Becoming obsessed?!

I am starting to obsess about my caloric intake and exercising. Today, I went out to lunch w/ coworkers to a Greek restaurant and the whole time I was trying to figure out what to order that wouldn't be a lot of calories. Then when eating all I was thinking was, "I wonder how many calories this is, what can I eat later to make up for this, etc?!"

Then, I am probably not going to exercise tomorrow b/c I have exercised every day this week and I am going to exercise sat and sun. However, I am thinking ok, I need to cut down on what I eat tomorrow and I feel guilty about not exercising.

Any suggestions on how NOT to obsess?!

all I can say is that I can really relate, and that you have to be careful. It can take over evrything, and god help you (and your partner) if that happens.

 

Just remember, you eat and diet to live, not the other way around.

Man, I hear you though!

I hear you,

One thing I started doing was looking at my possible options before I went out to eat and leaving some room for the calories. This may also sound obsessive but I feel as though if I look it up and get a general idea of what I might eat then I do not worry about it while I eat and can enjoy my food and not feel guilty while eating.

 

Other then that just be careful not to get too caught up in it.

Best Wishes!

Wow that is odd. I went out to lunch at a Greek place today as well! I have worked out 6 days straight and am taking today off tonight.....and I was thinking the same thing. I had hummus and flat bread because I knew that I have been doing well all week. Not to mention I was thinking that if I walked an extra 2 miles tomorrow morning then the cancels out flat bread.

Maybe not so much obsessed as more aware!!

Haha, that is odd. I have eaten really healthy today... hope it stays that way tonight!! I am going on a long bike ride tomorrow morning though. I just don't want to be so consumed with calorie counting... it's hard though.

I don't consider trying to figure out what's going into my mouth as an obsession.  It's just that we never learned to do it intuitively as kids, so it's not 2nd nature for us like it is for our skinny friends.  That means we have to be more conscious of it.  I don't think your obsessed at all.  And frankly, you can't trust what the restaurants say anyway about their calorie counts.   

Now, if you start refusing to eat because you don't know the calorie count, that's a whole 'nother story. 

Well, I never thought about the calories before I started counting them though. My metabolism has started to change so I started counting cals. And, it's not just worrying about what I am putting in my mouth it's letting my mind be consumed with the number of calories while eating. I don't think it's normal, per say, to be thinking about the number of calories while you eat. You should be thinking about the food and enjoying it!

Obsessing about calories and counting calories is not the same thing.  If you take the time to make healthy choices, some would call that obsession, I don't.  I ask myself not only what's the caloric value but is it good for me.  If it's is unhealthy then I usually can't enjoy it without guilt so I try to remember that when I order.  If it is healthy then I'm able to relax and enjoy it.  As far as thinking about it all the time.  I think that is part of the being aware.  If we aren't thinking about it then we put things in our mouth that are not good for us or for our journey to weight loss.  I think the area of concern is probably more in your mind set about weigh loss.  I have been thinking of this as a way to get healthy.  I lost my Dad to diseases directly attributed to weight. Diabetes and Kidney failure, heart disease.  If he had lost the weight before his kidneys failed I think he would still be alive today.  I've been going down that same road.  I'm 45 now and it struck me that when my Dad found out about his diabetes he was 45 and he was over 200lbs.  When I looked at the my own scale tipping 210 lbs.  I said that's it.  I'm not going there.  I am doing this to be healthy.  I don't want to see how much cake or high fat foods I can eat without gaining a pound.  I want to make healthy choices for my life.  So I will be around to see my kid's get married and their kid's graduate and so on.  It puts a little more balance prospective on the whole thing.  I'm not losing to fit into that bikini by July 4th, etc.  I think it is a mind set that makes us obsess.

Hey there --- I made a similar post not too long ago. For those of us who are prone to compulsive and obsessive behavior, counting calories can be a real trigger. Force yourself to take off from recording for about a month -- I did, and it's worked well for me. You'd be surprised how much you have a _general_ idea of how much you're eating now that you'd been doing the counting like crazy. Don't think of food as a number -- that's the path to unhealthy behavior. Hit me up if you want to chat about this more -- it's a continual struggle for me.

I give myself a "cheat meal" twice a month, usually going out for dinner or to a party.  I still try to make better choices, but don't obsess about it.  I guess it's inadvertently doing the calorie zig-zag thing, because I've yet to hit one of those dreaded plateaus.

I share your concern though, I hope I don't become obsessed.  Now if you'll excuse me, I must go and log "typing 83 words" in my actvity log.  Is "zig-zag" one word or two?   ; )

Split