Is anyone else absolutely obsessed with their weight loss?

I can't seem to think, talk, or act on anything other than my weight loss goals. Is this healthy? I feel like it's not at all.

How do you stop the obsession?

LOL! I have no advice cause I am obsessed as well. I suppose it is way better than being obsessed with eating a lot of junk like I was before

I know I can't do it unless I'm obsessed by it! I'm always thinking about the next meal, what I'll have, how it will fit into my food plan, and what exercise I'm going to do.

I often wonder what it's like to be a "normal" person, where you never give a second thought to your food or weight, it's just a natural thing, but I think it's something I'll always have to worry about and stay on top of. That's okay though, being aware of it keeps me on top of it.

I like to think of it as a Healthy Obsession.

I'm pretty obsessed as well. I don't really think its bad thing unless its effecting you in a negative way.

I used to weigh myself 10x a day or more and it would get me so stressed out...I slowly got myself to ONLY weigh-in once in the mornings and thats the weight I except for the day.

As long as there is no compromise to your overall HEALTH, then it is okay to be obsessed or 'goal oriented' with regards to your weight. If you begin to compromise and do bad things to reach your goals, then it will be a problem.

The awareness of your weight is a good thing. If you would ignore it, then you would easily let yourself go. That's how people get fat!

Does the scale dictate your day? If you've gained .6 pounds, do you have a bad day? Do you reward yourself everytime the scale moves down? do you weigh yourself 4 times a day, once a day or once a week?

There are obviously many levels of obsession! But if you want to break it and prove that the number really means nothing, put your scale away, send it to live somewhere else for a period of time. Does it truly dictate your success? Can you be successful without it and continue doing what is best for your body? Challenge yourself. 30 days, no numbers, no scale. Or if you want to measure your success, do it with a tape measure, that's what really matters, that your body is getting physically smaller. The scale/weight can be deceiving, eat a carb and you are retaining water, don't poop for days and well you get the picture...

I can relate....I feel it's normal as long as the obsession doesn't go as far as your unsuspectingly grabbing a firm hold of a friend/family members pooch or batwings and jiggling it saying, "Hey! Wow! Rivet those eyes down south! Look at what you have going on there! I can make you a copy of my 30 Day Shred or exercise/diet plan to get rid of that!!" ...or if losing/exercising is all you talk about with friends/family, neglecting a sincere interest in their own lives as well.

When I was thin, I was obsessed with staying that way. When I got fat, I was obsessed with food. Now that I'm heading back down, I'm obsessed in yet another way. I have to keep reminding myself...like jenlag said above...to not let the scale ruin my day...& Im placing more trust in the tape measure & how I feel.

There were a few times in my life (times of high stress) when I lost some weight without much effort. Because I did not consciously make an effort to lose, I quickly regained...I somehow did not value being effortlessly thin. So, I do think obsession can be your friend. You value something you have to work hard for...or at least I do!

"You value something you have to work hard for..."

Well said, Christinemariep!

I am totally guilty of weighing myself, going poo or pee, and weighing myself again.

I weigh in the am, in the pm and mid day 3-4 times.

I weigh nekky, in different outfits, in my pjs and in my undies.

I count my points, recalculate, recount and recalculate several times a day.

I come up with as many meal varieties as I can to use every last point and then repeat above process.

I try on my skinny pants several times a week until I have to wash them again to make sure I am losing, not just stretching them out.

I could go on but I am scaring myself.



Does this make me obsessed?

I used to be obsessed, but I'm not anymore. I am *focused*, for sure, but no longer obsessed... I think because I no longer have those daily struggles internally about what to eat, should I have cake, is cheese ok, can I have ice cream, should I go off or stay on? I just stay on plan pretty much all the time and that took the sense of obsession away, for me.

See, for me, not stressing about some cake or cheese helps ME to stay on plan. I do fine with a good, healthy variety of food, including some fattening and sugary food, provided most of what I eat is healthy and I track my calories and food log. I get obsessive when I feel like a slave to a restrictive eating plan, rather than finding a way to eat that I can do for life, whether I am at a party, pregnant, or just having a normal day. I need flexibility and manageability, and a mellow plan gives me that AND long term improvements to my health.

It is good to be concentrated and focused. It is not good to be obsessed to the point that you are neglecting other things.

Years ago, I had a therapist tell me I had an "addict's brain." My brain likes to be addicted to something (alcohol, food, exercise, relationships, projects, or just about anything else it can think of). That can lead me to become obsessive. It's really rough when I'm first starting something new because my brain goes into hyper-overdrive obsession/addiction. This week was my first work really working my weight loss/fitness plan and it was a struggle to keep myself in check. I wanted to buy stuff - books, DVDs, equipment - instead of paying the rent. I had to stop myself from researching and logging food when I was supposed to be doing homework. More than once I had to resist the urge to log onto 3FC while at work.

I said all that to give you a point of comparison. Are you obsessing in an unhealthy way, or is it just an intense focus on self-improvement?

I do the same thing.

Also, I am on a low carb diet. If I am tempted to eat something that is not on plan, I go in the bathroom and look at myself naked in a full length mirror. I scare myself right out of eating that cake.

I know I have definitely been obsessed with losing weight, but I believe its only helped me for the better, cause I've never been so commited before. I only weigh myself when I wake up. I know I talk about losing weight too much. I also try on my smaller size jeans all the time. I am constantly thinking about what I'm gonna eat next. My life has been so out of control the last few months and I feel like losing weight, exercising and watching my calories is at least something that I have control over and it has somewhat helped me through this difficult time in my life. It's kept me occupied.

My friends and family are actually okay with me watching what I eat so carefully, because they can all see the difference the loss has had in me, inside AND out. Like yesterday, I met up with a friend at Starbucks. She had a tall caffe vanilla frappuccino, but since we were going for lunch right after, I waited it out. It's the little things