Opening up: cutting out foods.

I am a total emotional eater. I have tried really really hard to eat as intuitively as possible. Since starting running this past May, my eyes were finally open to exactly what it was that I was doing to myself by eating everything in sight when I was bored or depressed. And because I am eating when I’m truly hungry and stopping when I’m not, I actually have increased the amounts of food that I am eating…weird. Oh, and maintaining a 15lbs weight loss.

I have never tried any fad diets but I have tried the I’m-not-going-to-eat diet and the I’m-going-to-throw-up-my-food diet and they were both very bad choices.

I had serious roommate problems. I loved my roommate for a good year and a half (we roomed together sophomore year too) but then then second half of the year she went a little crazy and started reading my diary and telling everyone what it said and reporting me to the health center (I may have wrote some crazy stuff in there). I promptly got an apartment and moved out. I have not spoken to her since.

I never thought about whether I could eat dairy before a run. I always have a cup of coffee with half and half before a run but I’m not sure if that counts, it is a small amount. I have no idea if it would bother my belly.

And my three favorite cereals are: Shredded Wheat (with maple syrup, blueberries, and strawberries but I also like it plain), Honey Bunches of Oats (although this doesn’t fill me up for breakfast so I only eat it for a snack), and Frosted Mini Wheats (yes, I apparently love wheat cereal).

Glad you started eating cereal again! You’ve been missing out.

I’ve never had a roommate and never tried Atkins!!

Dairy makes me die before a workout so i actually dont have much of it at all. I drink Almond Milk with my cereal, but it’s definitely an acquired taste!

I really love all cereal but my top ones right now are PUFFINS, every Cheerios under the sun and Kashi cinnamon harvest! I would eat ceral for every meal if it had more nutritional value!!

Oh yes, I’ve done the Atkins thing. I think it can be done in a healthful way, but regardless, it’s just not for me. I love my carbs too much. :) I do Weight Watchers now and it’s really helping me overcome some food issues I have/had.

I never had roommate issues in college. All three years, I lived with my best friend from high school and we had a blast! Thank god, I can’t imagine a bad roommate. :(

I LOVE cereal too. I don’t know if I can name my ultimate top three, but I do love Frosted Mini Wheats (and the strawberry ones, mmm), Cap’n Crunch with Crunchberries, Honey Bunches of Oats, Honey Nut Cheerios…ahh, I could go on and on.

I’ve tried them all. I look back on those days and just remember how nothing made me happy. Even if I was losing weight, I hated the food I was eating and the restrictions.

I didn’t get along with my freshman roommate. She did some things that didn’t coincide with my values or beliefs and brought that into our room several times.

My stomach can’t handle dairy at all before a workout. You think I would learn after the first time.

My favorite cereals are grapenuts, frosted mini-wheats, cracklin oat squares, and honey bunches of oats. Unfortunately, I realized this morning that I can’t do cereal while pregnant. It gives me horrible heart burn and indigestion, that my medicines won’t help.

So many silly diets in my past. I did the Special K diet where I ate it for 2 meals each day. Pretty sure I never lost weight because I thought I could just eat as much cereal as I wanted—it’s tasty!
No dairy for me before a workout, and actually I usually eat cereal plain or with yogurt now. Favorites: frosted shredded wheat, frosted flakes, and cinnamon chex. Yum!
:)

Oh, lordy, the diets. I’ve tried ’em all I think. Atkins, Fat Flush, South Beach.

The problem for me is the moment I say I “can’t have” something, it immediately becomes the only thing I crave. I haven’t mastered the right calorie/nutrient balance my own way (yet), but it’s inifinitely better than feeling crazed that I “can’t” have something!

I don’t think I’m an emotional or stress eater. I just like to EAT and unfortunately, I can eat a lot! Hah.

Good for you!!! I tried to cut out carbs for a little bit…but it didn’t work out so well for me….I looove carbs!
Favorite cereals: cheerios, pb capn crunch and honey nut chex

Freshman year was a low point for me too :( not for roommate issues but just adjusting and transitioning issues…. rough! I hate thinking about it! But on a different note… when I was running a lot the only thing that sat well in my stomach before runs was 2% plain yogurt! Strange for a pre run meal, it doesn’t work for most people but it did for me.

Did you ever try Atkins or any other fad diet during your life?

– I was lucky and picked the right diet when I decided to actually try losing weight. I lost 50 pounds on Weight Watchers and am coming up on 10 years having maintained that loss. More or less. I feel healthy, but could lose a couple. At this point I’m just too lazy to try.

Did you ever have roommate problems?

– I only had a roommate one year. We were total opposites; I was decidedly fat and she lived at the gym and only ate plain baked potatoes. We didn’t have huge clashes, we were just so different. What was funny is that we were one room of a 4-room/8 person suite. Names – Kelly, Kelly, Kristen, Kirsten, Kira, Emily, Elizabeth and me. Can you tell I went to an Irish Catholic university?

Can your stomach handle dairy before a workout?
– Dairy is not a favorite for me, so I don’t know – I’ve never tried.

Since we are having a tribute to cereal what are your top three FAVORITE cereals?

1.) Barbara’s Peanut Butter Chocolate Puffins
2.) Kashi Go Lean
3.) Trader Joe’s High Fiber Cereal

Wow – with those cereal choices I’m totally an adult. I don’t wanna be!

Cereal is freaking awesome! I didn’t ever go on a diet, but I went through a disordered eating period where I just didn’t really eat much of anything and I lost 20 pounds…eek, so scary! Dairy doesn’t not agree with my tum tum before exercise and it cereal doesn’t fill me up enough for breakfast so now it is usually my nighttime snack! My fav cereals are Honey Bunches of Oats, Peanut Butter Bumpers, and Cinnamon Life :)

Me and my boyfriend in college one night decided to make some dessert cereal. We got a big blue tubberware bowl filled it with 2 different kinds of cookies ( Keebler Rainbow M & M cookies and maybe Vienna Fingers) and then filled the bowl up with milk let the cookies get mushy and so soggy they were almost unrecognizable and sat and ate it like cereal with spoons. Probably something I should consider doing more often.

I love cereal too!

I tried doing the South Beach diet. I was HATEFUL on it. I was so bitter and angry because I couldn’t eat any carbs at all.

I cannot tolerate dairy at all anymore. I start the day with a green smoothie with soaked raw oats in it. I also love chia seeds in it but that is only a few times a week. If I do eat cereal its with rice milk but for the most part I’m learning its just empty calories and the good feeling doesn’t last long. Paired with the fact that I have 4 going on 5 children cereal is expensive and I can bake/cook for a whole lot cheaper!

I can’t do the whole follow a diet plan. When I did “diet” it was just based off eating smaller portions/less calories and no junk food. Atkins sounds so crazy, in a bad way!!

I have to try soooo hard not to eat a whole box of cereal in one sitting. What I like to do to keep me full, because let’s be honest cereal does not keep me full for more than an hour, I have started to make cold oatmeal (pour almond/soy milk into oats and let soak in fridge, then mix in 1 serving of cereal with some more milk. It works to keep me feeling satisfied because I don’t get hungry and get my cereal fix in too!!!

Are you on the dailymile??? I recently joined and read your blog, which I found through my friend, Courtney’s, Sweet Tooth Sweet Life.

You are just the best and I LOVE that you are willing to open up about things like this on your blog. I admire you so much for that because so many girls go through this. I was anorexic for 2 years in college and ate NO carbs at all. When I did eat them I got deathly ill because my stomach had shrunk so much it couldn’t digest them. I am so so happy that I can eat them in massive amounts and not feel guilty about it anymore.

Best cereal is cinnamin life, lucky charms, and fruity pebbles. Sugar, sugar, sugar, ha ha!

Wow! I can’t imagine living without cereal! But, now you must make up for all the bowls of deliciousness you’ve missed out on ;) I actually used to be terrified of eating cereal because “it had to many carbs”. But one day I told my brain to kiss my butt and haven’t stopped eating cereal every morning since.
My stomach can’t really handle anything before I workout, so I stick with a banana and some applesauce.
I’m going to a community college so I don’t have to worry about roommate problems! Thank goodness!!
&I don’t think I’ve ever done any fad diets. But, I have gone extremely low with my calories and tried to exercise to much. whoops…myyy bad. But, now I don’t and I fuel my body with the foods it needs :D

Have a great day!!

I totally understand where you are coming from. I would always cut out food groups because it was bad and would not allow myself to have any of it.
I started weight watchers in high school when my mom was on it and it was actually not that bad. However, I did count the points CONSTANTLY. I also ate a LOT of processed foods such as frozen meals and stuff just because they were low in points so I’m pretty sure I was restricting myself from the actual amount of calories I needed because I did workout a good amount.
Last year in college I had a problem with one of my roommates but she ended up pretty much living with her boyfriend so we didn’t see her much!
My favorite cereal is Quaker Oatmeal Squares and Kashi!

I’m a stress eater as well, and also struggle with a “restrict and deny” approach, and then I’ll overeat on what I’m “restricting and denying!” It’s usually all the “bad foods,” but sometimes it’s just not feeling full. B/c of time I don’t usually eat cereal for breakfast- it’s usually something that I can eat when I’m driving. So, when I do end up eating cereal, it’s usually as an afternoon or evening snack. I love the Kashi cereals, Special K’s, and also the Trader Joes kinds.

I actually did the Special K “diet” when I was in high school. You know the one where you eat Special K cereal for breakfast and lunch and then you eat some type of healthy dinner. Yeah… I was basically starving all the time and eventually just ended up eating MORE to compensate for the depravation. Fast forward to grad school where I did not do a diet per say but I developed a very unhealthy relationship with food and began to restrict my intake which lead to lots of other issues over the next few years.

I had great roommates in college. But I had my first awful roommate experience in grad school (last 6 months but felt like 6 years). I will not go into detail in fear of getting in a bad mood for the rest of the night!

Fav cereals: Cinnamon cheerios, Cinnamon toast crunch or basically anything with cinnamon flavor! Oh and I also love Fiber One caramel delight. Yum.

I adore cereal. I’d have to go with Lucky Charms, Cocoa Pebbles, and if I’m feeling healthy, Grapenuts are a good option.

Great to see you again on Friday!

I’m pretty sure everybody had roommate problems in college! I think it’s to teach you to be careful about who you live with. Even some people you’re great friends with do not make the best roommates–and you don’t make the best roommate to everyone either!

The hubs used to do Atkins and it worked until it didn’t. Like every diet known to man it only works as long as you stringently follow it. As a result of his experience I hate all fad diets and don’t trust anything other than a healthy balance of fats, carbs and protiens.
Cereal = Lucky Charms, Honey Combs, and Multi-grain Cheerios.

The only fad diet I’ve actually done to a “T” is Weight Watchers when I was like 12 years old. I was a very chubby child which probably contributes to everything I go through now.

I’ve had roommates from hell. Haha. My freshman year I roomed with my best friend from high school and we ended up hating each other. She moved out while I was at a block of my classes. Yeah. Then, the best roommate was a drug-addict with a boyfriend who drove from 45 minutes every other day to spend the night… Let’s just say they were up until about 4 AM making fun and letting the world know how “in-love” they were. It was disgusting. Worst experience of my life.

My stomach can’t handle anything before I run but I’m usually okay if I eat something before any other kind of workout, besides spicy food… Ha.

Cereal I cut out of my life a while ago… The only kind I’ve actually tried was Kashi this year so I don’t even know anymore. HOWEVER, I used to love Reeses Puffs. Actually, I pretty much did the same thing you did with those and that’s why I don’t eat cereal. hahaha, well shoot.

Hey, are you thinking of me as you write this? :)

I’ve been “dieting” for the past 2 weeks, and it’s terrible. I didn’t really have a name for it, except for maybe “The Candida Diet”. Turns out I have ultra high candida levels (yeast) in my body, and it’s been causing some problems. I even think that it played a part in my having to get my appendix out on the 4th of July. It was causing some of my liver enzymes to be high (my liver was overworking to process all of the alcohol that was produced by the yeast!) My doctor said I needed to have a diet of lean meats, and vegetables, and after 4 weeks I can reintroduce low sugar fruits. My bloodwork also showed gluten & milk allergies (which can also be caused by the candida- leaky gut problems).

Let me just say- this diet NO FUN. So far I don’t really feel any better. If anything, more tired. I’m determined to see it through, though. My running has slowed down 30 seconds to a minute per mile, but I’m happy I’m still able to get out there.

The main things I’m trying to correct are my liver enzymes, and hopefully get rid of the brain fog I’d been having. I’m also hoping that side benefits will be weight loss & more energy overall with my running. Fruit will be my new candy in two more weeks when I can add them in again! (berries, grapefruit, pears).

aww! ashley, katie, nicole…i love those girls in the picture. that’s the janae i first met :) i haven’t tried many diets, as you may have been able to tell from me stuffing myself into a swimsuit after freshman year.

you like all the healthy-ish cereals! i’m a big cinnamon toast crunch and berry berry kix girl. they started making the berry berry kix differently though, which is a bummer, so i’m in the market for a replacement. apple jacks? oatmeal squares?

Yuck, I’m sorry that happened to you. It’s amazing that even in college people can be immature and act like they are in middle school/high school again.

Isn’t it amazing how we suppress these events? I am really good at that. There are many things I have chosen to forget. I went on a ton of crazy diets. I also tried atkins which in my opinion is the least healthy diet ever invented. I could eat burgers filled with saturated fat and hotdogs but had to limit my fruit? How crazy is that? It made me crazy too. I would cry at the drop of a hat because I was carb-deprived.

Now I’m vegan and feel better than ever. It isn’t about restricting, it’s about compassion for all living things, including myself. It’s the most loving I’ve ever felt toward myself, my body and toward everyone else. I eat TONS of carbs but I need them, I’m a runner. I can’t believe we put ourselves through such hell at one point. It makes me very sad.

One of the most powerful things a counselor ever told me was, “Imagine yourself as a little girl. What would she think of how you’re treating yourself?” That made me cry because I would never want my innocent, childhood self to see me hurting myself and starving myself. I may have shared this little anecdote in the past but I think it’s a good reminder and it helps me to keep my behavior in check. It’s so important to not only be loving toward others but toward ourselves.

I am so happy you can enjoy cereal now. It seems so small but it signifies something larger. I am proud of you. I also enjoy cereal by the bowlful and I love every bite of it! :)

I did Atkins in college and after college. The weight loss was great, but once I ate normal I gained all the weight I had lost back, and then some. Whatta train wreck! But I did immensely enjoy eating an egg, cheese and sausage scramble every morning and ordering bacon cheeseburgers from Burger King without the buns. Oy, now when I look back on it, it was awful!!

I cannot even tell, which one are you in the college photo?