Food logging

Just wondering, how many of you who are recovering from eds, anorexia etc log all your food in your food log? I used to do it obsessively and religiously, but haven't for two days and have eaten significantly more and felt less guilty about it.

So do you think I should just stop using the Food log here altogether?

xxx

i actually did it once haha.. because i can't find exactly the food i eat because the page isn't latinoamerican haha so it's kinda hard

but if you feel better without doing it . then don't do it. Just enjoy whta you eat and live yourlife haha x)

I'm not recovering from an eating disorder, but every time I have ever tried doing food logs for an extended period of time, it feels like an unhealthy obsession. I don't see anything wrong with doing a food log every few weeks to get an idea of what I'm eating. But if it were an every day thing, I'm afraid I would develop an obsession.

I could possibly see how someone with an eating disorder could make their situation worse by logging all of their food. Sometimes it can fuel the obsession. Do what makes you feel best.

Yeah, I can remember logging the calorie content of a single grape at one point =(

I'm going to try leaving the logging for a while, see how it turns out, but continue to post all my food on the weight gainers forum. :)

I don't log because I get too finicky about nutritional balance and such. I think, while it's good for people who ought to watch their calories, gainers don't beyond making sure they get 2500+ and you don't need to be logging for that. :]

I still log every day, mostly because it replaces the obsession I had with food.  Someone from AA once told me that they had to replace their obsession with drinking with the obsession to attend AA meetings.  I believe that also may be the same for Weight Watcher meetings.  I will continue logging until I replace it with something else.  It may be that you are feeling better with yourself because you have found you don't need to obsess with loggng to feel better and have found something else to satisfy you.  Not sure if that helps, but that is were I am. 

I've gone back and forth. I logged obsessively during the height of my ED, things like one slice of cucumber, six grapes, and I actually counted out everything to make sure I wasn't going over my allotted cals. Then when I decided to recover (the first time) I also stopped logging. For me, this led to bingeing. Then I stopped logging, and started writing down in a notebook everything I was eating. That sort of helped the bingeing, but since  I wanted to see shorter and shorter lists each day, I started undereating again (half unintentionally) I stopped writing, and started bingeing. I agree with joestevie, my obsession with food was sort of replaced with an obsession with counting. I just recently, within the past month or so, started using the logs again because I'm back at school where I can't prepare my own meals, and I wanted to see how I was doing calorically. Surprise, surprise! Undereating again. So I guess I still haven't figured out whether logging daily is "healthy" or not, but I know for me anyways, logging what I eat to make sure I'm not "cheating" is a heck of a lot healthier than estimating too low. So that's my two cents. 

hey, I'm taking a break from logging my food too! I didn't realize how obsessive I was being about it until my brother made a comment about how I wouldn't put anything in my mouth before looking it up online. ouch. 

I'm going to give myself a week without it and see how I go from there. good luck!

I definitely have an obsession with logging, but I'm maintaining, not gaining/losing. It is a focus for all of the general anxiety I have. My internet is down and I'm going out of town for work this weekend, so I won't be able to log, and I'm really freaked out. I think I'm just going to have to let it go and look at this as a way to break the obsession...but I'm so scared that something bad will happen if I relinquish control- irrational, I know. Not to mention that if my anxiety isn't channeled something semi-productive, it finds other unhealthy outlets.

Hey guys:

So my problem was, when I didn't log I way under ate for the day, and didn't get enough, but when I did log, I got way obsessive about it, also, the rapidly increasing numbers made me want to restrict, so I came to this happy compromise: I keep my own log in a notebook, and write down the numbers for each meal just after I've had it, then log it into calorie count at the end of the day, suing my numbers i.e. pasta bake: 430, rather than theirs so I don't get worked up about nutritional analysis, that way I can keep tracks, and not get obsessive, hope this helps!

I second Theo's suggestion. That's how I work out my estimates. Save I don't use the log at all, just my own little book to make sure I am getting roughly enough (as I am rounding down) without umming and ahhing over nutrition.

I so wish I could stop logging my intake; unfortunately my brain does it via calories and Weight Watchers' point system.  I really  need to somehow not notice how many cals I take in.

Working on this still.  Any advice would be more than welcome.