Becoming obsessive...

deanna71382

I feel like I'm definitely becoming obsessed. Almost to the point where it's hard for me to even eat 1200 calories a day, on top of that I have started to work out hard, burning 600-1000 cals a day. I am taking an active vitapak for woman and it gives me tons of energy and also curbs my appetite, so that's probably why I struggle to eat 1200. I don't want to be unhealthy about my weigh loss so I'm really gonna try to between 1200-1400 cals a day.

vibrant80

I feel like I have to be obsessive about logging everything, but not necessarily about calories. My biggest problem is portion control. I need to understand what an 8oz glass of orange juice looks like. It also forces me to make better decisions in combination with my food. I can have a cheeseburger, but that means I'm eating green beans with it to round it out.

The reason I need to feel obsessive about logging is because only then do I make the mental connection about how bad the things are that I'm putting into my body. Sure, every once in awhile I'll derail and over eat a bit. Going back the next day and seeing that those 4 slices of Dominos Pizza probably weren't worth the 1200 calories I spent eating them. (That's my wife's total calorie intake for the day)

Just my 2 cents.

THIS!

My personal mantra is "progress, not perfection." I tend to be a perfectionist and a control freak anyway, and I could, if I let myself, log WAY too much time custom entering every food I eat, but I refuse to get started down that path. BTDT, and I know from experience that I'll get burned out way too quick and quit. So I log whatever's the closest that's already in the food database (it might be a blueberry muffin instead of a banana one, for example) and move on with my day. I find that just logging SOMETHING, even if it's not exact to the calorie, helps keep me on track and accountable.

(Worth noting that this is also the first time I've ever been *completely* honest about my diet - logging every soda, candy bar, etc. I've finally embraced that this is for ME, not to impress anyone else with how perfect my diary is.)

kirsty0911

I completely get this. For a time, I started getting waaay too obsessed with it, now I realise (although it is hard sometimes) that I need to relax and 'give' a little bit.

joejccva71

While the OP has some really great points, here are my views on this.

Alot of people are having a hell of a time trying to lose weight and keep the weight off. I see dozens upon dozens of posts every day on this forum where people are asking for help. If people do not track what they are taking in everyday and what energy they are putting out every day, weight loss to weight gain to weight loss to weight gain becomes inevitable which will completely frustrate a person to no end.

Then, they start trying crash diets, "yo yo" diets, that HCG crap and other methods of "quick fixes" to get the fast results they want in a limited amount of time with a limited amount of work.

Once you get used to finding out your BMR and daily calorie burn, and then finding out what you need to eat to complete your goals, it becomes second nature and you can do it VERY quickly.

I spend a total of maybe 2-3 minutes each day completing my diet and all while hitting my macro intake and calorie intake for the dail to fulfill my short and long term goals. It doesn't take very long once people understand how it works.

I still carry on my life and do the things I enjoy day to day.

Abigailblue39

I've always been obsessed with food (not so much calorie counting) and exercise.

MFP is an awesome tool to fuel my addiction. Thank you MFP, I love it!

However, I was able to go on vacation for three weeks and I neither adhered to, nor missed MFP.