Hi All!

Today I was thinking about how much time that I devote to thinking about food, diets, my weight, losing weight etc. It's REALLY a lot of time! I know that I have to KEEP thinking about it or my pounds lost will start to creep up on me again! I look at other people and wonder how much of THEIR time is devoted to F-O-O-D!

I'm hoping that one day I will look at food as fuel...nothing more. I'm also hoping that one day I will NOT have to devote so much energy to weight loss. Somehow I don't think that will ever happen!

Cheryl

Oh Cheryl, do I hear you - LOUD & CLEAR.

Before I started my weightloss journey food was always on my mind. I was always thinking about my next fix (meal). I was insatiable and just ate all the time. I was constantly shopping and eating and cooking and sneaking. It wasn't pretty.

Now since I've overhauled my eating habits, I think I'm even thinking about it MORE. MUCH MORE in fact. Now I really plan every bite that goes into my mouth. That was one of the things I had to change, to be AWARE of EVERYTHING that goes in my mouth. And I plan and plan and plan. And I shop and shop and shop, G-d forbid I should be without my veggies, yogurt, chicken breasts, cereal, etc. And then I'm always chopping the veggies, and cooking and on and on and on.And of course there's the measuring and weighing and calculating and keeping track. And I time myself now. I don't want to eat more then every 2 - 3 hours. And if I go out somewhere, well how should I prepare? eat first, or save the calories and eat there. It just goes on and on and on.

I don't think I will EVER have a day where I am not thinking about food. ALthough I'd LOVE to just wake up one morning and let it be what it is, but I doubt that will ever happen. It's very sad.

In fact, I bought the book YOU on a Diet yesterday and I have been engrossed in it. I think the only part that has made me say "Yeah, right" is the part when they talk about getting to the point where picking the right foods will be second nature and I won't even need to think about it. That has never happened to me--no matter how much I have lost. I will be really impressed if it really happens.

Kathy

Hi Cheryl,

Yes! My every waking thought was about junk I was going to buy that day - I'd wake up thinking 'what shall I eat today' and go to sleep beating myself up about it. I don't think I've lost the obsession about food and my body - it's just channelled in the right direction now and being free from guilt means I feel good about myself. It is quite exhausting and I wish I could view food as fuel too - but I think I've accepted that it's part of my character - it's what made me so fat in the first place and hopefully turned around the other way it's going to make me a healthy weight.

EM

Yeah, I think about food all the time...but how and what I think about has changed. Before, I would say..."I should not be eating this", "just one more bite", "one won't kill me" or sneaking this and that after dinner, etc. But now, I think I am thinking about planning more...and my focus is on eating healthier. The self talk is more positive. And when I get down on myself about how I let myself go, or how hard this is etc...I think about how at least now I am doing something about it! I don't think we will ever stop thinking about it.

There are a couple of things that I thought when I first read this thread.

1) I do spend a fair amount of time thinking about my diet and food. For example, I am usually reading two books at a time, and one of them is almost always a nonfiction nutrition or diet book. I spend a good amount of time on this website, reading about dieting. It takes time to plan what I'm going to eat and what I need to buy at the grocery store so that I don't freak out and eat things I shouldn't when I don't have the right foods. So yes, I do spend a lot of time on it, and I guess I'll continue to have to do that. In some ways, I feel like the time that I devote to it makes it my new "hobby".

2) I love food and I still love to eat. I go to bed at night some nights thinking about how I can have that delicious bowl of oatmeal in the morning, after I exercise. I enjoy it, but it doesn't control me. I think that is the difference between me now and me in the past. In the past, I felt like the food was in control, and I did its mindless bidding.

3) After doing it for a year and a half, picking the right foods has become second nature to me. I can glance over a table or over a menu, and quickly see what the best choices are for me. I usually don't even see the other stuff on it anymore.

I think the amount of time I spend thinking about food hasn't changed; what HAS definitely changed is the WAY I think about food.

Food used to be my fix, my best friend, my rock. It was scary. I was constantly thinking about food, even when I wasn't hungry at all. Now, I think of food as the key to the door. Food is one of the things that got me this fat, and food is going to be one of the things that gets me skinny.

I plan every single bite that goes into my mouth. Like 20 minutes ago, I made my salad for tomorrow so I'll have NO excuse to not eat a salad. I now come up with a rough sketch of what my weekly meals will be so I can make a list for grocery shopping. That way I won't be tempted to go down those center aisles that taunt me so, because I can look at a piece of paper and say "No, those aren't on my list." Constantly thinking about ways to be healthier, ways to not get bored and order that cheese on my burger, talking myself out of taking another bite when I'm not hungry.

I think the biggest hurdle for me was retraining my brain. Food isn't the enemy unless we allow it to be.