I'm doing so well and I've made so many positive changes in my eating habits, but there is something that is driving me CRAZY.

I'm obsessed with food. I can't stop thinking about it. What I'm going to eat, when I'm going to eat it, how many calories I've eaten.

And when it comes to planned or even spontaneous 'treats', I feel SO guilty. Like tonight at work, it was a guy's birthday, so we pulled out a cake for him and I had a small peice. It was good, so I finished it even when I felt slightly full after the first few bites. It's not like I trashed my whole diet or anything, but I keep having to reassure myself that with one little peice of cake, I'm not going to gain all my weight back.

Does it ever get any easier? Should I maybe look into getting proffesional help? It's not like I starve myself, but sometimes I wonder if I'm healthy. I'm planning on getting a full physical in the near future, just to make sure I'm not going below my healthy weight or lacking nutrients in my diet.

*s* I just had to get that off my chest! Thanx for listening!

I'm the same way. I'm thinking about it all the time, planning meals, adding up calories, planning workouts, etc. I wouldn't go as far as considering professional help, unless it feels really unhealthy. I'm sure a lot of people feel like this, especially early on. How long have you been trying to lose weight?

Sorry I can't offer more advice, just letting you know you're not alone

I am the same way. Im always thinking about food. When can I eat next, what will I eat? I even go as far as smelling other people's food that I know I cant have. "I know very bad" I just started my diet in January and it does seem to be getting alittle better. But when I think about it I thought about food all the time before...I just ate it while I was thinking about it.

The way I deal with this is that I always have a supply of fruit and veggies on my desk or at home so if I am really hungry I can have something... but most of the time it is just cravings and I don't eat it. For me the solution is to prepare healthful meals... I have been making up crockpot recipes on weekends and freezer bagging individual portions so I always have something yummy and tasty for dinner. For lunches at work I have been cooking up big crockpots full of veggies and taking a container of those. And I do NOT journal as that DOES put my focus totally on food and constantly thinking about it. At work I will tell myself I can have my apple or whatever at 10 AM... or 2 PM, etc... get myself on a schedule. It doesn't really matter if I eat it at 1:30 or 2 except for the discipline of saying no to myself. My body doesn't tell me what it can have or when... I control it!! LOL I heard a Bible study once about this and often remind myself of the Pastor's words... say to your stomach, "you will have what I say you can have, when I say you can have it!"

Another huge one for me is that I have trained myself not to think of food as a treat! The "I can have it on Sunday" etc. or rewarding myself with a special kind of food, etc., I have to put in the past. I will reward myself with something else instead! Or if I crave food, grab up the water bottle and chug it down. It can be very filling.

It's a battle, that's for sure! Hang in there and don't get discouraged!!!

I think about food all the time too, and in many ways that's a good thing. After all, as jtjoray said, I used to not think about it at ALL, and look where that got me.

But, I've been doing this for 8 months now, and it has gotten better, in that I generally have a sense of when I'll be eating and what and how high my calories will be by the time I get to dinner (which is often a little less planned out). I am not as worried about the food anymore, because I know I can eat enough to keep me satisfied (most days) and healthy and that it is working. But thinking back, early on my thinking wasn't as comfortable. It was a little more... manic maybe?

As for spontaneous treats, it's a balancing act, isn't it? On the one hand, I know I can't indulge in every treat that comes my way, or I will be back in trouble again. On the other hand, I want to give myself enough flexibility to indulge sometimes, as I will hopefully be doing this for life. I don't feel guilty any more when I do indulge, because I generally do so when I know I have enough calories to "spend" on the treat, but when I first started I didn't even really let myself do that... more because I felt I would totally lose control and eat everything in sight! Now I think the guilt has receded because I do feel more in control.

I would say it's not the kind of thing you need to seek help for, unless is really feels like it is maladaptive -- really negatively affecting your life -- and ongoing. See how you feel in another month or two.

I am the same way sometimes. Whether it's healthy food, junk food, yummy or bland, I just ALWAYS think about it. I think about what I'll have for dinner tonight (and how much and at what time). I think about what I'll do for breakfast tomorrow morning. I think about whether or not I'll have a snack at the office birthday party later today, and if I do, how many calories is it?

Sometimes, it's not bad to obsess. It shows that you're completely conscious and aware of exactly what is going into your body. The guilt over that one tiny slice of cake will fade with time as you realize that that piece of cake did not cause you to gain 10 pounds However, the realization that the cake is not good for you is GOOD for you to have, and it will help you to keep treats limited.

I think this is a phase almost all of us go through at some point. For me, it has never stopped, but that's not a bad thing. It helps kepe me on track, or, when I go wildly off track (like I have lately), I know EXACTLY what it is I need to change in order to get back to doing what I should.

even neanderthals millions of years ago worried about food- in fact, all they did each day was worry about what they could hunt down and eat! All animals are like that too. Its more of a natural process. In our case, if we 1)deprive ourselves of junk or 2) plan our meals and 3) worry about calories, we're bound to think about it here and there. I used to have visions of chocolate fudge dripping on vanilla ice cream all the time in my head.

Jill, I think you are right and it is a phase most of us go through! It does get easier though, as we go along. For me after a while the junky stuff doesn't even LOOK good, most of it. Yesterday at a dinner/meeting I was at we had a healthful meal and "build it yourself" so everyone could eat as they wanted... but LOL someone brought yummy looking raspberry cheesecake for dessert... my all time favorite! If anything could have tempted me that would have LOL... but I was glad I didn't budge. <G>

I wouldn't really call it an obsession. If you're thinking about what you're going to eat (I don't really worry about the "when") how much you're going to eat and how many calories you're consuming, instead of looking at it as an obsession, why not think of it as something positive? Positive because you're paying attention to what goes into your body now.

I used to think I was somewhat obsessive too. But I look at it this way - if I had been "obsessive" about what I ate, how much I ate and how many calories the food contained years ago, I probably wouldn't have ended up weighing 220 pounds.

thank you to everyone who responded! wow, I feel really touched and kind of overwhelmed that so many people replied so fast, and you were all so reassuring. I'm glad to know I'm not alone!

stacylambert, overall, I've been TRYING to lose weight my whole life. *lol* I guess I got really serious about it in January and I've lost about 35 lbs since then.

jtjoray, I do the smelling thing, too! Instead of eating something, I just take a deep breath of the smell...I find that the smell is often better than the actual taste, so I can get past the craving. *lol*

dance4joy, the fruit & veggy thing has helped me enormously! I used to be such an out-of-control snacker, sit me down with a bag of chips and I wouldn't be able to stop. And fat-free yogurt has helped me completely turn around from a 7-a-week icecream addiction.

wyllen - I cut out all 'treats' at first, too. Now I just never indulge unless I'm with friends, in a relaxed atmosphere (so I can really ENJOY the food), and only once in awhile. Like this month, I'll end up indulging 3 times for 3 birthdays, so I'm keeping portions small! *lol*

jillybean - I like being focused, it's just sometimes I wish I could just take a pill to get full and not have to worry about food anymore! *lol*

veggielover - when I first became a vegetarian, I had a dream that I was literally cramming a hotdog into my mouth really fast :S And one night, I went to bed hungry because I was too lazy to eat, and I woke up after a night of dreaming of food and I didn't feel rested AT ALL.

LLV - you're right, it is a positive thing (as my bf tried to tell me the other day). I can't really remember, but it's probably true that I thought about food before - now it's just a whole lot healthier.

Exactly

We DID think about food all the time in the past. But now instead of chowing down on a whole pizza, we think before we eat.

And that's something I wish I'd started doing long ago. But the important thing is we're doing it NOW. So if it's an obsession, then it's a healthy one. I can think of worse things to be obsessed with than food

I would also check one of those "what is healthy" charts on how low your weight can go - you are 5'5" right? If so, that is my height as well and I don't remember the chart going down to 125 ... but then again, I can't even begin to phathom what that weight is like, so I just may have blocked it from my memory LOL

hey sassy,

Actually, I was wondering about that...but I've seen several charts, and at 120 I'm a little on the lower side of the middle of the 'healthy weight' section. But...that is why I'm going to a doc and getting a complete phsyical, just to make sure!

Just a dreamy1 - obviously you are doing something right with 35 pounds lost, but I do understand. I think about food all the time and wonder if it will ever go away. I am not guilty when I am eating certain things but when I work out I push myself extra hard which is not always good for my body.

It is a challenge and you have to fight through it everyday. I think it has become a little easier because I am able to think before I pick up the 400 calorie donut or eat and extra peanut butter cup.

I think it gets better - just keep doing what you are doing and treat yourself to cake or cookies in small doses.