I've been struggling with the binge-restrict cycle for the past few months and I wanted to share something helpful.
When I was at my highest weight, I decided on a 2000 daily deficit. It's high, I know. I would not recommend this approach. But that's what I did. I didn't rest until my FitBit showed that figures I needed.
In recent months whenever I've found I'm a couple of pounds up I would jump right back into that huge deficit. Things only got worse. I had horrible binges because I was restricting too much. I couldn't understand why it was so hard to control myself, I had done it all through my weight loss. What was different now?
About a month ago I read an article about maximum calorie deficits. It doesn't have many references and it may well be junk science but I used the equation to work out that if I want to lost fat but retain muscle I shouldn't go over an 820 deficit.
That was Earth shattering to me. My minimum deficit these days was 1000. No wonder I was struggling so much. I worked out my maximum deficit at my goal weight and it's 600. So I'm on a sliding deficit until I get back to my ultimate goal weight, cutting it down by 50 every few weeks.
I've been doing it for four weeks and I'm down four pounds. I've been working out consistently doing Pilates and lots of walking. My body composition is better than I've ever seen it.
I made myself a calendar to stick to my deficit until I'm back at my goal weight. I've been hovering at 10lb above my goal weight until now and in a few more weeks I'll be back there no problem. If anyone wants to make their own copy here's mine. You'd need to add your own target deficits, change the dates and remove my little workout prompts but it would probably be quicker than making your own from scratch.
I've been hovering at 10lb above my goal weight until now and in a few more weeks I'll be back there no problem. Maintenance is tough, but we have to find what works for us. I'm all about data, so I'm happy to do my calorie maths and make charts and excel spreadsheets. I'm just so glad I'm at a sustainable deficit (which I'm decreasing gradually this time) and that I'm finding it easy to have small amounts of junk food in moderation and still losing weight.
For fellow binge eating disorder sufferers, read as much as you can and listen to podcasts like 'Break up with Binge Eating' to help unlearn some bad habits. We're so capable of change. We're capable of anything.
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