starving yourself is like hating yourself

[LouisLane]

starving yourself is like hating yourself

 

[Resurgam]

starving yourself is like hating yourself

Not the same as simply not eating because you are not hungry - I only eat once a day now - yet for many people that would be great deprivation.

 

[jjraak]

Hi @LouisLane

Early days can be pretty rocky.

Can you define what you see as starving yourself ?

Perhaps I might have seen it like that very early on....but honestly can't remember.

I do however clearly remember literally starving myself pre LCHF, trying to eat sensibly (as per the 'healthy' eatwell die-t ) and being to scared to eat most things

The forum was a life saver.
Once I came on here & listened to a few guide me as to what foods were more sensible choices.
(Egg & bacon, heck sausages, nom nom nom )

I found a world of food to munch on.

My missus was horrified how much I ate AND losing weight (over 3 stone without even trying )
While she has been dieting forever and watching how much she ate.

I guess my point is starving ourselves, never really happened for me, once I got my LCHF wings.

Pre DX, I ate 3 meals a day & numerous little snacks to 'tide me over '... ridiculous looking back, but I think I was like a junkie with my addiction, the carbs deffo kept me hungry for more once they wore off.

Now, my fasting is likely 8pm through to 11am....and even then I might not actually want anything, it being more a case I might struggle later to eat or be able to get suitable food so stock up the body now.

So starving ourselves....not essentially how it ends, imho, once we adapt, but likely feels like that to newbies (Inc me back then)

And as for hating ourselves ..mmmh.

I like to think I love myself (aka body) because I'm kinder to it, I put more thought into what I feed it & I take better care of it.

And it rewarded that care, by returning me to 40 HBA1c, got all my lipids from 'omg, how are you still alive '
Down to optimal & normal, that I'll likely live forever if another van doesn't try to kill me first.

I hope you'll see it that way, at some point.

You are so worth it.


Best wishes.

 

[Zhnyaka]

Why would you starve yourself? A low-carb diet is delicious grilled meat or fish, delicious vegetable salads, various versions of omelets, Greek yogurt with berries, etc.

Well, in any case, you can use insulin injections if you prefer sweets.

 

[AndBreathe]

To be honest, I think it depends why you are starving yourself?

Fasting can be beneficial, starving yourself as a punishment, self-loathing or some such is not at all healthy.

As someone recovered from an eating disorder I have experiences of both scenario.

 

[LouisLane]

Hi @LouisLane

Early days can be pretty rocky.

Can you define what you see as starving yourself ?

Perhaps I might have seen it like that very early on....but honestly can't remember.

I do however clearly remember literally starving myself pre LCHF, trying to eat sensibly (as per the 'healthy' eatwell die-t ) and being to scared to eat most things

The forum was a life saver.
Once I came on here & listened to a few guide me as to what foods were more sensible choices.
(Egg & bacon, heck sausages, nom nom nom )

I found a world of food to munch on.

My missus was horrified how much I ate AND losing weight (over 3 stone without even trying )
While she has been dieting forever and watching how much she ate.

I guess my point is starving ourselves, never really happened for me, once I got my LCHF wings.

Pre DX, I ate 3 meals a day & numerous little snacks to 'tide me over '... ridiculous looking back, but I think I was like a junkie with my addiction, the carbs deffo kept me hungry for more once they wore off.

Now, my fasting is likely 8pm through to 11am....and even then I might not actually want anything, it being more a case I might struggle later to eat or be able to get suitable food so stock up the body now.

So starving ourselves....not essentially how it ends, imho, once we adapt, but likely feels like that to newbies (Inc me back then)

And as for hating ourselves ..mmmh.

I like to think I love myself (aka body) because I'm kinder to it, I put more thought into what I feed it & I take better care of it.

And it rewarded that care, by returning me to 40 HBA1c, got all my lipids from 'omg, how are you still alive '
Down to optimal & normal, that I'll likely live forever if another van doesn't try to kill me first.

I hope you'll see it that way, at some point.

You are so worth it.


Best wishes.

Thank you JJ I can live on 1 meal per day..often do..but then my body starts rebelling craving more food.. it's been 25yrs so fed up if the docs don't listen to me I think I'm going to die and I really don't want to I have

Why would you starve yourself? A low-carb diet is delicious grilled meat or fish, delicious vegetable salads, various versions of omelets, Greek yogurt with berries, etc.

Well, in any case, you can use insulin injections if you prefer sweets.

I've never liked sweets..even as a kid

 

[LouisLane]

Why would you starve yourself? A low-carb diet is delicious grilled meat or fish, delicious vegetable salads, various versions of omelets, Greek yogurt with berries, etc.

Well, in any case, you can use insulin injections if you prefer sweets.

eating berries is like eating sweets..and I don't know how people think high fat is low carb

 

[Zhnyaka]

eating berries is like eating sweets..

strawberries, blueberries, blueberries contain about 6-8 g of carbs per 100g, but if you use berries as an additive, you don't use 100g, if you eat half a kilogram of berries at a time, then you are right that there are a lot of carbs in this

I don't know how people think high fat is low carb

not always. Pizza, for example, has a lot of both. But there are no carbs in chicken, for example

 

[MissMuffett]

eating berries is like eating sweets..and I don't know how people think high fat is low carb

Most natural fat has hardly any carbs. crispy skin on cooked chicken, fat in ribeyes, double cream and butter (in fact I don’t think there are any carbs in butter but I’ll stand corrected!) If you’re lowering your carbohydrates you need to replace it with something to help you feel satisfied when eating without raising you blood glucose and healthy fat will do that.

 

[Robbity]

Most of my life I've skipped meals (usually breakfast which I use to get scolded about as a teenager), but the only time I ever thought & felt that I was actually starving myself was about 40 years ago - before diabetes - when I went somewhat unwillingly on a very low calorie diet for a short time and hated every moment of it! But it was the hunger that diet caused that I hated not myself.

Being diagnosed as T2 and starting to eat low carb was never much of a problem and I've rarely felt any real desperate hunger because I'm still getting sufficient nourishment from fat and protein (and a reasonable selection of low carb foods). I've always eaten normal full (not high) fat food most of which contains few if any carbs. My belief is that we've been conned into believing that reduced/ow/lite fat is better for us when actually a lot of the natural goodness has been removed from it, so making normal fat foods appear to be "high" in comparison....

 

[CatsFive]

eating berries is like eating sweets..and I don't know how people think high fat is low carb

Might you be confusing calories & carbs? Carbs is shorthand for carbohydrates, fats & oils are different. The body metabolises carbs - all carbs - to glucose hence their impact on BG. Fats & oils are metabolised by hydrolysis into fatty acids and glycerol which don't impact BG.

 

[Lamont D]

In 2012, while having the plethora of diagnostic tests, one of them was a fasting test, this was to see if I went hypo or my liver would give me a liver dump. This was over initially 72 hours but it was 80 in the end, When my endocrinologist allowed me to go to the restaurant to feast on the best bacon and eggs ever (ish).
after the first night in hospital, I was determined and although wary, I enjoyed the experience, the novelty, the lack of stress and the freedom of those questions we ask every meal, every day, every time we are in a shop and eating at restaurants, and of course more! The longer the test, my body adapted quite quickly to not eating and I found myself really enjoying myself, going for long walks when everyone was eating, going to a private room to greet my family and it was really refreshing to be away from food!
As it was found that I wasn't going hypo or having glucogenisis while fasting, it was actually having a positive effect on my health, I started losing weight my perpetual foggy brain, my memory.all came back, my psyche was clear for the first time in years. And it was like a lightbulb in my brain that certain foods were doing this to me, food was making me fat and brain dead. And I cannot remember a lot from before then. But as you can see this test is so clear in my memory!
I have learnt an awful lot from the next couple of years, and I have been intermittent fasting since, with the occasional longer time fasting.
If you can do it, do it. It is not a form of punishment! In fact, I would reverse the argument and ask, Is feeding your face more than you need a form of punishment, even though you may not know it?
Overeating, obesity, factory food, and the ingredients in some junk food and what we cook it in, could in the long run actually not only making you ill but actually shortening your life!
I know that if I hadn't been given a true diagnosis, I wouldn't be writing this!
I love fasting, and in turn it loves me back!

best wishes

 

[Lakeslover]

starving yourself is like hating yourself

Have you been diagnosed as diabetic? Why do you feel the need to starve yourself? I notice you say doctors don’t listen to you. Would you like to share why to see if we have any ideas that might help?

 

[LittleGreyCat]

starving yourself is like hating yourself

I've been pondering this.
Changing what you eat, especially reducing or giving up carbohydrates, can make you suffer cravings in the short term.
Refusing to give in to these cravings doesn't require you to hate yourself.
It requires you to love yourself enough to suffer for a while knowing that it will get better.

Food, especially carbohydrates, can be addictive.
Perhaps compare to another addiction such as tobacco.
Generally accepted to be bad for you, leading to ill health and early death on average,
Giving it up is hard, but does not mean that you hate yourself.
It means you have the strength to suffer in the short term in return for a longer, healthier life.
To me this is loving your body and yourself.

 

[AloeSvea]

I personally have tried many different kinds of fasting - the whole kit and kaboodle. A year ago I found an intermittent fasting regime that I found easy enough to do long term, and feel I may be on that one for the long haul (sunrise to sunset eating window).

I can honestly say I have never found fasting to be like hating myself.

I had an eating disordered aunt, and I used to find her facial expression when serving herself or being served these tiny tiny morsels of food very - I'm not sure interesting, puzzling, or intriguing are the words! But yes - interesting, as she was getting joy in the undereating process. She was a wonderful woman, even when starving, literally (although extremely lacking in energy as you can imagine), and we had many involved conversations about food and eating regimes and so on, and I was fascinated in the chasm of experience between us, in relation to food, and fasting.

So, it is probably a good sign that you aren't delighted with yourself when fasting and hungry perhaps??!!! But - hating yourself. This is a worry for sure. I would suggest you haven't found a fasting or IF regime that suits you yet?

Being hungry and fasting makes me feel miserable, for sure. Food and eating and drinking is a big part of the enjoyment of my life (which is common, normal etc). The IF regime I am on now, weekdays, means I just go do bed really really early in the dark-early season (which it is where I am now - darkest time of the year leading up to the winter solstice), and get up early and drink coffee till sunrise. No misery, hence being able to do it long term. Ditto having two days off a week, and vacations off (too unsocialable). But that still leaves my blood glucose system a good long stretch of times when I am not taxing it with glucose and insulin levels too high for good health. That's how I see it, and its contribution to me living as long as I can with a wonky blood glucose regulatation system.,

Hope my experience has been some help in understanding what not eating for periods of time can feel like?

 

[JAT1]

Hating yourself for whatever reason is very unhealthy.

 

[mh234]

Why would you starve yourself? A low-carb diet is delicious grilled meat or fish, delicious vegetable salads, various versions of omelets, Greek yogurt with berries, etc.

Well, in any case, you can use insulin injections if you prefer sweets.

I've been pondering this.
Changing what you eat, especially reducing or giving up carbohydrates, can make you suffer cravings in the short term.
Refusing to give in to these cravings doesn't require you to hate yourself.
It requires you to love yourself enough to suffer for a while knowing that it will get better.

Food, especially carbohydrates, can be addictive.
Perhaps compare to another addiction such as tobacco.
Generally accepted to be bad for you, leading to ill health and early death on average,
Giving it up is hard, but does not mean that you hate yourself.
It means you have the strength to suffer in the short term in return for a longer, healthier life.
To me this is loving your body and yourself.

Be kind to yourself, there are some online meditations on self compassion. If emotional eating is a concern, you can contact a counselor. From what I read you were able to push through and discuss. However, suffering is not a necessity. It is hard. For me "please, can I have less portions". I don't find food addictive, and I am not here to be patronizing. I apologize if it feels so. The psychology of self deception exists, and I have been pretty bad in relation to food consumption. I accept myself as I am: an imperfect human being with flaws.. I want to be healthy. However, in 2011, I found myself wanting to have diabetes, but that's in the past. Maybe it was just my body raising awareness. Thankfully, I went to the doctor at the time. Feeling guilt, remorse is healthy. Could have been worse. It's wasting energy going over what's already been done. I found where I was living had an impact. I didn't research it.

 

[mh234]

If anyone wants to be sick not healthy, it might be Manchausian, check with your healthcare professionals. I had been working with patients at the time. And missed my job.

 

[mh234]

Are there any cognitive disabilities that people experience how do you cope?

 

[AloeSvea]

Hi @mh234. I don't think I really understand your emotional and thought process regarding fasting (and wanting to have diabetes, back in 2011) -. but that doesn't matter whether I understand it or not! It's great that you are sharing.

When you ask if there are any cognitive disabilities, re coping, do you mean when fasting?

I have experimented extensively with fasting, as it is particularly good for my type of type two - which is severe insulin resistance based. So any time I can give my pancreas and beta cells a break from churning out massive amounts of insulin the better, is the way I see it. I have to fast for some days for my blood glucose to lower to a nice healthier level. I don't do that any more, but choose to do a long term intermittent fasting regime, for maintenance, rather than anything else.

I would say, personally, that intermittent fasting does not affect my cognitive abilities - not at all. But all kinds of fasting does mean, for me, that I have to deal with the hunger. People are very different with this, (hunger is mediated with hormones, and these levels can differ a lot between individuals/families, is my understanding). But I have always been very up front in this Forum about the fact that feelings of hunger does not go away for me, even with a drug that operates as an appetite suppressant (which metformin does for me) (and think of the enormous popularity of ozempic, which also operates as an appetite suppressant.). Does dealing with hunger affect how I am at the time? Oh yes. Thoughts and feelings - oh yes. But my ability to think? As long as I am thinking about food, I would say! on no-food fasts. But my energy levels plummet on day 2 or 3, so I would not be doing much of anything, let alone thinking analytically. Which is why I don't do longer term fasting anymore. I'm getting older!