So now that I've been thrown 150% back into making myself healthier, I've noticed I've become quite obsessed. So that brings me to my question for you all...

Do you feel like you're almost obsessed with your health and weight?

I feel like I am. It's always in the back of my mind weighing in on all my decisions. I find myself a little hard as far as criticizing my appearance, but hey it keeps me going. I almost feel like my little obsession is a healthy one. If its always on my mind I feel constantly motivated. I suppose there's a line where people get so obsessed with being thin they start to make extreme unhealthy decisions, but that's not quite the obsession I'm talking about.

So what do you ladies think?

I can relate to feeling obsessed. I have felt that way in the past and I have gotten burned out and it has lead to some very negative thoughts. This time around I am trying to obsess about something else other than my weight. I am trying to focus on my running, and I think it has helped divert my attention to something I really can control.

Good luck to you on your quest, I think the mental part is the hardest part!

To a certain extent, I do find myself focusing on weight loss a lot because it takes a lot of mental energy to stay on track. I mean, sometimes I feel like I'm constantly running a calorie counter in the back of my mind, thinking ahead to the meals I'm planning for the future, fighting off temptation, thinking about being thin to stay motivated, etc.

However, it's certainly something to keep an eye on. Like, if you ever find that you're avoiding things like social situations because of the challenges they pose, that might be a sign that things are getting out of hand. Not that I'm in any way, shape or form qualified to give medical/psychological advice - but it's definitely good that you're aware of the challenges you're facing.

I consider myself obsessed... I always keep track of my calories in my head and I plan everything out..but if I dont have a plan then I dont stick to my plan and thats never good...

My obsession has kept me focused and I wouldnt call it unhealthy... I have been at it for a long time but maybe I'm not obsessed just committed

Sometimes I worry that I'm becoming obsessed, like it is the only thing that I can think about. I'll admit that I probably spend more time than I should thinking about and concentrating on my weight and what I could do to help myself stay on track. But I find that when I try to push it aside, or let other things take precedence, I start to slip up.

I feel like I'm somewhat obsessed, but I don't think it's in an entirely unhealthy way. I spend a LOT of time thinking about the whole thing, but a lot of it is positive thoughts. I'm thinking about meal plans, being excited about meal plans, scheming work outs, thinking about how awesome it is that I'm in a size smaller jeans. I seriously look forward to weigh in day like it's Christmas, lol. I get so excited the night before. Then after I weigh in the morning, I'm all giddy (especially if I have a good weigh in, haha) and say the number over and over in my head.

In a way my body feels like a new toy. I'm learning that it's a dynamic thing, I'm not stuck in a fat suit, I can CHANGE it. How nifty is that!? If I want muscles, I can get muscles. If I want it to be smaller, I can make it smaller. That's a surprisingly new revelation for me, and I still have the new toy buzz, haha.

So yes, I'd say I'm obsessed. But my obsession is making me healthier and happier and isn't getting in the way of my life, so I'm not too concerned

I try my hardest not to let myself get very obsessed. I have a history with eating disorders and know if I start down that slippery slope things won't end well. For instance, I can't calorie count because for me that would lead to severe restriction, then binging, then guilt, then purging, depression, etc. But I let myself to be "obsessed" enough to track the food (but not the calories) I put in my mouth and to plan my daily meals and my workouts a few days in advance.

Latchkey Princess, I love your avatar! I've used that avatar for a long time on my Yahoo! account, and many other sites! :3

I'll admit that I'm obsessed. But, in an excited, happy way. I still love hanging out with my boyfriend, family, and friends, and I take pride in knowing that I'm controlling my eating, even around them.

I still enjoy cooking food for my family, and I've been taking my best friends a piece of chocolate birthday cake whenever I go to visit because I know that they enjoy it, and even if I can't, it makes me happy that someone else is able to. ( Birthday cake leftover from my early b-day party on Sunday. ) ( I swear I'm not doing it to make other people fat, LMAO! )

It is always in the back of my head, though. Always. I think about it when my usual clothes start to sag, when I see a sexy woman, when I see clothing, when I look in the mirror.

And, as proof, I'm on this forum a lot! LOL.

I don't feel like it's an unhealthy obsession. I'm looking forward to my thinner future... Can you blame anyone for being a little obsessive? That's a big deal!

I know I am. I always have been though. I've either been very overweight or bulimic my whole life. I'm kind of in limboright now. I actually just wrote a very long blog on this very phenomena and how I don't think I'll ever have a "normal" relationship with food because in 21 years of life I never have. I'll always obsess over what's in it, how much I'm eating, and how it will affect me.

I can't lie I am a little obsessed with checking the scales but I've got to the point where I know I'm losing weight and I'm comfortable with it.. I'm not losing as much as I was in the beginning and probably could still be, but I'm alot more comfortable with my eating habits and I am truly enjoying my food! The only time I really stress is every Thursday when I have my official weigh in, I go a little psycho and get scared if I eat too much or foods that are 'heavy' that they will show on the scales when I weigh in at the evening lol, but I treat myself to a special meal every Thursday night when I get back

I think it depends.

Is it displacing other things that you would say you value more?

Is it making your life bigger or smaller?

No I wouldn't say i'm obessed. I think I should start becoming a little more obsessed though lol.

i think i'm somewhat obsessed with how I look - i usually find myself comparing me with other girls' size (and often end up at : she's so hot, if i want to be like that, need to work harder). Things like that.
but i think it's quite normal. Woman is quite competitive when it comes to appearance i think.

Other than that, i don't find myself too obsess with anything else : food, scale, etc, i don't have that obsession. But of course i check calories of food before putting it in my mouth (or guess the calories). But i don't think that can be called obsession.

I was actually wondering some things along the same line this weekend…

There is a very thin line between a healthy focus and an obsession. And I think it’s too easy to go from one to the next. Let’s face it, none of us ever intend, at the beginning of our weight loss journey, to work out until our muscles are screaming in pain or to restrict our calories to the point that we’re weak and starving…but some of us do. And it’s because it’s a downward spiral. And we don’t even notice it sometimes until we’re on the other side.

I too am very preoccupied with weight loss. It’s almost embarrassing. I find myself bringing it up to much in conversation or just thinking about it all the time. I’ve missed out on a lot of social events because I wanted to work out or because I knew there would be too much tempting food there. However, I do think this is natural (to an extent). When you go from one extreme to the next, at first, it’s a shock…and then you get in the groove of things. And you’re making healthy choices you would have never made before and you’re making time to exercise when you would have done everything to avoid it before. Part of it is marveling at yourself…. “Wow, I can’t believe I really can do this!”

I do think it’s important to focus as much as possible on the health benefits of this process rather than just the superficial, or our outer appearance. For some reason, no one ever gets so worked up and obsessed with lowering their blood pressure as they do dropping a dress size!!

It's good to stay focused, as long as you don't start neglecting other areas of your life. It's out of control if it starts affecting your relationships: your sweetie withdraws because you're constantly self-absorbed, or you don't go out with your friends because you're "not thin enough yet." Some women ignore their self-esteem problems or unhappiness with their situation (career, living arrangements, etc.), convincing themselves that if they reach their goal everything will be magically fixed. Trust me; if you really think you're ugly before you lose weight, you'll find an excuse to think you're ugly afterwards too.

But this won't happen to you, because you've expressed an awareness of the dangers already. If you're well-balanced, then "obsessed" just becomes a matter of perspective: the average couch-sitting Dorito-chomping citizen may think you're "obsessed" because you say no to a second brownie. Making consistently healthy decisions is certainly not average, so it's bound to seem abnormal.