Not really that much with eating it. I just think about it all the time, negatively. I feel like I'm eating too much, even when I'm only eating 1200 calories. If I eat something like a piece of chocolate, I immediately exercise until I'm sure I burned off all the calories it has, or if I go over my daily caloric intake, I cut my calories by the amount I overate. So, if I ate 1600 calories, the next day I'll eat 800 to offset the difference. I hate going out to eat because I'm not positive how many calories is in the food and I don't trust the people who work there to know or tell me the correct amount. And sometimes my friends jokingly call me fat (At least I think they're joking) and then I don't eat for a couple of days because I feel so horrible and ashamed of myself. I know this is bad and irrational, but I can't help it. What's wrong with me?

Cammie, if this is worrying you & giving you anxiety, rather than seeming like a challenge that you can handle, and particularly if you are feeling a little scared by what you're doing & how you are feeling, then you should use the Internet to read up on eating disorders. Not to alarm you unduly -- we all can get really caught up in new enthusiasms & projects. But it sounds as though this is troubling you.

I think the purpose of the plan is to help you get past the obsession. You know what you will have, and the calories will be planned too. Takes the guilt and guesswork out.
hope you can find a way to relax about it. Whats the worse that can happen? a few calories over? you will just lose a little slower than planned. not the end of the world!

It may help you to plan out your daily food intake the night or week before. That way there is nothing to think about. Just stick to what you have planned and you'll be fine.
Last night I planned out everything I was going to eat today and I have stuck to the plan. Planning takes all the guesswork out of it!

HI Cammieb

Have you spoken to a nutritionist? 115 pounds at 5'7" seems pretty low to me, as does 1200 calories. Are you working out? If you are, then you definitley need more than 1200 calories. Eating too few calories can mess up your health in different ways than eating too many!

If you have health insurance, you can speak to your doctor to get a referral to a nutritionist. The nutritionist can help you get on a plan that will help you plan out your food and get the right amount of calories. It sounds like you could use some extra support.

maybe your mind is always on it because your body wants to eat- perhaps your missing some vital nutrients. Do you take a multivitamin?

Also, I had a similar problem- I was always thinking about foods for months after I started dieting. In some ways, it's a good thing to be thinking about it, but if it's causing you emotional distress, then you probably need to talk to someone about it. Have you tried talking to a counselor?

((((Cammie)))) I can relate. I feel like I think about food all the time.

Have you talked to your doctor about it? I know lower than usual goals may be OK for some people, due professional goals or other reasons, if you can do it healthily. But it does not sound mentally healthy for you. Can you really see living that way for years and years? No one deserves to be that miserable. I'm not saying this can only go badly, but I think you should have a lot of respect for the possibility of developing an eating disorder and how it can destroy your body and life.

Hi Cammie,

I can definately relate to what you said... I too feel as though I live to eat and dont "eat to live"... I feel like i'm forever thinking of food and everything that goes along with it. Its causing me stress too