Don't fall into the trap

All younger calorie counters, or even older ones, please please don't fall into the trap of calorie counting. If you're just using this site as a health tool well done and good luck but it is so incredibly difficult at the influential age we are at not to make this an obsession.

I've spent the last year as an active member, but I quickly fell into the mindset of someone with an eating disorder, and I no longer know what a healthy relationship with food is: all I've figured out is it definitely does not involve relating food to numbers. It's not hard at all, you do not have to be eating under 1000 calories a day or anything extreme to develop an ED.

Now I'm diagnosed I'll probably be advised to stop using this tool and counting altogether, and I hope it's for the best. So i just wanted to share with all you guys that it is SO important if you continue to monitor your intake do it out in the open, with a support network of people to monitor YOU, and just ask yourself again if you are concerned about your weight for the right reasons. 

Be careful not to broaden your advise and words too much. For me, calorie counting is what saved me from an ED, after struggling with one and going from underweight to majorly overweight and ruining my health by yo-yoing in extremes for 10 years.

Food is an emotional thing for me - upset = food or no food, being teased = no food, being told by other skaters I'm fat = make myself purge.

Equating food with numbers completely eliminated the emotional aspect of food for me. Food is fuel. I need that fuel. If I just happen to eat more of it - oh well, I won't die for it, I can just exercise more or try to improve the next day.

Since calorie counting, I haven't binged and I haven't purge. I do go days without logging my meals, though they are really few and far inbetween. Yes, it can become dangerous if you obsess over it, but that's true about anything.

So please, don't consider *your* case to be the same for everyone. I'm sure you're not alone, but there are also other people who have completely different needs and experiences.

Thanks for sharing, sorry I tend to ramble hah.. but my main goal from that post was to just get whoever reads it to have a good look about their motivations, and to recommend sharing their weight loss goals with their close friends and family to avoid an unhealthy progression. 

I actually think thats very dangerous advice, because calorie counting is a proven method for healthy weight loss and many dietitions reccomend it as an optimal method when included with regular activity.

Its sad to hear you deveoped an ED BUT you should note that CC NEVER reccomends eating less than 1200 calories per day which is considered the safest lower limit, and if you input your data correctly unless your sedatory the reccomended intake is alot more than this.

I am bordering on obsession with calorie counting, i weigh everything and try to log everything too, but this is the only way i can stop myself from overeating. 

 I agree that the site should be used as a health tool if your planning to maintain weight or simly change your diet to something thats better for you, but if your loosing weight its just not good enough to eat healthily because eating healthily will not make you thinner unless you have a defecit of calories too!

I'm possitive that for me my obsession is perfectly safe and wont lead to an ED, because i follow advice and guidelines, i know that starvation diets do not work, i know that my body needs so much protein,fat etc etc per day and i make sure i eat my exact calorie allowence or just over.

I think the only danger is when people either ignore the rules or think they know better, everyone does it and sadly it has bad results.

I agree that it is easy to take calorie counting in to a form of obsession.  the sad thing is that most people will see it as being HEALTHY as long as you are not underweight.  well, i got underweight while still eating a reasonable 1400+ recommended calories and it's very hard to gain without feeling guilty and breaking all the rules that are supposedly the correct things to do.

for people who have a tendency to strive for perfection, be careful!  your body is not a calculator.  I have finally stopped weighing and stopped counting and planning.  i've gained but i look and feel better.  i have regular, comfortable bowels again.  trust your body and just focus on eating mostly healthy, fresh foods and getting regular activity!!

Calorie counting effects everybody different, just as food does.  For some it turns into an unpleasant obsession and can lead to an ED but for others it was there tool of success in a healthy lifestyle. 

I haven't found a way to figure out what type of people it can effect negatively and who it can work for.  But I know it was the worst habit I ever developed, it was the main contributing factor to my eating disorder. 

It truly does effect everyone differently.

I agree that it's easy to make calorie counting an obsession - but like emilie_f, it's this site, and the ability to calorie count, that's pulled me out of an ED. Because I can set a calorie goal, and see how many calories I burn each day, I can make sure that I eat enough. There are plent of days when I would drastically undereat if the eat meter wasn't telling me that i hadn't eaten enough.

I think it's just important to be aware of what healthy is - and to not try and eat low calories when you are becoming underweight.

I probably have to agree with the OP. I lost about 20 lbs without counting calories, but ever since I started to, I gained back about 10. I would restrict food that I liked so I wouldn't go over the limit. But with that came an explosion wating to burst as soon as it got the chance. The first slip-up I had, I went berserk, and I couldnt stop my binging until recently.

Now, Im trying to lose those extra pounds, but have found it difficult to. Counting calories has become almost an obsession.

I dont know what to do anymore. My old method is difficult to do again because of this "obsession."

I said f the obsession today and made it all the way to the end before I tallied up my total, and I feel pretty good.  Had two krispy kreme donuts and didn't even know the caloric content of them at the time, didn't care either.  In fact, the only reason, consciously, that I can think of as to why I totaled my intake at the end of the day is because I am trying to track my weight gain. 

Haven't broke the habit yet, but all I can say was it felt good to eat those donuts and not know.