But for some reason that's all I think about. Weight loss is what I wake up thinking about, what I go to sleep thinking about; I'm constantly thinking about what I must eat next when I feel hungry; cooking healthy dinners requires much more preparation than just cooking the regular stuff, going to the pantry to get a healthy snack requires more creativity than just making a pb&j sandwich on white bread. Setting aside the time to work out requires planification.
Am I obsessing or everyone else feels like this? How can I turn this into a normal lifestyle? I am about to start my last quarter of grad school next Wednesday and I'm terrified to think that I have a thesis yet to write, an internship, and all the fall festivities... but all I can think of is: WEIGHT LOSS! It's mentally draining and I can't concentrate on anything else! Please tell me that I'm not going crazy!!
Hey there.
I think the key here is to remember is that, since time began, man has been thinking about were there next meal will come from and how to get it. From the neanderthal, to the settlers, to present day, it is human nature to hunt, gather and prepare food. If a person didn't obsess about it in the stone age they died from starvation, now if a person doesn't obsess about it they become obese. (Thank you fast food industry). It okay to spend time thinking about food and your health. Man has done it for 1000's of years.
Thank you ladies for sharing your insights on this! It was really helpful. For some reason, after two weeks of dieting I usually lose control and go back to my usual unhealthy habits. I don't want this to happen this time and I wanted to make sure that it is not me who stresses too much about losing weight till the point I get tired of it. Everybody goes through this sort of stress.
That, on one hand. On the other, what concerns me so much is that I am afraid that as I start school with all it will encompass for me this quarter, I will have to focus on those things and lose focus of my weight loss (as someone pointed out, I don't call it dieting because that's not what I want... I want to be healthy and train my brain to chose the right foods, not just reach a goal and get complacent with the results). I feel a little bit overwhelmed, to say the truth. And afraid of what will be laying ahead these next three months... I don't want to quit my healthy lifestyle, but I'm afraid I won't be able to handle all these responsibilities.
That being said, I want to make clear that I don't really have a hard time choosing healthy snacks because I have them lying around the house, hehe! I should've made that clear when I talked about the pb&j. I have loaded my pantry with healthy ingredients for my dinners. But it's the constant thought in the back of my mind that weights so much! Ugh!
I have loaded my pantry with healthy ingredients for my dinners. But it's the constant thought in the back of my mind that weights so much! Ugh!
At least I know I'm not going crazy...
I would suggest you use that frantic energy--don't just stock your pantry with healthy ingredients, actually sit down and plan every single meal and snack you are going to eat each day for the week. You are spending a lot of time and energy thinking about future choices that you have to make, but if you go ahead and make those choices, then you might not keep coming back to them. As long as you are picking foods you generally like, it doesn't really matter if you "feel like" fish or chicken on Tuesday night: you'll enjoy either, so just make a plan and then be on autopilot through the week. Leaving all the final decisions unmade would just increase my anxiety. Better to get it settled.
That said, to lose weight you have to stay interested in losing weight. You don't have to think about it all the time, but you do have to think about it for 20 minutes every single day--having a routine helps with this, but even with that, every day I go through a little mental checklist: "What am I eating tomorrow? Do I have everything I need? Is anything unusual happening that I need to accommodate?" and if I am out of chicken or cottage cheese or whatever, I go get some, no matter how much I don't feel like it, or how many other things I have going on. If something unusual is coming up, I find a solution, I never (or hardly ever, and it never ends well) assume I will "figure it out" when I get there. It doesn't take tons of time, but you can't let it go for a day or two--because if you do, you suddenly don't have any healthy choices and it's 2 AM and you are starving and go to McDonald's because there is nothing else open and since you are so, so hungry you get the french fries and the double cheeseburger.
what concerns me so much is that I am afraid that as I start school with all it will encompass for me this quarter, I will have to focus on those things and lose focus of my weight loss And afraid of what will be laying ahead these next three months... I don't want to quit my healthy lifestyle, but I'm afraid I won't be able to handle all these responsibilities.
...
Focusing on school doesn't mean you have to lose focus on your weight, your health.
But of course your weight DOES have to matter to you. It does have to be a priority of yours. Once it is, to not focus on it, will kinda be out of the question. But again, once you get used to it, and become accustomed to it, it will be as automatic as getting up and brushing your teeth. To not do so, would be well, unheard of.
here's the thing, just because something ELSE is important in your life and requires your time, your focus and your energy, doesn't mean that you have to give up on other important (that's the key - important) things that require your time, your focus and your energy. You will have to learn how to focus on both things at once and sometimes it will be more than two things or three things.
As far as handling all the responsibilities - push yourself. You will discover you are capable of lots more than you think. But, you will never know unless you do indeed push yourself. That is how one grows. That is how one learns. That is how one conquers and masters new skills. That is how one prospers.
Last edited by rockinrobin; 09-18-2010 at 03:54 PM.
Maybe I'm not making myself clear... or I don't know how to explain it well (English isn't my first language); I don't struggle making the right choices and as I said, I have a pantry full of healthy ingredients and foods, so when I have to cook them, I just go ahead and do it. No problem with that. What I mean is that although it's coming in very naturally* to me to make the right choices, and having healthy foods around helps a lot, right now I have the time to think about healthy living because I'm not in school until next week. It's my 24/7 thought and it's working great.
I don't really know how to put it in the right words to express the feeling I have; maybe I'm just wording it in a complicated way. I am not wondering what I'll eat tomorrow, I'm not doubting whether I should eat healthy or not. *I'm doing hypnotherapy to lose weight and it's helping me WONDERFULLY in that regard. That's why it feels so natural. What I am afraid of is that as I have other things coming up in my life this last quarter of school, I will put my healthy living and healthy thoughts aside. Those healthy thoughts are put to a good use at the moment because that's all I'm doing. But will I be able to "multitask" or equally divide my attention to family, school, internship, thesis, healthy living and other responsibilities?
How do you guys do it? One thing everyone's suggested is planning. I got that one down. It may or may not work with me... we'll see. How do you guys balance your thoughts to handle other responsibilities? Does this feeling ever go away? Does it turn into a more natural thing as time goes by? Some of these questions have already been answered and I really appreciate it. I'm a little anxious to see how I'll handle this new lifestyle I've set myself to have, plus all the other things that are already a responsibility in my life.
Focusing on school doesn't mean you have to lose focus on your weight, your health.
But of course your weight DOES have to matter to you. It does have to be a priority of yours. Once it is, to not focus on it, will kinda be out of the question. But again, once you get used to it, and become accustomed to it, it will be as automatic as getting up and brushing your teeth. To not do so, would be well, unheard of.
here's the thing, just because something ELSE is important in your life and requires your time, your focus and your energy, doesn't mean that you have to give up on other important (that's the key - important) things that require your time, your focus and your energy. You will have to learn how to focus on both things at once and sometimes it will be more than two things or three things.
As far as handling all the responsibilities - push yourself. You will discover you are capable of lots more than you think. But, you will never know unless you do indeed push yourself. That is how one grows. That is how one learns. That is how one conquers and masters new skills. That is how one prospers.
Thank you... We were typing at the same time, it seems.
You know, I have never committed to a healthy lifestyle. I always ate what I wanted and kept my weight quite nicely. One time I lost 20lbs just out of the stress of life, school and a long distance relationship with whom now is my husband. You know, just the regular stress of life diminished my appetite a lot. But I still ate what I wanted, because I didn't feel appetite for the bad stuff. That's kind of what hypnotherapy is doing for me right now, which I love. Anyway... it's kind of crazy to explore this new aspect of my life and maybe I'm just afraid of the commitment, because I love eating and I had never really committed to a healthy life.
I find your posts very supportive and to the point. I really appreciate them.
I completely understand where you're coming from. I just started a credential program to become a teacher; most days, I can barely find my cell phone, let alone think about planning out a meal. And, I'll tell you right now, I'm having trouble being on-plan right now because of it.
But, yes, it gets easier. You may not be questioning your choices and you're dedicated to that plan, absolutely. But it gets easier to stop thinking and just...do it. You'll stop thinking about those choices and they will just "be". At least, that is the experience I had when I was truly committed. I find when I'm only motivated for a short amount of time, I think and rethink...as if I have to slightly convince myself. But commitment was easy....it just was.
I always feel like I have to plan for every contingency! I feel like I am planning every day all day. I am in grad school and am working on my CPR's as well. I feel your pain. It is all so overwhelming. Take it one day at a time and most improtantly don't beat yourself up to much! We are only human Just reading these posts make me feel halfway normal instead of some obsessive compulsive freak-dealing with weight loss Thanks everyone!
Yes I understand what you're saying. I lost about 10 lbs last summer while in grad school. I took classes all summer but 1 graduate level course is very different from 4 + an internship. In my case, I decided I would MAINTAIN my weight when school started back up in the fall because I didn't think I could actively lose without having a nervous breakdown from all the stress.
I ended up gaining back half of it. When my pants were tight, I figured it was just an off day, the dryer shrunk them or something. I made illogical excuses and continued along my way. This was so easy for me to do. In between classes, internships, homework, presentations, STRESS, raising 2 pre-school aged children, husband etc.
I truly believe the secret for me is weighing every day. Not just weighing every day, but writing it down. daily. there's no hiding from that!!! Sure my weight fluctuates within a few lbs depending on the time of month, but the trends simply do not lie! When you're planning out your meals or workouts, remind yourself why you want this. I think as others mentioned, it will get easier, but you still will have to think and plan for about 15-20 minutes a day, and reflecting on why you're doing this, and finding the joys in it are vital Making excuses as I did will end you back to where you started! I think you are also worried you'll be more focused on staying healthy over grad school too.....I do suspect that you will find a balance. Probably since you're so focused on it now will actually help you find a more mid way balance as other priorities come into your life!
Last edited by pinkflower; 09-20-2010 at 12:33 PM.
For me, what I eat really affects how much effort I have to put into weight loss, and how much energy I have for everything else. For most of my life, to lose weight I had to put so much focus in that I had very little time for anything else. I was so hungry 24/7 that I couldn't think of anything else but what I was eating, or what I wasn't eating. I had trouble falling asleep and staying asleep. And I'm not talking about only when I was crash dieting. Even at 2200 calories, the 24/7 hunger and cravings were still omnipresent.
I don't feel that way on low-carb (I never gave low-carb a serious attempt until recently, because I felt that I "knew" that low-carb was unhealthy). By controlling the hunger, it allows me energy for other things in my life. I have room for dieting and living. Sticking with low-carb with all the carb-pushing in the environment, and on a student's budget that's another matter.
I truly believe the secret for me is weighing every day. Not just weighing every day, but writing it down. daily. there's no hiding from that!!! Sure my weight fluctuates within a few lbs depending on the time of month, but the trends simply do not lie! When you're planning out your meals or workouts, remind yourself why you want this. I think as others mentioned, it will get easier, but you still will have to think and plan for about 15-20 minutes a day, and reflecting on why you're doing this, and finding the joys in it are vital Making excuses as I did will end you back to where you started! I think you are also worried you'll be more focused on staying healthy over grad school too.....I do suspect that you will find a balance. Probably since you're so focused on it now will actually help you find a more mid way balance as other priorities come into your life!
I love this whole paragraph.
I especially love the part about daily weighing. Threads are started here all the time on that particular topic and this is *for me* the perfect answer.
For me as long as I plan everything out ahead of time I don't obsess. I only weigh in once a week because I try to not focus on my weight but on being healthy and for me personally weighing every day isn't conducive to that. Also seeing a 1-2 pound loss is more exciting for me than seeing .2. Others feel differently, but this is just how it works for me.
How do you guys balance your thoughts to handle other responsibilities? Does this feeling ever go away? Does it turn into a more natural thing as time goes by? Some of these questions have already been answered and I really appreciate it. I'm a little anxious to see how I'll handle this new lifestyle I've set myself to have, plus all the other things that are already a responsibility in my life.
Sometimes, when my life get hectic, I just have to get back to my "basics". Like, for me, I have some basic rules/goals: 1. Eat my veggies everyday 2. Get exercise 4 - 6 times a week 3. watch portion sizes.
These are things I can focus on with minimal effort on days when I don't have it in me to try a new recipe or try a new exercise. I have meals that I just do without thinking. My "go to" meals. Ex. I have Ziploc's Zip 'n' Steam bags, so when I can't decide what to make for dinner, I can just toss some veggies in a bag and zap them in the microwave and slap a baked (3 oz. worth of) chicken breast next to them.
I don't really think about my snacks anymore... I keep the same types of food on hand. Low Fat Cottage Cheese, Chobani Yogurt, Cocoa Almonds, Fruit, etc.
I don't really think about exercise. I go everyday on my lunch break and either run on the treadmill or lift weights. Tuesday night, I signed up for a Zumba class - so I just go!
The more habits you develop, the less you have to think. I mean, you have to stick to you plan... but it will become easier.
My way of reconciling myself to the effort it took me to lose weight & the energy & mental focus that I continually draw upon to maintain that loss is to tell myself that I have to do it, because I'm a sick person.
Seriously.
I was really fat. I have a screwed-up metabolism. It's a sickness, it's a chronic disease, from which I will never recover. But it's a disease that can be managed.
My fat is currently in remission.
Yeah, that's the metaphor I have to use. I'm like a person with a disease or disorder that will always be a part of me, and which I will always have to treat. Like diabetes, or God forgive me, cancer or AIDS, or a life-threatening allergy.
It's not fair. These things never are. I can rage about it all I want, I can deny & ignore it, but it won't keep me healthy. I just have to work at managing it for the rest of my life. Other people have far more tragic burdens than mine & they do it.
We were typing at the same time, it seems. 
Just reading these posts make me feel halfway normal instead of some obsessive compulsive freak-dealing with weight loss 
Thanks everyone!
