How much do you eat...?

Hello again

Yes, i totally agree with everyone, this is probably not enough food for the amount of exercise i do and my dietician told me that i have to take on more carbs.  Unfortunately it's not that simple for me as for a long time i've had a very bad attitude to food and can't shift the mind set that eating more will make me put on weight.  I've gained about 5-7lbs in the last year as i was underweight for my frame (I was 56kg and should really be about 62ish) and i didn't look well.  I was sent to the dietician through my doctor so it was NHS but to be honest it wasn't the best as i think i really needed a to go down the food pychologist route!  I do get tired but have started to eat a bit more carbs - just eaten two huge slabs of bread for breakfast.   The problem is the guilt as i'd love to eat potatoes, pasta and stuff and not worry that i'll put on weight.  I know that might sound stupid to most of you as runners should be able to eat what they want and not worry.

Anyway i'm glad i'm not the only runner who has issues with their diet!  Wish i had the time to make some of these dishes though - especially the salmon for breakfast!  How do you fit it in?!

Laura

Hello Summerain

Yes, i too worry about it every day, i plan everything around what i eat and if i can't exercise or eat more than normal (outside my 'safe' food zone, i.e. going out for dinner) then i worry i've put on weight and sometimes work out more to compensate.  Basically for years i'd always been a size 12, around 9.5-10 stone and then a few years ago i lost about half a stone on a snowboard holiday.  I then carried on losing weight and exercised more and finally by christmas 2009 i had got to my thinnest which was about 56kg which for me was way too small.  I looked unwell and was always very cold and tired.  The bad food attitude mindset was as bad then and eating was very controlled as it is now.  Basically my mum intervened and through my doctor i got some help from an NHS eating disorder dietician.  Obviously i'm not the worst case they've seen as I do eat fairly normally and i'm not bulimic but just have a really BAD attitude to food and have to keep it in control.  It's a nightmare.

A year later the dietician has now discharged me.  I think my weight is about 62kg  but i don't like to weigh myself.  I know i've put on a bit since the 56kg days as my clothes fit better now (which by the way, I hate!).  It's really hard though when you've been really skinny to put on even a kilo without feeling crap about it, even though it's the right thing to do.  I am now a much healthier weight and am toned from running and cardio but you can't help but comare to how you were before.

Anyway, that's enough of my issues!  God, makes me sound like a head case!  Hopefully though you'll identify with some of this and I hope it helps. 

Laura

Summerrain, sorry i did not reply earlier.

The answer to your question is that not, i don't feel tired because of not eating carbs.

In fact, for me seems to be the other way round. I feel strong and energetic in a proten based diet with no starches.

seems that my body works well on it.

Apart from running, i also do other sports like gym work, martial arts and swim and aerobic classes/dance and i feel perfectly ok without carbohydrates.

I suppose everybody is diferent, i sometimes have this joke saying that i may be a timewrap from an iron age hunter-gathered....................lol.

I consider myself a real carnivore who eats anything that swims, flies or runs..........................well, i feel healthier that way,

summerrain wrote (see)

Laura - you don't sound like a headcase and I totally get what you're saying. It's the same for me. The issue doesn't go away and it's there all the time. It's a pretty depressing thought to think about it never going away though. I started with it all when I moved out to go to uni. Tried so hard to make it go away and figured once I had kids etc that I would be cured, but at 27 with a husband and 2 kids later I'm still here. and I've tried HARD. It's a dietitian I think could help maybe. No antidepressants or counselling have helped. Grrr! Fatima, you're lucky, lol. I wish I could manage running with no carbs

Sorry folks I can't run without loads of carbs, no energy. Have to eat more now I run and have lost a good stone too in 2 years.

Guess it is each to their own

Summerrain - that sounds really hard, I'm sorry to read that you've been through that.

I'm sure you're sick of hearing that a BMI of 20 is right at the low end of what is deemed "healthy" and that more carbs, rather than less, might be the answer.  Any dietician that encouraged you to cut out carbs would not actually be helping.

Sorry if that sounded preachy, but I'm a little concerned by this thread.  I hope you do find a means of overcoming what you've experienced with this.

Good luck with it - its a brave thing you've done, both facing it and talking about it on here.

For what its worth, I think a lot of us have become used to ignoring our bodily cues in one way or another.  Whether its about how much you're eating, how fast you're running, how much alcohol you're consuming.  This society both fetishes and reviles food at the same time - its a bloody weird message we get from what is around us.  I don't think anyone ever gets it bang on.

Like I said, though, good luck with what must be a bloody difficult, but important, step.