MAJOR CRAVINGS & GIVING IN TO THEM :( ANY ADVICE WOULD BE HELPFUL!

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Permalink Reply by Jessica on April 14, 2012 at 1:04pm

That makes me feel good that those bbq soycrisps were a staple of yours and that you haven't had them in 4 months. That gives me hope. With regards to how I feel after eating those foods. I don't know. I don't initially feel too bad, it's more about the sore throat I have developed the next day from my acid reflux, yet I have had acid reflux on LFRV food as well, so I don't know. It's more about that I know it is not healthy behavior to eat a whole bag of soy bbq chips in one sitting, as well as it's not a healthy food in general. Especially the cottage cheese I know is not healthy. All the foods I listed are really processed. 

You said that baby spinach helps you. I have tried eating greens. I love cooked veggies. I used to eat them steamed with mustard and spices. But eating raw greens is like chewing on grass to me. It is not enjoyable at all. Did you like the raw baby spinach and greens from the beginning or did it take time to like raw greens? I just have no desire for them at all and when I eat them I am literally forcing them down. I don't think eating should be like that.

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Permalink Reply by AJ on April 14, 2012 at 1:26pm

I'm glad I could give you hope =]  From what I've seen in this/other threads you were active in, I wanna say we come from very similar eating backgrounds.  The secret is you have to be fed up enough!  When I committed to HCRV, I had had it with (what I thought were) uncontrollable cravings, feeling too hungry and then feeling too full/bloated/disgusting to even leave my room for hours, waking up bloated and (still have to get used to talking about this aspect of physiology but...) constipated- I was just done.  It was not easy for me at first, but I just wanted to be healthy mentally and physically SO BADLY.  I then saw a video of DR drinking a 25-banana and ~1C raisin smoothie and was like "Really?  REALLY?  I can @%$^&&@$ get on board with that."  And I just did.  I just said no to all the things that made me feel like crap.  I ate cooked potatoes/sweet potatoes(all plain) at first to ease the transition, but that was it.  I stuck to my convictions despite living in a house with 5 friends who do not eat even CLOSE to what I'd consider healthy, having a family that treats food like a drug, and while overcoming anorexia.  I NEVER thought I'd be able to, either.  I thought I'd struggle the rest of my life.  I feel like if I could do it, literally everyone and everyone is 110% capable and then some.  Like I said, there's no magical food or activity that will make it stop.  It's all you!  You have to WANT IT badly enough.

I actually hated raw baby spinach in the beginning!  I would always scoff when girls would be all "OMG I just had suchhh a good spinach salad," I'd think to myself "Yeah right, like you actually enjoyed that."  I started in HCRV very fruit-heavy, because they said I could eat all I wanted.  They were right!  I ate things like peeled cucumbers/carrots/tomatoes/peppers at first, those were the only raw vegetables I found palatable without any condiments.  The longer you go at this, however, the more sensitive your tastebuds get.  About a month into it I felt like I NEEDED salt, but I really wanted to stick this out.  Someone on here said baby spinach was their go-to for a salt craving.  Buy a bag and eat it like it's potato chips.  I tried it and was AMAZED by how flavorful it was to me!  It's salty with this kind of creamy satisfying texture... Indescribable now.  I can't get enough.  So start fruit-heavy if you can't stomach leafy greens at first.  I haven't been bloated(except for very briefly after meals), sick, or any of that gross stuff I dealt with before since.  I wake up every morning wanting to just put on sneakers under my pajamas and RUN(I also thought I'd never be able to jog before, just use ellipticals forever... that changed too =D).  I'm telling you, the changes this lifestyle brings are nothing short of AMAZING.  You deserve the amazingness so goooo get it haha!

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Permalink Reply by AJ on April 14, 2012 at 1:27pm

Oh also spinach/any greens can be blended into fruit smoothies if that works better than forcing them on their own at first.

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Permalink Reply by Jessica on April 14, 2012 at 1:46pm

I think we really do have similar backgrounds. I can relate to a lot of things you say. especially at the end when you say that you thought you would only be able to use an elliptical forever. I feel that way now, but my dream is to become a runner, or should I say, jogger.

I have a history of anorexia. I was never underweight to the point of hospitalization, but I was a good 10-15lb underweight...you know...like the acceptable hollywood actress size, haha (almost every girl or woman I see on TV or in a movie is underweight these days...it's so disappointing). Anyways, I have been at a healthy weight for over a year now, just not with a healthy relationship with food and disordered behaviors.

I actually weigh more now then I ever have in my whole life (even before I had an ED). Being at this higher weight (115lb raw weight in the morning @ 5"3), which I know is not overweight at all but is higher than I have ever been and I have a very small frame, makes it really challenging for me to just jump full force into this lifestyle and risk gaining more weight. I feel that my body will start looking unhealthy if I gain anymore with my frame.

After getting to a healthy weight when I first got over being anorexic I had settled for a long while at 108lb eating 1800-2000 calories a day of cooked vegetarian/vegan food (a lot of junk though), but after attempts at this diet, and thus eating 2500-3500 calories on the days I was doing this lifestyle 100%, as well as 1-3 binges before trying this lifestyle I have gained an extra 7lb in just 1 1/2 months. So it's just been really hard for me to dive full force into this lifestyle and take the risk of gaining 10lb or more like some women have reported and risk feeling even worse about my appearance.

I know that may seem vain or something, but I think it is just fine to want to feel good about one's body as long as it is not unhealthfully under or over weight. I mean who doesn't want that? I know health needs to be my priority, I'm just scared of what could happen if I gain 10lb or more eating this way and how that could mess with my mind.

When you started this lifestyle, you said you came from anorexia, so did you have weight to gain? Did this lifestyle help you with that? Or were you at a healthy weight but still had anorexia. A lot of people don't know that a person can be anorexic and/or bulimic but not be underweight at all.

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Permalink Reply by AJ on April 14, 2012 at 2:16pm

Oh wow our stories are SO similar.  I also was never dangerously underweight (my lowest was 107lb and I'm 5'6, so almost 10lb under for my frame), but I found HCRV later in my recovery so I had already gained back the weight I needed and then some (I'd estimate I was ~135).  That's the first thing you need to do though- THROW OUT THE SCALE.  It is a horrible indicator of health.  I began recovery this past August and haven't weighed myself since September, hence why I estimated I was ~135.  I did gain some water weight initially on HCRV, about the same as you I'd say, but I listened to all the people saying that was normal!  How many more people on here say they are absolutely thriving on this diet than that they are miserable?  And like I said, the majority of the people who say HCRV is failing them, from what I've seen, have actually failed the lifestyle themselves, not the other way around.  I was uncomfortable as all hell with that initial gain, especially since I was already heavier than I was comfortable being.  The fear was legitimate because at my heaviest weight ever, in middle school actually, I was close to 200, and I was petrified of going anywhere near back to that.  But I was desperate to not be yo-yoing forever, so I stuck it out a few more weeks, and I swear to you the weight FELL OFF.  Now not only have I lost a SIGNIFICANT amount of fat, more than I ever did when I was at my worst point of anorexia because then, I had mostly just lost water weight and my muscles were atrophying.  Now, I can see my muscle tone which I've never had to before (exercising regularly is part of HCRV and very important!) and my stomach is almost completely flat.  My stomach is the biggest difference.  I have that stubborn belly fat that just CLINGS due to stress/genetics and I always have.  Never before in my entire life has anything, not even anorexia, diminished that until HCRV.  It. Works.

I agree with the rest of what you said but I have to run out now(sorry so sorry!!) but I will respond ASAP!  I like your attitude a lot, admittedly because I do see a lot of myself in you based on your posts, and I really really want to help in any way =]  feel free to comment/private message me whenever, too!

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Permalink Reply by Jessica on April 14, 2012 at 2:36pm

Wow, we do have a lot in common. That's so cool. You are so strong to come to this lifestyle from being at a healthy weight and go through gaining a bit and still holding on strong to see the weight FALL OFF, as you said. That gives me hope that since you came to this lifestyle from a very similar place that I am in now, not being under/over weight, and that you have had success. Since we have a lot in common with our backgrounds and you have had a lot of success on this lifestyle, do you mind if I ask what you do for exercise each day and what your calorie range is? I'm trying to figure out how active I need to be to do this lifestyle right and to eat the adequate amount of fruit.

Also, that is so cool that HCRV has given you a stomach that anorexia could not give you. Hell ya! What a great reason to never go back to those old restrictive ways when you know that eating sweet fruit in abundance can give you the stomach and body you had always dreamed of. It's just so cool that you (and me one day) and so many women on here have gone from anorexic/bulimic ways, eating next to nothing, and suffering, to eating twice as many calories as the average SAD male eats and losing weight or maintaining a fit and healthy figure? Not in my wildest dreams did I think this was possible. I just want to get my act together and do this 100% so that I can fully experience the miracle that this lifestyle is. 

Like you said, private message me anytime if you want to chat about your experiences in the past or what you're going through now on this lifestyle! I would love to hear about your progress and be as supportive of you as you have been to me. I can be there if you hit a road bump, or as it seems for you, just keep on cheering as you continue to thrive.

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Permalink Reply by AJ on April 15, 2012 at 2:44am

Thanks =]  It really does feel so good, because now I know this is going to last forever.  I really urge you to throw out the scale though.  Honestly if you gain 10lbs you won't notice.  You only notice when you see the number.  If you gain 30lbs, maybe then it will show(but I wanna guarantee that you won't gain 30lbs if you're 100% HCRV).  The only way I could tell I had gained a little weight at first was because my fingers were puffy- always an indicator that I'm retaining water.  But it went away!  From my experience, I think it's A LOT easier to deal with weight gain if you don't see the number.  IMO, scales are for severely overweight people who need to lose for medical reasons.  You definitely don't NEED to lose any weight, but I do agree that there's nothing wrong with wanting to look healthy.  In order to look healthy you have to BE healthy, which means saying no to crave foods and restricting and saying yes to HCRV and exercise.

Permalink Reply by Hilly on April 14, 2012 at 3:24pm

Yeah, I agree that keeping the SAD "foods" that you're craving out of your daily environment puts you several steps further from giving in to the cravings. Also, I think the most important thing must be to eat enough! I only feel cravings when I haven't eaten enough and I go grab some bananas or dates or something and get 'em down. One of the best results I've had so far from eating 80/10/10 is drum roll....no chocolate cravings! I can't remember the last time I went a day without going a little nuts wanting chocolate more than anything else. I only realized I was no longer craving it when I read someone else's post on here saying they experienced the same thing ha ha. 

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Permalink Reply by Jon Fergus on April 14, 2012 at 3:35pm

Had the exact same experience with chocolate. Now, it's like all thought or memory of it has been wiped clean, almost as if to my mind it doesn't even exist.

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Permalink Reply by Greenmama on April 15, 2012 at 12:16pm

Same for me.  Don't miss it a bit.

That box of fancy chocolates my co-worker gave me 2 weeks ago is still sitting in my desk drawer at work.  I keep forgetting to get rid of it, and then I open the drawer to get something and laugh.  In the past, my mind would have been obsessing constantly about that chocolate.  Scratch that, I would've eaten it and then obsessed about when I was going to have more.

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Permalink Reply by Jon Fergus on April 15, 2012 at 12:54pm

Freedom is sweeter than any box of chocolates I've ever come across ;)

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Permalink Reply by Heather Bhagat on April 14, 2012 at 11:39am

You're addicted to sodium chloride (salt) in the food! Look at the numbers, 960mg, 945mg, 1560mg, ect. Once I eat a little salt, it's almost impossible to stop craving it... it's the most addictive "vegan" thing. Whenever this happens, I eat insane amounts of spinach and celery, then I don't crave anything salty... You wouldn't crave those foods if there wasn't any added salt.

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