This is just too stressful

Wafflecatcassie

Since I've joined this site I've been stressed out to the point of breaking down due to worrying about every little thing that goes in my body. I come to hate coming on here and having to input my information. It's made eating and exercising a chore. I don't enjoy either any more.

This whole calorie counting business and figure out what I should and shouldn't be doing is just so nerve-wrackingly stressful to me.

And yet people tell me it's the ONLY way I can lose weight. I want to keep going, but I also don't want to risk having a mental breakdown due to some stupid diet.

Yeah...so if someone could make me NOT hate all this...I'd be most grateful.


And PLEASE PLEASE PLEEEEEASE don't just tell me I'm making a big deal out of nothing and that I shouldn't be so stressed. I know that. It's like telling a starving person they need to eat and then not giving them any food. XP

hereiskristina

Give it some time. Pretty soon putting something in your mouth won't stress you. Besides, no one is here to judge you but writing it down or logging it somewhere just gives you accountability for you what you eat and drink and the activity you do. Do what works for you but not acknowledging what you eat will not help you to lose weight. Good luck!

ninerbuff

Since I've joined this site I've been stressed out to the point of breaking down due to worrying about every little thing that goes in my body. I come to hate coming on here and having to input my information. It's made eating and exercising a chore. I don't enjoy either any more.

This whole calorie counting business and figure out what I should and shouldn't be doing is just so nerve-wrackingly stressful to me.

And yet people tell me it's the ONLY way I can lose weight. I want to keep going, but I also don't want to risk having a mental breakdown due to some stupid diet.

Yeah...so if someone could make me NOT hate all this...I'd be most grateful.


And PLEASE PLEASE PLEEEEEASE don't just tell me I'm making a big deal out of nothing and that I shouldn't be so stressed. I know that. It's like telling a starving person they need to eat and then not giving them any food. XP

You sound like an all or nothing person. One of the only things I will tell you is that you HAVE to hate being overweight, than everything else you posted above.
If not, then you will despise coming on here and eventually will quit logging.
If you want to make it easy, then eat systematically so you only have to log in once a week. Systematically means eating the same exact foods in the same portions for every meal daily.

A.C.E. Certified Personal Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 28+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

k2quiere

First step: Breathe!

Second step: Stop thinking diet. When we think diet, we think easy fix. In this case, easy usually means temporary, given the statistics.

Seriously, you just joined last month, which may be 4 weeks or may only be 1; I don't know. Give yourself some time to get used to the process. People say this is the only way to lose weight because it's about building habits of the mind and body, as well as undoing bad habits built over years, for most of us. You can lose weight without all the logging, food and/or exercise, but will you be able to maintain the loss if you haven't built the new habits that becoming truly conscious of your eating patterns and choices, as well as exercise burns, that comes with the logging. That is really the essential question that you have to answer, and then you must decide how important your answer to that question is for YOU.

Donna908

Since I've joined this site I've been stressed out to the point of breaking down due to worrying about every little thing that goes in my body. I come to hate coming on here and having to input my information. It's made eating and exercising a chore. I don't enjoy either any more.

This whole calorie counting business and figure out what I should and shouldn't be doing is just so nerve-wrackingly stressful to me.

And yet people tell me it's the ONLY way I can lose weight. I want to keep going, but I also don't want to risk having a mental breakdown due to some stupid diet.

Yeah...so if someone could make me NOT hate all this...I'd be most grateful.


And PLEASE PLEASE PLEEEEEASE don't just tell me I'm making a big deal out of nothing and that I shouldn't be so stressed. I know that. It's like telling a starving person they need to eat and then not giving them any food. XP

Sorry I don't have a comment. just learned how to copy a quote and post it and type something after the quote. Wish I knew this earlier tonight when I posted something. It's so out of context now and I can't fix it.

I'm kind of new at this but I have skipped a few days going on here. nobody is going to kill you if you miss a day here and there. Or like when I'm working out and I feel like I'm going to die and I want to stop I know I can just put the bike on number one setting and just ride it out and get my breath back and then start again. It's not the end of the world. Just keep going.

jbosey

I also dislike the pressure of listing what I eat. When I originally tried it a year or so ago, I immediately lost weight, as soon as I stopped listing my food I gained it all back! I tried just leaving off bread and carbs and I lost weight but found that I could not do that for more than a month or two without craving bread badly. For some of us, there is no non-painful way of losing weight and keeping it off.

It is best not to think of it as a DIET. It is a change of lifestyle if you have a lot to lose. To me it is the easiest way to lose weight because I know that I can eat, but I just have to watch how much and know that some foods that are low in calories will allow me to eat much more. I have found a lot about myself doing this, I have found that I can lose weight and not be hungry if I eat less at one sitting but more often.

I dont know how for you not to let the pressure get to you, but you need to realize that if you fail simply list it and go on to the next day and do better. It is not so much how you do any one day, but a combination of many days that will either make you gain or lose weight. The only person you are reporting this for is YOURSELF. Its kinda like being your own boss, if you fail one day, just fire yourself and then hire yourself back the next day! No pressure...YOU are in charge.

Blu4dayz

This is tough, actually looking at the garbage we feed ourselves. I have quit and came back so many times. I have finally come to the conclusion that I hate being overweight. I hate when I am out with my athletic husband how people look at me as though I do not deserve him. The fact of the matter is, I do care what others think. Most of all i care what i think. i think I need help. If counting calories (even though I hate it) is the way to get me in the best shape of my life (along with exercise) then I am all in. How do you feel about you? When you find yourself getting stressed put the calorie counter down and take a walk. You could kill two birds with one stone. The motivation can only truly come from within but the support is here.

grapenutSF

Can you describe what makes it so stressful for you? Is it that you worry about being judged by other MFPers? Or that you find it inconvenient to remember all the items? Or that it's painful to see what you are deciding to eat? etc. It might help to specify the worst parts so that others can make recommendations that address the most problematic areas for you.

ILiftHeavyAcrylics

Some things that help me--

take time to make recipes and save them. That way if you eat the same thing more than once you can just select it once from your recipes instead of entering each individual item

Use measurements that are standard in the database. It keeps you from having to do the math.

Use My Meals if you eat the same combos of things a lot. Once you get it set up it's really a lot easier and less time consuming than searching for each thing over and over.

Quick add calories at first. Quick add keeps you from having to search the database if you're eating something prepackaged. It's not ideal because it doesn't take protein/fat/etc into consideration, but it's much faster.

It does get much easier with practice, so try to keep going for awhile and see if you feel less overwhelmed.

Good luck, I hope you can stick with it.

Donna908

The only person you are reporting this for is YOURSELF. Its kinda like being your own boss, if you fail one day, just fire yourself and then hire yourself back the next day! No pressure...YOU are in charge.

I love this Thank You so much. It really hit home for me. Plus I don't think you have to let anyone see your food intake right? I think mine is blocked.

thaqueen206

I don't know how long you have been logging your eating, but remember; it takes about 21 days to form a habit, its always the beginning that's the hardest. Pretty soon it will be second nature.
Myfitnesspal makes it pretty simple by having such a huge database of food and the calories and nutrients already calculated, I have been a member of other websites where I have to log every nutrient myself!

Please stick to it, you can do it!

jbosey

I forgot to tell you something that really helps me get back on track when I fail. EVERYNIGHT, I look at the SUCCESS before and after pictures on this website before I go to bed. If I dont look at these winners every single night, I lose the belief level needed to stay on track or get back on track. It reinforces that this logging system worked for them so it should work for me. If they can do it I can do it. It is a tremendous help.

Helloitsdan

With the numbers I sent you it should be easy!
1800 calories daily is alot of food.
Eat whole foods and youll do fine.
Let me shoot your name out to my friends list so we can get you some support!
Oh yea!
Ralax!
Peaceful mind=peaceful body!

whiskeywhispers

I completely understand. This is why some days, I log, and some days I don't.

This site is not the be all and end all of my weight loss.

I don't like how it logs actual fitness exercises, so I don't do it anymore. I set protein, fat & carbohydrate goals, and log what I can when I can. If I meet those goals, awesome! If not, then I have some more work to do. But I'm done with logging each and every bite. It does make me a bit anxious, like it does you, and with so much stress already in my life, food shouldn't be high on the list I let get to me.

The fact that you're here says that you're making a good decision for your body. Work out, eat better, and everything will fall into place.

kndlkai1

Everyone has posted very helpful suggestions. I hope you take some time to think it over and re-evaluate your time here on mfp. Ultimately, it has to be for you. However you want to make yourself better is your choice. We're here for you and wish you the best.

holyguacamole37

I know how that goes, for sure. Sometimes I'd get stressed out over calories and numbers and would start to really hate things. One of the things that really helped me was giving myself a cheat day. I worked out and counted calories 6 days a week, and on Sundays I rested and ate what I wanted (in moderation, of course, but still).
I think that, while counting calories, etc is the most EFFECTIVE way to lose weight, it's not the ONLY way. Right now I'm studying abroad in Spain, and I really CAN'T count calories because I don't know what I'm eating half the time. Making healthier choices, though (water instead of beer at lunch, for example) and portion control (I learned to start filling half my plate with vegetables and split the remaining half between carbs and protein, instead of piling a mound of rice in the middle of my plate and squeezing the veggies in on the side) along with a healthy lifestyle (I'm still exercising, for sure!!) are still effective. I come on MFP for motivation and to check in on my friends, and still log my exercise just for the self-esteem boost of seeing the calorie burn.
Ultimately, you know yourself better than anyone else. You don't have to use ALL the tools on this site, by any means. Make your fitness/weight loss plan your own! There is no cookie-cutter recipe for success. Work with what you think will work best for you, personally, and don't get discouraged if the numbers don't reflect your work right away. Commit to a plan for a month, and if it doesn't work then you can re-evaluate from there.

Elizabeth_C34

First fix is your attitude towards this whole process. Try focusing on making small changes at a time and planning everything out daily by pre-logging your food. That way you know what you can have and how much, and the rest of the day's meals are set to go.

Secondly, do not expect to change your lifestyle overnight. It takes a long time to make permanent changes so if you screw up, try not to let it get to you. Dust yourself off and keep moving in the right direction the next day.

Thirdly, focus on your goals instead of the challenges. Think about how you want to look and feel and all the things you want to be able to do. Remember your motivation for starting this journey every day, because there will be days when you just flat out do not want to log or workout. Staying motivated to keep going is a challenge that each of us has to conquer on our own.

Lastly, good luck to you Stay positive and keep going!

jennp1129

I fell of the wagon a few months ago and I recently joined MFP to help get back on track. I totally respect that its hard to write everything down. It's time consuming and a bit annoying, and worst of all it makes us look at everything we are eating... But I think thats the point. I think we are trying to retrain our way of thinking and looking at food. Before we just ate and we didn't think and we put on weight. Now we log and we consider what each food item does for or against our body. I'm a little stressed too. I worry that if my numbers aren't just right I'm going to fail. But I remind myself... This is not a diet. This is my life. And I am putting my brain and stomach through physical therapy... I am reteaching myself how to eat. And this time I'm going to do it right. It took me years to learn to eat bad... It's going to take a while to learn to eat good. All I can do is take it one day at a time. You can do this... It's a long road but the payout will be awesome!!! Feel free to friend me if you want someone to talk to!!! Good luck.

dcarr80932

Thinking about counting calories is an insurmountable task and I must admit that it sounded really tedious to me as well. But after a while I learned to plan my meals by weighing my portions and measuring them. I would do this a whole day or so before, and shopping only for those meals. I read all labels to get a better idea of what a serving entailed. It sounds like you are stressing because losing weight is so important to you. Work the plan the best way it goes with your lifestyle. So hopefully planning ahead will be a suggestion that works. Losing weight is important but no one wants to lose sleep over it. Be patient with yourself, you can do this. :flowerforyou:

Wafflecatcassie

Can you describe what makes it so stressful for you? Is it that you worry about being judged by other MFPers? Or that you find it inconvenient to remember all the items? Or that it's painful to see what you are deciding to eat? etc. It might help to specify the worst parts so that others can make recommendations that address the most problematic areas for you.

One of my main problems is that I used to have severe OCD. I still have OCD, but it's not as debilitating as it used to be. Doing all this whole dieting thing is threatening to put me back in the 'severe' category. I feel the same sensations of NEEDING to measure my food and NEEDING to log stuff in and NEEDING to exercise as I did when I used to do my OCD rituals.

That and asking one question and getting 10 different answers. I know I have to find what works best for me, but I just can't stand the idea of spending time and effort on something only to have it fail. It just makes me feel like all the work I've put into something was useless.

Like I've been working out/dieting for a good 2 months and the only thing that's changed is I've gained and lost 2 inches around my waist (making me the exact # I started at) and lost an inch around my thighs. It's very discouraging.

dani0626_diary

good advice.:bigsmile:

Thena81

no! i will not say that! i will say that peoples opinions are a pain in the *kitten* soo f them! do it for you and dont worry bout the bull! do you!!! and good luck ;p

tanniew78

If you truly want help that doesnt involve counting every little thing, here are some simple rules and tips.

Use smaller plates for your food.
Use the 1/4, 1/4, 1/2 method. Thats 1/4 of your plate meat or protein, 1/4 of it carby foods and 1/2 of it vegetation.
Restrict sweets
drink more water, less soda
exercise at least 3-4 days a week for at least 30-40 minutes.

Following these steps you can lose as well. Ive done it when I didnt have MFP. I use it now because I LIKE being able to have pizza or chocolate on occasion and lose. That and I love the community and reading about success stories. I eat what I want thats reasonable and at the end of the day, I log it. If Im under great, if not, I work on tweaking what I eat.

TXGirl821

Coming from a background of eating disorders, I know just how you feel. I was here last year and started going so insanely crazy about the numbers, by the end of last January, I was eating maybe 300 calories a day, burning off over 700, and feeling sick as a dog. This time around I've come back with a group of friends in the hopes that they can keep me from going nuts.

The thing is, some of us have problems with numbers. Counting calories, carbs, fat grams, pounds, it makes us CRAZY. We play games. We lie to ourselves just to play with the numbers.

If you feel like counting numbers makes you unable to stick to a healthy way of eating - don't count numbers right now. I know that's not advice you'll probably get anywhere else here, but it might be the best advice for you. If you don't like getting 10 different answers to 1 question, a forum like this may not be the best place for you because we all have different experiences and opinions and have learned different things.

But whatever you decide to do, make it about you and you alone. Stop thinking "diet" and start slowly just eating a little better and moving a little more every day. The better you feel, the better you will treat yourself. It'll work out the way it's supposed to. I wish you the best!!

StevLL

I found that it worked best when I picked one thing each week to change, let go of, or try. This allowed me to not stress over what was or was not happening. I know I don't think of it as something I'm going to fail at or not anymore. I look at it as a way to retrain my eating habits so it's not a diet, but a new way to eat. A way that I can live with now and into the future. I eat way more food now at around 2200 cals then I did when that would be one meal. I can't judge another persons OCD, but take it from someone who would bag their peanut m&m's by color and amount and then eat by size. This is doable and I log so I am accountable, but mostly to myself. This is about you, for you and by you. Don't worry about what others think, just do whats best for you. Maybe that is not logging in everyday, or maybe it's keeping your diary private. Hang in there and goodluck. I'm not losing super fast, but a year ago I was 64 lbs heavier and wore 50" pants and 4xl shirts. Today I wear loose 44's and 2xl and it's so worth the effort. Breathe! You can do this!

EricMurano

The problem for you is that this whole calorie counting thing can be something someone with OCD can get obsessive over. Try hard not to let this become too much of an obsession. To be honest I can sometimes see obsessiveness in myself over this and I don't have OCD!

The whole point of calorie counting is to get an idea of how much you are eating and knowing which food pack more calories than others.

The point isn't to be super accurate.

Look most people that are overweight will eat a fantastic amount of food and not think that there is that many calories in what they're eating.

When people start logging their food they notice that the chocolate they ate, as little as it was, had more calories than a steak dinner. They start to learn which foods they can have a lot of and which foods should really be kept as a minimum.

My suggestion for you is to just log food you eat, don't worry about dieting so much right now and to now worry that much if you can't find a food you've eaten in the food database. Just pick something that's in the ball park. If you stop losing weight then maybe cut something back a little and see if that works.

It doesn't matter if it's not accurate because the numbers don't really mean anything unless they're linked to real world progress. E.g. if I'm not losing weight and I decide to cut back my steak dinner from 250g steak to a 200g steak and I start losing weight again, who cares what the exact calorie count was? I promise that the counts in my diary are not accurate. Most food labels do not have accurate calorie counts.

TOOFATTOMOVE

I haven't been on the site for some time and have decided to come back again. I understand your stress. I have found if I plan my day/week out before hand, it is a lot less stressful and I find I am more successful. I even plan my workout time. If you are not eating a variety of meals and you are eating repetitive items, you can save them. If this data entry stuff isn't right for you then don't do it, just post your progress good or bad. However, this is the reason I like to use the Food and Fitness trackers. If I don't lose as much as I think I should have I review what I have eaten, then I compare it to my history of meals to see what I was doing differently when I was seeing the positive numbers expected.

Don't be so hard on yourself, give it time. An earlier post had indicated it takes 21 days to create a habit. Try to create a habit.

Wafflecatcassie

My problem isn't just the numbers. It's the actually activity. Even now I'm struggling NOT to input my stuff. I know I'm having an obsessive-compulsive moment and while it is good to log my info, I feel like if I do I'll be giving in to the compulsion. It's kind of like a smoker giving into a craving for a cigarette.

Honestly I wish I had never even heard of calorie counting.

TOOFATTOMOVE

Keep doing what you are doing. Talk through it. Like an earlier post said "BREATHE." Don't worry about posting your activity right now, you know you did it.

I also thought this may help, kinda deep but maybe this quote by Tansu Ciller will help:

"Nobody can resist a ripe idea. The idea today is change."

This site is for you! If you are not ready to do all the calorie counting or fitness monitoring, then just review other's posts. See their progress and hopefully you will find your motivation. I do believe tracking will be most beneficial to you but not if it is going to stress you. I understand STRESS and how debilitating it can be. Try to make slow daily changes.

EricMurano

My problem isn't just the numbers. It's the actually activity. Even now I'm struggling NOT to input my stuff. I know I'm having an obsessive-compulsive moment and while it is good to log my info, I feel like if I do I'll be giving in to the compulsion. It's kind of like a smoker giving into a craving for a cigarette.

Honestly I wish I had never even heard of calorie counting.

Do you think you could NOT log for one day a week? Log from Monday to Saturday and on Sunday don't log?

KayteeBear

Honestly, if I were you, I'd find some other way to do it. I mean if it's stressing you out (which stress can cause you to gain weight so in the end it probably isn't helping much) then you won't stick with it for long. You need to find something you can stick with. I HATED logging calories with a passion. It wasn't as much your reason, but that it was soooo hard for me. I NEVER make the same recipe twice, heck I never USE RECIPES. I'm a throw it all together and cook it type and it's always different! So I just gave up.

Something I want to try this year instead is just writing down everything I put in my mouth in a notebook so that I still acknowledge everything I eat. It's not counting calories but I honestly try more for eating whole foods, skipping processed foods, sweets, etc, etc. I can't see myself counting calories forever and always being concerned with calories so I want to try to find a habit I can stick with. I think writing down everything you eat is a good alternative. Maybe more so if you're already aware of the calories in the foods you in. Since I already eat fairly healthy things and eat most whole foods then I'm not overly concerned with the rest.

In the end stress will only cause you to gain weight...or at least stop you from losing so it's stupid to keep doing something to lose weight that is only stressing you out because it'll make you have to work even harder to lose the weight and you'll end up just getting more stressed that you're not losing the weight.

I know I go against what everybody else said and nobody will agree with me probably but I don't believe that you can only lose weight by counting calories. I know that's a BIG part of this website but I'm only here for the support I get from my friends on here and the forums (and to log exercise as motivation).