IamA guy who went from 430 pounds to 170 pounds in approximately 11 months through starvation. AMA!

Tell us about your shits during the 11 months!

Heyy, another question about poo! I feel like I am back in grade school!

Eventually, you basically stop pooping. You'd be surprised how nice it is to not have to poop.

But where did you read Reddit?

It was like the dark ages for me. All reddit progress came to a halt.

Would you recommend someone to do what you did?

Absolutely not. People in my life asked me questions about it and expressed interest in trying something similar, and I scolded them something fierce. Anyone that I knew who started embarking on something similar, I would immediately alert anyone I could to find them help.

This is the WRONG way to lose weight. I am an honest person, and I can't tell you some story about how this ruined my life and how it will kill you. It didn't kill me, but I am lucky. I trust my doctors when they say that every day I was waking up, I was lucky to be doing so. I may not have suffered any long term complications (although it's too early to tell I guess), but I was gambling with my life every day.

There are far better ways to lose weight that won't kill you, and that will actually teach you how to have an appropriate relationship with working out and food. If you lose weigh this way, I can promise you that you are going to be even more messed up by the time you're done. You may weigh a lot less, but the burden on your mind, your relationships...it's not worth it in the least.

So why did you do it then?

Because I was desperate to lose weight?

Why does someone rob a bank? Would they recommend someone else rob a bank, even if they got away with it?

Have you had many problems with excess skin?

Problems, not really. Do I have excess skin. Oh god yes. Excess skin like you wouldn't believe.

It's an unfortunate part of weighing as much as I did, and there isn't much you can do about it outside of surgery. While it isn't necessarily a health hazard (there are some issues), it's extremely psychologically distressing, and I am actively pursuing options to have it removed.

I'd there any way you could fill it out with muscle? Or is there too much for that to be possible?

Too much for that to be possible. Losing as much body fat as I did (I am currently in the single digits, around 8% I believe) has helped the extra skin be very, very thin, and muscle lines are clearly visible, but there's a lot hanging.

Removal appears to be my only option.

Guy here that went from 285-130 in about a year and a half. There is seriously no way to fill it all out with muscle, you'd have to have the biggest abs, triceps, legs, everything in order to fill out the same amount of skin. I don't mind my excess skin in other parts of my body, but my skin boobies are what I absolutely hate.

What do they look like? Just like they sound; boobies made out of skin. Except they hang low.. kind of like grandma boobies. Enjoy the picture ;)

Oh man. I had massive moobs for a good chunk of my life, and am SO HAPPY that they are basically all but gone. I have small pockets of skin that hang down, but they aren't visible in a t-shirt (for the most part).

I feel you ex-heavy brother, I feel you.

Do you have any problems with rashes?

Not especially. I have always had sensitive skin so it's hard to know what would be exacerbated by the loose skin, but it doesn't seem to be any worse than before. I am an extremely hygienic person however, so that helps.

If I'm not mistaken, the problem with excess skin on overweight people following weight loss is not because they haven't tried to fill it out. Skin is elastic and can only be stretched so much so many times. When you're severely overweight your skin stretches until it loses just about all it's elasticity. That's how you get stretch marks. Your skin stretches to the point where it can't stretch anymore but your body "forces" it to stretch. There are things you can do, but the easiest thing is to make sure you don't lose weight too quickly. Your skin, which is an organ, won't have enough time to adapt to your body as it's changing. Your skin will eventually reshape to fit your body after you lose weight, but it still may never look "natural."

As an organ skin does grow and reduce itself, but there is a point where your skin becomes so stretched it won't reduce any further. I believe I am pretty close to that point, and my options are filling it out with more muscle (although I don't want to be a bulky dude), and surgery.

This is something I've always wondered about. So, is it never going to go away on its own? Even a little bit?

It's gotten better over time. When a lot of people think of loose skin, they are actually thinking of loose skin AND the body fat beneath it. Skin itself is very, very thin, and so continuing to lose body fat can actually reduce the appearance of loose skin.

Overall though, I have hit the point where what's left is always going to be there, baring surgery. I would say (in a completely subjective way) I saw a...50% reduction over time from loose skin at it's worst, and the remaining 50% is here to stay.

look into having that extra skin turned into wallets

http://www.humanleather.co.uk/

And like that donat, you and I are going to be rich!

There was a similar story re: extreme weight loss and excess skin, photos etc, in /r/fitness recently:

http://www.reddit.com/r/Fitness/comments/1nwo5o/progress_male_17_year_old_350_191_159_lost_not/

If I were you I would go beast mode for a year or two and fill it out with muscle before considering surgery. It'll spring back naturally to some extent in that time as well.

Thanks for the post! It's definitely something I am working on, and I would love to find a non surgery alternative. I could afford to put on quite a bit of muscle, and that is where I am at currently (I have been banned from exercise up until a day or two ago).

Why banned?

I used exercise as a means of purging. I also had torn up my core enough that the surgeries meant I couldn't do any sort of heavy lifting for quite a while.

Holy shit! When did the pain of starvation end?

Starvation stops hurting after a while. The real difficulty is in the first few weeks, then you stop being hungry. It's been explained to me that during the starvation process, you sort of "burn out" your normal hunger feedback loop, and so you stop being hungry all together. This is problematic when you want to start recovery, because you're body is never going to prompt you to eat; you have to do it yourself, yet because you want to restrict, you find yourself falling into a dangerous loop.

This sounds weird, but the stomach sickness that I felt still occasionally comes back when prompted by songs I would listen to on repeat while exercising, or by locations where I was in the midst of a heavy fast.

I can attest to this, not as a large man who starved himself on purpose, but a skinny man who starved himself by accident. I got into really pathetic eating habits (barely consuming any food, maybe one meal a day, nothing to do with body image in the slightest). After a while you forget you are hungry, and it becomes hard to get excited about eating something when you have no appetite.

Edit: For those asking for ways to get back into a normal eating schedule, I can only give you partial advice since I'm still not on a full diet. I lived off nuts, berries and raisins for a while - just grazing, but this was a stop-gap really. I usually remember that I should be hungry, and force myself to eat something even if I can't finish it. Doing this every day at a regular time should slowly get your body back into the swing of things, try eating a little more each day and you should be able to increase the amount you eat before you hit that wall. Everyone has their own reasons for getting into this habit, but this is the best general advice I feel qualified to give. If this fails, or if you start getting really thin, go see a doctor! I will also say that smoking a little marijuana helps me, you don't have to get stoned and you probably want to avoid only ever eating once you've smoked but hell, it works for me every now and again.

For reference, I am 6'2 and ~125lbs - so still not really at a great body mass. I put on some weight and lost it again recently.

This has literally been me forever. I'll force one huge meal down a day but I hate the process of eating.

Yeeep. Eating becomes a chore. That is not a good place to be when you're actively restricting and at an unhealthy weight.

Did losing weight effect your golf game positively?

Yep. I went from shooting around 30 over par to around 28 over par.

With an error margin of 2.

I hate golf.

Come join us in /r/nongolfers

Oh my god, that's a thing?

Well there goes Friday.....through Sunday.

What was the first thing you ate after starving?

I went home to visit my family before my sisters wedding, and ate Pineapple fried rice. It is my favorite food in the world, and....it made me sick. Absolutely nauseous, near vomiting. It was a really depressing experience.

When I quit starving in totality, basically the turning point where I started transitioning to where I am now? Pineapple fried rice. And it was the most delicious meal I have ever eaten.

A good recipe for pineapple fried rice

I love you.

How much money do you think you saved not buying food?

Insane amounts of money. I have never had such freedom to spend in my life. Not only did I go from spending a normal eaters amount to nothing, but I went from being a guy would could do two whole pizzas a night to nothing. I probably saved thousands of dollars.

Could you actually do 2 whole pizzas in a night? or was it two during the whole day and night? Also what size?

I'm just curious cuz I'm roughly the same size as you were, height and everything.

I would demolish two pizzas over the course of probably 48 hours. Two large pizzas. I would eat in binges.

But this is.... not anorexia? I'm confused.

EDIT: I know what anorexia is. Please stop PMing and replying explaining to me what the clinical symptoms of it are. I was just confused because it presents as such to me, but OP didn't use the word or anything like it in his explanation. OP was kind enough to explain the situation in the comments. Thanks.

You're right, it's not anorexia, but I find trying to call it "Eating Disorder Not Otherwise Specified Most Resembling Anorexia" a bit cumbersome :p . I fall into the area that a lot of guys suffering from eating disorders do; we weigh too much to be considered anorexic, yet we suffer from the symptoms, practice the restriction, etc.

I weighed too much to be diagnosed as anorexic given I was six foot three and 170 pounds, but as much as I tried to use that as an excuse to cast aside the label, it's semantics.

I want to ask if you're doing better now but I'm not sure that's appropriate.

I am doing better now, because I am not restricting my intake, and I don't have such a malformed body image that I act out in negative ways to try to "fix" it.

I am not a success story. I lost a ton of weight, but I risked my health, I hurt my family and friends, and I warped my view of myself. I am lucky that I have been able to undo most of these things, but it isn't a rosy picture. I try to be realistic about this in my response.

I am in a good place, and am not acting in a way that currently jeopardizes my health, hurts the people I care about. By that measure, I am doing much better.

If I can be a pedantic asshole for a second.

Anorexia is a symptom. All it means is that you are not eating. Anorexia (lack of appetite) can be caused be a whole host of things.

Anorexia Nervosa (or being Anorexic) is a disease.

It's a sensitive topic, so I feel like the distinction needs to be made.

*edit- letters

You're absolutely right, and it's worth calling out.

It comes down to lazy typing on my part. It's the kind of pedantic distinction I make most of the time in my life as well, but here, I just don't have the finger strength to deal with it.

Thanks for the clarification!

You're right, it's not anorexia, but I find trying to call it "Eating Disorder Not Otherwise Specified Most Resembling Anorexia" a bit cumbersome :p .

Based on behavioral symptoms, it was anorexia, though, right? Had you continued with that behavior and the mindset that elicited it, you would probably be very underweight, no?

To be actually diagnosed as Anorexic has rather stringent requirements. So medically speaking it's Eating Disorder Not Otherwise Specified and it's correct to call it such.

I'm in the same boat myself as far as 'basically anorexic but technically not' and I will often just say I'm anorexic bc it's easier to understand than trying to explain EDNOS to most people. It's often a personal preference as to whether that's a label that fits you when you're in the middle ground of eating disorders, but the actual medical side is very strict.

MeloJelo - Yep, exactly. That's the problem with the diagnosis criteria as they stand. I was well on my way to being the appropriate weight to be diagnosed as anorexic, but had I hit that weight....I would have been dead.

It's all semantics, and is a much larger issue with labeling in psychology.

How did you ease yourself back into eating? And what is your eating regiment like now?

I started by stopping the insane restriction. I used a calorie counting website and a scale to weigh out all of my food and shoot for 2000 calories a day. I would only eat foods I considered "healthy", which basically meant high nutrient density, low calorie. From there, I slowly started to expand my diet to include food beyond the 20 or so I limited myself to, then stopped weighing the amounts.

My eating regiment now is....mixed. I don't limit myself when I am eating out. I will go to a Thai restaurant and order Pad Thai, and go Cookie Monster on the whole thing. I avoid desserts, in part because I have never been a huge dessert guy, also because I try to avoid excess sugar.

When I am not eating out (or a meal cooked by someone else), I am still somewhat restrictive. I do a lot of chicken breast with seasoning, hummus, spinach, brocolli, fresh veggies, blueberries, etc. One could say that I follow a "natural, organic" sort of diet, but I do so while being completely ambivalent towards the entire "organic" movement.

I also always have a powered protein shake mix and oatmeal nearby for when I find myself not consuming enough. If I reach the end of the day and realize that I haven't consumed enough calories to sustain, I would make myself a protein shake to help out.

Peanut butter and milk (with protein) before bed is godly when you realize that you're short of calories. Give that a shot :D

I definitely will! I use almond milk in my shakes, and peanut butter would be a great source of some extra healthy fats and protein. Thanks!

Did you feel super fast and athletic afterwards? What were some of the biggest differences you felt?

I did when I actually started eating again and my weight hit around 180 pounds. One day I was using the elliptical, and said to myself "I wonder if I can run now...". I proceeded to get on the treadmill and run 3 miles at a pace of about 6 miles an hour. This blew my mind.

Feeling fast and "light" is something that is just hard to explain. People started to tell me how "bouncy" I looked. I would be standing still, and just start bouncing up on my heels and jumping around. It's amazing how different you feel when you're not carrying a significant amount of mass around with you everywhere.

Being able to do pull ups was a huge, huge victory for me.

Fatty here doing the less-batshit-insane version of this. I've dropped ~60 or 70 pounds in about 8 months, and I am loving it. Part of my exercise routine is running, and when I started I could scarcely run for 15 seconds without being severely winded, but now I can run for about 10 minutes at a time comfortably.

There was a big change when I went from stopping because my heart felt like it would explode to stopping when my legs were tired. I loved running ever after that because I feel like I was fighting my legs instead of my heart (which somehow seemed more ephemeral).

edit - I had a bunch of questions, so I think I replied to everyone but I thought I'd edit this post too. My starting age weight size was 27, 330, and 5'11".

So when I started I was 5'11, 330 pounds, and when I started I just middled through. I began boxing a heavy bag when I felt like it and doing some aerobics. It wasn't very effective but it began to move my heart and lungs toward healthy.

For running, I following the C25K program (couch to 5k). The idea is that if you can keep up with it's program then in 9 weeks you can run a 5k (3.1 miles). There is a free App from zenlabs on the iphone store, or you can just print out the program and wear a watch while running. It eases you into running (by doing 30 minute exercise sessions that are things like run 90s followed by walk 90s, and eventually has you running for 30 minutes straight). I found that around the 5th week I could no longer keep up with the speed the program was advancing, so I began repeating the hardest running sessions I was comfortable with. Also, it is only a 3 day a week training regiment, but because I go to a gym and want to exercise daily I add on informal "freestyle" runs. The machines at the gym I go to measure heartrate (or you could get a heartrate monitor), and there are some charts available online about where your heartrate should not go past. I get to around 145 bpm while jogging 4-5 mph, but when I started I could easily go into the "Danger zone" of my heart rate so I constantly was just running until my heart got too fast, then walking my heartrate down again, and then resuming running.

So far as other exercises, I do a Yoga class once a week which is amazing if you have never tried it. I was extremely nervous at first, but felt like success kid when I got through a few sessions full of beautiful women without getting a boner. It's really hard stuff. I also do yoga on my own following online programs, but there is no replacement for a yoga instructor because everyone's body is different, and they are trained or experienced enough to recognize your unique situation.

Maybe twice a week I still get out and box. Boxing is great because it's where cardio meets imagination. If I'm frustrated after work, I just rock the heavy bag. Of all the things I do, boxing takes the heaviest investment of about $150-250 for a good heavy bag, mounting equipment, gloves, and wristwraps.

For dieting, I use a free iphone app called "myfitnesspal" which has lots of users, and is just a calorie counting tool. You put in some general information about yourself, and it suggests a calorie level. At my current weight (280-285) I can eat 1835 calories and still lose 2 pounds a week (theoretically). If you can't use the iPhone app, there is a free website for myfitnesspal as well. I like it because most of the food from the supermarket is there, as well as most chain restaurants, and you can even create your own "foods" so it is very easy. It presents charts and graphs and other fun tracking info, and gives you predictions based on its data like "If every day was like today, you'd weigh xyz in 5 weeks." In reality, you could do the same with pen and paper, but it's simply not as convenient.

I do weight lifting only three times a week, and only do so for around 20 minutes a session. I am using the machines now, but as soon as I'm able I will be moving to free weights. 5 by 5 workout that is what I will (try) to follow. I am still a novice, and really can't offer you much advice here.

It may seem like a lot because I have talked about it alot, but in reality it boils down to me doing running/weight lifting for about an hour before I go to work, and then boxing twice a week after work and doing yoga one night after work (for around an hour), and throwing in other exercise as I crave it. I might go hiking on a weekend, or go swimming on a wild hair, but my core only amounts to about 8 hours a week of exercise.

Good for you man! You're seemingly doing it the right way, and people could take a lesson from you, my past self included.

Did you eat anything in the 11 months? Of so, what did you eat and how often?

Yes, I would eat. I would fast for various periods of time; my longest continuous fast with no consumption was 8 weeks.

As far as what I would eat, eggs, veggies, chicken, whole wheat toast. Minimal stuff. Not enough to survive on.

Holy fuck 8 weeks without eating a single thing? I'm not sure how you had the energy to do anything man.. it's just mind blowing. One of the coolest AMA's i've read bro

glad you are out of the darkness

Thanks Evermot, your words mean a lot. I really didn't have much energy. It was absolutely horrible.

The closest I can relate it to is being drunk and tired at the same time. You're wading your way through life in the dark, alone, consumed by yourself.

He said he would eat ~300 calories a day of mostly protein. Guy is nuts.

This response makes me so happy.

If nothing else, please let that be the takeaway here. Guy was absolutely fucking nuts.

I am so glad that guy is gone.

Did you eat nuts?

I did actually. I consume almonds, cashews, and pistachios like a vacuum.

[deleted]

No, but you know how you only see the tip of the iceberg? Yeah, that's how it works here too.

...soooooo just the tip?

Okay so you know how the iceberg only shows the tip because the rest of it is hidden by water? Now replace water with fat, and there's a more clear picture.

TLDR: I had no idea the size of my genital until I lost all this weight.

Are you implying that you can sink the titanic now?

"Sink the Titanic" sounds like an epic sex position.

Did you still get intense hunger pains, even though you were surviving off your own body fat? If so, how did you have the willpower to get through that?

I did get hunger pains at first, and a general stomach sickness that would present itself for hours (a sort of queasiness). As far as how I would make it through, it changed over the course of the loss.

At the start, I would go and buy food, eat about half of it, then throw it away. I purged a few times, but forcing yourself to vomit is horrible. After a while, I would go and buy the food, take a few bites, then throw it away. Then, I would go and buy the food, not eat any, and throw it away.

After enough time, I gained the willpower to just not even buy the food. I would frequently berate myself internally for being hungry, calling myself "fatass", "fat piece of shit", whatever it took to try to discourage myself from eating. I would remind myself of how much I would gain by being skinny. After several months, it just started to stick.

How is this any different than anorexia?

It's only different from anorexia in that the DSM IVTR diagnostic criteria of anorexia are needlessly restrictive, particularly in regards to males.

I am not anorexic because I weigh too much. It doesn't matter that that I was eating less than 300 calories a day, went entire weeks at a time without eating at all. It also couldn't be ruled out that my period had stopped (I had never had one, but still).

Basically, I am anorexic. A recovered anorexic. Change is coming in the DSM V that will help with labeling, if that's a good thing.

Jesus Christ, you need serious mental help. I'm not even kidding.

Haha, thanks for the concern. I guess I should elaborate that this is how I responded at the time; it is in no way what I feel about myself now.

And really, I am surprised you both find this so shocking. You would be surprised how many people out there hate themselves over really trivial things, and say vile things to themselves that even their worst enemies wouldn't. It's an absolute shame, but it's the way it is.

How do I feel about myself now? I am pretty awesome. And a little bit cute.

You said you had muscle issues that required surgery? Did things tear? What was it that required surgery?

Just can't figure it out in my head.

I have had tears in my abdominal muscles, and hernias that are "the biggest I have ever seen" (my bluntly honest surgeon) that were brought on by the process. All of the serious muscle damage has been in my core, which not coincidentally, I also spent a significant amount of time working out.

What tore your abdomen? I can understand hernias, but did they also cause the an problems? Was it the clinching from hunger pains?

Thanks for he honesty throughout this thread.

I don't think it was the clinching from hunger pains as much as it was doing hundreds of sit ups while my stomach hurt from what I assumed to be "hunger pains of some variety".

Basically, as you perform a hard workout, you damage the muscles in your body, and then by taking days in between and consuming adequate protein, you rebuild and increase mass. If you perform that hard workout over and over without any rest, while giving your body nothing to build or repair with, you're going to slowly degrade the muscles you're working out.

Ah, so you were exercising during the starvation period. What was your exercise routine like?

I would do several hours on the elliptical, then heavy weight lifting. I transitioned into running as my weight dropped even further, and I discovered by accident that I could actually run all of the sudden.

In general, I would do at least 2 hours of cardio every day, followed by weights broken up into one day back/biceps, one day chest/shoulders/tri, one day legs, and then two days of abs/core in between.

I started supplementing this with as much activity as I could though. Running up flights of stairs, dropping and doing push ups on the spot, pulling myself up on things. Any time I had the chance to use a muscle or move my body, I would.

I know that you're probably well aware of this but with that kind of exercise regimen you could've lost this weight in a somewhat similar time frame and in a much more healthy manner. I mean even if you just consumed 800-1k calories per day it probably would've sovled most of your resulting health problems. This comment isn't for you so much as other people who might be in similar situations that would consider doing something like you did. You clearly had the dedication and drive to remain committed to your weight loss.

Yep, good advice. My way was not the most effective by any stretch of the imagination.

How did you have the energy to do all this while starving yourself?

He was running on fatteries.

I lol'd.

For some reason I thought you were convalescing in a hospital during this year of fasting. I have no idea why I thought that, except that it seems so dangerous and you survived it. But now I'm starting to realize you did this thing over a year while continuing to go out and live your everyday life, go to school, exercise...all of that. Wow. Unbelievable.

It's pretty ridiculous to think about. What's funny; very few people mentioned how much weight I was losing until I had lost almost all of it, nor did they comment on my strange eating behaviors (or lack thereof).

What's extra funny: I spent a lot of time working around psychiatrists.

Did you have a 'normal' life while going through this? i.e. were you able to hold a job and do all the same stuff? If you went to restaurants with friends/family, what was that like?

Yes, I was able to hold a job, and I was able to continue on working on my graduate degree. I did go form being a straight 4.0 student to a getting a 3.0 in a couple of classes, but that's a lot better than it could have been.

I didn't do much in terms of outside activities, and severely reduced my social circle. I have always been a chronically lonely guy, and this was affected even more by my reduced mental functioning.

Going to restaurants with my friends and family was strange. I wouldn't order anything, and they would ask questions and express some general level of concern, but not force anything. I don't blame them in the least, and completely understand where they were coming from. They were concerned, but they didn't know how to respond, and to be honest I wouldn't have responded positively to someone trying to intervene with my plan.

I know this is late, but what would you suggest doing if the roled were reversed and you were watching a family member lose a ton of weight? Edit: words.

I would suggest confronting them on what they were doing. If you care about someone, you are willing to challenge them, even when it's hard, even when it hurts.

Need photographic evidence.

Here are random pictures from my life showing the transformation.

Body before: http://imgur.com/McApH9s Face before: http://imgur.com/w3N6pFE (I may have already lost some at this point) Body after: http://imgur.com/5jKgN9U Face after: http://imgur.com/gtfJYBr

Not sure what other proof I can offer, but I am willing to suggestions.

Wow, you look like a totally different person. Did you suffer any serious or permanent complications?

Serious complications, yes. I have had issues with my heart, kidneys, and muscle damage that has had to be repaired through surgery.

As far as permanent, fortunately it looks like everything has been temporary. The only long term complication I heard mentioned from my doctors is an increased likelihood of developing some sort of kidney disease in later life.

Psychological implications, definitely. It's taken a while for me to recover from how much I slowed down mentally, and my relationship with food and exercise has been tenuous at best. Those however are also temporary, and I am currently in a much better spot than I have ever been in my life.

If you don't mind me asking, what made you decide to starve yourself instead of doing what everyone else does? Glad to hear you're doing better though, I bet you're a lot happier.

Speed was the biggest consideration. Like many people, I had tried NUMEROUS weight loss strategies in the past. I had done heavy protein, calorie restriction, working out; nothing too crazy, but the general "eat less and exercise more" motif. What killed me was always how slow the process went, and how hard I found it to break myself from my negative eating patterns.

What I finally realized is that it was easier for me to stop eating all together rather than teach myself healthy eating behaviors. This is a horrible, horrible idea for so many obvious reasons, but it was the kick that got things going. Rather than buy a can of Pringles and limit myself to just a couple, it was easier to just not buy the can.

I so understand you. That was actually the reason I stopped drinking almost 20 years ago: instead of drinking "responsibly", I decided to drop it altogether!

No regrets.

Good for you! Cold turkey really is an effective strategy in quitting addictive behaviors (research supports this I believe). It's just such a shame that it can't really be applied to food given you sorrrrrt of need it to survive.

In fact, that reminds me of something a favorite professor once said. When asked about addiction to food and whether or not it was a real thing. He posed the following idea.

Imagine a person addicted to heroin. This person has an intense relationship with heroin, it provides all sorts of physical and emotional fulfillment. In the process of quitting, their body will challenge them, but over time, they will be able to reach a place where they can be completely free of having heroin in their lives, and be better off for it.

Now imagine the same situation, but with food instead. This person will experience similar emotional and physical issues....while continuing to need to "use" food several times a day for the rest of their lives.

It's obviously a lot more complicated than that, but I enjoyed the idea.

In your examples of diets you tried, I noticed you didn't mention a high-fat diet. Did you happen to try that (and it didn't work)?

I never tried high fat. In my ignorance of the past, I probably thought "fat = bad" and would have been scared off. Of course that's nonsense, as we all need fats to survive, but yeah.

Paleo or keto diets are pretty effective. I'm sure with your diet, you could of lost considerable weight (albeit slightly slower) but still enjoy cheeses, steak, etc. and maybe even saved some muscle.

Nevertheless, what you did is impressive. Hats off to you.

I find paleo and keto diets extremely interesting. I was a really picky eater at the time, and that always scared me away from them (a stupid reason, but it's what it was).

If I were to need to go on a weight loss "plan" that wasn't just eat less, exercise more, create healthy relationship with body image and food, I would consider those two above most others.

You realised how horrible it was; why did you keep on going for 11 months?

Well when you're desperate you have a tendency to forgo rational reasoning. He mentioned that he tried various weight loss strategies and they all failed. At that point he was probably willing to try anything, whether or not it was a smart/risky idea.

Deomag4 has the right idea.

I had sold myself on it, and had seen the positive results while ignoring the negative. It's just like anything where someone only sees what they want to.

You also have to consider how severe the mental implications of restriction are. I seriously cannot underplay that component of it. Whatever rationality you have will be gone as you turn into a shell of yourself with no capacity to think.

Why/how were you slowed down mentally? Is this still a problem or are you back to normal?

I was slowed down mentally because I was starving my brain. The amount of glucose needed by the brain alone is pretty shocking, and when you're limiting your intake as a whole, things get sloppy.

I saw the affects of it in the return of depression, obsessive traits, academic struggles, and difficulty in my relationships with friends and family. I lost my wit, my intelligence, my humor, and frequently appeared as though I was "half asleep".

It isn't a problem any more, thankfully. It is without a doubt the number one thing that terrified me once I stopped this insanity. I have always been a somewhat intelligent, articulate individual, and knowing that I had lost that part of myself was....beyond words. It has taken a long, long time to recover, and in a way I am still doing so, but I have recovered. My personality is back, I once again feel like myself, and that has only been in the past few weeks, over 6 months removed from this adventure.

I saw the affects of it in the return of depression, obsessive traits, academic struggles, and difficulty in my relationships with friends and family. I lost my wit, my intelligence, my humor, and frequently appeared as though I was "half asleep".

So basically you became me for about six months.

If that's the case, I am sorry to hear it :( . Keep on keeping on friend, better things are in your future. If you want to talk, feel free to send me a PM.

I see you haven't stopped being the "nice guy" :)

Ah but see, there's a difference. I have always been a nice guy, but I am no longer a "nice guy" :p. Learning that there is a difference has done wonders for me XD .

Can you elaborate on the medical issues you were seeing?

Bradychardia, protein in urine from muscle wasting, muscle weakness and tears, kidney strain.

Not entirely sure, if I find my latest full written checkup I will edit this.

Did the issues pop up because of the weight loss method, or from being overweight in the first place? Were you "healthy" before you started your weight loss?

Weight loss method, for the most part. I was very fortunate to be healthy as a morbidly obese man. I wasn't diabetic, had a high resting heart rate but seemingly no major cardiovascular issues, kidneys were functioning normally.

In terms of fitness for someone massively overweight, I was pretty good. I actually did an 8 mile walk while weighing around 400 pounds.

Are you single?

Uh...yes.

Sup

That is a sexy man.

I say this as a 100% straight man.

Checking...checking...

Yup. She has the history we were all hoping for.

Well this got awkward fast.

Why was the AMA removed?

The AMA was removed because they don't allow AMAs on this topic anymore.

I was recommended to go to casual AMA, which is what I intend to do. Anyone offer help on how I can get this thread transferred over there so I don't have to abandon what's already been asked and answered?

Are you serious? What the shit happened to this subreddit?? This is the kind of IAMA's I've liked and want to continue seeing. r/IAMA has now become a celebrity wank fest. Gawd, fuck this site.

They allowed it back I think. Cheers mods! Wherever you guys think this should go, I am cool with it. It's a unique experience I guess, but weight loss as a whole is pretty common.

Not sure. I just contacted a moderate about it. I am guessing it has to do with proof, and the lack of a username in the photos? Investigating.

That doesn't even look like the same person.

It is, just a lot lighter and with glasses :p.

I did the master cleanse for 10 days and I feel like a pussy compared to this. Days 3-5 were rough but not eating for nearly a year? Wow.

A lot of people go for those sorts of cleanses. While I understand people's drive to use whatever methods they can to lose weight, research shows us that they are largely ineffective.

Kudos to you for making it through though. My advice from here would be skip the cleanses, and begin teaching yourself about what it is to be healthy, what it is to be happy, how weight relates to both of those things :).

How did you get so big in the first place? And why did you decide to lose weight? Was there a life threatening situation you found yourself in, or were you just tired of being big? Kudos on the weight loss!

What made me so big in the first place was using food as an emotional outlet. I ate when I was bored, I ate when I was sad, I ate when I needed a friend. Slowly this turned into an obsession with food.

I decided to lose the weight for a few reasons. First, I was ultimately tired of being fat. I had tried losing weight before with little success, and as I thought more about how this process could work, and with great speed, I was strongly encouraged. A second reason was I wanted to improve myself physically for the relationships in my life. I wanted to be "handsome" for women.

It's not a good reason, but it is what it is. I had a family event in the future, and I wanted to look as good for it as I could.

There was no life threatening situation I found myself in, thankfully. I as fortunate to be an extremely "fit" morbidly obese individual. And thanks!

How much water did you drink during your arduous journey?

A ton. That is one of the positives that has come out of all of this. Consuming water has the added benefit of making you feel full, so in addition to just wanting to remain hydrated, I would drink like a beast. I continue to do so, and it's been a good thing.

What is your biggest regret in the process? If you could do it again, what would you do different?

My biggest regret is allowing this process to hurt my family and friends by turning me into an angry, antisocial, obsessive, bitter version of myself.

If I could do it again....I would kind of do everything differently. I would talk to my doctor about interest in following an aggressive calorie restriction regimen, one that she approved and would allow for fast weight loss without threatening my health. I would set something up with her and other medical professionals to monitor my condition.

I would also realize that happiness shouldn't be tied to weight. Losing weight didn't make me happy, learning to understand myself, who I am, who I want to be, is what made me happy. I could have done this at 430 pounds, and then slowly worked to improve my physical condition.

Weight matters a lot less than people think. That's what I would do differently; I would come to understand that before trying to lose any.

How has it affected your self esteem? Do strangers treat you differently?

Woo, a social question!

Self esteem, it surprisingly didn't do much. At first I sort of had an artificial increase in "I don't look hideous anymore", but then I slowly realized that I still hated my body. That hadn't changed, even being 260 pounds lighter.

My self esteem is now way higher than it's ever been, but that has come independently from the weight loss. It came with having confidence in myself as an intelligent, free thinking, open minded, passionate dude. I could have been that at 430 pounds just as easily as I am it at 170 pounds.

Yes, strangers are generally nicer to me. People smile at me far more, are inclined to carry on a conversation longer. It's an unfortunate reality of the world we live in; people who are overweight have weight tied to character, and that's an absolute crime.

Why did you decide to starve yourself rather than lose weight a healthier way? Did you accept and prepare yourself for the complications of muscle loss and damaged organs?

I decided to lose weight this way because of the speed at which I could lose it, and because for me it was easier to give up eating as a whole rather than teach myself to have a healthy attitude towards food.

I did accept and prepare myself to an extent. I have a background in psychology and have worked with eating disorders directly, and so I am not stranger to the physiological and psychological issues that go along with severe self imposed restriction. As far as muscle loss and damage to organs, it was a combination of just not caring, and telling myself that I would be lucky.

I also worked out excessively to try to "save and build muscle"....which sounded great on my starved brain, but of course is absolute bullshit as you need to have protein intake to preserve and build muscle. All I was really doing was stressing my muscle and organs.

[deleted]

Nope, not medically supervised. I went in to the doctor to tell her I was thinking about losing weight, asked some questions about severe calorie restriction and possible physical complications, then went about my business. I went back in twice, once weighing around 330 pounds, once weighing around 240 pounds, and then not again until I was around 170.

What made me do this was 1. Tired of being fat 2. Wanting to look good 3. Insecurity 4. Finding it easiest to just stop eating overall rather than follow a healthy low input, high output eating plan.

To defeat hunger, I basically taught myself to hate eating, to feel a horrendous guilt any time I did eat. I also told myself that the ends would justify the means, and being skinny would turn me into Batman.

Okay, not really Batman, but it would solve all of my problems....(it didn't)....

Was your doc aware of you doing this extreme fast? Did he/she at any point ask/ make a remark about your weight loss or did he/she see indicators for health problems related to your fast during the year? Thanks for doing this AMA. I also deal with a lot of things in a strict black/white-manner like you did with eating. I didn't consume any drugs including alcohol for over a year and while it started good I put alot of pressure on myself after a year and it wasn't feeling "right" anymore. I'm now trying to figure out my relationship to and use of mind-altering substances. Directing this strictness and discipline that seems to be deeply rooted in my character towards actually doing something regulary like training my body and practicing music rather than always not doing a certain thing is feeling very, very good and I can only advise you to try the same if you can relate to the above.

This comment turned out longer than I thought but I wanted to tell you this because - although your experience and situation is totally different to mine - I can relate to you. Take care and enjoy life!

Yes, my doctor was aware.

Even though I don't know any of you and none of you will likely ever meet my doctor, I have to give her a huge shout out. She is amazing, I love her, and she was an absolute force for good in calling me out on my bullshit behavior.

She knows exactly how I work, how I could manipulate, and used that understanding to her advantage. That being said, it's easy to remove yourself from your doctors influence. Every time I would see her she would express concern, would be bluntly honest and real about just how dangerous what I was doing was. I just didn't listen.

She was horrified. Every doctor cares about her or his patient, but I like to think I have a very close relationship with mine. She frequently works with eating disorders, and I was, to use her words, "the most severe restricter she had ever seen". Outside of her professional responsibility to do no harm, she felt like she was failing me. I am ashamed that I ever put her in that situation. She has been a huge help in my recovery, and I owe her my life. I am basically her puppet at this point in terms of my treatment; whatever she says, I do. She has earned that from me.

I really appreciate your comment ekiiz, and good luck with your journey as well :) .

On mobile. Click on 'Body Before' picture. "Image too large"

I lol'd.

That's awesome.

So, I made this throw away for what are going to become obvious reasons.

when I was in my young teens, my older sister was anorexic and bulimic. Coming home and hearing her vomit became the norm. She was cruel to me and would make harsh remarks about how she was older, yet smaller than I was. I wasnt obese at that age, maybe in the 140's.

Im 19 now and have been throwing up my meals secretly for 2 or 3 years. I live with my boyfriend and his family, and I would never tell them. I have insanely low self esteem, pessimism, and have suffered depression from a poor childhood trauma.

Before I started throwing up, I had considered what it could do to me. I am very self aware, and thought to my self that "I can stop when I want to. When ive lost enough." I relies that now that I am an addict with a serious disease. I catch myself still thinking that "i can stop when I want to", but I loath the feeling of being full. It makes me physically ill.

When I was young I was not provided by properly. Especially with food. Now that I live in a home that provides properly, I eat normally. on a good week, I only puke once or twice in 2 days. On a bad week... I puke up to 6 or 7 times a day.

Ive only ever told my sister this. to which she laughed at me and told me to do "whatever". It made me feel awful, and I havnt been able to talk about it to anyone sense.

My problem is fueled by my lack of self worth. Under no circumstances could I tell the man that I love, because honestly, I think he'd think that I dont look like im bulimic. Because I dont. Im 140 pounds now. I maybe only loose a pound a week.

I dont even know if I want advice... I dont like what Im doing I just wanted to tell someone...

Then I am your guy. Get off your throw away and send me a message. I work in a career that mandates confidentiality, and so your secrets are safe with me.

Please, please message me. Even if you only want someone to listen. If you don't want me to respond, that's fine, but I will read every word you have to say.

Can you mark this as a trigger warning for those with eating disorders, please?

Yes, I will do so. Thanks for the reminder, it completely slipped my mind. Apologies!

why this method vs going to the gym and earring healthier

I found it easier to give up food as a whole rather than teach myself to adhere to healthy eating behaviors. I was the kind of guy who would buy a bag of chips and think "it's okay to just eat a few", and then would inevitably lose the battle of wills and eat the whole thing. I found it surprisingly easy to just not buy the bag of chips, to stop eating as a whole.

Going to the gym was physically hard because of my weight, and also I was embarrassed. I also half assed most attempts at serious working out.

Speed is what did it for me. When you start losing 10 pounds a week versus the 2 that a healthy process allows, it's hard to argue against it when you have your mind set, whatever the negative consequences.

thanks for your honest answers!

Honesty is what I live by. Glad to offer what I can :) .

How much did you gain back, if any, once you went back to food? Whats your plan for keeping it off?

Congratulations, this is inspiring to me - I reqlly relate, and so appreciate reading about your journey.

My lowest weight was around 162 pounds, and at that point my physician told me she would actively campaign to have me put in a weight management program (with my family supporting her). 160 was the number given; if I hit it, things would get real, fast.

After that while doing refeeding, I went as high as 190's. I wasn't comfortable with this at all, which was of course a problem (a 6 foot 3 guy weighing 190 pounds is absolutely fine). I slowly tapered down after that. There was a period of time where I went from complete starvation to eating a ton of food (there was a family event where I didn't restrict at all), and I put on like 25-30 pounds over the course of two weeks. A massive amount of this was water weight, but it was still terrifying.

My plan for keeping it off is to look at food as what it is; energy to sustain me. I have a realistic view of food: there is no "bad food", just bad attitudes towards food. It's okay to eat that slice of pizza, just don't eat 10 of them. Eat when you're hungry, not when you're bored. Work out when you enjoy it, and with physical health as the goal, not weighing less.

Basically, live my life without thinking about food.

I am glad to offer you any inspiration I can, as long as it's in a healthy way. Feel free to PM me if you ever need support.

Have you regretted your decision to lose that much weight in that little time?

No. I don't regret the way that I did this, nor the speed, for any reason except one; the impact it had on the relationships in my life. As I became a shell of myself, I lied, mistreated, and stopped being the person I always have been to my friends and family. That's hard, and I am still trying to make up for it today. I was lucky with dodging most of the serious health consequence bullets, and have been able to fix a lot of the underlying emotional issues that resulted.

I also regret it if it causes other people to think it's at all a viable option in losing weight. It's not.

I can't quite get my head around this. Why did you end up lying and mistreating people? Because they wanted you to eat more?

Yes. I am not going to get into too many details on this because it extends beyond myself to my family and friends, but many of them saw this coming, and I lied to them about the extent of what I was doing. Wearing baggy, oversized clothes can go a long way in hiding how much weight you have really lost.

It also comes from the overall "mental slowdown" that happens. You find yourself more easily agitated, more likely to ignore, more apprehensive and paranoid. All of these things do bad things in a relationship.

Your muscles must have been used to holding up all of that weight. Did you feel super strong after losing so much in such a short period of time? Like you could jump 10 feet high?

I felt extremely light. I didn't realize how heavy I was until I had lost around 200 pounds. Little things, like feeling as though I could float away while walking.

Actual strength, not so much. When you lose weight this way, you aren't going to be doing any favors for your strength. If you want to lose fat while retaining muscle, you need to keep your muscles fed.

How has this affected your love life? Did you have a relationship before you lost weight? Have you found someone since?

Yes, I had one relationship before I lost the weight. I have always been ashamed of my physical appearance, and that has limited me significantly in this area. I have been a prototypical "nice guy" (spoiler alert: this actually means "putz"), and that hurt as well.

Since the experience I have not had a relationship. Part of it is working on fixing myself, my career, all sorts of outside factors, but part of it is also a massive recalibration of "who I am". All of the sudden I have a lot more confidence, I am assertive, I have regained my passion, and I don't quite know how to direct it. I also severely damaged a lot of the important relationships in my life by going on my self imposed starvation, so that plays a role as well.

So yeah, I am single, and finally getting to the point where I am starting to look, and hoping to be able to take advantage of the fact that I am a new person.

And being a new person has far less to do with how I look physically as much as how I feel internally :) .

Do you have a graph of your weight loss? Including the eventual weight gain once you started eating again.

Unfortunately no. As I have mentioned in other responses, I did this without medical supervision, so I only have four points on the record: my starting weight of 430, a midpoint at 330, one at 240, and then my final of 170.

The weight gain was extremely interesting. Your body is severely dehydrated while doing this, and so you will gain weight EXTREMELY quickly. DO NOT FREAK OUT ABOUT THIS. It is water weight, and as your body reaches a healthy balance of food and water, you will balance out.

What were your poops like?

They're real, and they're spectacular.

What did your medical team gave you for sustenance? Water, vitamins, somekind of juice?

There was no medical team. Just me. As far as sustenance, I took a multi vitamin every day, and then when I wasn't in a total fast, I would eat very small quantities of foods I considered to be "healthy". Eggs, whole wheat toast, spinach, plain chicken breast, etc. In times where I was actually thinking about my well being beyond weight loss, I would basically focus on consuming under 300 calories a day while maximizing the amount of protein, vitamins, and minerals I consumed.

What made you sit back and think, "That's it. I need to do something and fix this."?

I didn't have the healthiest approach to it. I basically found myself in a situation where I was extremely tired of being fat, the insecurity that came with it about my appearance, a desire to look good and to "impress the ladies", and an obsessive motivation to starve myself.