It's probably the same with many people here, but I learn a lot about myself as I try to get healthier and hopefully lose weight as a result.
However, I notice that I easily become obsessed with how much I weigh,how much I eat, how much fat do I have, how much do I exercise..
Is any one else this way? I'm somewhat treading water right now, just trying to make better food choices, and to look at it more as a health quest rather than aesthetics. I feel that my obsession with it isn't very healthy, and that certain aspects of weight loss, or "diets" could be counterproductive.
If anyone else is this way, what do you do to deal with it? I do not want to forsake my health, to not care, but I also dont' want my life run by how many ramen noodles I have...
I so know what you mean! I've lost about 20 pounds in the last year (not a lot, I know, but I am 5 ft 9 and when I started, I weighed about 158 pounds. Now I am hovering between 136 and 138 and ideally I would like to get down to around 128-130). I know that seems reasonably low for my height but I have a small frame. Anyway, I am finding myself constantly thinking about food, and when the next meal is, even when I am not physically hungry. I am doing the WW Points and find it fantastic.......but it has made me think heaps more about when the next meal is coming than I ever did before. Also, now that I am so close to goal, I am finding it very hard going to get the scale to move, and I find that if the scale is up even a tiny bit, it ruins my day, whereas if it is down, I'm absolutely ecstatic. I try to exercise an hour a day but I have been trying to cut this back to five days a week because I was getting obsessive about the exercise as well and exhausting myself. I'm also scared to even have an occasional BITE of anything not within my points (even point-friendly stuff) which is NOT the way that I really want to live, and if I end up in a situation where I eat more than I was intending (which barely EVER happens and when it does, it is usually well within my flex points) I feel bad for days afterwards. It's just not the way that I want to be thinking about things - obsessing over everything! I wish I could just enjoy the weight I am at and believe what everyone tells me (that I certainly don't need to lose any more) but I can't - I am constantly wanting to be lower. (To be honest, I think I could probably get to 125 or something ridiculous and STILL feel fat). I am NOT in danger of developing anorexia or anything (I love food far too much!) but the way I am thinking, it's almost like another type of eating disorder.
Not of any help to you, I know - but I can really identify!!!
I understand where you're coming from. When I get "obsessed", that is when I seem to have the most problems. I start to worry too much, and then I eat something unhealthy and beat myself up over it, and eat more, and the cycle goes on until I realize I just need to move on and start over. I try to avoid overthinking food, but I don't really know how to go about that, so once in a while it happens.
A lot of people, including a lot of maintainers on this forum have said in posts that I've read that it's really necessary for them to be "obsessed" in order to lose weight/keep the weight off. It's something that not everyone understands, but some people need to be forever vigilant about food, writing everything down that they eat and planning out their meals far in advance, etc. So I don't think it's necessarily unhealthy, unless you feel that it's a real problem.
Im with you. I feel obsessed about my foods and my exercise. Like today for instance I ate good all day then we had a bbq and I had a garden burger with no bun. But I had a few chips with it. Ive been feeling guilty about it all night. I know that it was just a few chips and Im not going to gain 5 pounds over night but I feel that Ive just put on 5 pounds. It's hard.
Wyllen gave a pretty good answer to a question something like this not too long ago. There's also been a bit of discussion about how obsession is different from dedication. I'll see if I can find some of that.
I find my biggest obstacle is making sure there is always foor that I can eat in the fridge. When I wake in the morning, I am already thinking what I can eat for breakfast lunch and dinner. Is this obsessive? Or is this careful planning? I don't know.
I'm often aware that I think about diet and exercise more than the average bear but then ... it's what I'm doing right now. I talk about knitting if I'm doing alot of that too.
I also think that if you're going to be 'overboard' about anything ... isn't it OK if it's your health, fitness, wellness ... ?
Like crisco says .... what's the difference between planning and obsession?
Thanks Susan. I have to agree with that. I think it can get out of hand if it turns into a serious eating disorder, but in my opinion blissfully ignoring what I ate and overeating was just the reverse of one of those eating disorders. I have to think about food all day or I'll just get what I "feel" like which isn't yet healthy. I do think eventually you can train yourself for it to become more of a habit, but it wouldn't surprise me if that took years.
I think "obsession" is in the eye of the beholder. I used to think of myself as obsessed, but I now look at it this way - maybe if I had been this "obsessed" years ago, I wouldn't have ended up fat in the first place.
Do I think about food a lot? Sure I do. Do I worry how many calories I'm eating? You bet.
I think "obsession" is in the eye of the beholder. I used to think of myself as obsessed, but I now look at it this way - maybe if I had been this "obsessed" years ago, I wouldn't have ended up fat in the first place.
Do I think about food a lot? Sure I do. Do I worry how many calories I'm eating? You bet.
And I'm glad.
Amen!! This is ordered eating, not disordered eating.
The word 'obsession' gets thrown at us a lot, often by people jealous of our success. Personally, I will never allow anyone to make me feel ashamed of doing what's necessary to keep the weight off.
I think in the real world we did the same thing sort of ... I was thinking about what to make for supper and making sure I had snack food in the house and planning what to watch on TV tonight ????
Thank you to all who replied...I'm glad that I'm not alone. However, I do not feel that my "obsession" is all that healthy. I may be eating better, but I often do not eat enough. I feel that if I eat a hershey's kiss, I'll be a life raft with the tag pulled: exploding. Granted, one has to be vigilant about thier health, but when all my choices in life are some how tied into to food or weight loss, I seriously don't think it's right.
I am not saying that I am just entirely throwing caution to the wind and eating whatever the heck I want, but I want to get to a point where if I do decided to have same baked tostitos w/ salsa, its' okay, and that the world isn't going to fly off it's axis if I do.
This last week I lost 2 lbs from making small changes toward the positive. This seems to be working for me because it seems doable for life.
I just don't want anyone to think I'm just a whiney girl who hates having to use some committment and hard work to reach a goal. I've been doing this for long enough that I know that's not the case.
Nobody thinks you're a whiney girl. We think you're awesome! Look at that weight loss! And see ... you're brought up a point lots of us have thought about.
Thank you all so much. As I look around online, learning...Pink, the singer, was on TV, talking about her song "Stupid Girls", she's not stick thin. She's very strong and I think she's got a beautiful body adn a beautiful attitude. She's not out there trying to comform, she's just being the best she can be...so why I am I trying to be someone else? My "obsessions" have a lot to do with my personality and attitude. It's all baby steps. I don't want to be Pink, but I want to be like her in her health and her confidence.
But really, thank you all so much ! I'm not used to being so supportive by people who don't know me..
Obsessive Personality Diet Plan
