Weight Loss

First of all, i must admitt i'm really stupid i let this happen...

for the first time in my life i succeeded losing weight (20 kilograms or 44 pounds), in almost a year. and i did it in a healthy way, counting the calories, eating right, aerobics... of course to keep me going i was eating unhealthy food but in small portions...

i was not attending to stop, i wanted to lose more, but in ramadan while fasting (i don't know if you guys know ramadan), i started gaining weight, it was so hard to keep dieting during  that time, so i decided to go back to dieting after ramadan...

But after that i could not, i just kept eating and eating like someone never saw food before....

so, in the past few months, i gained everything back.....

and now i don't feel like dieting again, im just tired of watching what i eat...i'm so fraustrated...i don't know what to do...

and next ramadan is coming on september...

hi there

I"m sorry that you are feeling badly. I don't think it was stupid at all...if I had to fast for a long time I would probably eat everything in sight after too.

How much weight do you have to lose?

If it isn't all that much maybe just forget counting cals for awhile and focus on eating healthy. You might lose some weight...you might not...but you'll feel better. And when you feel more motivated you can start counting cals again. ...don't bother if you really don't want to do it right now...it probably won't work and you'll be even more frustrated.

so.....my advice would be to just eat healthy for awhile until you get your motivation back...relax and try to enjoy your life.

best of luck and i hope you feel better

I have done the same thing. I lost 55 pounds, and gained back 45-50 of it. I went through a 6 month struggle with binge/emotional eating. Now none of my clothes fit, and I feel terrible about myself. I am trying to lose weight, but it is hard. It seems like I lost all of my self control when I gained the weight back. You are definitely not alone, in this. I wish I had some advice, but I am struggling with the same thing.

i need to lose 25 kilos....

now the problem is :ramadan, how much will i gain this time!

Convert to Christianity . .. kidding of course.

Ramadan is tough and it's only going to get tougher the next few years as it slips more into the Summer. I think the only way to keep a sensible eating pattern will be to change up your sleep pattern a bit.

Make sure to wake up before sunrise and have a good breakfast with lots of grains and protein. Take advantage of shorter working hours . .. and if you are not in a country with a 6 hour work day during Ramadan take a nap on your lunch break and also sleep after work until Fitr. Eat a lot of fruit and protein at the meals and sleep more. Don't go overboard with that second meal at midnight. Watch the dairy (no extra portions).

Your dedication to religion is laudable, but makes it tough to keep up th emetabolism with small meals throughout the day. Use the time of fast and reflection to focus your efforts starting to lose weight in October.

Salaam!

I have done the exact same thing. I dieted, i exercised, everything. then i got depressed. ate it all back and more. now im even more depressed.

maybe we should start a: "Lost weight-Then gained it back" group. ha.

but ya, it sucks, and i know what you are going through. i have been trying to lose weight over a year, and i get really motivated sometimes and then days like today happen, and i just eat eat eat

:(

some of people who replied they are experiencing the same case made me feel there is no hope of losing weight again...

we need motivation..... 

I kinda did the same thing. Although I put my body into starvation mode after losing 38lbs. I was trying to get my metabolism back to normal over the course of a year and have gained all but 5 lbs back.

It took me a long time to find that extra will power/umph inside of me to get back on the wagon and make this weightloss happen.

Well I finally found it and I feel better than I have in the past year, because Im not dwelling on the past, Im looking into the future at a new thin me. LOl

Im only in my second week but I can feel that things are happening. I have already lost 2 inches.

You just need to think positive, you know you can lose the weight, you did it before. Stop being hard on yourself for gaining the weight back. It happens, its life. Be proud of yourself for taking the first step towards a new healthy you.

PLEASE keep us up to date, all of you. Maybe we should keep this thread going.

Kristine

hi love247,

I know how that is.  I lost 75 pounds and then gained over half back.  Now, after much struggling, I'm heading back in the right direction, but it is easy to get discouraged.  Try to set small goals, be realistic, and reach out to people here on CC for help.  If you can just be healthier a little bit each meal and each day, you will--ultimately--be healthier overall and lose the weight.  I know you can do it, if I can, and I still believe that I can achieve my goals no matter how hard they are or distant.

Hang in there!!

Well, you've lost a lot of weight before, in a smart and sensible way, so you know you can do it.  I fell off the wagon for about six months, but I just kept trying, and gradually, I started doing better most days.  I had to kick some bad habits; my daily glass of wine (or three) for "health"purposes, haha, while fitting into my calorie budget, also triggered cravings for bad food, and once I got rid of that, it became much easier to stick to a healthy routine. 

Now, I've been good for a couple months and the weight is really starting to come off. 

Ramadan is part of your life; you'll just have to work with it, I suppose.  Even though it's coming up soon, don't let that keep you from getting back into your healthy habits now.  Some posters above made some good suggestions on dealing with the actual event, and once it's over, you just have to tell yourself that it's time to get back to normal and that's that! Easier said than done, I know. :-)

Good luck!

Perhaps you shouldn't aim to lose weight during the month of Ramadan, but simply maintain, and then go back to losing after it's over.  You can sensibly diet, exercise and lose weight on the run up to it, and after it.  Work out what your maintenance calories are, then work out some meal plans which will give you those calories within the constraints of Ramadan.  When it's over you simply revert to your weight loss plan.  It could actually turn out to be beneficial to your metabolism to take that break.

Remember, all dieters fail, make mistakes and fall off the wagon, the successful ones, dust themselves down, and start again.  Good luck Ax

My wife and I fast during the Easter Season.  For 3 days we only drink water. The first day is murder.  But, amazingly on the second and third day I'm not hungry at all.  On the fourth day I have to make myself eat. Sure we end up loosing quite a bit of weight during that time.  But, that's not the reason for doing it. In my case it would be hard to eat breakfast then nothing all day.  Then a heavy dinner.  I would be starving during the day light hours!

DON'T LOSE FAITH IN YOURSELF!!!

Instead of thinking "even if I lose weight I'm just going to gain it all back", try thinking along the lines of "it's okay if I gain a bit, cuz I KNOW I'll lose it again. I've done it before so I can do it again".

I've lost and gained before too, and it used to depress me, but I've learned not to expect perfection from myself. I may slip up and gain some back, but I've notice that every time I gained, it was a little less then last time, which means I'm moving in the right direction. I'm losing again, and this time I'm confident that I WON'T gain any back. But, if I do, I'll catch it earlier then last time and not let it take over my life.

YOU CAN DO IT!

wow you all really gave me motivation:)

today i started eating healthy, i'm not counting calories yet, but what i eat is certinly less:)

google the minnesota study on starvation... i think that's what it's called, and you might be able to relate to what happened to you when you fasted.

i don't know anything about ramadan so dispute this if i'm way off base! 

take care. i've gone through similar experiences - losing/gaining is really tough!

I know what Ramadan is, I used to be Muslim (not anymore, but I still have much respect for Muslims.)  I know how hard it is to fast during daylight hours, so I understand where you're coming from.  To make matters worst, most of the time you probably break your fast at the Masjid, am I correct?  Where many people cook a dish and bring it in and you all share it?  Is it mostly Arabic food?   Do you cook mostly Arabic food at home?

I still love Arabic food.  Biryani is one of my all time favorites.  Yum!  The only problem with it is that it's usually cooked with alot of fat and other unhealthy ingredients, as is alot of Arabic food.  Ghee is a staple of that style of cooking.

So maybe this year you can try some healthy alternatives?  Do you contribute also, bring your own dish?  I learned that if I use only a teaspoon or tablespoon of a healthy oil and replace the rest of the ghee with fat free plain yogurt it tastes pretty good.  I cut way down on the sodium that way, and just brought some salt if someone wanted to add more.  I also added other vegetables to my biryani, carrots, potatoes, celery, green peppers, etc...  This way I got the nutrition of the veggies and it stretched the biryani a bit more.

Or maybe you can also make wild rice instead of basmati rice or other white rice.  Even brown rice is healthier.  Make sure you get some salad, this way you can eat and be full and not be so loaded down on calories that you gain 40 pounds in a month.

There are many ways to alter the foods you love so they're healthier and lower in calories.  Depending on what you are cooking, applesauce (unsweetened of course) is a good replacement for oil as well.  I agree with the others here, don't beat yourself up.   Focus on the solution, keep your eye on the solution.  Explore new foods (eggplant rocks!) try new things, check out some of the great threads in the food forums, find alternative ways to cook the foods you love so you can feel full without feeling guilty at the same time.

Losing weight is a journey, but so is learning to eat healthy.  So take that journey one step at a time, who knows?  Maybe you'll influence the other women at the masjid to cook a bit healthier as well when they see the pounds coming off of you.  (well, as well as they can under the hijab, you know)  Maybe you could have a dinner for the women and 'test' the foods you've learned to cook healthier to see what they think, share your knowledge with them.   I know at the masjid I used to go to they knew I was watching what I ate, so they'd sometimes cook with less oil, or they'd tell me "this was made with oil, this was made with ghee." etc... 

At any rate, don't give your fear any more power than it already has.  You've lost this weight before, you'll lose it again.  And this time you're armed with the foreknowledge of what happens when you slip.  Believe it or not that knowledge can make you stronger.

Wa ' Salaam

Safiyah

safiyah1 : thank you so much:)

we eat at home, but the problem is when you feel deprived, you will eat without even being hungry, that is what happeded to me, even when ramadan was over, i kept feeling like that.

and i knew what is healthy and what is not, and i knew how to cook healthy and eat healthy, but it was like, i know this is bad, but i eat it anyway!!!!

i think all who tries to lose weight have days that they eat without thinking, right? they consider it a break or a little push to continue..... (but my break was sooooo loooooong!!!!)

anyway, your words are enough to keep me going today:)

This is a tough situation, but it is NOT impossible to lose weight.    It sounds like you're pretty stressed about your weight right now - it might be a bit easier to relax a little and realize that you can definitely get more done after September,  and it's OK to wait till then, but also that Ramadan doesn't have to be as bad as you think.  Safiyah and Durgy had some great suggestions about eating better during that month, and they sound really doable if you plan your meals well ahead of time and get the people you're sharing food with to cooperate a little :)

You can also exercise.  You might not have a lot of energy for hardcore cardio or aerobics, but yoga, pilates, and strength training will all help your metabolism and make it easier for you to exercise more after Ramadan.

Thinking of your goal as a series of mini-goals also helps.  44 lbs sounds daunting.  5lbs this month doesn't sound so bad.  After you've lost those 5lbs you can think about when you'll be able to work on the next 5.

Make sure to wake up for Fajr and eat then. Lots of people just sleep in and don't eat in the morning, but I don't know how they don't collapse! I've been practising for it by fasting on Mondays and Thursdays, so when Ramadan comes I'm in the habit. This morning I woke up at 3 am and ate a piece of toast with pb & jam, a bit of cottage cheese, and a banana. I drank about a litre of water too lol. Now its 1 pm and I'm still not hungry or thirsty. You just have to figure out what works for you, and you've still got a month and a half for that. :)

Try not to associate eathing healthy with eating less.  If you plan your meals and find the foods you enjoy that are naturally low in calories, you can certainly eat a lot of food without feeling deprived.

Good luck :)

update: i seem to be back on track....

i see a simple change in my weightby eating healthy, and less(unhealthy)

it was good to talk about my problem with all of you guys!! i wish i could talk about all my problems with somebody!!!