Not Getting Obsessed

ElyssaElizabeth

Hi!

I'm so glad I found this group.

I'm recently recovering from a long illness. Over several months, I first lost a lot of weight (because I was quite ill), then gained it all back, plus a lot more (from being in bed for months). I've also lost quite a bit of muscle tone and physical endurance. Before I got sick, I was in good shape, relatively, and ate well (not really dieting, just tried to eat balanced meals--and I was an ethical vegan).

Anyway, I'm going back to a vegan diet (for ethical reasons), and starting to exercise again. But I find myself having very unhealthy thoughts. I've struggled with an eating disorder in the past, and I'm having the same thought patterns as before: I hate my body, I'm obsessed with food, I feel guilty if I eat, etc. I know this is unhealthy, but I also know that continuing to eat badly and not being active is unhealthy, too.

I want to work towards being healthier without obsessing about losing weight, but I'm not having much sucess. Any thoughts or advice?

Thanks!

allweatherheather

This is really hard stuff to do. It is great that you are trying to work at getting stronger again.

I don't know if this site is ideal for your goals, if you are in danger of getting obsessed with food. I don't love the weight loss focus myself, but it is the best thing i have tried in terms on not being extremely frustrated because nothing I eat is in the database. One thing that really helped me in recovering from some of my eating issues is Ellyn Satter's work on "eating competence": check our some of her writing here: http://www.ellynsatter.com/adults-eating-and-weight-i-57.html . I think "eating as much as you need" and "what is normal eating?" are especially helpful to those of us who have eating challenges.With food things, you might want to pick goals that focus on making sure you meet or exceed a benchmark, like "Eat 10 different types of foods with no wheat in them today" or "eat 7 servings of fruits and vegetables" rather than focusing on calories, etc. You can also change the food diary thing so that it shows some different data if (for example) you would rather make sure that you go over a certain amount of fiber than focus on calories.

I think that the HAES website might be helpful too, that is referred to in the intro to this group. In terms of movement, I don't know what your goals are, but if I were you, I think it would be most helpful to do activity that is enjoyable and made me feel like I was making some progress. I would go for putting enjoyable movement into your schedule as many days as you can, and use the program to track times you do something rather than calories burned or whatever.

It might be that this isn't the best program for you right now, if you are in danger of getting obsessed. There's a really simple online program called "health month". It doesnt' have as much advice and discussion, but you totally choose your own goals and they are simple checkboxes, so there's not a need for detailed obsessive tracking at all. However, it also won't tell you how much sodium or fat you are eating, it's a totally different thing.
http://healthmonth.com/

This is really hard stuff. I hope some thing in here is a tiny bit helpful!

4everdawn

I read a really good book called the Vegetarian Myth that was an eye opener for me. A former vegan talks about the serious health risks but also the ethical standpoint. There is no such thing as murder-free diet. With agri-business so many wildlife and natural habitats are being destroyed in order to grow food. Also a serious warning to teens and young women how screwing up your nutrition can affect your fertility and lead to eating disorders under the guise of vegetarianism.

I have eaten a vegetarian diet in the past and it was difficult to do living here in Texas. I found myself frequently having to choose between a fatty greasy vegetarian entree, something more healthy (grilled chicken salad) or starvation. I chose healthy and now I buy my meats from a local farmer who treats his animals in an ethical manner. Also I'm glad to be free from obssessing over my food, does it contain meat, etc.