I have noticed that whenever I focus on weight loss, everything else in my life seems to get ignored. My house gets messier, I'm less interested in TV, doing my homework is way more of a hated chore then it usually is (I'm in university), laundry starts to pile up. Normally I can do all of these things no problem, but when I start focusing on weight loss and food intake, I start to slack on everything else. Does anyone else have this type of issue?

I used to have that issue, everything seemed to revolve around working out and what my next meal would be.. but now I try not to think about it as much because I set a routine for myself.. I know when im going to eat and when im gonna workout.. so I dont think about it till its time. But I totally get what u mean.

Luckily for me, I have the opposite of your situation. While losing, I feel healthy and in control, and so by default, everything in my life is more organized. I have more energy, and I put that into my kids, my husband, my schoolwork, my housework, etc. Maybe thinking of it in those terms can help you incorporate your healthier self/higher energy into your everyday life.

Happened to me in August/September of last year. I spent literally hours a day on this site and I was following the Beck plan which is extremely involved. I was so burnt out, I had to just step away and re-focus until now. I try to visit this site just once or twice a day for no more than an hour and I'm easing back into my program. I feel like I'm doing alright so far... It's just scary; my relationship with my boyfriend was rocky, I was doing poorly in work, and I felt like if I didn't keep dieting to the fore front of my mind 24/7 I would careen off track.

Everything in moderation, even dieting!

I'm kind of the opposite. When I'm on-track with food and exercise, I feel very organized and in control with other things as well, so usually my house is cleaner, I get more done, etc. And conversely, sloppiness in my personal habits generally turns into sloppiness in the rest of my life too.

That's me in a nutshell. Ever since I started this wretched diet I've been the biggest slacker ever when it comes to housework. I almost never cook anymore and I hardly clean, and let the house get far too dirty and in disarray before I fix it. I'm pretty sure it's because I'm so miserable (due to this diet), and misery does not bring about motivation for anything.

Does it help if you consider that housework (especially vacuuming, laundry, washing dishes, etc) can help you lose weight since they can be considered exercising? I remember some of those activities really made me sweat or get my heart all pumped up.

There are just so many hours in a day, and I just can't spread myself any thinner.

I seem to be the same way. I don't really slack so much as I just don't have time! I had to carve out time for my exercise and once that became a priority, something else had to give. Housework, computer and TV time were most affected. I cook, I do laundry, I clean, and somewhere in there, I have to prioritize myself.

I've had to wrangle more help from husband and children.... I used to be a stay at home mom who worked part time. Now I work full time. It's been a big adjustment on all of us!

I have the problem that when I focus on any one task then all other things get neglected. I somethings wonder if I have symptoms of adult ADD. My psychiatrist is actually considering putting me on a stimulant to help with my motivation and focus issues. People with ADD tend to not be able to do normal every day tasks and can hyperfocus on only one thing.

I'm not saying that this is you situation. But I'm saying that I experience the same type of thing but in my life as usual. I'm currently so focused on weight loss that everything else is not getting done. And it's frustrating because I feel like a failure that I'm not doing the things that an adult should do to have an organized life. Is the weight loss going to matter if I don't pay my bills because I keep forgetting? Anyway, don't really have any advice for you. :-) Somehow I guess that we all need to figure out balance. I'm just not sure how to get there.

Good Luck!

Sometimes I do get so caught up in one thing, everything else falls to the ways side. Sometimes its weight loss. Sometimes its homework stress, and my eating becomes total crap.

For me - balancing everything is essential. I definitely think that I'm overweight now because of *psychological* reasons.

I have difficulty balancing housework, but I think it has more to do with my job then my weight loss efforts. I think that my job is actually why I find ww easy. I don't have time to graze.

It also may be just the fact that you lack the energy (due to lowering your calorie intake) or because you feel too exhausted from working out. Have you tried taking supplements?
You should maybe set your goal to live a healthy life style rather than just lose the extra pounds, think a long term change. Dieting shouldn't keep you from living your life, it should help you feel better and be more confident.

I know that I try to plan my days around my exercise routine, which can be difficult because I like to work out around 2pm. Even on weekends some times I will refuse to go out because I wont be back in time for my usual workout. I am trying to stop this though, I am not sure why its hard for me to remember that I can actually work out at any time of the day. I suspect it's because I know I am way less likely to work out later at night, that's when I tend to get lazy and sink into my couch.

I think its all a balancing act and it takes trial and error before we get it right and find that balance we are looking for.

I'm the same. For me, weight loss takes over. Not only am I having to shop more and cook more (in order to eat the right things and be healthier) but I am exercising a minimum of an hour a day (or should be) and so some things just have to be ignored. I find that for me I cut my TV and computer time. Oh, I also usually lose an hour to going to bed earlier- I get tired more quickly when I'm exercising hard and trying to lose weight.

Oh geez, this is so me! Fortunetly it gets better as time goes. When I lost 16 lbs about six months ago I was always reading stuff about weightloss, googling stuff about weightloss, and on this site sometimes for hours looking at threads, reading success stories etc. etc. I do that though. When I get excited about something all I want to do is obsess over it! But the last time I lost that bit of weight the obsessivness chilled out with time. Once I was over the first few weeks of making the healthier eating and habits a routine life got back to normal. Even though it causes me to neglect other things for a bit, making changes (as we all know) is really tough, and perhaps some of us need to be obsessive to keep it in the forefront of our minds while we are learning to live healthier. Like any skill, practice makes perfect and with time I could just do the things I needed to do automatically and I wasnt spending so much mental effort and energy on thinking about weightloss.