How much time do you spend thinking about your weight loss journey/food plans etc.?

Just a question I'd like to put out there. How many seconds/mins/hours do you spend thinking about your weight (whether you are losing or maintaining), goals, food plans, meals, exercise? Does your journey consume much of your thoughts in an average day? At which point would you consider it excessive and a hinderance? I think it would be interesting to figure where I lie in relation to others.

Um...Since I'm usually in class from 9-3 in the afternoon, then commuting and what not, I guess I only think about when I'm actually eating, working out, or planning a meal. So I guess...a little less than half an hour? With random thoughts here and there, thinking of calories briefly at meals, and then briefly while working out...Then putting it in calorie count, I'd go with that. XD

I don't think of it as much as I used to, because, before it gets too out of hand, I realize that I'm doing something about it and then I simply move on. Making myself miserable won't make the pounds melt any faster. :)

I think about it to much but its mostly calorie counting now.

I allso weight every morning.


Ive lost 100 pounds and im determined not to gain it back now .

I used to think about it a lot more, but I think I feel more comfortable in my routine now, so it doesn't take much thought. I know what I'm going to have for most meals (I don't require a lot of variation - I have 3-5 things for each meal that I can choose between every day). I know what days I work out and what those workouts are comprised of, so besides spending 5 minutes beforehand deciding if I'm ready to up my weights on any of the exercises, and the bit a time I spend on here occasionally, maybe up to an hour a day? My first diet right after I got married was unhealthy, and I thought about it constantly. I feel healthy this time, and I think that has a lot to do with not spending too much time fretting.

Original Post by res0kkw:

I think about it to much but its mostly calorie counting now.

I allso weight every morning.


Ive lost 100 pounds and im determined not to gain it back now .

 I've lost a hundred pounds too! It's amazing isn't it? I feel 1000 times better than I did 2 years ago.

I definitely obsess a little bit. I probably spend an hour a day thinking about my weight/planning meals/thinking about good ways to exercise/searching these forums!

Normally while I'm exercising or eating healthy I'm not actually thinking about eating healthy and exercise . . .it's more so when I put on a pair of jeans and they still feel tight, or I see someone enjoying a large ice cream with all the fixings, or I'm watching others at the gym who are SO in shape. Little things throughout the day trigger weight loss thoughts (sometimes even minuscule things like driving by Wendys!)

Sometimes I wonder if this is normal, or if other people think about their weight loss journey throughout the day. For the most part I think I'm pretty normal, and as long as I don't dwell on negative thoughts these little triggers can be a big help in motivating me to achieve my goal!

First, I am always in awe and admiration for all the posters who share how much weight they lost and how hard they worked to do it.  It is a truly amazing thing, since so many of us understand each other and how it is a very difficult thing to make a healthy life-style change.

I spend hours a day exercising, thinking about the foods I eat, logging weights and calories consumed, cooking meals, shopping for food, cleaning up after I mess up the kitchen, researching diet and exercising on the Net, and reading and posting on Calorie Count.  Some think I am obsessive about this, but it truly is a hobby for me.  I in no way feel that what I am doing is either physically or psychologically bad for me.  I have lost weight, shrunk my fat stomach, and lowered blood-pressure, blood sugars, and cholesterol.  My report card is an A.  (I got a note sent home by my teacher for insanity cookies, but that is another story.)

Original Post by carolally:

Just a question I'd like to put out there. How many seconds/mins/hours do you spend thinking about your weight (whether you are losing or maintaining), goals, food plans, meals, exercise? Does your journey consume much of your thoughts in an average day? At which point would you consider it excessive and a hinderance? I think it would be interesting to figure where I lie in relation to others.

I think about it pretty much constantly, excessively, and yes, it is a hinderence.

While I must admit that I spend a little too much time on CC in the mornings (about an hour...while at work!  Yeesh!), I don't really think much about weight, etc. for the rest of the day.  I exercise every afternoon during the work week, but after doing this for several years, it has become a meditative time instead of an obsessive time. 

I plan my meals for the day in the morning, and I'm on a pretty set routine anyway.  The weekends are the time I really think a lot about food plans, because I'm cooking my lunches for the week.  But it's always a really happy kind of planning, because I'm chopping and cooking all kinds of nutritious organic food. 

Since I've taken up running and weight-lifting, I think a lot more about the things my body is capable of rather than how it looks or whether I'd like to change it.

all day it drives me nuts

I've been at it for 9months now. I've lost 30 pounds (even though my scale wont move: it's broken, but I refuse to get a new one until my final 5 according to this scale are gone...just to be safe)..ANYWAYS...

I used to think about it constantly, but on weekends I relax and it's really becoming a lifestyle change for good, bc the counting and exercise comes pretty naturally now.

If you're obsessing to the point where you're unhappy, I would take it easy a day or two a week. It's not like you'll gain all the weight back in those 2 days, but you're mind can focus on other things.

I don't post a lot, so here goes.  I have been trying to lose weight for years.  I have gained 80 pounds in the 10 years that I have been married.  This year I have already lost 25 of those pounds.  Previously I would "diet" or cut back only to fall back in the same traps.  Or try particular foods that were fat free or whatever - not really liking the taste - and go back to my old ways.

This year I joined Calorie Count at the advice of a friend and at first i did ok and slipped, but now I am back on track.  I think about my weight/what to eat/excercise, etc all day every day.  I obsess over it and that is the only way I will behave. 

I just appreciate the fact that I can really count my calories.  I don't have to eat diet or low cal/fat foods.  If I want a cookie, I know that I am missing out on something else - much more food for the calorie count.  So, counting my calories forces me to make better choices.

Original Post by vejitarian:

Original Post by carolally:

Just a question I'd like to put out there. How many seconds/mins/hours do you spend thinking about your weight (whether you are losing or maintaining), goals, food plans, meals, exercise? Does your journey consume much of your thoughts in an average day? At which point would you consider it excessive and a hinderance? I think it would be interesting to figure where I lie in relation to others.

I think about it pretty much constantly, excessively, and yes, it is a hinderence.

 

I would have to agree... I think about it pretty much all the time. If I didn't, I'd probably eat the birthday cake that's 60 feet away here at work or not walk by the doughnuts. I don't know that it's a hinderance to me, though - I prefer to think of it as more of a way I get my mindset on my new lifestyle. I'm not obsessive, thankfully (just not in my personality), but it is on my mind a lot. I've been on CC since June and have been exercising since February and I've lost 38 pounds (52 to go). I'm an emotional eater and I love food, so if I didn't think about it as much as I do and remind myself of the results, I'd go back to my old patterns.

I think about it when I'm bored & there's nothing else to think about haha. I mainly think about my food plan just because I love thinking of good combinations of meals & snacks & etc.  My weight itself I only really think about like before I go to bed or before I get on the scale in the morning (or if I just ate a lot, but I don't get freaked out). I don't think about exercise, I just play sports or go on a lot of walks (because I legitimately want to and enjoy doing them).

I've come a long way from obsessing. Even if I do think about it more than others normally do, it's definitely not a hindrance.

Reading all these posts helps me understand why there is often some fairly vigorous disagreement among us Calorie Count posters.  1) Many of us could not and would not lose or be losing weight if we did not think a lot each day about what we eat, how many calories we are consuming, how much we weigh, and how much exercise we do.  2) But many of us also can cause both mental and physical problems for ourselves if we think too much about counting calories and weighing-in too much.  I don't think there is a best answer, since we are all so different.  But for many of us, it is not a hindrance; for others, it is a deterrent and keeps us from losing weight.

In early 2004 I weighed 307 pounds.  I discovered CC, started counting every calorie and lost 85 pounds.  Then, I decided I didn't need CC anymore, and over the next three years proceeded to gain back a lot of it.  On May 23rd of this year I weighed 270 and rejoined CC on June 1st.  I now weigh 238. 

Since I was laid off in April and decided to semi-retire, I've spent a LOT of time (10-12 hours a day) on my computer.  I'm in and out of CC all day and probably spend over three hours in the site all together.  I don't consider myself to be obsessed.  I feel I'm inspired.  For me, counting calories and making the entries in the food and weight log is fun and motivating.  And, thank God it is, because I will probably have to do it the rest of my life. 

Since I'm only consuming about 1200 calories a day and I'm a picky eater, it takes some time and thought for me to decide what to eat. It's a real challenge, but I ENJOY it.  However, what works for me won't necessarily work for everyone else.

Original Post by pilgrimdude:

Reading all these posts helps me understand why there is often some fairly vigorous disagreement among us Calorie Count posters.  1) Many of us could not and would not lose or be losing weight if we did not think a lot each day about what we eat, how many calories we are consuming, how much we weigh, and how much exercise we do.  2) But many of us also can cause both mental and physical problems for ourselves if we think too much about counting calories and weighing-in too much.  I don't think there is a best answer, since we are all so different.  But for many of us, it is not a hindrance; for others, it is a deterrent and keeps us from losing weight.

 I'm closer to type 2 : ) I chalk up many of my past failures in dieting to the amount of obsession I experienced. I wrapped my whole life around my diet. So when my life got a little hectic and I didn't have time to spend 'dieting' I gave up. Or if I needed to adapt to something, I couldn't. I think about it less than... pretty much everyone else. But honestly, I feel like my options are to not dwell on it much, or to obsess. I only count my calories about once a week (if that), otherwise, I don't buy much junk food, I eat normal portions, and I focus my diet around protein and fresh vegetables. Like sadinplaid, this has become habit more than anything else, so I seldom even think much about what I'm eating. I don't spend 10 minutes in the kitchen debating between cake or fruit, I just automatically go for the fruit, if that makes sense. And I enjoy cooking most when my ingredients are fresh. I've discovered a love of vegetables I've never had before.

So, thinking about my diet? Very little. However, I spend a lot of time reading the forums here which in a weird way keeps me cognizant of the fact that I AM trying to lose weight, without me having to think much about it : )

Too much, unfortunately.

Twenty. Four. Seven.

It is my life.

Much of the time, however if I'm not thinking/aware of it then I slip back to bad habits.

I think about it 24/7... It ruins & hinders a lot of things in my life...