I want to thank every who commented on my last post. It seems that all of you agreed that a fear of eating was worse. I am still on the fence when it comes to deciding which is worse. I have personally experienced them both. In my case they were both brought on by anxiety. My love of eating came about when I first started gaining weight. I was afraid to try and lose weight because I didn't like the idea of failing at it. So I kind of figured that since I was gaining weight anyway I might as well do it on my terms. I decided to do it "the fun way" and I eat everything in sight. If I wanted ice cream I ate ice cream, and if I wanted to eat pizza in the middle of the night I did so. There was no restrictions as far as my love of food was concerned. However, it wasn't fun and I found that eventually I became depressed and I realized that even though I wasn't happy with the way that I looked, I found it hard to end my relationship with food. Food became the enemy because it was the reason why I looked the way I did (do) and even though I loved it it didn't necessarily love me back. My fear of eating returned when I started to lose weight (The first time was when I was in high school but that is a different story). I became so desperate to lose weight and so desperate to keep it off that food was once again the enemy. Every bite that I took reminded me that I could gain back all the weight that I was so desperate to lose. My fear of eating however made me more conscious of what I was eating, how often I was eating and how much calories were that food. I spent hours just sitting there ignoring the hunger and being happy with myself that I had not given into temptation. I was anxious that eating even the smallest amount of food would make me instantly gain like 20lbs.
Based on my experience (and everyone is different) I think that a fear of eating and a love of food are one and the same (on an emotional level anyways) because I think in most cases one is triggered by the other. They both stem from an unhealthy relationship with food... This is why I am still on the fence about it. I think overall they both are very destructive and they both sometimes require some kind of intervention in order to overcome them.... But of course this is my opinion and with everything in life there are no wrong or right answers when dealing with emotions... One size doesn't fit all.
This week's question: Do you honestly believe that it is best to lose the weight slowly? Or is it something you tell yourself so that you aren't disappointed if you can't lose more than 1-2lbs a week? Again I will answer this question on Monday but I look forward to reading your responses :D
I really think that slow and steady wins the race. I am of the school that you gained it slow, so it needs to come of slow.
ReplyDeleteAs someone who finds it difficult to lose more than a 1-2lbs a week, I probably think a bit of both if I am honest. I would love it if I weighed myself and noticed a 5lb lost but I know that it isn't going to happen. Saying that, I have experienced losing a lot of weight quickly and put it all back on within the year so maybe it works better for me that I am losing it slowly, just so my body can adjust and adapt properly.
ReplyDeleteHaving lost a lot of weight - some pounds quickly and others slowly, I can honestly say this: short-term, the quicker the better because it feeds motivation. On a bigger scale though, losing slowly is better for so many reasons. The main one being that we are losing more than just physical weight; we're also forming new habits, changing the way we perceive ourselves, and learning how to live this way for the rest of our lives. It takes time to learn these things and they can't be rushed.
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