Food is taking over my life!

CrimsonNBlues

Does it ever feel to anyone else that food is taking up way more of their life than it used to? I feel like I spend so much time finding recipes, planning weekly menus, making lists, grocery shopping, comparing labels, preparing food for cooking (because everything is fresh now), measuring, cooking, then meticulously logging everything. I am currently not working, so I feel like I have plenty of time to do this, but man, how do you keep it up when you have class or work or even kids? (High Five to those who do all three btw!) I'm kind of worried I will fall back into my old patterns because I just won't have the time when I go back to school and work.

Plus, I feel like I am starting to become a bit neurotically obsessed with food. I think about calories, and what I've eaten, and what I am going to eat, what I need to burn, and how to balance my macros all the time. I'm about a month into this, so are these thoughts just a normal part of the adjustment?

conniemaxwell5

A little of both. If you've had over-eating issues in the past you will likely always need to be more conscious of food than you've been before. It does get easier and less OCD feeling after you've established good habits though. Think of it as part of your normal routine, just like showering, shaving your legs, and brushing your teeth. Planning your health habits are just as important as your hygiene habits.

Some things that might help:

Put together some staple recipes, about 15-20, that you rotate through for dinners
Have a few go-to breakfasts, lunches and snacks and rotate through them as well
Get all of these set up in the "my foods" tab so they're easy to find
Once you know what you're eating for the day, log all of it at the beginning of the day and do a quick double check before you go to bed to make sure you didn't miss anything or add something outside the plan during the day

Once you've done some of the major legwork up front like getting those staple recipes, you won't have to spend so much time on the planning and it won't take more than a few minutes to log things for the day.

Stick with it! You're worth it!

prgirl39

I feel the same way. I am an emotional eater, and I have been all my life. To me the struggle came when I had to detach myself emotional from the food. Realized, once I got a pre diabetic diagnosis, that I need to take control and not let my emotions control what I eat.

Most of the time I do a pretty good job but it is tiring. Sometimes I wish I had a personal chef. Food, for a diabetic person, could be fatal, just my opinion. So I am taking control, like my life depends on it, because it really does. Basically I am thinking about food all day long, everyday.

Lulla_dxb

Yes I'm the same! Food is all I think about- planning meals, counting calories...I think I may be annoying my family with it all :frown:

louloulou

I work, study and have kids so food cannot be the sole focus for me.

Things that help-
having staple meals that I know everyone likes
slow cooker is wonderful if I know I will be working late
pre preparing meals the night before
taking a lunch box to work
planning my food log the day before, so I know what I am going to eat the next day fits my calorie goals.

JessHealthKick

I have found there have been points where I have been more obsessed than others. You need to take some time off and be realistic, and realise that there is a possibility you are restricting too much!! I used to eat 1200net a day, I then went back up to net1600 and lost (slower but happier) and gained a little muscle (despite popular belief). I eat more like 1500 total a day these days as I am trying to kick my bf% in the *kitten*.

For example, I have lost about 3-4kg since the beginning of the year and I have played around with my calories a lot. There have not been any times where I have 'gained 2kg' or something ridiculous, and in reality that doesn't happen overnight. I don't weigh daily, I don't weigh after a big meal (the amount of people on these forums that say they put on weight after a big meal horrifies me - wait until you let it pass through your system maybe?) and I have taken time off.

When I DID take time off counting strictly and logged what I ate but didn't worry about how much it was, guess what... I DIDN'T PUT ON WEIGHT! I ate at what my hunger told me, didn't start eating cake every day, and it was OK!

Even this past week or so I have been eating more like 1800 cals a day thanks to it being ladies time of the month and stress with uni, as well as not doing any exercise what so ever (usually active 5 days a week). And guess what? NO WEIGHT GAIN :O I felt bloated and freaked out a little last week, but realised that was just hormones - all gone now and I am looking good

It becomes natural to eat these good foods - you don't feel like eating junk, because guess what? It makes you sick, it makes you lazy, it does nothing good for you. I say hells yes to some cake, but not to deep fried mars bars followed by steak followed by fries etc etc (not that I ever ate like that). Your body needs to eat at maintenance sometimes to reset itself, to know 'hey, there is going to be enough food so I don't need to worry about holding onto weight'. It was always after I ate at maintenance for a week or so that I suddenly had a drop in weight, this isn't a myth. It also means that eating a bit more sometimes isn't going to make you suddenly gain weight either.

Anyway, with that ramble done, in regards to food prep - you need to be smart. Cook for a few meals, have things like beans etc soak overnight, make salads (super easy) and eat lots of steamed veggies (again, easy!). My favourite snack is fruit with plain yoghurt and for breakfast I often have 2scrambled eggs with maybe 50mL milk and some salad. Filling and easy and delicious you will learn this over time as it becomes more normal for you. You can make healthy bolognese sauce, put it in the freezer, and heat it up and pour it over broccoli and carrots for dinner sometime (lots of fibre, oh so tasty).

Experiment and don't restrict from the things you love. I love chocolate, I eat it pretty much every day, and I am happy! you should be too ;D

JessiBelleW

Yes I felt like this 2-3 months into my journey.

I took a break sort've. Ie I know roughly what a good day looks like, and I know that for a break week - I just eat foods I know I like and that I don't have to stress about. Ie Make double reciepes of things you like and eat them all week