Why Cant I just be "Normal" about food?

I guess this is just a rant (yet another one) but I am so tired of thinking about food.  Either Im starving and can't wait for my next schedualed meal, or counting the calories of every small snack, or planning how to avoid over eating on days where I am not fallowing a reguar schedual...like this week for example, (I have a plan but I know it won't work) or thinking about what I over ate, when I overate, and why I overate.   Im just so tired of being obsessed with food... I want to be normal, eat normal meals, and be able to tell when Im starving before my I actually start feeling stomach pains or when Im full before I feel bloated.  I want to know how to just have a meal and not have to plan it in advance!!!!  Sorry about the rant but does anyone ever feel like this?

every single day.

im also sick of people talking about how skinny i am behind my back.

im sick of my mom's concern.

im sick of feeling sick and tired.

Go to a dietician.

I don't recommend stupid GPs. Unless you're severely underweight they don't recognise things like this - a dietician should be able to help you more effectively than: "Oh come back to us when you're dying".

Today is quite the opposite actaully... I am sitting here contemplating buying a big bag of Bridge Club mix and junking out over a novel, or some computer games... no matter how healthy I eat first, I will end up junking out at some point today... I have lost all self control.

same, i wish i could stop thinking and planning food and going over how many calories ive eaten today.


I hate the fact that each and every day for me now is just waiting for night so that I can go back to sleep again, my day is just a struggle with food.

I totally know how that feels.. Every night when I go to bed I'm thinking about the next morning what I will eat for breakfast. Usually when I wake up in the morning I'm thinking about what I'll eat for the day. Most of everything I eat has already been planned. It sucks kinda.

I know how you feel and I tried explaining it to a loved one recently.  I said, "You don't understand.  I always think about food.  I'm always thinking about when the next time is that I can eat and what I should eat."  It sounds crazy to most everyone.

Except us.  Thank god I'm not the only person who feels this way.

yeah, its nice to have other people who understand how you feel.

I hate how the media pin the blame on models and pressure to be thin.

I personally didnt get into feeling this way by that, I just wanted to generally eat healthier than I was before, and now im obsessed.

I know this website is aimed as a healrhy way to lose weight and has only good intentions, but I still hope people dont calorie count to the extreme, its hard to give up

yeah, i can honestly say thats one thing i havnt got rid of, while im not worried about calories, i still look forward to food and my next meal, maybe im just bored?

the key ( for me) to feeling sated and happy about eatin meals is simply to balance the food. keep it one fourth carbs, 1 fourth protien, and the rest should be vegetables. and simply keep on eating until you stop grumbling and feel satisfied.

calorie counting became so redicuous with me, that it became so pointless to me, i got angry at calories and i said 'screw it"

calorie coutning in my opinion shouldnt be done unless your morbidly overweight.... all it does is mess with your mind and make it hard to return to normal. the key for me is to be mindful of the calories, and simply know when im full, but dont physicallly count em

That's true! When I physically count them, calculator and all, I end up obsessing over it. 

I thought that I would try just eating whatever whenever (trying to be mindful of course about healthy choices), and just see how things went.

Gain or lose, what's the worst that could happen besides I would get my sanity back?

So, I've been doing this for almost a week and there's been no change in my weight.  I am starting to think as well, dartrinton, that calorie counting should be for either people who really need to lose weight, or for fitness competitors.

Myself, I'm trying to accept myself for who I am and be happy.

It's hard sometimes yeah but I'm trying to.

OMG, I am just like you guys too. I always thinking bout new meal and can get stressed over things like going to dinner with the girls at work. I know i will eat healthy but how do i count it????

I am getting better though, i was much worse. Some days are good and some are bad but i still write ti all down and count???

I feel the same.   I am here trying to avoid a binge right now.  Being on the computer is helping to take my mind off what I can eat.  I agree with all of you, it is consuming and exhausting to think about it all the time.

I know all of this too .............I feel every one of you ......... I recently gopt help ........... because I knew it was a problem ........ I lost 60 pounds ....... then just gained 15 back in a week ................I binged . I purged .......... ( I still do ? )

I dont want to ..............My counselor and dietician want me to commit to eating every three and a half .. to every four hours . whether I have binged , purged or not .... to get my body on a schedule ..........I have not really started yet .......... I have a hard time eating breakfast when I know I ate too many calories the night before ...........

I have at least stopped purging for now ........... and I threw away the laxatives and diuretic tablets .........even the miodols..........no cheating that way .....

Here is a prayer for all of us : . Dear Lord, You know each and every one of us readng this ............. You know our lives .our struggles .. and our hurts . You know why we do these things . and Father I just pray You work in each of our lives to heal these things in us ...... and help restore health to our emotions , our hearts , minds and our bodies . Jesus we know YOU love us and want our bodies to be healthy . Give us the courage and the stregnth to heal these things ............ put poeple in our lives to help each of us .. and to make it possible . In Jesus name . AMEN

AMEN to that!

I'm sorry that other people are having troubles... I wouldn't wish this on anyone...

However, it is some comfort to hear other people with similar issues.  I feel like my life revolves around food.   I realized it was too much when I was looking forward to bed just so I could get up and eat the next morning.  I'm otherwise healthy, happy... just trying to get a grip on the food obsession.  Not sure where to start...

calorie coutning simply leads to misery, not to mention heavy binges and restrictions.

i had to find first a nice medium before i started to ease off of calorie counting, i first began to stop coutning dinner, then lunch, then breakfast, then one snack... etc and so on...

im not entirely cured and i doubt i ever will completely "stop" counting or being aware... which is good acutally, however coutning everything and anything is ridicolous. if your gona count while maintaining, i suggest you simply count your snacks. thats it....

For me, food is pretty much constantly on my mind whether or not I'm counting calories, but at least when I count calories I'm not packing on the pounds.  I also find that counting calories eliminates some foods from the picture for me, such as big slices of cake, and this helps me make better food choices.  I guess it depends on the person whether counting calories is healhty or unhealthy.  I would rather be obsessed with putting good things into my body than with fulfilling every impulse, but they are both somewhat exhausting states of mind to be in.

I am scared to stop counting b/c i dont want to gain weight. i know i will never eat unhealthy foods again b/c i love them and i love my lifestule but i am afford i will fall back into emotional eating again.

well i know how hard it is daisy, but remeber you can eat normally and not count and not be fat, remeber that.

you have to find a nice medium inbeetween coutning and awareness

I would like to be more lax about it but i will never stop b/c i beleavein the long run it does help me not to overeat or emotion eat.

I am so relieved to see that there are people out there exactly like me. My brain is consumed with food, all i think about is the calories in everything, when i am next going to eat and what i am next going to eat. I am stuck in a very bad cycle and have been for a long time now, where i binge badly not on unhealthy things particularly but, i just eat an extreme amount of it, mainly in the mornings, for example i will have about 5 bowls of cereal and i never feel satisfied. I don't think when i do it, i just eat and am then consumed with guilt after i have done it, and spend about an hour trying telling myself i will never do it again, and this last for about two days where i restrict myself severely, but inevitably my will power brakes and i go back to bingeing again. My one wish is to be 'normal' about food again, just eat three meals a day and just stop thinking about every thing i put in my mouth. Every day is a struggle and it is exhausting.

By the way to the person who said they go to bed thinking about what they will have for breakfast..i hear you, my last thought before i sleep is what i will eat for breakfast and the first thought that i get when i wake up is what i will eat for breakfast.