[Mel]

Meg, Ann and Glory wrote my post. I NEVER had a time of carefree eating. I was an underweight premie as a baby and force-fed. Although looking back at my pictures as an adolescent, I look absolutely normal, my mother and pediatrician put me on diet pills (speed) when I was 13 and made me run every evening. I weighed 107 at 5'3". I was fat, according to them. That laid a real solid foundation for a lifetime of healthy eating, body image and exercise habits. I started eating in a carefree manner was during my first pregnany. I gained 65 pounds, and it was mostly upwards from there. after that, I may have eaten whatever I wanted, but it was never carefree. I was miserable. The only reason that I never went over 200 pounds was that I exercised manically no matter what my weight.

Planning, planning, more planning and structured, planned exercise keep me where I want to be.

Mel

[SilverVixen]

The only time I wish I could be carefree about food is when I see my husband digging his hands into a big bag of potato chips and eating handful after handful. Yeah, he's one of those folks who seem to have a hollow leg, or something, because he can eat junk all day and all night and he never puts on a pound.

The feeling never lasts long, though, because I'll catch a glimpse of the new me in the mirror and sashay around in my size 2 jeans. The longing for scarfing down half a bag of chips fades away into the past, along with the old, unhealthy me.

As others have said, the trade-off is more than worth it: I'll pick counting out a serving of chips and being strong and healthy over carelessly eating half a bag and being overweight and unhealthy any day!

Cheers,

~Silvervixen

[srmb60]

Well, my pants were a size 3 but ... I caught sight of myself in a window while walking to church yesterday and the only thing I regret is not starting sooner.

[Tara D]

When I first posted here, I think I meant more of going back to days of things in moderation and not to completely carefree days. I was never completely carefree, which is why I think my weight never got too out of control. Now I just wonder if it's a good thing to be thinking about food and diet all the time. Sometimes it can be somewhat consuming and cause me to have moments where I briefly worry about what I ate or what I will eat at an event. I wonder if it might be worth it to be a few pounds heavier and have fewer moments where I'm thinking about food. I notice that sometimes my choices to eat only healthy foods affects others (where we go to eat, if I eat their food, makes them a little uncomfortable). I haven't gotten to a point where I feel like I want to change what I'm doing for others, but I just wonder if maybe it might be beneficial to be less strictly dedicated to healthy eating/portion control/food selectivity and be more moderate instead. On the other hand, I unfortunately can't predict how much this "moderation" might cost me in pounds!

[AnneWonders]

Originally Posted by Tara D

Now I just wonder if it's a good thing to be thinking about food and diet all the time.

It is more of a habit for me now than an obsession. I don't think about it much, I just do it. I've been doing it a while now, and it really hasn't gotten easier for me, but the good habits are established and it is harder to screw up.

Originally Posted by Tara D

I wonder if it might be worth it to be a few pounds heavier and have fewer moments where I'm thinking about food. ... On the other hand, I unfortunately can't predict how much this "moderation" might cost me in pounds!

This is why my maintenance weight is higher than many people's start weight and I maintain somewhere at a comfortable size 12. You don't have to be a
size 4 to have a happy, well-balanced life. I like to eat about 2000 cal/day instead of 1600. I like to have desert once in a while. It is a matter of balance for me. No one can tell you where that balance is for you. If you need to be a size 4 to feel good about yourself, then you will have to do one thing, if you want to be a size 12 another, and a size 20 still something else. You are the only one who gets to live your life, and you shouldn't let a weight chart, a group of eating buddies, a diet group, or anyone else tell you what weight you need to be to be happy.

We are all an experiment of one and the only way to know (if you really want to know) for you is to 'relax' your patterns a little bit, see what happens to your weight and your lifestyle and ask yourself if it is worth it. It might be worth it. (I'd do that one slowly just in case its not!) Either way, you will probably have to make some sacrifices for the overall best solution.

Anne