Interestingly, when I'm just working out and watching what I eat, with no real goal other than weight loss, I get lots of crap about being too obsessive.

Now I'm training for a half marathon (and I haven't gone public about it yet, but a full marathon is something I'm planning on as well). I don't get any of that same attitude. Never mind the fact that I'm counting calories, just like I was before when it made me "obsessive," and I'm actually working out harder and longer than I was before. For some reason being able to call it training for a race has everyone telling me how proud of me they are.

People are weird.

re:
 

Oh, I'm obsessed with it. I notice when I'm not as obsessed as it as I normally am, weight loss slows down. I think what many people call 'obsession' can also be called 'motivation'

I don't bring up my weight loss with people unless they ask me about it. Even then, it's tricky, because some are shocked or flat out don't believe it's possible without surgery, a special program, or some other secret.

If you can step back and look at the psychology, it's sort of fascinating. I am the only significantly overweight person in my closest group of friends, save for one that's losing baby weight, and my boyfriend who has about 40lbs to drop. Most all of them are extremely supportive, although I don't make a huge deal out of it with them. Still, they're genuinely happy for me, don't goad me or tempt me when I won't have a second drink or share an appetizer, and support me no matter what.

The one person that gives me grief is clearly doing it out of her own insecurity. She announced her engagement around the time I started my diet, and she seems to think I'm trying to steal focus. She's never been obese by any stretch, but she's struggled with an extra 20 pounds off and on. (she's actually a very tiny thing). She always pushes food on me, tunes me out or cuts me off if someone else asks about my progress and makes passive aggressive comments about my "diet kick" or "swimming hobby". The funniest thing is that it got back to me that she said something about me never going to lose enough to be healthy. I was bent over double when I heard that! She smokes like a chimney, she's anemic, and she has an upper respiratory infection that starts in September and runs until May! (That's what happens when you subsist for 20 some years on chicken breasts and mozza sticks - that's pretty much all she'll eat)

I've tried to reach out and reassure her, and I always bring up her wedding and make sure that we talk about her when we're in a group, but it's clear that she sees me as a threat, and that she's always felt superior to me because of my weight. This came as a bit of a shock, because I always thought of her as a friend, but I just shook it off and continued on, because I'm not doing this for anyone but me.

It takes a little obsession to completely overhaul your body and your habits. Look at the motivation behind those who tell you you're going overboard.

I can't afford to be obsessed! Every time I've gone through that I end up burning out and giving up. :( Not that I don't think about nutrition and calories, and not that I won't do what I can to be responsible for my health. But there's a limit. I don't want to be the seemingly obsessed person that talks about nothing but what size I'm currently down to, what I didn't have for breakfast two weeks ago, how I don't drink regular soda anymore, why I don't even visit certain grocery aisles. It's exhausting to me and annoying to all the "normal" people in my life . . . and it's why I reserve most of that talk for certain areas of my online life and my weekly TOPS meetings. ;) Most of the time I just make an effort to take care of myself and it's not something I need to ram my head into a brick wall over. :dizzy:

Oh, and if people think I'm "obsessed" because I no longer order appetizers or dessert that's their own damned problem. :p There's nothing obsessive going on aside from their sudden and unwanted interest in my personal habits! :devil:

I do share occasional milestones on my Facebook, and my family certainly knows of my efforts, but I don't constantly shout out to the world that HEY I'M AWESOME I'M LOSING WEIGHT I'M BETTER THAN THOSE FRENCH FRIES YOU GOT ANY BROCCOLI PLUS SIZES SUCK MY OLD SELF WAS DISGUSTING LULZ like some of my peers in the past have done (myself included) . . . anyway, there's a big difference between being truly obsessed and simply working hard to take care of yourself. :D

Consider the sourse, first. Are they actually concerned, or are then trying to discourage you?

I will READILY admit I'm obsessed. Before I was obsessed with losing weight, I was obsessed with how horrible I felt about myself. I'm an obsessive person. If it's not one thing it's something else.

I try to take comments like that in stride and take it at face value. If it's coming from a concerned place, I try and ease the person's concerns. If it's coming from, say, a jealousy place I simply ignore it or reply with something sarcastic depending on the person.

The word "obsessed" gets thrown around a lot and I doubt we are talking about clinical obsession here. Obviously if that actually were the case, it would be ideal to seek help.

Positive feed back is always helpful during the weight loss process, but the negative remarks I'm going to ignore.

I guess it depends on how you define "obsession." Yes, the word does get thrown around a lot but I looked up the actual meaning of the word and it most certainly does not necessarily have a negative connotation.

"the domination of one's thoughts or feelings by a persistent idea, image, desire, etc."

By this genuine definition, I AM obsessed, but I am very joyfully so! If others say it and imply something negative, to me that is their problem. I honestly don't care what they think if they are rude enough to say that and be discouraging. In fact, I am now prepared... if anyone does tell me I am obsessed, I am going to turn it right around and use Teresa's "line" -- laughingly say yah, well, I jumped on the scale and saw where NOT being obsessed with it has gotten me!!

I am very blessed, though, in that I have friends who are incredibly supportive and encouraging; they are very happy for me. I love love love them!!

This exact same thing happened to me. I was told I was obsessed. Well, I think "determined" is a more accurate description.

First, I was told I was obsessed by people who have only known me "on a diet," one woman in particular. That's because I've been doing this for over 2 years. But I suppose I was also talking about it too much. After I was called obsessed and posted here about it, I decided to stop talking about my diet so often. I'd keep my answers simple if they asked how I was doing, and would only discuss things if they asked for more detail.

The other thing I did was I started turning it around and asking them questions about their diets instead of talking about mine. One friend in particular, I asked her what her goal was, and she told me she wanted to lose around 20 pounds more than her normal BMI. Which is similar to my goal. It put things in perspective for her.

Well, obsession pays off, so obsess away! I made it to my normal BMI goal! Next goal, 10-15 more pounds.

This feels good!