[junebug41]

Originally Posted by Glory87

If you were saving up carefully for a down payment for a home and using a Quicken and Excel to manage every detail of your finances, if you passed up buying a new TV, and used your Netflix subscription instead of paying full price for a movie, or happily imagined yourself living in your new house - are you obsessive or financially prudent?I'm always surprised that calorie management is always seen as JUST SO FREAKING WEIRD by nearly everyone but it's a basically a budget that must be managed. Say no to a donut, journal your food, order double veggies at a restaurant and you are all of a sudden looney-tunes to your friends and family. All of the "I could neeevveerrr live like that!" comments and the "just live a little" and the food pushing. Grrr.

To get off the SAD (standard american diet) freight train to obesity and heart disease is HARD. It does take work. I know I will work at it every day for the rest of my life.

I absolutely love this analogy. Love it. I'm not a food logger, but I've been subject to the same crazy looks that you have and that's exactly how I explain it. When I started, I very much took a pounds=debt approach.

[OverOverWeight]

Originally Posted by Sirenity

But it's changed in the past half a year, as it's this same "relaxed attitude" that has apparently gotten me stuck, losing and gaining the same 5-8 pounds over and over again. I think it's my extreme frustration over this that's making my boyfriend (and maybe even myself now) worry about a possible obsession since I've become more and more visibly upset over my weight as time passes (my official weekly weigh-in at TOPS just yesterday put me exactly where I was on the first weigh-in of the year, right to the tenth of a pound). Even if I was losing as little as a pound a month at this point I could feel some sort of satisfaction, but I've been way too careful to not have any progress at all (although maintainence is arguably a successs in itself). And if it comes down to having to count calories/log food/etc. to get myself back in gear, I'm afraid I'm going to spiral out of control like I have in the past. And maybe in the back of my mind, I'm afraid that I won't be able to make any further progress unless I do become obsessed.

And as I write this, I can look down at the empty, pretty notebook I bought in anticipation of calorie counting and food logging. Maybe now that I have my boyfriend it could be something I keep in check with him so I don't get obsessed? Until I can find my groove again and get back to normal on handling what I need to do?

Thanks for listening once again and for all the helpful replies.

Maybe you could try just eliminating one small thing so that you don't have to go back to tracking calories. Everyone has to use whatever plan works best for them, and if calorie counting isn't it for you, then don't beat yourself up. Maybe just cut out caloric beverages or add extra water to your daily intake. Something minor could be all it takes to tip you off of the plateau.

[schubunny]

I sometimes feel I am obsessed, but I know I have to be in order to stay on track. If I give myself even a bit of breathing room I tend to take TOO much.

Also, I OCD about a lot of things (cleaning mostly). Maybe I decided in my mind that I would make that another OCD. So far it has worked and it hasn't affected my life in any negative way.

[Cglasscock1]

Yes, right now I am slightly obsessed with weight loss, but I spent 38 years overweight and not doing a thing about it. So I figure I am just making up for all that lost time of not learning to eat well and exercise.
Anyone who has watched The Biggest Loser or Jillian's new show "Losing It" has to see that it is a huge lifestyle change to lose weight and tone up. People who have never had to do this probably would not understand the devotion it takes to lose weight and may have concerns about a loved one getting too obsessed. So I will keep all my efforts healthy and share most of my obsession with all you 3FC chicks!