coybat

Thanks for all the resources! I've been doing some research on how to fix my diet to help with my IBS or whatever the hell you'd call my digestive problems. I learned that some foods I've been eating regularly (including apples, brussel sprouts, honey, cashews, broccoli, avocado, beans, gluten, and gum made with artificial sweeteners) are high in FODMAPS, which folks with tummy troubles are supposed to avoid. Starting today, I'm eliminating those foods and practicing a low-FODMAP diet. I'll be sad to see broccoli and brussels go, but I bet I'll be happy with collard greens instead for the nice bitter taste. Gum will be the most difficult thing to give up, since I have a serious oral fixation and rely to gum to help me focus and cope with anxiety and avoid overeating...but I believe I can do it! IT'S JUST GUM! IT'S NOT LIFE OR DEATH! That's what I'll tell myself. ALSO! Last night I made golden milk (recipe HERE), which is great for digestion and inflammation. I sweetened it with honey last night, but I'll use maple syrup or no sweetener if I make it again to keep it low-FODMAP. So, in addition to following a low-fodmap diet, I'm going to drink golden milk every night before bed. So, the plan: 1. Follow a low FODMAP diet. 2. Drink golden milk nightly. 3. Quit chewing gum. Here we go!

6 WEEK CHALLENGE WRAP-UP Quest #1: Own the Iron Gym -15 chin-ups...CHECK! -3 wide-grip pull-ups...CHECK! Quest #2: Beat the Binge -got at least one week binge-free...CHECK! Quest #3: Build a Team -hang out with one new person...CHECK! -tell one person who is not my grrrlfriend about my eating disorder...CHECK! Challenge complete! I thought I was going to reward myself by ordering zombie leggings...instead, I found this. Hail Satan!

YEAHHHHH! Way to go! I hope you're damn proud of yourself!

Thanks for the continued support, everybody! I've been doing well on my fitness goals, and while I *did* meet my goal of going for one week without binge eating, binging has become a problem again, and I've put on some body fat since I've been on tour. Being in a new place, having a new schedule, and trying to take care of my girlfriend, who is struggling with depression, have put me in serious Eat It All Right Now mode. I talked to some folks who know their shit about nutrition and its impact on cravings and satiety. Now I have a goal for the next six week challenge (and it's one I've started tackling early-- TODAY)-- Cut. Out. Sugar. SO MOTE IT BE. No sweeteners, no bread products, no beer, no fruit (except for occasional berries and lemon/lime in my green juices). I guess I'll be following the Paleo-ish diet I've seen recommended to many times on Nerdfitness. My hope is that it will help me gain strength, lose body fat, AND conquer binge eating that's triggered by blood sugar spikes. Also, I MAY have learned that Henry Rollins follows a mostly vegetables, fish, and eggs diet, and WHO DOESN'T WANT TO LOOK LIKE HENRY ROLLINS?! That will probably be the only component in my next challenge, since it will be WICKED HARD to stick to. I'll have to come up with a good reward for myself. I will call it the RIGHTEOUS ROARING ROLLINS CHALLENGE. Or something like that. That's all for now, folks.

In a new city this month for a tour with my theater company...and there is a MOTHERFUCKING 24 FITNESS CENTER IN MY BUILDING! No excuses! I've been doing ok with the binge eating since I'm the only one in charge of stocking my own refrigerator. I only have "safe" foods (i.e. no bread, crackers, cookies, or other pre-prepared carbohydrates--I'm sticking to oats and potatoes for my starch), and that seems to help a bit, although I went to town on a baked potato last night that was supposed to be packed in today's lunch. Still, the amount of food I can binge on is limited, and since I'm around the corner from a grocery store, it's easy for me to maintain a small supply of food and restock frequently. I've been having some digestive trouble and haven't quite figured out the culprit-- I've dealt with digestive problems for years, but it's worsened over the past week (not going to go into detail on the grossness of that just yet). I'm considering quitting drinking for a while to see if that helps. I might also want to cut back on chewing gum, which I do constantly, and it has a serious impact on my bloating and cravings. Quitting gum might be on the menu for my next 6 week challenge... I'm on my way towards completing the socializing aspect of my current challenge. I went to a punk show tonight where I made myself introduce myself to new people. I gave my number to one person who might want to hang out this week. Maybe I'll get to check my "Hang Out With A New Person" box soon!

Annnnnd last night I hit three wide-grip pull-ups! But now I'm stuck at home with some kind of stomach virus on Thanksgiving, of all days. Getting my liquids in and taking artichoke extract! Will survive and prevail!

The bad news: I binged on Monday night, but on Tuesday I did great! The good news: I hit 15 chin-ups today! Here's what's left in this challenge: -three wide-grip pull-ups -hang out with one new person-talk to someone who is not my girlfriend about my eating disorder I'm prepared to defend the realm and pledge my life and honor to the holiday watch this season! I'll start by bringing chopped peppers and a black bean pumpkin dip to Thanksgiving dinner!

SUCCESS #1: I've gone 8.5 days binge-free! I got off my exercise game a bit and got back on the wagon again today, but I'm proud to have maintained a positive and controlled relationship with food for a period time that's lasted EVEN LONGER than my one week goal! SUCCESS #2: I hit 12 chin-ups! That's just three away from my goal! I'm going on tour with my theater company next week, and I've made plans to dismantle and pack my iron gym so I can maintain my chin-up and pull-up game while I'm living in a crappy hotel. Thanks, again for the support and good vibes, everyone! Here's what I have left to do before the six week challenge is up: -keep working on those chin-ups and pull-ups to hit my 15 chin-ups/ 3 wide-grip pull-ups goal! -hang out with one new person -talk to someone who is not my girlfriend about my eating disorder

Thanks, Shaarawy! I am starting off today strong-- the weather is cold and grey and wet, but I went outside to do some sprints anyway, followed by some body weight work at home. I prepped my meals for the day and went off to work! Last night I let my girlfriend know that I'm going to take a break from eating bread and refined sugar. I don't trust myself around those foods right now. We'll still have those things at home, but they will be HERS, not mine. We might even label them. I really appreciate the support, everyone!

Goddamnit. I binged today. I don't even remember how it started. It was the kind that's just a blur and you don't realize what you've done until you feel very, very sick. I haven't exercised at all, and now I'm too sick to do it. I was so close to completing my one week challenge. I feel defeated, but I guess I'm proud to have made it through five and half days. I'm trying to figure out what brought this on so I can try to prevent it from happening again in the coming week. Here's what I know: I've never been a big consumer of refined sugar and white bread. I just haven't kept those items around the house, since I know I'm likely to go overboard. But since I moved in with my girlfriend a few months ago, I've had those items in the kitchen again. She loves sour dough bread, so there's usually a loaf around, plus graham crackers, Oreos and marshmallow fluff. I went through a period of minimal binge eating when we first moved in together, and for the first time in years, I wasn't scared of white bread or sweets anymore. I felt like I could consume them in moderation. Today I learned that's not the case, and since I've been restricting myself from those foods for so long, they're even more enticing than before. I don't feel comfortable asking my girlfriend to avoid buying the food she likes, but maybe I should? I could also make a choice not to consume white bread or sweets, since I know those often trigger binges, but I'm worried that making those items off limits could increase my likelihood of binge eating. I feel stuck! I will re-start the Binge Free Week part of my challenge tomorrow. If I can make it through 11/19 binge-free, then I'll be one step closer to completing all three parts of my 6 week challenge.

Got close to bingeing this afternoon, but I stopped myself! I've definitely consumed more carbohydrates than I would have liked to today, but I can make low-carb, high-protein/veggie choices for the rest of the day and still come out feeling successful. Does anybody following my challenge schedule or package their meals to avoid binge eating? If so, I'd love to hear more! I'm on the go pretty frequently and cook most of my own food, and a lot of times I find myself prepping a meal for later in the day or for the following day and end up eating it instead (which is what started happening today). I tell myself I just won't eat lunch (if lunch was the meal I ate early) and wait until dinner, but I usually just end up snacking and binge eating more.

Thanks for the words of encouragement and advice, everyone! Talisaurus, eating leafy greens definitely helps my cravings, too! I've been a consistent vegetable consumer my whole life, but unfortunately, I STILL have a hard time digesting them. I've read that years of binge eating can really mess up a person's digestive system, so I'm hoping that once I can remove binge eating from my life for good, those problems will resolve themselves. Despite having some hard times with my depression for the past couple of days, I've made it five days binge-free! EVEN DEPRESSED! I've even eating late-night snacks and stopped before a binge started (and I did that tonight!). A binge-free week is part of my challenge, and I'm SO CLOSE! Once this week is up and I've made it all the way through Thursday, I'm going to shoot for two weeks. If I can do one week, I can definitely do two! mr_willes, thanks for the info about the Assassins threads! I will definitely check those out!

Last night was a success! I made it through my second day binge free! I *did* eat a snack before bed because my stomach was growling so much I couldn't get to sleep. Those late night shows do weird things to my hunger. Today I'm wicked tired and probably won't have time for a workout before rrhearsal and my hunger is out of control!!! I packed myself a healthy breakfast and lunch and stuck to eating what I'd portioned out. My dinner plan: I'LL Pack up dinner and a snack and STICK TO THOSE. I will also fit in a workout between rehearsal and tonight's show! Updates to follow!

Thanks for the kind words and solidarity, Talisaurus! Today is going great so far! I've been eating when I'm hungry and stopping when I'm full. I just completed a heavy lifting workout followed by a dinner of roasted sweet potatoes, broccoli, and tempeh. I'm getting ready to perform in a late-night show tonight, and I'm worried I might bigne afterwards because a) that's a pattern of mine on show nights and I'll be worried about waking up early tomorrow without much time for sleep to go teach a class in the morning. I prepped a post-show snack for myself that I'll eat at the theater so that when I come home, I don't even have to enter the kitchen. That's the plan! I want to complete my first challenge and will follow through, not just for me, but for my grrrlfriend, who worries about my depression and binge cycles, and for my theater students, who deserve a healthy, well-rested, upbeat teacher tomorrow. BAM!

Yesterday was a success! I went binge-free all day and didn't even have a late night snack like I usually do! I often can't sleep on an empty stomach, but I'm trying to get in that habit-- I feel better when I wake up with an empty stomach hungry for breakfast. Plus, every late night snack can easily be a binge gateway. I also cranked out a body weight circuit at the gym. I still can't do wide-grip pull-ups, so I kicked up to the top of the bar and slowly lowered myself down several times to build strength.