how much do you think about food/your body?

I find I'm pretty much constantly thinking about food or how my body looks. Is anyone else like this? It's pretty annoying, and I'm sure I'm annoying to other people. If I see someone eating a hamburger, or driving out of McDonald's, or buying muffins, I have to restrain myself from saying something. I constantly worry about the calories in something. I wish I just could eat without thinking!!!!

How do I stop thinking about dieting? 

FYI: I do not have an ED. Also, I do not undereat or anything like that. 

Constantly. I do have an ED, although currently I'm 'recovered'. Even when I am following my meal plan I obsess over the combination of foods and anything else related I can think of.

Constantly.

And I don't know if there's a way to stop it.  I read a study AGES ago where they tried to see whether neurotic people diet or dieting turns people neurotic, and it concluded that dieting makes you obsessed.  The study took a bunch of well-adjusted men who'd been screened for preexisting conditions, and put them on a restrictive diet.  They all became obessed with food and such.  It's a side-effect of dieting.

i don't think about it much.  when i'm getting dressed, yes.  when i'm getting on the scale, yes.  otherwise, i have other things to think about.

i think there is a way to stop it, and that's to have more important things to worry about: work, school, family, friends, the outside world.

*noms an 800-calorie muffin and leaves 25-calorie crumbs all over jcls thread*

i think obsessiveness is inherent to counting calories, or training for an event, or bodybuilding... some days it seems it takes more discipline to not obsess.

i have the same problem. i think sometimes it actually makes me eat more b/c i'm thinking about dieting/being healthy/food all the time. i had a dream about food last night. mind you that is not the first time. last week i dreamed about eating a mcflurry. in the dream, i was also incredibly upset with myself after. psycho much?

Original Post by watergirl:

*noms an 800-calorie muffin and leaves 25-calorie crumbs all over jcls thread*

i think obsessiveness is inherent to counting calories, or training for an event, or bodybuilding... some days it seems it takes more discipline to not obsess.

^ This

Apart from making me laugh I think that's a valid point. It'd take far more will power on my part to let myself eat 100 calories over my limit than it does to eat to my limit.

On boring days I dwell on these thoughts. On days I have work/school/a hang out date/etc I do not think about it.

I'm relieved to know that I'm not the only one who does this. I also don't have an ED, but I also can't say that I have a healthy relationship with food. I'm honestly jealous of my friends who can eat something and not think about how many calories were in it.

I dont think all the time about food but as soon as i find myself relax i head straight to the fridge looking for something sweet. I think my body has never looked worse than it is now

I never think about it.  I make my meal plan in the morning and stick to it the best I can. I take care of good grooming the same way - just do it and don't worry.  I've never had a problem with my looks, even at my fattest. 

If you're going to obsess over every little imagined flaw, then you'll be doing that all your life.  Women my age still do it - over wrinkles and such.  I can't waste my precious time here on earth worrying about how I look.

Yes, when I didn't have a clue and tried every crazy diet in the book, I spent way too much time thinking about food.  I've learned it's not worth it, and I've lost quite a bit and kept it off too.

I think about food a lot, because I'm interested in it. I like knowing about nutrition, thinking about the choices I'm making, thinking about the balance of nutrients I've been eating or just what I might make for dinner. I am ED-recovered so I probably am a little more neurotic about it than most people.

Don't think about my body much at all though. It is what it is; it does what it does. It gets me from A to B... I also know that in 20 years I'm going to think I had one helluva body now, so I should try to appreciate 'what I got, while I got it!'

I definitely think about it alot. But anything I am really "into" -I really get INTO.

I think I have a pretty healthy relationship with food. I just know that if I ate the quantities that I wanted and its mostly good stuff I would be bigger than I want to be. This sucks. And I find it unacceptable to be that size. I wish I could be more laid back about it.

On days that I am crazy busy with all of the other stuff of life-I don't think about it as much-unless my pants are naggingly too tight-But when I am running around without planning I am more likely to make bad food choices.

I do think about it a lot, I even have dreams about it. In my dreams I'll eat some chocolate or custard or something and wake up and be like - WHY DID I EAT THAT!! Then be happy when I realised it was a dream. I talk about it but I don't think I annoy people.
I don't make comments about what other people eat really, people can eat what they want, but my friends will be like "want a bite of my sandwich?" and I'll say "no, calories!" and they'll bury their faces in their hands and laugh :D

Yesterday my friend tried to shove a fruit pastille in my mouth and I spit it out and was all "NO CALORIE!!!!!!!!!" and she goes "shove a calorie up yo ass!"

I think people are cool with it :D

I've kinda found lately I am thinking more and more about diet and health as a coping mechanism/transference to avoid thinking about other things going on in my life. 

Certain things I can control - what goes in my mouth and how much I run etc, other things like finding a new job (my contract expires in less than 2 months now eee) I cannot. 

So I've definitely taken to obsessing over my diet and exercise while I'm feeling a bit helpless in other areas.  But I'm not complaining, it's better than doing nothing, sitting on my sofa and stuffing my face I guess

Original Post by plum_seed:

 

Yesterday my friend tried to shove a fruit pastille in my mouth and I spit it out and was all "NO CALORIE!!!!!!!!!" and she goes "shove a calorie up yo ass!"

I think people are cool with it :D

haha

I think about it pretty constantly as well. I think it was worse when I first started calorie counting a few months ago... I like to plan though, and I like knowing what I can work with, in terms of how many calories I have left for the day, what I can cook to fit into that "budget"... I'm always thinking about my body too, and how it looks to others, but I think I'm the harshest judge of it. At least I hope I am!

I've had the dreams where I binge eat too, like tons of chocolate or something. I wake up feeling like I ruined everything, but then I realize it was just a dream. I also have dreams where I get arrested though, for who knows what, and panic that my life is ruined. Ahhh those are the worst.

Anyway... I'm just trying to not let it control my life. Mainly I have problems with social eating, so I find myself worrying about how I'm going to deal with being starving after work in a room full of cheeseburgers. It's usually never that bad but once I did go to Shake Shack with friends and there is not a single healthy option there. I lied and said I was eating later with others. :/ I couldn't justify a cheeseburger or loaded hot dog and shake!!

Going through this weight loss process has opened my eyes.  I am very proud of my accomplishments but understand the immense amount of pressure (both internally and externally) to succeed. 

Often I've thought about people who do have an ED.  After this experience, I think that it could become a very easy line to cross.  Obsessively thinking about food and exercise and that darn number on the scale.

An example, this weekend my brother's girlfriend told me that she wanted to lose 30 pounds.  Well, she is 5'5" and 140.  Her goal weight is 110, which is an 18% bmi.  She thought this number was perfectly acceptable and has been eating 900 calories a day to achieve it.  Don't worry, I talked to her about it, but her perception was that she needed to see that 110 number on the scale, even if it was an unhealthy number.

I am very close to my goal weight and feel fantastic.  I'm trying to back off of the weigh ins and obsessively counting.  It seems to be working as I have been in the same five pound weight range for the past three months.  I know that eventually I will get to my goal and I'm ok with that.

i can say that i think about this constantly. no. 1 reason, i'm in the military and we have weight and physical standards and i don't want to stand out for being the biggest or the slowest which i pretty much am right now. also because this time last year i was a good 25 lbs slimmer and it made such a huge difference and i really took it for granted. i would give anything to be at that weight right this second but thankfully i'm not too far gone and i'm thankful that i'm physically able to do everything i need to do to get back to where i was.

i also constantly think about food, what i should eat for the day in relation to my exercise. if i decide to eat at mcdonalds how much more exercise do i need to do to have a nice deficeit, if i decide to do nothing will i be satisfied with only eat 1500 or 1600 calories to have a nice deficeit. i'm constantly looking up nutrition info on the foods and drinks i consume and i can honestly say that i know exactly what i need to do. it's just battling myself to find the willpower to go the gym after work or do some taebo at home when i'm feeling tired, or in a funky mood, or whatever the reason. i'm a freakin procrastinator and i hate that i often wait to the last minute to take care of what i need to but i'm on the right track (most days)...

I think about nutrition often, not food itself.  I have worked hard to see food as fuel rather than a source of comfort/distress.  I enjoy thinking about the balance of what I am putting into my body, how what I eat helps me perform best in life.  To me, it is a matter of self-respect: learning to love myself and give my body the best.  So while I try not to obsess about it, I am conscious of not eating things that are nutritionally void. 

I also think about mindful eating as a way of life, so I don't really miss junk food.  I might have something that's an empty calorie once in a while, either due to lack of choices or simply because I'm craving it.  When that happens, I don't think of it as the end of the world because I know that in the big scheme of things it really won't make a big difference (compared to how much I eat clean the rest of the time). 

I have never been one to tell others what they should do, so I don't find myself having to bite my tongue if I see someone eating junk food.  I do, however, think to myself that it isn't the best of choices ... but to each their own!

Maybe you need to relax a little and realize that while you obsess about food and your body, life is passing you by.  I agree with others that said that having other things to occupy your thoughts (activities, volunteering, work, hobbies) helps to get your mind of food and your looks. 

Original Post by pgeorgian:

i think there is a way to stop it, and that's to have more important things to worry about: work, school, family, friends, the outside world.

The funny thing about ED is it's ability to make you super selfish. I have a million other things more important to me; my kids, my work, family and I still manage to have body image in the back of my head. I give all that I can to all those things, but it's hard to know what "all" is. I've had the behaviour so long, I may not realize what I do is not normal.

It's not normal to think about your body/weight all the time.