Cheeseslave's Weight Loss Diet

I sure hope she is smart enough to adjust if necessary. However, she is saying things that I did when I had an ED. She is also drinking coffee again. I have no problems with coffee drinking, but she was so anti it before, whereas now it seems like she is using it as a wl strategy no matter what she says. Also, the fact that she cannot understand why 800-1000 cals a day could be an issue is a problem. Then, her weight loss is very suspect: 20 lbs in two months. Plus 20% bf is low for a woman. Finally, she is quoting sources like Weight Watchers as proof that her plan is healthy!!

Even her attitude in the comments section wreaks of an ED. I know I acted like her; I was controlling and hypersensitive about my beloved diet/eating disorder. I’m not saying she has an eating disorder, but she is skating on thin ice IMO.

“A non-ED person will say she feels irritated, fatigued, hungry and moody when starving. The leptin levels dropping are creating unpleasant moods and extreme hunger to signal to the brain that it is time to go find more food/energy to eat.

An ED person will say she is not hungry. Although experts dispute whether she actually does feel hunger or not, it is clear she feels calmer, energized and dissociated from negative feelings (emotionally blunted) as a result of suppressing her hunger [S. Guisinger, 2003; M. Duclos et al., 2012]. The ED-skewed neurotransmitters are able to override what the leptin levels should be triggering: unpleasant moods and the desire to eat more.” – http://www.youreatopia.com/blog/2011/9/13/phases-of-recovery-from-restricted-eating.html

I think all the “negative” backlash is a couple of things. First, it’s real, genuine concern for Ann Marie. Lots of people read her blog and like her a lot. She turned many of us on to Matt and his ideas on metabolism. Then we were able to learn and research and learn a lot of the truths and falsehoods about dieting for ourselves. She showed us the way to fly and now she’s saying that flying isn’t that great anymore. Sadly, I guess Ann Marie proves that you can “unsee what you’ve seen”.

Second, this is not a private journal post of hers. Many of her readers look to her for advice and she knows it! But also re-read her language. Yes, she does use a lot of “me” and “I” statements, but she peppers the post with “you cans” and “you shoulds” as well. She is encouraging others to follow her path and many of us find that it’s wrong because women WILL copy Cheeseslave and likely won’t have her success.Hopefully her previous HED will shield her, but others might not be as ready metabolically.

And maybe there’s a third, smaller, reason. Those who disagree with this approach are by no means wishing her ill (which she obviously feels and she is very wrong about), but are expecting a failure. But what if? What if the road to one’s own ideal body is paved with clinical starvation-level calorie intake (<1000 calories)? That is a scary thought. Although I think that’s what the mainstream culture believes and we thought that Cheeseslave knew better.

Adam, I also wondered about that. You also have to realize that she is testing her body fat by a scale, which is probably the worst idea ever, as the scale has no way of knowing what is body fat and what is not. I hate when people claim they’ve lost so much body fat and then I find out it is because they’ve been using those stupid scales! Only way to accurately judge is in one of the water tanks.

I found the whole thing surprising and sad. It was like she did a massive 180 and I can’t figure out how she is justifying everything. Granted, who doesn’t like to lose weight, but still. I also found it very concerning that she mentioned that since she was eating 800 calories of healthy, nutritious food that it was totally different from the concentration camp diets, and okay. I ate 800 calories of wholesome, nutritious food when I was in my ED, and it got me to severely low body fat and in metabolic hell!

One of my other concerns was that she made it seem like it was the next step after RRARFing, which she continually says you shouldn’t do forever. I agree, we shouldn’t be “lazy” forever, and overeat forever, but I believe that eventually our need to overeat will stop, we will eat normally, and that we can exercise without drastically dieting. My belief was always that after RRARFing, we added back in some good exercise and ate normally. I could see a lot of confused people in the comments, and I hate to think that they now think this may be the next step.

I guess, even though she is able to lose the weight as her metabolism seems to have healed, it doesn’t mean that it should be done, or even done in such a way, right? What would make her any different then the others that first lose weight on a low calorie diet and end up gaining it back (while metabolically healthy)?

I’ve been where she is so many times, complete with major defensiveness and cranky responses. I feel really really bad for her.

I also feel sorry that she thinks that she’s overweight enough to warrant an 800 – 1000 calorie/day diet at the weight she’s at. Even at the weight she was at 20 lbs ago! She probably looked amazing and had no bloody idea! Unless you’re 3’9″, a weight in the 160s is perfectly healthy, especially if your metabolism is pumping along nicely and you have a healthy amount of LBM. I looked sexy as hell in the 160s. People who are “slightly overweight” tend to live longer, healthier lives.

So, real talk — this is about self-image and mental health, not physical health. Which always makes me very sad for the person in question. Because I’ve been there, big time. I think she would be better served by working on her body image than trying to nickel and dime a few pounds.

BioLayne did a good video about metabolic damage from such low-calorie dieting. his angle was more focused on fitness competitors, but his message was/is the same: if you want to be fabulous & stay thin without going out of your mind, you have to heal your metabolism first & only then move on to losing weight. He does this w/his clients by, yes, increasing their calorie intake over the long term (I repeat: long term) and only then starts to whittle them back down to competition levels of body fat. In one case, his client stays only 4 pounds above her stage weight in the off season & eats a boatload of carbs (400-500g per day, I recall) & is happy. My takeaway is that if your metabolism is healthy – or healthier, at least – you no longer need to plummet your caloric intake to concentration camp levels & play diet-roulette with your poor beleaguered metabolism for the weight to come off. But that takes time and patience is that very annoying grown-up attribute which is pretty much MIA these days.

I have to say I was shocked at her calorie intake, but I understand her desire for weight loss. I know our society has a twisted idea of beauty and all, but, when it comes down to it, we are all affected by appearances. I have to say I would LOVE to lose the 50 pounds I’ve gained in the past 5 years because I am sick and tired of people assuming (and telling me) I am just lazy and don’t care any more or having old friends do a double take when they see me again. Sometimes we take risks with our health because we value society’s opinion of our appearance more…and that’s what life is about – deciding what you want more and taking the risks that come with it. Whatever makes her happy.

@Rob

Totally agree and letting body acclimate.

I’ve found my metabolism changes at about 6 calories a day up or down if I’m in a surplus or a deficit.

I am curious what formula you are using for target though.