Stopping the Food Obsession!

MaggiesChapter

Hi! I'm Maggie. I joined MFP not only because I want to lose weight; I also want to change my mindset about food and fitness. I'm a really disordered eater: I'll under eat and than I'll binge and than I'll feel guilty. And I'm CONSTANTLY thinking about food. It's crazy! My goals are:

1. Eat mostly clean, whole foods and avoid sugar/processed food 80% of the time. So basically, following the 80/20 rule.

2. Stop obsessing over food and learn to have a healthy relationship with it. This is going to be really hard and the shift isn't going to happen overnight. But I'm determined:)

3. Find an exercise that I like and workout at least 3 times/week. My ultimate goal is 5. I also want to start weight training.


I'm really excited to be a part of the MFP community! It's nice to know that I'm not alone when it comes to over/under eating and weight gain. And all the emotional baggage!:(

I'd love to hear about your experiences so far, especially when it comes to "obsessing" over food. How did you stop? What helps you?

Emi1974

I know too well what it means to constantly be thinking about food.

I have been on MFP for 55 days now. I have a supportive husband who will cook, also my daughter is almost 15 and cooks from time to time. This has made it possible for me to think about myself and cook only for myself.

it helps me immensely to cook up a big batch of something and portion it out. Some meals like chili con carne with rice makes 6 portions. I used to hate eating the same stuff for more than 2 days but now I have no problem eating the same thing for 4-5 days and of course you can cook 3-4 different meals and freeze portions of it so you can have a selection to chose from.

I turned my obsession into a different direction. Now I obsess to get my 10,000 steps in, or check the forums - especially the success stories are very motivating.

See what works for you, but you have here the right tools to help you along

BlanketII

Hi, I know what you mean about thinking about food. It seems to be the cure for all things in my life! However, since I've been a bit more mindful of what I eat I've realised that keeping busy is the key to not focussing on food all the time. I have found that running helps as I feel so much healthier when I get back so if I do eat it tends to be something healthy. Also, when I'm busy at work I will have a reasonable but small lunch whereas when I'm not so busy I will tend to graze all day and eat loads of calories that I didn't even want.

Maybe try accepting your thought about food instead of pushing it away. By pushing it away you end up giving it lots of attention but if you respond by thinking "Oh, I'm thinking about food again. Well, I can eat my lunch at 12:30" then get on with something until that time, you're less likely to be bothered by it. It takes a bit of practice but it can work really well.

Good luck with your journey, you sound very determined!!

JesterMFP

1. Eat mostly clean, whole foods and avoid sugar/processed food 80% of the time. So basically, following the 80/20 rule.

My experience has been that the more restrictive I am, and the more rules I have, the more I obsess and think about food.

m_johannes

Y'all can add me, because you know, I love food too.

lemurcat12

1. Eat mostly clean, whole foods and avoid sugar/processed food 80% of the time. So basically, following the 80/20 rule.

My experience has been that the more restrictive I am, and the more rules I have, the more I obsess and think about food.

I agree, but my experience also is--though I assume there will be individual differences--that focusing on adding positive changes, including eating a healthier overall diet and controllable changes like cooking more, rather than making it merely about NOT doing something (such as same diet but less) made it a lot easier, especially since there are lots of reasons besides it being your absolute preferred way to eat that people come to fall into an unhealthy balance. I'm not into pointless restrictions or cutting things out, but 80 percent as a general rule seems consistent with moderation.

Also, and again YMMV, focusing on positive steps like remembering that vegetables are good or eating seasonally or--my favorite--channeling thoughts about food into creating ideas for recipes that fit my goals and sound delicious too help make eating fewer calories part of a fun change and also something that feels worthwhile even apart from what the scale says. Admittedly this works in part because for me cooking is fun and eating healthier also should be consistent with eating food you love. So definitely none of these kinds of changes are needed to lose weight, but for some they can help make it easier.

JesterMFP

1. Eat mostly clean, whole foods and avoid sugar/processed food 80% of the time. So basically, following the 80/20 rule.

My experience has been that the more restrictive I am, and the more rules I have, the more I obsess and think about food.

I agree, but my experience also is--though I assume there will be individual differences--that focusing on adding positive changes, including eating a healthier overall diet and controllable changes like cooking more, rather than making it merely about NOT doing something (such as same diet but less) made it a lot easier, especially since there are lots of reasons besides it being your absolute preferred way to eat that people come to fall into an unhealthy balance. I'm not into pointless restrictions or cutting things out, but 80 percent as a general rule seems consistent with moderation.

Also, and again YMMV, focusing on positive steps like remembering that vegetables are good or eating seasonally or--my favorite--channeling thoughts about food into creating ideas for recipes that fit my goals and sound delicious too help make eating fewer calories part of a fun change and also something that feels worthwhile even apart from what the scale says. Admittedly this works in part because for me cooking is fun and eating healthier also should be consistent with eating food you love. So definitely none of these kinds of changes are needed to lose weight, but for some they can help make it easier.

Sure - my diet has changed a lot since I started on MFP. I eat a much wider variety of foods, lots of fresh, seasonal foods, a lot more fruit & vegetables... I love cooking too, and enjoy the challenge of cooking tasty and nutritious meals. Like you say, I focus on what I'm adding into my diet rather than cutting out. Telling myself I shouldn't eat sugar or processed foods doesn't really work too well. As it happens, I eat less sugar and processed stuff now anyway (although I never ate a huge amount of heavily processed foods) but it's happened naturally and over time.

I would just be wary of making too many rules. If you're prone to any kind of even slightly disordered thinking about foods - and I would include feeling obsessed with food in that - then any kind of restricting can make that worse, including calorie counting. It can be all too easy to get sucked into thinking about foods as "good" vs "bad" or "clean" vs "dirty" etc... which can not only lead to a whole new obsession, but can make you miss the bigger picture of an overall balanced, healthy lifestyle.

MaggiesChapter

1. Eat mostly clean, whole foods and avoid sugar/processed food 80% of the time. So basically, following the 80/20 rule.

My experience has been that the more restrictive I am, and the more rules I have, the more I obsess and think about food.

I agree, but my experience also is--though I assume there will be individual differences--that focusing on adding positive changes, including eating a healthier overall diet and controllable changes like cooking more, rather than making it merely about NOT doing something (such as same diet but less) made it a lot easier, especially since there are lots of reasons besides it being your absolute preferred way to eat that people come to fall into an unhealthy balance. I'm not into pointless restrictions or cutting things out, but 80 percent as a general rule seems consistent with moderation.

Also, and again YMMV, focusing on positive steps like remembering that vegetables are good or eating seasonally or--my favorite--channeling thoughts about food into creating ideas for recipes that fit my goals and sound delicious too help make eating fewer calories part of a fun change and also something that feels worthwhile even apart from what the scale says. Admittedly this works in part because for me cooking is fun and eating healthier also should be consistent with eating food you love. So definitely none of these kinds of changes are needed to lose weight, but for some they can help make it easier.

Sure - my diet has changed a lot since I started on MFP. I eat a much wider variety of foods, lots of fresh, seasonal foods, a lot more fruit & vegetables... I love cooking too, and enjoy the challenge of cooking tasty and nutritious meals. Like you say, I focus on what I'm adding into my diet rather than cutting out. Telling myself I shouldn't eat sugar or processed foods doesn't really work too well. As it happens, I eat less sugar and processed stuff now anyway (although I never ate a huge amount of heavily processed foods) but it's happened naturally and over time.

I would just be wary of making too many rules. If you're prone to any kind of even slightly disordered thinking about foods - and I would include feeling obsessed with food in that - then any kind of restricting can make that worse, including calorie counting. It can be all too easy to get sucked into thinking about foods as "good" vs "bad" or "clean" vs "dirty" etc... which can not only lead to a whole new obsession, but can make you miss the bigger picture of an overall balanced, healthy lifestyle.

Thanks for the insight! When I say I'm trying to avoid processed/sugary foods, it doesn't mean I won't ever eat them. If I want a food that has some sugar in, than I'll eat it, as long as it fits into my daily calorie goal. I'm just trying to add some more vegetables, fruit, lean meat, and healthy grains into my diet. I like the idea of thinking about adding things in instead of taking them away:) Trust me, I've been on WAY too many restrictive eating plans before, which is why I'm so disordered in my eating now. I don't plan to go back.