[mimzy]

I have clinical depression and some of the things that often go with that. The things I struggle with most are OCD and anxiety. It's been a lifelong thing and I've pretty much got the depression and anxiety under control.

The OCD is harder to deal with and I'm finding it's an issue while trying to diet. I started off my diet well, eating the right food and the right amount. But then I started over thinking it all until the last couple of days I've found it easier to eat nothing than try and work out what I should eat. Then I'm feeling anxious that I'm starving myself and possibly slowing my metabolism down. And the depression starts trying to take over because I'm not dealing with it while I'm concentrating on the food thing.

I'm sure I will adjust eventually but if anyone out there can relate, or is dealing with similar issues it would be good to hear from you!

All the best to everyone.

[buddly]

Hi there mimzy!!

oh I sure can relate to the not eating because of over thinking. I too find it easier to not eat than to try to figure everything out, I just find it to overwhelming sometimes. Thats why I wish I could find a plan that says eat this for breakfast, this for lunch etc. I get really caught up in the numbers, but that seems to be part of my ocd anyway. I'm still struggling to find a plan that works for me and that I can live with.

I'm sorry I have no words of advice or pearls of wisdom it was just so nice to see that there is someone else like me!

Take care,
K

[Leenie]

Ditto's to it all. I'll do good for a few days and then poof...


.

[mimzy]

Hello buddly and Leenie

Thanks for your replies. It is good to know I'm not alone with this! It's not something that's so easy to explain to people who have no experience of OCD. The way it turns a simple task into a long drawn out grinding mission. And what is it with those numbers? Even when I wasn't controlling the amount I ate everything still had to be in certain numbers, and those numbers had to follow a certain pattern, had to make sense in some way.

I tend to just eat the same thing continuously, when I look at diet plans I just can't get my head around the choice of different foods in different amounts for different days. I'll start obsessing about whether an apple on Monday can really compare to a grapefruit on Sunday. It's a proper headache.

[Spoz]

Oh mimzy I practically live off the same foods too! I'd love to add more variety to my diet but even healthy new ingredients put me into fear of going crazy if I change the slightest thing!

[Amberelise]

I was just searching the boards for something similar to my situation. I actually *am* doing a diet that tells me EXACTLY what to eat each meal and snack. It's Jim Karras' No Cardio Diet meal plan. I'm not saying I'm following his exercises to the letter, but I'm following his diet TO THE LETTER. I go grocery shopping every three days to buy the exact veggies, fruits, etc. that he asks for. (If I try to shop once a week the produce will go bad and I refuse to substitute!)

All is fine and dandy except for some reason last night my stomach was rumbling. I was uncomfortably hungry and knew I wouldn't sleep if I didn't eat something. But, I had already eaten everything on the meal plan for the day. So, I had a 60 calorie cheese stick. And now, I won't forgive myself for not sticking to the plan.

I know it's okay to eat the cheese stick, AND I've already told myself to just not eat the cheese stick on plan today. . . but yet I still can't forgive myself.

[mimzy]

Spoz, it's enough to drive you crazy isn't it? If I don't plan I have no idea what to eat, if I do plan then I end up obsessing over it

Maybe you could try adding stuff very gradually, that's what I've been doing. Like I couldn't get my head around what fruit and vegetables I should eat so I picked one healthy thing, tomatoes, and made those one of the foods I eat everyday. When I'm used to that as part of my routine I will add something else.

Amberelise, I understand what you're going through, I think we're always too hard on ourselves, trying to achieve perfection in everything we do and then feeling angry with ourselves when we fail. I have to force myself to put it into perspective and try to accept that I'm not a robot, I have to allow for variables, like I may have made plans to eat certain things, but then again, when the time comes I may need something different.

You needed that cheese stick, if you are so hungry that your stomach is rumbling and you can't sleep then you needed it. It's not failing, it's sensibly adapting the plan to suit your real needs at the time. If you had rigidly stuck to the plan the chances are you would have ended up so desperately hungry you would be in danger of binging. As it was, you chose the cheese stick and remained in control.

Far better to have one small snack than leave it until you flip and empty the fridge!

[carinna]

Hi guys,
I'm a newbie here and I know it's not proper to just barge it but I cant help myself. I do not have a major problem with OCD but I do have my quirks. When running, I have to have the same sprint times and same distance. When something happens that cuts my time I get soooo hung up on it that I run unscheduled. I'm so afraid to mess up my routine that when it gets messed up I manage to ruin it some more! Sometimes I feel like the more I try to control it,. the more out of control it becomes!

Does that mean I'm OCD?

[aphil]

carinna,

I also have been diagnosed with OCD. From what I know, EVERYONE has small obsessive things, or compulsive activities. EVERYONE. This does not mean that you have OCD.

Every person has a few small quirks, or things that they do...but the diagnosis of OCD happens when the obsessive thoughts, and compulsive activities become stressful, and to the extent that they take up your time.

A person with OCD has many obsessive thoughts. These thoughts are more magnified than what someone would consider normal and rational. These thoughts cause anxiety. To releive the anxiety, sometimes the person develops compulsive activities to relieve the stress. Sometimes there are obsessive thoughts with no ritual...and sometimes there are rituals for no apparent reason.

The obsessive thoughts of OCD usually fall in the lines of: cleanliness/germs, neatness, cleanliness, symmetry and placement of items, counting/numbers, checking things, thoughts of harming someone/someone being hurt, and so on.

For instance, someone with OCD might develop an irrational fear of being contaminated. So, this person might not touch doorknobs, shake hands, and they might hand wash hundreds of times per day. Another OCD sufferer might have a fear of forgetting to do something...so they might develop a ritual of checking and rechecking something. Every case is different, which makes it hard to diagnose at times.

The doctor can't always be around to watch you and be in your head 24 hours a day...and before I was diagnosed, there were lots of things that I did, that I didn't realize were PART of my OCD-things such as counting up the lines/curves in numbers on license plates on cars in front of me at stoplights and on digital clocks, and checking and rechecking my purse to be sure my money/credit cards/checkbook were all there. I assumed as a kid, that EVERYONE counted the floor and ceiling tiles, and other things in the classroom when they were bored.

So, no...having a quirk does not make you have OCD.