I have been on this lifestyle change now for a couple of years. I work out a lot. I eat a lot - certainly more than you. I eat a balanced diet. But, like most of us, I do pay attention to what I eat.

I have noticed some weird behaviors that I never had pre-loss, particularly with respect to food and I was wondering just how common some of these "disorders" are amongst us on a diet. Some of you may even have different ones. They are all pretty minor, but I will list mine here:

1) I think about food a lot. On a run or weight training, I will think about what I will be having for breakfast or lunch. And quite enjoy those thoughts.

2) I enjoy buying food and stock up on foods I eat on a regular basis e.g. balsamic vinegar, canned fish, coffee.

3) I enjoy buying food and stock up on foods I enjoy eating in small amounts as a treat e.g. dark chocolate.

4) When I eat, I eat one type of thing on my dish at a time, working to the stuff I enjoy the most. Normally, I start with veggies and finish with the protein.

There are probably other quirks. But I did none of this sh!t before starting my journey.

I am interested to see what others think, but I have had an eating disorder and I did none of those things. Mine was binge/purge and everything you said sounds like a healthy lifestyle change. Before you probably just ate whatever the **** you wanted and didn't think about it. Now you appreciate food. You treat food as something you have in your life for enjoyment along with nourishment. I think that sounds healthy, personally. Just my opinion!!

I now and ALWAYS have almost constantly think about food, i hate it. I wish i was a normal person with a normal appetite and not the capacity to eat literally 10,000 calories in a day

It's important to realize that an eating disorder is not something you either have or don't have. Disordered eating is a spectrum of behaviors. It's been known that restrictive dieting can bring forth any number of dysfunctional behaviors around food.

None of these behaviors are indicative of a serious eating disorder such as anorexia, however dieting does make us extremely aware of food. How you feel about that is your own business - for me that makes me feel extremely uncomfortable. Being consumed with thoughts about foods is very uncomfortable for me. I recognize it as a symptom of my eating disorder, this symptom is like a cover for other uncomfortable feelings. If I'm thinking about food all the time I don't have time to think about the argument I had with my husband, or my taxes, or the deadline I have at work. Food becomes a scapegoat, or dieting becomes a scapegoat. For me this is unhealthy behavior. I know you don't want to hear this but IE has helped me with this alot! Practicing IE puts food in the right place, I don't have to spend all day thinking about what I'm going to eat and how I'm going to eat it and where I'm going to eat it.

#2 and #3 are just foodie behaviors. I love food too, I'm an awesome cook and I enjoy buying cookbooks, I'm part of a very close knit online cooking community, I have themed dinner parties etc. Lots of people love food and cook food. Just look at Giada deLaurentis, she eats pasta everyday and she's fit and healthy.

#4 I would classify that as a disordered eating behavior. Lots of people do this. I used to do this!! Eat the least favorite part of the meal and then save the best for last. The reason I don't do this anymore is because I'm assuming that my body needs the entire portion that is infront of me. Our bodies don't work like that, sometimes they need more food and sometimes less. I allow my hunger/fullness to dictate when I finish my meal. For this reason I now begin my meal with my most favorite part of the dish, I eat slowly and don't feel obligated to finish my meal. Because I eat slow I am more in touch with my fullness signal and many times I am full before I finish everything on the plate so thank goodness I eat the good stuff first. Also, I've noticed that this habit of saving best for last goes hand in hand with eating too fast, are you doing that as well?

Having quirks and oddities are small clues of a much bigger picture. It doesn't mean you have an eating disorder. But if you find that these quirks are starting to bother you or especially if they get in the way of your meaningful relationships and social functions then yes it would be a good idea to pay close attention.

1. I occasionally have and enjoy those thoughts while I'm working out. I typically try to process other events going on while I'm working out though. To note though, if I'm "hungry" before I go to bed, I think about what I'm having for breakfast.

2 and 3 I definitely think are more foodie related than anything, but do agree that I didn't think about it as much when I wasn't dieting. Perhaps though, that because we're dieting, we are more aware of what we're eating so we end up taking more of an interest in food thus creating the foodie mentality. One of those chicken or egg situations.

4. I've always done that though. I really like all food, so it's never a matter of eating what I don't like first, etc. I eat all of one thing before moving onto the next and don't like them touching on my plate.

I absolutely agree that I think about food constantly now.

It's an interesting paradox though - when I wasn't thinking about food I was gaining weight. When I do think about food - I lose weight.

I absolutely love the theory behind IE and wish so desperately it worked for me, but the truth of the matter is, I gained 40lbs "listening" to myself. I read the book, agree with everything in the book, but at the end of the day, I would eat nachos and drink bourbon for every meal of the day if given a choice, despite my love for crisp salads, grilled chicken, fresh fruit and basically every vegetable. I will say that I am much more mindful and eat what I actually want now.

I like Weight Watchers simply because it helps me with portion control and keeps my accountable. Weighing in in front of someone keeps me on track. It makes me more mindful of what I'm eating. I really don't deprive myself of anything or skip out. I don't seem to have a shut off valve. I can eat and eat and eat and still feel hungry an hour later. I've learned what foods trigger this more than others, but I'm the girl that finishes her plate and wants seconds.

I definitely think about food more when I am trying to actively lose or monitor my weight, and, like ReillyJ, I HATE IT! Also, I think that "naturally thin" people do not do this. My husband is naturally thin, and he rarely thinks about food unless it's just before dinner time and he's cooking. Don't get me wrong, he enjoys his dinners immensely, but he thinks about them only in the moment, not as you described, while doing other activities.

I would love to remove thoughts of food from my mind like that, but unless I'm concentrating on some other task, I'm thinking about what I will eat for breakfast, dinner, etc., what I will be buying at the grocery store (like you, I love grocery shopping), etc. To compound this problem, I am a foodie, so cooking is a hobby to me. This makes the food obsession (as I think of it) even worse. I actually get excited and consider it an event when I can go to Whole Foods (it's 1 1/2 hours from my house, so I only get to go once every couple of months).

One of the reasons I don't think an official "diet" (i.e., any plan that monitors numbers vis a vis food) will ever work long term for me is that I eventually get sick and tired of all those food thoughts. When I'm not actively monitoring my food, I eat what I want and I may even plan on what to eat, but not to the extent that I do when I am monitoring my food intake. But it's a catch-22: when I'm not monitoring my food, I tend to gain. This is the difference between me and a "naturally" thin person: They can intuitively regulate their food intake without giving much/any thought to it. I cannot.

I think anyone who ever had a weight problem had/has an eating disorder. Otherwise, we would all eat when we're hungry, eat what our bodies need, and stop when we're satisfied. It would come natural. Think of a baby. They cry when they are hungry. When you feel them, they reach a point where they will not eat any more no matter what you do. They will cry when they get hungry again. You never think to feed them in between. Also, it's usually the same when they are toddlers. They won't eat if they are not hungry. Then some parents start promising them a cookie if they eat, so they eat, even though they are not hungry, just to get that cookie. Eventually, it becomes all about the cookie, and they "finish everything on their plate" to get the cookie. An eating disorder is formed.

I agree with Palestrina, and have read it somewhere, that you should eat what you like the best first. If you leave your favorite food for last, then you might eat more than you need, just to make sure you get your favorite food in. If you eat your favorite first, then you will be more prone to stop when you are satisfied and maybe not finish everything on your plate.

Not to say that I don't think what you're doing is right, Ian. The proof is in the ticker. You have lost and maintained a good amount of weight and have not really done it in an unhealthy manner. I don't see you regaining any time soon.

This is really true about children and since I've spent the best years of my life fighting an eating disorder I'm being very vigilant in allowing my son to explore his hunger on his own terms. I don't reward him with food. I don't make him finish everything on his plate. I don't even make him eat dinner if he doesn't want to although I do make him sit at the table with us since it's a family event. He has his own bin of snacks to choose from that he has access too in the kitchen - he does not need permission from me to snack. He also has his own little snack bin in the fridge. Most of the time he's reaching in the fridge and pulling out fruits or veggies. I wish I was as healthy as he is in his food choices.

Wannabehealthy you bring up an interesting thought. Does anyone who struggle with weight issues have an eating disorder?

I also absolutely agree that children are the purest when it comes to eating habits. That part in IE really resonated with me. It will definitely play a role in how I facilitate my one day children's relationship with food.

I absolutely know I have disordered eating. My issues were worse when I was 200lbs. Oddly, gaining back some has changed my perspective on it all.

ITA!

As to the children part, I mostly agree, though I wonder if our other thread on genetic differences comes into play here as well: My mother told me that I had a prodigious appetite as an infant and toddler. She said if she gave me a bottle as an infant, I would quickly down it, throw it out of my crib/playpen, and scream for more immediately (and not shut up until I got it)! As with most things, I think it comes down to nature and nurture.

As I've related before, I was exactly like Lin43 as a baby. And I don't think all children have naturally healthy (i.e., moderate) eating instincts. They've done studies on preschoolers exposed to unlimited kid-friendly foods: some of the children got full fairly quickly and then lost interest, while others just kept on going.

F.

This might be a bit of a tangent but there are studies that suggest that bottle feeding on a schedule does have long term effects on appetite. Sometimes mothers take very bad advice from docs who suggest to feed on a schedule regardless of when baby exhibits hunger signals and also make very young babies cry themselves to sleep when babies are asking for food. This throws a wrench on a baby's ability to regulate their hunger into adulthood. It was one of the things I was very careful about when my son was an infant to feed him on demand day and night (breastfeed). I'm pretty certain that's why my son has such a normal relationship with food now despite my own ED.

Yes, I've heard/read something about that. I've often wondered if not getting breastfed had a negative influence on my desire for food / tendency toward overeating.

I was a bottle fed baby on a schedule and my brother was breastfeed on demand. I have an eating disorder, he had a normal relationship with food (I say had because he's not alive anymore). Not saying it's conclusive evidence but it's an example.

On demand feeding is something we do in IE, trying to simulate the on demand feeding babies should receive in infant hood. Without it we may live in constant fear we won't get fed which may be what my ED might be about.

My mother bottle-fed me, but didn't listen to the doctor's advice to feed me on a preset schedule. She responded to my hunger cues, which meant feeding me a lot more than the schedule dictated. In my case it didn't lead to a healthy relationship with food, though. I just loved food too much, I guess!

F.