I'm leaving CC...

It has pretty much corrupted my life right now! I have become overly obsessed with calorie counting. All my friends are worried about me. My boyfriend is sick of me. I spend my life looking at the backs of packets. I have no fun in my life because it all revolves around food. It is seriously effecting my well being. I hate myself right now and it is mainly down to being on this website. If I log too many calories it ruins my day, my week. I can't deal with being this miserable, high maintainence pain in the ass for everyone! I wish I had never come here so I wouldn't have any idea how many calories are in a frigging lettuce leaf!

I don't  care about BMR or BMI or how many calories I've burnt after a work out minus the usual calories burnt plus calories I ate minus the one's I burnt plus which day it is minus if I am on my period plus if I have water retention..

 No one else in life does this, so if any of you feel the same as me right now, LEAVE THIS PLACE FOR GOOD!

I need to have my life back before I lose everyone because of bloody calorie counting!!!

Good luck to everyone, whether trying to lose weight or sort out their issues with any eating disorder. You are all a lot stronger than me and I hope that this website is actually doing you good. 

I may have lost weight, but I have also lost the fun that's in my life from enjoying food. NO ONE can enjoy food if they are counting every time they take a mouthful. People need to recalculate which is more important, their weight, or quality of life which doesn't relate to their weight. I'm taking the second one!

Bring on a happier life without CC! 

It's not for everyone.  But it's about halfway between ana and blimpdom so... meh... Moderation is good. 

I stopped counting but I continue using this site. It can be done.

To put it in perspective, yesterday I ate lunch at Denny's, ate an entire 14 oz steak and an order of fries at a Steakhouse, and had a huge chocolate covered cannoli for dessert.

I enjoyed it more than I thought I would, BUT I don't eat like that every day (A few times a year I go on a 3 day spree where I eat stuff I normally wouldn't). As a result, when I do eat like that I have no qualms. I think people who get sucked into the trap of eating unhealthy food and trying to log it all the time as part of their normal diet are the ones who have the hardest time when it's time to stop counting, and the hardest time enjoying themselves when they do eat that stuff. 

Yeah, calorie counting has become a big part of my life too. like last night, i ate at applebee's and instead of just being ignorant about how many cals were in my dinner, i had to come home and look it up right away...it wound up being almost 1300 cals :(. i wish i wouldn't have looked. it just made me depressed and eat more last night. oh well. but i do wish you a happier life without cc.

I'm just curious, what was your life like BEFORE you found CC?  I think that calorie counting is actually a pain in the butt, but the overall goal for is to think differently about food in a more educated way, not to commit to a life of looking up calories or feeling bad about over consumption if I  happen to go over my suggested intake.  Life is about balance.  I've only been on here about 7 weeks but I felt really out of control before joining and now I don't.  I sincerely wish you well in your endeavors, just sorry to see you go.

Good for you, Kat! Not that I'm glad you're leaving but, I'm so proud that you've been able to catch this and are attempting to nip in the bud something that could become a horrible, life-threatening event.

"I may have lost weight, but I have also lost the fun that's in my life from enjoying food. NO ONE can enjoy food if they are counting every time they take a mouthful."

I can't agree more with this statement. There once was a time when I enjoyed food, going out to dine with people and not fretting over how many calories I took in or didn't put out by sitting in a restaurant or even at the dinner table. This is still something I struggle with on a daily basis.

I have lost basically everyone in my life due to calorie counting and the eating disorder that resulted from it. This isn't saying that all calorie countering have an ED but there are some of us who do lose control and our grasp of reality and what life should be like.

Long story short, kudos to you darling! I wish you nothing but the best!

That's awesome that you've realised what it's doing to you and are stopping, good for you =]

I'd love to stop counting calories but I'm recovering from an ED and have just upped my intake to 1200 calories and I have to eat SO MUCH food to get all the calories in, I'm so stuffed all the time that I know I wouldn't eat this much if I didn't count calories.  I really don't know how people get 2000 calories or more in each day, I'd have to eat nothing but chocolate and sit on my arse all day!

 I really want to just eat whatever I want without counting calories, but I know I wouldn't eat "enough".  It just annoys me so much because I'm so overly stuffed but apparently I'm still only just eating enough, why can't I just eat what I want? D=

very strange. calorie counting is just a tool to achieve a goal.  Halving any thing one normally eats would work to lose weight too. No bother of counting calories - a well fed dog and a lovely compost pile  to goo along with your achievemrnt ??? You are attaching God like importance  to counting calories if you and others around you are upset. Eat what you want lose or gain weight, have a longer and healtier life or not. Up to you, it certainly not the method that is the problem -its your attitude to it.  Seems like you are blaming the tool, not the user of it.  Hope you can find what you learned about nutritious foods of help when you no longer count calories.  That way you will have gained somthing out of you calorie counting days.  Not a toltal loss of a hard time in your life. Good luck and be glad you never wanted to be a dietitian.

Calorie counting is a tool that is obviously not working for you, so I think you are very smart to stop using it.  There are other methods for weight loss (assuming that you really have some weight to lose) that take the focus off of calories (the points system is one).

I applaud your decision to take your life back and enjoy it.

*Applauds!!!!*

Kat, this is the most beneficial thing you can do for yourself right now, and this is probably the most rational-sounding post I've ever seen written by you(I've read a quite a number of your posts) and I'm not happy to see you go, but I'm incredibly happy that you've realized that it's important to DISABLE yourself from fostering your bad habits!!!! Calorie counting is one of them.

No, calorie-counting isn't healthy...And if you ask me, no matter who you are or how much you weigh...Calorie counting isn't healthy for anybody! Because it screws with your mind. You and I both know this. It's not nice to be in your own personal prison and ruled by numbers and calculations.

So go on girl...Liberate yourself! Life is to be lived, not tabulated, not feared and not ruled by food... Go on and help yourself. This is the first step. I respect you for being so strong! I believe you can do this...!!

Good Luck & Blessings to You(And come back just for chats when you're feeling up to it)

~Jaya

I agree with nsgardener and if anything you should be glad that you did join CC because it has brought the problem to your attention. So well done you on noticing it and I hope the happiness returns to your life very soon.

I agree that it can be annoying at times to count calories but I also believe it can be a helpful wake up call to just how much we all really eat. Those of us who are prone to overeating. The fact is that those of us who are not in our teens and early twenties cannot eat anything and everything we want anymore without consequences. I think this site has helped me become more aware of how much I should be consuming versus how much I want to consume.

It's been a proven fact that our portion sizes are much larger than they should be especially when we go out to eat. I admit that sometimes I get on my bf nerves by pulling boxes out of the trash to see how many calories are in the food, etc., but at the same time if I didn't do that it could mean that I don't care and maybe eventually I would be fat, and I bet he wouldn't like that.

I do plan to someday stop using this site once I feel confident enough that I can eat things and know in my head when I've had enough. But I can bet you that once I stop using this site there will come a day when I fall back into my old ways and I will no doubt be back.

i started the new year off calorie counting myself, i wasn't super obsessed but it was driving me crazy. and I remained hungry. low carb works better for me, but i also don't count my carbs

Original Post by journeying2healthy:

No, calorie-counting isn't healthy...And if you ask me, no matter who you are or how much you weigh...Calorie counting isn't healthy for anybody! Because it screws with your mind. You and I both know this. It's not nice to be in your own personal prison and ruled by numbers and calculations.

Being ruled by numbers is more a personal psychological problem.  Not everyone suffers from this.  I lost weight by cutting calories, but without counting them obsessively.  I kept with the restricted diet for so long that I didn't notice when it became too restricted. Counting calories here on CC actually showed me what I was doing wrong and helped me correct it.  It's just math, people!  

Numbers are truth.  What you do with the truth is up to you. If you are obsessive, then maybe you can't handle it.  But I can.

Original Post by phord:

Original Post by journeying2healthy:

No, calorie-counting isn't healthy...And if you ask me, no matter who you are or how much you weigh...Calorie counting isn't healthy for anybody! Because it screws with your mind. You and I both know this. It's not nice to be in your own personal prison and ruled by numbers and calculations.

Being ruled by numbers is more a personal psychological problem.  Not everyone suffers from this.  I lost weight by cutting calories, but without counting them obsessively.  I kept with the restricted diet for so long that I didn't notice when it became too restricted. Counting calories here on CC actually showed me what I was doing wrong and helped me correct it.  It's just math, people!  

Numbers are truth.  What you do with the truth is up to you. If you are obsessive, then maybe you can't handle it.  But I can.

 

When I say calorie-counting isn't a healthy practise, which is just my own opinion, what I mean by that is people can't keep that up for life, because it's not a natural, normal way to live. Period.

After having gotten-over my eating disorders and studying the body and dietetics for years, it's my personal conclusion that it really isn't "just math" and that a calorie is never just a calorie...It's about the nutrition behind those calories. Understanding this not only helped me get over my eating disorder, but helped me become an incredibly healthy person, inside and out!

Now, I agree, cutting calories can help some people lose weight, but I don't think it's the best way, and is a pretty blind way to lose weight. I know I'll probably get flack for writing this on a site called "calorie-count" but people who do this are also likelier to gain it back, because they ignore a lot of nutritional factors involved in their day's "calorie count". I know many people who simply changed what they ate, added fat and thereby literally doubled their calorie-intake and lost weight through mediterranean style diets....So how does math explain that????

For individuals who have or have had eating disorders like myself and like Kat who are much more susceptible to becoming completely ruled by calorie-counting, it's the thinking that "it's just math" and "numbers are truth" that eventually led us into unhealthy practises to begin with. It may work for you. But it doesn't work for me.

If it wasn't working for you, its a good thing you decided to quit.

I agree with what phord said.  Numbers are truth, and the truth hurts sometimes.

Don't let the door hit your teensy tinsey bum on the way out...

Sorry, but this was a bit uncalled for. Calorie-counting keeps my consumption in check, allows me to track my nutritionals, and provides me with a good idea about the health choices I make every day. Sorry you let the counting control you, but I control the counting, so it works for me.

And speaking from a strict scientific viewpoint, it's the ONLY thing that works.

 

I'm glad you are leaving before your obsession with calorie counting gets even more serious but the rant and your attempts to bring others down with you wasn't really necessary.

I use calorie counting and am far from obsessed with it, but I also drink alcohol from time to time and I'm not an alcoholic. Some people have difficulty with self control and are prone to this sort of thing. Definitely be careful in the future. 

I think I'm gonna have to take the renegade standpoint here....But I think you guys are being really hard on Kat, and I'm pretty shocked that you'd all say such things to her. 

This girl has had a total breakthrough, and she deserves encouragement.

What is with the posts defending calorie-counting talking about how much you like it and blah blah blah.....GOOD FOR YOU if it works for you, but you do it so that you can lose weight...Right???? This girl does NOT need to lose weight. She's got an addiction to weight loss. There's a BIG DIFFERENCE. Why the heck do you want to tell Kat about the many reasons why you think "the numbers don't lie"?? She's doing something beneficial for herself and for her health. She doesn't need to pay attention to the numbers right now, and she's FINALLY realized that. And all you guys are worried about is defending your precious method of tabulating calories??? Come on!

And hgielrehataeh: Speaking from a strict scientific viewpoint myself - Calorie-counting is NOT the "only thing that works". Sure calories play a role in weightloss, but it's most definitely not what weightloss is ALL about. It's about what you eat and finding a nutritional balance that works for YOUR body. Plain and simple. A person can be eating a certain amount of calories and the wrong types of food and not lose a pound...And once they switch their diet, containing the same amount(or more) calories, and lose MUCH more weight. That is scientific fact and numerous doctors and scientists can attest to that.

Original Post by journeying2healthy:

I think I'm gonna have to take the renegade standpoint here....But I think you guys are being really hard on Kat, and I'm pretty shocked that you'd all say such things to her. 

This girl has had a total breakthrough, and she deserves encouragement.

What is with the posts defending calorie-counting talking about how much you like it and blah blah blah.....GOOD FOR YOU if it works for you, but you do it so that you can lose weight...Right???? This girl does NOT need to lose weight. She's got an addiction to weight loss. There's a BIG DIFFERENCE. Why the heck do you want to tell Kat about the many reasons why you think "the numbers don't lie"?? She's doing something beneficial for herself and for her health. She doesn't need to pay attention to the numbers right now, and she's FINALLY realized that. And all you guys are worried about is defending your precious method of tabulating calories??? Come on!

And hgielrehataeh: Speaking from a strict scientific viewpoint myself - Calorie-counting is NOT the "only thing that works". Sure calories play a role in weightloss, but it's most definitely not what weightloss is ALL about. It's about what you eat and finding a nutritional balance that works for YOUR body. Plain and simple. A person can be eating a certain amount of calories and the wrong types of food and not lose a pound...And once they switch their diet, containing the same amount(or more) calories, and lose MUCH more weight. That is scientific fact and numerous doctors and scientists can attest to that.

THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!  I kept my message to her PRIVATE - I had no idea what would be said in the comments.  At the time she placed this journal entry, I happened to be 'up and about' - I felt a PRIVATE LETTER OF ENCOURAGEMENT was in order.  Frankly, I didn't want to read the very thing I've read so far - but thanks to this recent post that I applaud, I can 'come out now'.

I'm hoping she's happy; forgetting this night-mare.  I'd venture to guess some are GAINING weight, because they sit here for hours a day; blabbing - wishing, hoping, and eating - hoping and blabbing, but that won't get you thin......

Yes, intended to sound a bit like that song hoping, and praying, etc. etc.  Hope gets you nothing but hope; doing gets things done, and making decisions apart from the 'maddening' crowd, and 'madding crowd go 'hand in hand'.

Eh.. in response to the main idea of the topic.. I'm glad that you're leaving because obviously calorie counting in the CC.com way is not right for you. It's great that you've recognized a damaging behavior within yourself and are able to respond and get away from it.

However, you can't make assumptions about other people like you have. "NO ONE can enjoy food if they are counting every time they take a mouthful" is what you said. Well, that's not just true, because I enjoy my food very much and I count it carefully (though not "every mouthful"). You say people need to recalculate their priorities-- for me, weight and physical health is part of my overall quality of life and counting calories does not bring down my quality of life as you say it's brought down yours. So please do not try to judge people in this way; their experiences are all varied and it simply makes you seem narrow-minded.

And to whoever said calorie counting is not a "natural, normal way to live", that's complete subjective. Irrelevant point. You mean YOU do not think counting calories is natural and normal because it's different from what your ideal perfect life looks like? Ridiculous.