weighing food = eating disorder

ElizaB84

I was chatting with some family members and we got on the topic of weight loss. I mentioned that since I've been exercising and counting calories, I've lost a few pounds. I started to go into detail about how I weigh my food so I can know how much I'm actually eating, and my aunt said "but only people with eating disorders do that! You'll become anorexic obsessing over food."

Have any of you been told this?
What do you say?

I just switched the subject.

SapiensPisces

I think I remember someone in my family saying the same thing to me a long time ago. I don't think weighing/measuring is a bad thing. In fact, I think for people on here, it's necessary in order to accurate track. Also, the person who said this to me has gained almost 50 lbs in the last 3 years while I've lost 60 and I'm healthier and fitter than I've been in a long time. Results talk.

jayjay12345654321

Anorexics are afraid of food, not of tracking it. That's a stereotype she has in her head that may not be able to change. Don't let it get to you. I'm proud to say I weight my food and track it. It's the responsible thing to do.

sadiebop86

I just purchased a food scale this past weekend. I love it. I now know how much I was overeating in the past. I don't think you need to worry about what your aunt said. Just eat healthy, "proper sized" portions and you'll be fine.

KateK8LoseW8

My therapist believes I have disordered eating behaviors due to the fact that I weigh all food, do not go over my calories except planned special occasions, exercise to earn more calories, and weigh myself daily. She didn't decide these were disordered eating behaviors until I became a normal weight. When I was overweight it was reasonable measures to ensure weight loss. Whatever.

Do what works for you. If your habits begin to concern you or others it may be worth taking a step back and seeing if it really is out of control. Do you refuse to eat food that others have made because you don't know the calorie content? Do you experience stress or panic when you are unable to weigh food or yourself? Do you experience anxiety or panic when you go over calories by a very small amount? Do you feel obsessed with food, that thinking about it or planning it takes out a significant portion of your time and has a negative impact on other areas of your life? If the answers are yes, talk to a professional about normalizing your relationship with food. If you feel fine about all those things and are just doing the weighing to ensure accurate portion sizes and nothing more, you're doing exactly what hundreds of people on this website are doing and that's fine.

EszterNZ

I just purchased a food scale this past weekend. I love it. I now know how much I was overeating in the past. I don't think you need to worry about what your aunt said. Just eat healthy, "proper sized" portions and you'll be fine.

Exactly this! I think weighing food and knowing exactly how much you are consuming is kind of empowering in a way? I too realised just how much I overate in the past.
It's ok to guestimate, especially once you've learned what a 'normal serving' looks like.
It's just habit for me now and has been for 10 months and I certainly haven't developed an eating disorder!

cwolfman13

Calorie counting in general can lead to a lot of disordered thinking...obviously it doesn't mean that everyone who counts calories or weighs and measures everything has an ED or disordered thinking, but many do. There is plenty of evidence right here on MFP.

If you can weigh and measure and track your intake while still maintaining and/or developing a healthy relationship with food then it is the best way to go in my estimation...but people often do go down a very dark road when they start doing this stuff. For those that suffer ED, it is generally not recommended to count calories or weigh and measure their portions, etc as it often triggers their disorder.

ElizaB84

Do what works for you. If your habits begin to concern you or others it may be worth taking a step back and seeing if it really is out of control. Do you refuse to eat food that others have made because you don't know the calorie content? Do you experience stress or panic when you are unable to weigh food or yourself? Do you experience anxiety or panic when you go over calories by a very small amount? Do you feel obsessed with food, that thinking about it or planning it takes out a significant portion of your time and has a negative impact on other areas of your life? If the answers are yes, talk to a professional about normalizing your relationship with food. If you feel fine about all those things and are just doing the weighing to ensure accurate portion sizes and nothing more, you're doing exactly what hundreds of people on this website are doing and that's fine.

No to all of those. Well, sometimes planning takes some time but mostly because I haven't been weighing for very long so when I decide to make a new meal, I have to figure out serving sizes and math it all together (and even with a calculator I am terrible at math). We also try to plan our meals 2 weeks ahead of time anyway. So once every two weeks we sit down, write out the meals we want, our grocery list, and once we buy everything I have started trying to get the calories/serving sizes written down so I'm not rushing to do it while I'm measuring and cooking.

Once I get all of our usual meals down, it will be much quicker when I'm preparing food.

ElizaB84

For the record, almost everyone in my family is either overweight or morbidly obese. So anything out of normal is looked as being wrong. For instance a few years ago I got down to 200lbs. When I told my family I wanted to get down to 145, most of them told me that was too skinny and unhealthy.

KateK8LoseW8

Do what works for you. If your habits begin to concern you or others it may be worth taking a step back and seeing if it really is out of control. Do you refuse to eat food that others have made because you don't know the calorie content? Do you experience stress or panic when you are unable to weigh food or yourself? Do you experience anxiety or panic when you go over calories by a very small amount? Do you feel obsessed with food, that thinking about it or planning it takes out a significant portion of your time and has a negative impact on other areas of your life? If the answers are yes, talk to a professional about normalizing your relationship with food. If you feel fine about all those things and are just doing the weighing to ensure accurate portion sizes and nothing more, you're doing exactly what hundreds of people on this website are doing and that's fine.

No to all of those. Well, sometimes planning takes some time but mostly because I haven't been weighing for very long so when I decide to make a new meal, I have to figure out serving sizes and math it all together (and even with a calculator I am terrible at math). We also try to plan our meals 2 weeks ahead of time anyway. So once every two weeks we sit down, write out the meals we want, our grocery list, and once we buy everything I have started trying to get the calories/serving sizes written down so I'm not rushing to do it while I'm measuring and cooking.

Once I get all of our usual meals down, it will be much quicker when I'm preparing food.

Planning meals and figuring out serving sizes is definitely not an unreasonable measure. Just be on watch if any of those thought patterns emerge with weight loss, it does happen sometimes. But as far as my therapist goes, I just tell her I feel fine about my current habits and do not feel disordered. That usually ends the conversation!

ElizaB84

Do what works for you. If your habits begin to concern you or others it may be worth taking a step back and seeing if it really is out of control. Do you refuse to eat food that others have made because you don't know the calorie content? Do you experience stress or panic when you are unable to weigh food or yourself? Do you experience anxiety or panic when you go over calories by a very small amount? Do you feel obsessed with food, that thinking about it or planning it takes out a significant portion of your time and has a negative impact on other areas of your life? If the answers are yes, talk to a professional about normalizing your relationship with food. If you feel fine about all those things and are just doing the weighing to ensure accurate portion sizes and nothing more, you're doing exactly what hundreds of people on this website are doing and that's fine.

No to all of those. Well, sometimes planning takes some time but mostly because I haven't been weighing for very long so when I decide to make a new meal, I have to figure out serving sizes and math it all together (and even with a calculator I am terrible at math). We also try to plan our meals 2 weeks ahead of time anyway. So once every two weeks we sit down, write out the meals we want, our grocery list, and once we buy everything I have started trying to get the calories/serving sizes written down so I'm not rushing to do it while I'm measuring and cooking.

Once I get all of our usual meals down, it will be much quicker when I'm preparing food.

Planning meals and figuring out serving sizes is definitely not an unreasonable measure. Just be on watch if any of those thought patterns emerge with weight loss, it does happen sometimes. But as far as my therapist goes, I just tell her I feel fine about my current habits and do not feel disordered. That usually ends the conversation!

Thank you I will!

darrensurrey

Ask them to explain how someone like me logs food to ensure I eat a minimum of 2600 kcals a day whilst someone I know ensures they eat 5000 kcals a day. Anorexic, my *kitten*.

vjohn04

I think I remember someone in my family saying the same thing to me a long time ago. I don't think weighing/measuring is a bad thing. In fact, I think for people on here, it's necessary in order to accurate track. Also, the person who said this to me has gained almost 50 lbs in the last 3 years while I've lost 60 and I'm healthier and fitter than I've been in a long time. Results talk.

This pretty much sums it up. I have no concept of portion control without weighing it. I've spent 30 years without an intuitive idea of what a portion is, so until I gain that skill, I'll gladly weigh my food.

vivaldirules

I've been calibrating my brain for many, many months to how much I actually eat. I find it difficult. Weighing my food is part of that mental calibration and I see it as a necessity and therefore a smart practice.

angelalf1979

I eat too much. I do in fact have an eating disorder. I'm overweight. That is why I'm here. Ain't no shame. I'm here and weighing my food to fix that.

Meggles63

I think most people on here do (for the record, I don't and still managed to lose around 30 lbs.). I can see how it can become obessesive, but I can also see that some people need to do this in order to manage their intake. To each his own! :happy:

MaryJane_8810002

I weigh my food but its not obsessive. Sometimes if I can I will eyeball it but its not like I carry the scale with me everywhere.

aylajane

My response to people questioning weighing my food? Usually I just say there is no point in keeping track if you are not going to be accurate. This just assures accuracy in knowing what I am eating, and has absolutely nothing to do with the amount I eat or do not eat. My calorie goals are unrelated. A diabetic always measures their insulin exactly, pharmacists make careers of accurate measurements for meds to ensure optimal use by the body (too little doesnt do the job, too much can harm you). I am just doing the same with food... ensuring I get all I should, but no more.

LolBroScience

Depends on your goals I guess. If weighing your food aids you in reaching your goals, why is it considered a disorder?

if I set a montly budget on my spending and I track it through my online bank account, I have a disorder for that as well?

Francl27

I totally get why people would think that. But unfortunately, for me it's a very valuable tool to keep myself in check, because the alternative is worse.

delicious_cocktail

I'd like to see her bake a cake if she thinks measuring things is disordered.

Cranquistador

If she bugs you about it you could always say you also use it to make sure you eat enough while losing weight...because it is true.

Cranquistador

I'd like to see her bake a cake if she thinks measuring things is disordered.

right?

Cranquistador

Now I want cake.

SapiensPisces

For the record, almost everyone in my family is either overweight or morbidly obese. So anything out of normal is looked as being wrong. For instance a few years ago I got down to 200lbs. When I told my family I wanted to get down to 145, most of them told me that was too skinny and unhealthy.

I think that tells you all you need to know about how much they know about portion control and a healthy relationship with food. Just be aware that as you progress with your losses, it'll probably get worse before it gets better (meaning unnecessary odd comments like this). I've seen it happen to people on here and heard it in my own life from certain people also. Be prepared to just brush it off and let it roll off your back. Just remember that you're doing this for you not their approval.

twixlepennie

I'm in maintenance now and while I do still pay attention to portion sizes (for example I know 3 Oreos equals 1 serving, not 8 cookies lol), I no longer keep a daily food diary. I spot check and do a bit of mental math during the day, but I'm able to maintain just by doing proper portion sizes and also differenting between real hunger and things like habitual eating, eating out of boredom etc. Nothing wrong with weighing food and keeping a food diary, but I don't think it needs to be a forever thing either (at least as strictly enforced as during the weight loss phase). I do think some people go to extremes and that's not healthy (for example reading of people who bring their food scales to resturants always make me cringe), but some people will go to extremes, no matter what they're doing and they don't represent the majority.

Also, I am very selective in what I tell people about what I've done/do, even to those who are losing weight themselves (people I know in real life). I know what I'm doing is working and I don't need unsolicited advice/criticism.

queenb39

I personally need a food scale because I have a tendancy of overeating and this helps keep me in line. Do whatever works for you !!!

Solar07

I just purchased a food scale this past weekend. I love it. I now know how much I was overeating in the past. I don't think you need to worry about what your aunt said. Just eat healthy, "proper sized" portions and you'll be fine.

I did the same thing - bought a food scale - and measuring cups to keep myself in check. I thought I was measuring properly but in reality I was getting too much or not enough. I agree that this is just to help get you the "proper sized" portions. Once you figure that out you won't need to measure anymore. Even experts say to measure for portion control.

zillah73

If we had all been taught what an appropriate serving size was from the beginning – instead of being bombarded with heaps of food at restaurants and super-sized options at fast food – maybe we'd all intuitively be able to prepare and serve food without measuring it. But that is simply not the case. We get commercials showing bowls overflowing with breakfast cereal, then small print on the side of the box indicating a serving size is half a cup. I don't think weighing/measuring food is a sign of an eating disorder, I think it is a sign of teaching yourself proper portions. Eventually, you won't need to do it anymore anyway – it will just become second nature.

nikkihk

Truth is, American portion sizes are out of control... What we think we should be consuming is often vastly more then what portion sizes are so weighing your food just re-educates you as to what a potlrtion size really is. I mean techinally, those who don't keep tabs on what they eat often suffer from their own disorder... Namely obesity.

As long as you are eating and staying healthy don't listen to the negative nellys, they are more then likely jealous of your dedication...

YorriaRaine

I just got my food scale this week and while part of my family went "that's actually a really great idea" the other half went "wtf, no, that's too time consuming, too obsessive, is BAD for you." Then they spew a bunch of crap about how you can't eat this or that and you have to basically starve yourself blah blah blah.

I'm just sitting there like.....it takes maybe an additional 20 seconds to weigh my food and record it on a piece of paper :indifferent: