Started diet and having withdrawal symptoms

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I am overweight and I have forced myself to go on a diet. But it's harder than I thought. I've cut out things like sweets, cakes and chocolate and other foods that are high in sugar, which is a good start. I downloaded a rather reliable app where you can calculate your calories (as I've chosen a calorie-counting diet), but even with eating the right foods (dietary/healthy/sugar free), the calories add up and it still looks like I've got to cut down still. So I feel like I have to half starve myself to get anywhere. Dieting is SO hard and everyone makes it sound to easy.
I can't cut out sugar completely, as without sugar I feel a bit weak and dizzy, but then if I eat something with even a tiny bit of sugar in I'll feel like I've ruined my diet.

Will these withdrawal symptoms pass? It's been such an effort to do anything today, and I feel emotionless and forgetful and no matter what activities I do, all I can think about is food, even when I'm walking.

Yes, it will pass, but do not starve yourself. Dieting is good, but cutting out all carbohydrates and subsisting on proteins and good intentions is not going to help you.

I'm not starving myself or cutting out the good stuff, as I already explained in my OP. But it FEELS like I'm starving myself.

Also I don't know which dieting app to use, the one I chose is one you got to pay for after the trial ends and I don't pay for online apps (I don't have an online bank account and I'm too poor). But whenever I've tried a free dieting app it always seems to be American, and I need a UK-based language. For a start I measure my weight in stone, not kilos.

Don't let your organism enter "famine mode" with every calorie saved. Our bodies are adapted to survive disasters, not look thin after a month on dieting. Dieting too much will be interpreted by your body as a disaster to survive, so it will cut supplies to energy-costly muscles and invest in cheap fat.

Let your body get used to more healthy diet. It's okay to put no calorie deficit on this stage. Then, add some exercises, ideally, something you enjoy. Converting your fat to muscles is even better than simply losing weight.

Magz is right, don't' make too many changes at once.

Don't count calories while cutting down sugar - it should take you about 2 weeks to adapt and the cravings should stop by then too. Once you adapt to that one, you can introduce a new change and so on.

A lot of people start with making a bunch of drastic changes expecting quick results and instead they feel like crap and can't stick to it.

Getting in some light exercise is also a good idea - something like short intervals with a pair of free weights (or using your own body weight) will help you build muscle and also boost your metabolism after a while.

I've gotten more into it now, thanks to a free app I've found that helps me out with the calories. I don't feel like crap so much today.

What I'm worrying about most is the antidepressants. Ever since I went on Sertraline (about 5 years ago) I have gained the pounds, and I'm scared that I might not be able to lose it unless I come off antidepressants. But I'm scared to come off them in case I start losing control of anger again like I did before I went on them.

My NT cousins are losing weight and it's OK for them because they're not on antidepressants like me, because they're not mental.

It's okay Jo,

Theodore Roosevelt once said "comparison is the thief of joy." I hope you can find the best balance for you & your health, but comparing yourself with your cousins will only make you sad. Envy is the "green-eyed monster" and will have a worse impact on you than being overweight or having autism, because you can be fat & autistic and still have a good life, but envy destroys good character. And you seem to have plenty of good character.

I hope you feel better soon & can keep on trying out these new apps for your diet!

It's more about self-esteem. I'm less attractive than my 2 cousins, but I've never been fatter than them before. And if I'm around them with them looking nice in their clothes while I look like a fat lump, it's not going to do my self-esteem any good. I've always thought they were more attractive than me, probably because they style and dye their hair and put makeup on each day. All that is such an effort for me, also I seem allergic to eye makeup and I've never got myself into a routine to put it on each morning. This is why I enjoy my work, because I work with all guys and so I feel I have nobody to compare myself to, whether they're fat, thin, attractive or unattractive.

It's so much pressure being a female. It's like if you don't wear makeup you're deemed unattractive. Plus I don't look attractive anyway. My eyes are too close together, I have a big nose, and my face is long and narrow, like a man.

So dieting is the best thing I can do in order to look decent.

It's 5 days into my diet and it's actually getting easier. I'm still a bit irritable and extra sensitive to noises like my partners coughs, but otherwise I am not craving fatty foods so much.

My partner even suggested we have a McDonald's for lunch but I thought about it and said no, and I had fruit cocktail for lunch instead.
Judging by my calorie-counting app, I could have had a McDonald's but it would have used up most of my recommended calorie intake and I wouldn't have been able to eat anything else today hardly but would have got hungry later on.

But anyway, like I said, it is getting easier by the day and the cravings are decreasing.

Congrats on your diet progress Joe
I lost a bit of weight 5/6 years ago by snacking less & exercising more. I got out of the habit thou & I gained a lot of weight in the last few years due to binge-eating & exercising less. I really NEED to lose weight but I know that if I try & do too much at 1ce, I won't stick with things. I'm also a very picky eater & I know trying to change the meals I eat would be too much for me at least for quite a while. I think the best thing for me is just to try binging less & to start exercising a little more. I tried various times in the last few years to do that but things always happen before I can make the good habits & break the bad. Then after a bit I kinda forget about it & have to start all over again from the beginning which seems difficult so I put it off. I need to make small habits & go slowly but the trick is how do I stick with it long enough to make things a habit.

I use a calorie counting app on my fitbit. It works for me. That being said, I couldn't do it without exercising nearly every day because by exercising I increase my available calories so I can actually eat meals that satisfy me.

I decided to lose between 10-15 pounds this year. It's been a few months and I've five pounds lighter.

One trick I use is making a very big salad as part of my supper every night. This salad consists of things like shredded carrots (several cups), greens and sometimes other raw vegetables. Then a salad dressing of choice which for me is often ketchup and a few tablespoons of mayonnaise with some pickled vegetables. In the U.S. that's known as "1,000 Island Dressing". I have a kitchen scale so I'm able to measure out ounces or grams of food. I will put some canned chickpeas, Parmesan cheese, etc in small amounts. The salads usually total around 300-350 calories and make a very large bowl that I can eat slowly and are filling. I'll then round the meal out with a bowl of soup and maybe a cookie or two for dessert.

Counting calories this way using my fitbit to count my steps works for me because it motivates me to exercise. I get my 10,000 steps every day, but on weekends, it motivates me to take my regular walk as well as an additional walk. I "bank" enough calories where I never feel like I'm starving.

It is a little discomforting to know that to maintain a slim body I'll need to diet for the rest of my life.

People tell me that just because I'm dieting it means I have to give up certain things cold turkey, like crisps, chocolate, cakes, ice-cream and coke. But all I'm doing is cutting down and controlling what I eat, not going cold turkey. Yes I am buying weightwatchers meals or other foods that are low in calories, but I'm still having a small bag of crisps (potato chips) with my lunch, even if my lunch is a salad or something. Or if I have quite a lot of calories left over, I'll treat myself to a can of coke.

It's all about control and self-discipline. That's the type of diet I'm on.

There's no reason you can't have a treat if your calorie counting allots you the calories. I think it's actually a good thing. Quitting things you crave cold turkey sets you up for possibly losing resolve altogether if you "fall off the wagon".

You might have a high level of yeast in your system. If you did eat things regularly with refined starches and refined sugars, yeast feeds on starches and sugars and produces carbon dioxide gas as a byproduct which results in a person having excessive gas. By cutting down on those things dramatically it's possible your excessive gas will also decrease.

What Anti-Depressants are you on? SSRIs can wreak havoc on your metabolism. If you don't have anxiety issues, Wellbutrin is a good SNRI that doesn't cause weight gain. Topirimate also helps with binge eating.

You might want to try intermittent fasting. Start small, and block out a small portion a day where you won't eat. I usually start my day with two tablespoons of peanut butter, work out, have a protein shake, and then don't eat again until an evening meal. I specifically did it that way because I graze in the office and eat junk food otherwise.

I'm on Sertraline because of my anxiety disorder but even with the Sertraline I'm still anxious, the only thing it has helped to control are the meltdowns (or "outbursts").

I don't know if dieting means I can't ever have McDonalds or chips or any other takeaway treats ever again. Plus I've got a party coming up where there's going to be a lot of food and I'm going to want to eat there. It will be a bit hard to count calories with a buffet.

I'm not the fasting sort. If I fast, I feel unwell, like dizzy, weak and nauseous. I rather stick to my "eating little and often" diet.