McDougall plan. Not because the diet doesn't work, but because I am an emotional over-eater. The regular McDougall food tastes so good that I can't stop eating it. So this time, after my last attempt at being 100% raw, I have been eating the MWL McDougall plan. The weight is slowly coming off (for now) but I know that I simply eat too much food and I am just so tired of being unhappy with the extra fat on my body. I want to get down to a slim and trim weight, and finally stop worrying about food and weight and all that mess. But I don't see how it's ever going to happen if I can't stop over eating. Here is a typical day for me:

Meal 1: 2 bananas, 1 cup blueberries
Meal 2: 6 small to medium potatoes and 1 pound cooked kale
Snack: raw cauliflower, baby carrots, cucumber slices, celery and 1/2 cup salsa
Snack: 1 apple, 1 banana, 2 rice cakes dipped in fat free tomato sauce
Meal 3: 2 cups brown rice, 1 medium sweet potato, 1.5 cups sautéed or steamed random veggies (zucchini, yellow squash, bell peppers, onions, broccoli, etc.) or a salad. Sometimes there will be beans in those sautéed veggies, too.
Snack: 1 large bowl popcorn (about 1/2 cup corn kernels) and 1 pear

I'm breastfeeding my 6 month old so I'm hungry all the time. I eat more when I'm stressed. I season all my food with a little bit of salt, nutritional yeast, balsamic vinegar, and Braggs or soy sauce. I understand that this much fruit is not typically on the MWL program, however, I am more following the guidelines that Jeff Novick puts out regarding eating the lower calorie dense foods and when I tried to replace all my fruit with low calorie vegetables, I was almost losing my mind being so ravenous. Please help! What am I doing wrong? Why am I so hungry all the time?

One other thing to mention is that I don't drink enough water. I often forget to drink until I'm eating a meal, then I drink because I am thirsty from the food, but then I get pretty bad acid reflux. I have dealt with acid reflux since I was a baby, and my previous doctors suspected an esophageal hernia. Sometimes I wonder if I'm perceiving thirst as hunger.

Anyway, any advice or suggestions from you long termers would be so appreciated. Thank you in advance!
Ethical vegetarian since October 2003. Vegan since April 2011. Low-fat high-carb fruit n' starch-loving vegan since March 2012. Wife to vegan husband and mama to beautiful & healthy vegan girls aged 3.5 years and 6 months! :)
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Re: Help! I think I eat too much...

Postby Lesliec1 » Fri Nov 13, 2015 9:47 pm

I think you should go back to basics and review the guidelines of the MWL plan. Eat less fruit and make sure that half of your food is veggies. Then if you are still eating a lot of starch, that's OK.
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Re: Help! I think I eat too much...

Postby veliboic » Sat Nov 14, 2015 9:28 pm

I don't think that sounds like too much food. Have you plugged the info into something like cronometer to see how many calories that is? I would think you are also using a lot if you are breastfeeding as well.

I did 80-10-10 for awhile. I was one of the few people that actually gained weight doing it, although otherwise I felt good. But it was difficult to feel full. I followed the advice of just eating big meals to get in enough calories and I think my stomach capacity definitely got bigger. Unfortunately, it was still at the same capacity when I quit 801010 (remained vegan) and so I kept eating to fill that bigger space, more than I did before I went raw. For me it took a long time to feel good on a smaller volume of food. I can still eat the biggest bowl of veggies anyone's seen, but that's not every meal. Maybe some of these issues are going on for you?
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Re: Help! I think I eat too much...

Postby ninagogo » Wed Dec 02, 2015 10:36 am

HI!
I also am an emotional overeater, and for sure eat too much. I am also breastfeeding, which really compounds the problem (especially in that first year of breastfeeding! Ravenous!). I don't have a ton of advice for you, just wanted to let you know I am in the same boat, and also that I do think it is normal. The body likes a little extra cushion weight while breastfeeding (at least mine does). I was never one of those "breastfeeding just burns off the fat" kind of women. :)
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Re: Help! I think I eat too much...

Postby ninagogo » Wed Dec 02, 2015 10:45 am

You know what I am thinking though going over your meal plan...is that you don't have starches first thing in the morning. Maybe you get ravenous because you start the day with fruits and then your body craves more fruit to make up for not having starches, which are digested slower than fruits. Maybe for a day, try to replace fruits with starch and see how you feel. When I start the day with oats I usually am MUCH more satiated and less likely to binge than if I start the day with fruit.
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Re: Help! I think I eat too much...

Postby Roni10 » Wed Dec 02, 2015 3:06 pm

I am also a big or high volume eater. I eat more than my husband (I'm 5.1, he is 6.4) but of course I eat fat free wholefoods. I hate to eat so much, because after a meal I feel so huge, but if I don't eat a lot I don't ever feel satisfied. In order not to gain, I eat lower density foods, no fruit (I always bloat on it) and lots of vegis to complement my meals. If you are still not gaining, or even losing a little bit on the MWL plan, why stressing so much on the time frame? I am sure you will get there, but you are not starving yourself and being miserable in the process. By the way, personally I don't think you eat too much
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Re: Help! I think I eat too much...

Postby Jenna » Wed Dec 02, 2015 9:13 pm

I also had trouble at times losing the last few pounds while breastfeeding, especially when I was mostly staying home. With my youngest, I only worked part time until he was 8 months and then I went back full time. As soon as I went back to work full time, I lost those last 10 lbs quickly. I am pretty sure the reason is less frequent eating while working. When I am at home and always hungry because of breastfeeeding, I am always eating. But when I am at work, I am busy and my mind is off of food. I still eat A LOT, just not all day long. This seems to work for me. I am a university professor, and I have also noticed that I tend to gain a few pounds over the summers, when my schedule is more flexible and I am home more. Can you try cutting back on the number of meals and snacks?

Also, according to Jeff Novick, rice cakes and popcorn are not very filling because even though they have volume, they are full of air rather than water. Once you chew all the air out, they are actually very calorie dense. Can you switch those out for a more filling starch, like potatoes?

Finally, salt is an appetite stimulant and it can make you retain water. If you cut back, you might drop a few pounds effortlessly. You could try using just spices on your veggies and starches and skip the salt. After a couple of days, you probably won't miss it.

Best,
Jenna
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