Food has become the ENEMY!!!!

I am currently 5'6 and weigh 150 lbs. I used to be over 210 lbs about a year ago. I started my dieting by just cutting fat and not worrying about calories. I started counting calories about 4 or 5 months ago. I run 3 miles everyday and also bike for about 20 min. Right now my calorie intake is around 1500 to 1600 calories a day and I am starting to get burnt out. My body is constatly tired and it seems like it takes too much energy to just walk around.

I have a problem with increasing my calories because I am so afraid I will gain all my weight back. It has gotten to the point where I will even feel bad bout eating an apple or banana. I would like to stop counting and just live a healthy lifestyle without gaining weight back.

Because I restrict calories so much during the day and at meals, I find myself turning to snacking late at night. I will never have a full serving of anything, because then I can count the calories. So I end up just taking a bite of this, and a bite of that. I end up feeling bad and still being hungry every night. I wont even drink milk anymore because there are 90 calories in a cup.

I know a lot of you are in the same boat as me and are sick of starving your body but just cant stop. So if anyone has any advice on how to get healthy and boost my energy while maintaining.... it would be greatly appreciated.

The kind of behavior you're describing is typical of people with eating disorders. The only advice I can really give is to eat more than just a bite of things here and there. Figure out how many calories a day you should be eating, and eat accordingly.

If you find that you can't bring yourself to eat normal portions of food, then counseling is probably needed. 

I don't know about eating disorder dm84, I think they just are afraid of gaining weight back. metaylor2, you don't seem to be on either end of the extreme, overeating or undereating. But you're more towards undereating, but not anorexically, more out of fear of weight gain.

My advice, eat when you're hungry, stop when you're full, don't eat if you don't feel you really need it. I haven't gained a pound doing this technique.

Feeling guilty about eating a banana or apple, and being afraid to eat a portion of food is kind of alarming to me.

My advice, eat when you're hungry, stop when you're full, don't eat if you don't feel you really need it. I haven't gained a pound doing this technique. Excellent advice, I agree.

maybe try planning your meals out ahead of time.  You probably consume more calories eating bits of this and that without realizing it than you would if you ate your entire alotted meal.  if you planned ahead of time, you'd be sure you were getting enough and be sure that you aren't getting too much.

I had been maintaining on 1500, exercising 6 days a week for some time. Then I cut back on the exercise this past spring because I went thorugh a stretch where I felt fatigued.  So was doing 3 to 5 days instead. I expected to see my weight go up. It didn't. My theory is that when I exercise, I am usually too wiped for the day to do much of anything else, and days when I don't exercise, I am active for more hours... just on a lower level, so it evens out. I also went on a 16 day road trip this summer... no exercising, not even walking.  I compensated slightly with calories as best as I coud figure (eating maybe 100 less), but still came home and found I lost weight. So eat the same calories, just exercise less, and see if that helps.  I have also started taking green tea capsules, and can now eat at least 100 more calories a day. I am a skeptic about these sorts of claims, but I can't otherwise explain the difference, which happened when I started taking them.  I have to eat more or I lose weight, which I don't want to do.