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New here, so please be kind.

I've always been a very picky eater. I've never been able to swallow a food that I don't like and as it turns out fruits and vegetables are on the list of foods I don't like. I have very sensitive taste buds that can immediately detect flavors I don't like even when they are concealed by flavors I do. As you can imagine, this has lead to a weight issue for me.

This past summer my doctor and I really got to work on trying to get me to lose weight. I cut my pop intake by about 75%, started eating less, started eating a healthier (within the foods that I can actually keep down), cut out a lot of carbs, and started getting a lot more exercise.

About a week and a half ago, I went back for a check up and I had gained ten pounds. Even with all of the changes I'd made. So we talked and she told me to start intermittently fasting from 7:00 at night to 11:00 in the morning and try not to consume more than 1800 calories a day. This would hopefully allow me to get to a more manageable weight and the changes I had made would be slightly more effective.

I've stuck to it for the last week and a half (let's not count American Thanksgiving please) and I have seen some progress. I've lost about 4 pounds so far. The problem is that my will is starting to fade. I don't eat because of stress or boredom. I eat because I'm legitimately hungry and I'm hungry all the damn time.

Because of the types of foods that I'll eat, this has limited me to almost just lunch and supper and that's all I can eat for the day. That means that there's no sneaking in one of my favorite snack foods ever and, I'm not even kidding when I say this, it's starting to have an emotional impact on me.

I'm really not sure how much longer I can do it.

Jurnee 5 Dec 1
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We aren't doctors and we know little about your health. It is important we do not give medical advice. It is possible your body cannot process some foods. I'm not qualified to judge. Giving us information about what you eat and why is interesting, but not much value to us hoping to help you.

EdEarl Level 8 Dec 2, 2019
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What kind of foods are you eating? And what fruits and veggies do you like? If you want to lose fat in your body, I suggest a long run or walk first thing in the morning....before breakfast...

I haven't met a fruit or vegetable that I like yet. Unless pizza sauce and spaghetti sauce count. The long walk before breakfast, however, doesn't help me because I don't have time for that since I am a teacher and have to be at work early in the morning, and I'm also not allowed to have breakfast as per my doctor's intermittent fasting recommendation.

@Jurnee tomatoes are a fruit or veggie .. I often eat them plain like an apple... Without all the pasta... Three or four large tomatoes should fill you up... If not, eat more...
Basically, if you want to lose weight, eat less and move more....

@Cutiebeauty that's what I was doing to begin with and still gained weight. It's stupid discouraging.

@Jurnee the best advice I can offer is to go to skeep earlier and wake up earlier so you can't run... I'm usually up at 4 a.m. one hour running and one hour calistentics

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For years I told myself that I wanted to lose weight, but I didn't. Then I decided I would, and so far have lost 150 lbs, or more. To permanently lose weight, you cannot continue to eat as you have until now. IMO there is no magic and it isn't easy; one way or another, YOU must change. You know it to be true, because you posted reasons why you will not change, you are addicted to certain foods, and refuse to change. Your weight loss journey is stopped by you, before you begin.

I struggle with my own obesity battle. Dot struggles with hers. Everyone works on themselves. We can share our struggles, or fail and hide. Dot and I share because we draw courage from it, a courage that helps succeed dieting. You are wecome to share your ups and downs.

EdEarl Level 8 Dec 2, 2019

I'm not looking to be enabled. And I'm not giving reasons why I refuse to change. I'm only giving reasons why this change is extremely difficult. You cannot eat, what you cannot swallow. I'm only looking for help staying motivated. I am trying to lose weight because I truly want to, and I would very much appreciate you not suggesting that I don't, because you're just wrong.

@Jurnee Ed is only trying to help you become self-aware; he is not "just wrong". You're being closed minded.

He said...and it's worth repeating; "IMO there is no magic and it isn't easy; one way or another, YOU must change.".

I concur. This section is called "battling obesity" for a reason....we all know it's a battle. It's not easy.

I've had my ups and downs, as well. I was a chubby kid...then a slim young adult...then an obese adult...and finally a close to normal adult.

Consider this; your food tastes are not your fault. You've been programmed since before you could walk and talk to respond to emotional needs by eating certain foods.

But don't be angry at your parents....they did the best with what they knew at the time. But your profound food addiction is their fault.

So to fix it...as Ed said...you must "change"

The change I recommend you start with is evening hunger, and daily. documented weigh-ins.

Let hunger be "your friend". Science suggests that hunger is as necessary as sweating for longevity.

Look at, and save to your desktop this map. If it doesn't change (do a 10 second change) go here;

[slate.com]

Good luck.

@Robecology you can't fix what you can't fix. If I can't stand the taste, I'm not going to eat it, because if I do, I'll throw up. It's that simple really.

@Jurnee Notice I said nothing about a change in diet. I'm not suggesting new foods; just tolerating eating less....especially in the evening.

Saying "you can't fix what you can't fix"...is a self-defeating attitude.

Saying "maybe I can fix it" or "I'm open to trying" shows some possibilities...what you say doesn't.

You're only 24. You're young. 50 years younger than me. Be positive.

@Robecology oh, I'm always open to trying. But I'm not going to eat something that I know I will not be able to get down. It's not a self defeating attitude, it's just being realistic.

I'm not trying to be hostile or anything, it's just frustrating when people don't understand that I'm not exaggerating when I say that I cannot eat foods I don't like and basically just tell me to get over it. And, from my perspective at least, that what it sounds like both of you are doing.

I mean, I didn't come here asking for suggestions for a change in my diet. My doctor has already made suggestions based on the information I have given her (which is basically the same inforni put in my original post) and I'm pretty sure she knows a lot more about this kind of thing than anyone here. I'm sticking to those suggestions as well as I can.

All I'm looking for here is help staying motivated to stay with it because it's causing a huge emotional reaction that I'm having trouble dealing with. Like, yeah, I'm starting to lose weight, but at the cost of my mental/emotional health?

@Jurnee You keep referring to eating "something I won't be able to get down".

Again...NO ONE IS SUGGESTING YOU EAT ANYTHING NEW OR DIFFERENT.

It's the quantity that we're suggesting you reduce.

If you want to deal with losing weight you have to deal with hunger.

Hunger has been proven to be good for you. All animals deal with hunger...only us humans have the luxury of foods being so convenient that we never need to be hungry....

...and this has led to our "addiction" or "obesity".

again...I make NO SUGGESTIONS TO CHANGE YOUR DIET...just eat less. Smaller portions. Stop eating at a certain time in the evening. Let that "hunger pang" back in to your life. Don't be afraid of it.

@Robecology you keep suggesting changes in diet and then saying you aren't. So you'll excuse me if I keep inferring the wrong thing from your comments.

@Jurnee The only suggestions about changes is eating less. You can eat your regular diet. Just keep track of it. weigh it. Some here measure calories...I don't go that far. As a scientist I've read that you can be a total junk-food junkie...and if you eat less you'll still lose weight....it's the calorie count that's critical. Calories in must be less than calories out. Some exercise hard to allow more calories....I don't . We eat several times a day...we only work out once a day....rarely for an hour....so eating less....and again....

NOT CHANGING ANYTHING YOU EAT....JUST EATING LESS....

will get you to the hunger you need to lose the weight and gain the health you want.

@Jurnee Yes, it's hard to lose weight and keep it off. For me, caloric reduction does not work; I always torpedo that plan. It works for Dot; I admire her tenacity. I had to change the foods I ate (big struggle, continues). However, I eat when hungry.

There is a difference between knowing you should lose weight plus wishing to lose weight, and actually losing weight and keeping it off. Before I called it desire. Perhaps you think of it differently. Perhaps you call it resolve. When I was in the hospital eight weeks, antibiotic drip for six weeks, and left arm saved for dialysis, my level of desire to lose weight changed from an epiphany. I wanted to live.

After you lose and keep it off, you will have shown desire.

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For the most part, people who come here are "kind" but since many of us KNOW the battles of weight loss/control, we are not going to enable you as you fight your own battles.
I have spent over 2 years "dieting" in order to lose 65 pounds. I am now in the maintenance phase and it remains a day to day battle to prevent weight gain. In fact, this week I was up a full 7 pounds from my goal weight, now down to 4 pounds over and will have to work between now and Christmas to get back down to my goal weight. It has not been an easy trip and the future will not be much easier as I have a long history of being overweight and when I have lost significant weight in the past, it took much less time to put it back on than it did to lose it.

They say that for a person to change, the pain of staying the same must be greater than the pain of changing.
I was not told by my doctor that I "needed" to lose weight although she did say, several years ago that weight loss could help lower blood pressure, which motivated me only for a short time. I made the decision that I WOULD lose weight after being diagnosed with proximal AFib. Although it did not occur frequently, the episodes were very disconcerting to me, sending me to the ER twice. After a couple symptom free months, I woke one morning in AFib which thanks to some coaching from a nurse during the ER visits, I managed to convert on my own. At that point however, I looked up weight as a trigger and found it could be a significant factor. At that point, I resolved to do what I needed to in order to remove this health risk. The "pain" of having AFib was greater to me than the "pain" of putting some real control on my eating.

The first step you will have to achieve is a commitment to the idea of losing weight. You will have to make some decisions about whether losing is important enough to you to make it worth "suffering" the hunger pains and tolerating times when you want a "treat" but know you need to skip it and maybe even teaching yourself to tolerate foods that you don't really like. Without a serious emotional commitment, your weight loss battle is likely to be short-lived, followed quickly by regaining whatever weight you do lose.

I have spent over 2 years consuming between 1000 and 1300 calories most days. There have been some splurge days, there have even been some breakouts where I let my body control me for several days in a row and there was a price to be paid for relinquishing that control. In fact that is what I am battling back from currently but when I reached my goal, I told myself that if I hit the +5 lb mark, I would return to active dieting phase and in the 6 months since reaching my goal, this week was the first time I have gone over that 5 pound limit. I have resumed control and will be back to my goal weight before Christmas.

When you say you can barely get lunch and supper from 1800 calories and are "always" hungry, I was not initially inclined to be sympathetic but them I remind myself that I have been doing this a long time and I KNOW how I can eat to lose while still not spending a lot of time being hungry. When I do have "hunger pains" I don't look at them as a bad thing, they are a reminder that I have controlled my eating sufficiently to allow them to come. I am currently on intermittent fasting, noon to 8PM eating. (my inner clock is off, I'm retired) This means I am often feeling some hunger sensations between getting up in the morning and having my first food.

You will need to decide if your health, which is apparently at some risk if your doctor is being this specific, is worth the effort to take off some weight. If it is, you will seriously need to consider some behavior modification when it comes to food. If you do not eat fruits or vegetables, you are basically eliminating what should be 35% of your diet. For someone trying to lose weight, this can be the most important segment of their daily intake. Fruits and vegetables offer less calories and more bulk than any other food group. This means you can eat more of them while adding fewer calories, thus, you ARE NOT AS HUNGRY. You CAN teach yourself to eat foods that you don't currently care for. It is not fast, maybe just a bite of this, a nibble of that as your palate learns to accept new flavors.

It will take some determination and perseverance but you can do it if you are committed to losing weight. As I've grown old(er) I have learned that there are things we don't like to do or don't want to do but that does not mean we are not ABLE to do them. Just like I have learned to go to an eye specialist every 6 weeks and let him stick a needle into my eyeball, you can learn to eat high bulk, low calorie fruits and vegis. I felt panic the first few times and I could have given in to it, run crying from the building without the shot then wait for the blindness to come but that was NOT an acceptable outcome.

Will you ever LOVE fruits or vegis, I don't know, probably not but gagging or vomiting because you ingested a flavor you don't like is not a physical response, it is an emotional one, one more suited to a child than to a grownup. When I was a child, I could NOT eat liver, I would choke, gag and retch when forced to do so by a step-mother who didn't much care that I found the taste of it horrifying. Today, I won't eat liver voluntarily, as in seeking it out, cooking it, ordering it from a menu but if it is served to me by someone who invited me for a meal or if my health depends on it, I CAN and WILL eat it. If you WANT to take the steps needed to lose weight, YOU CAN DO IT. You just have to decide which pain is worse the pain (and consequences) of staying the same or the pain of changing.

If you made it this far, sorry to have gone on so long. Hope to see you return as there are supportive people here who will offer you suggestions and encouragement if you decide to change your life. Good luck!

DotLewis Level 7 Dec 2, 2019
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