Is obsessing while losing weight kind of an necessary evil?
I tend to obsess about everything:
I am eating too much
I am eating too little
I work out too much
I work out too little
I can have this
I can't have that
I want a beer
You dont need nor want a beer
I want to lose 10 pounds this month
Its ok if you only lose 5 pounds this month.
I have thoughts that revolve around losing this weight in my head CONSTANTLY. Will they ever go away? I am in this for the long haul. On one hand, I would like to get the weight off as quickly as I can, but then in the next breath, I tell myself, if you lose 5 pounds a month, that is still 60 pounds in a year. I just seem to be constanly waffling on my thoughts. Is this normal or do I need to committed? LOL!
Hey, I think ALL those exact things! I used to obsess more, but now I allow the thoughts to float through and not land...I just let them pass and override them with logic if I need to. I use some Cognitive Behavioral Therapy techniques.
Example:
The thought: I'm eating too much
The logical response: I'm counting my calories, logging everything, allowing for a fluctuation from day to day (if I go over a little and under the next, it's okay), drinking water and am on plan. The scale is going down. All is well.
In my case, food was a major obsession for me. My thoughts revolved around eating it, finding the best restaurants, etc. I would never have gotten to almost 300 pounds without that obsession.
I use that obsession now to lose weight. I look for the best healthy foods, lowest calorie items, best healthy recipes.
If I'm going to have a food obsession I may as well find a way to work with it. I also obsess about losing weight. It is what keeps me committed to this lifestyle even if I can't find the motivation. I've found that my obsessions can be useful tools.
I've been at this about a year and I think I'm more obsessed than ever, lol. I think some of the obsession is a good because I'm aware of my body and what I put in it...the bad part is that I can be completely irrational too. I have the exact same thoughts as you wrote down (well, except for the beer because I don't like alcohol), and they tend to fly around my head almost daily. I worry about everything and I want to make sure I'm healthy during this journey. For me, I rationalize my obsession by thinking that I'd rather be overly worried and aware, as oppose to unconcerned and obese like I was before.
I'm afraid the answer for me so far (after 9 months) is apparently yes. Though when I look back, I spent just as much time thinking/getting/eating food I shouldn't have and avoiding/procrastinating exercise before I decided to get the weight off. So it would appear there's a part of my brain always going to be occupied by this, better that it's now hashing over the healthy behaviours.
I firmly believe that to get over one obsession you need to create another - don't worry about it at all! This one is helping you, and I'm sure it'll die down eventually
I don't know, because I don't know if obsessing about things in general is something you tend to do. If it is, then the subject of your obsessions will change, but the habit may not unless you work on that specifically. If you're just in the throes of an enthusiasm & trying to focus on teaching yourself new habits, then yes, you're going to feel like you're always paying exaggerated attention until some the behaviors & thinking become part of your daily routine & you adapt to a new way of living
How do you stop yourself from obsessing or.......
