Food anxiety

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sarafit926
sarafit926 Posts: 62 Member
in Motivation and Support
After starting to track and plan my meals, I've noticed that I'm incredibly anxious about food.

To give an example: Yesterday I planned what I was going to eat today, and what exercise I'd do to reach my goals. This included a yoplait yogurt and half a cup of granola for breakfast. I was staying at my boyfriend's house last night, so I packed my breakfast and left the granola on his counter (a 3/4 full box of granola -- not just a baggie or something). His roommates threw away my granola when they were cleaning late last night, and this morning I couldn't eat the breakfast I had planned. This made me unreasonably upset; I couldn't fathom how I would deal with eating something else for breakfast.

Okay, that sounds pathetic now that I've typed it all out, but I'm wondering, does anybody else find themselves getting anxious or obsessed with eating what they planned? How do you "stay cool"? It's not always an issue for me, but I can get myself awfully worked up...

Replies

  • ctooch99
    ctooch99 Posts: 459 Member
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    I have not had anxiety, but using MFP has been an eye opener for me about the hidden calories in stuff I thought was once healthy (perfect example is Orang Juice).

    The key for me is having adequate food stores and "go to" items. For example, at my desk at work I always keep a container of unsalted nuts. If I forget a yogurt or an apple that I had planned to eat for my mid morning snack, I know I always can subsititute nuts. I have been trying to find this for most situations - not always easy, but seems to get easier the more effort I put into it.

    If I get an invite to go to dinner with friends unexpectedly, I know now that I will instinctively choose either a fish or healthy salad item from the menu - most places have one of those two choices in some form that is good enough not to blow my daily intake and to eat something decent.

    Not sure if this helps you - but just the way I work around unexpected things.
  • meliaah
    meliaah Posts: 13
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    I understand, I've been feeling a bit the same about food. I always have a few snacks I keep in my bag in case I can't have what I planned to have. Also, I just keep general guidelines of what I do or don't want to eat- for example I forgot to bring a lunch so I went to Panera and had a roast beef sandwich on whole wheat bread. That way, I know exactly what I had even though I didn't get a chance to bring my own food. My anxiety is mostly about hidden sugars/salts/etc in my food, so if I'm able to track exactly what's in it, its usually fine

    I hope that helps!
  • ctooch99
    ctooch99 Posts: 459 Member
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    Yeah - I so agree - if anything my anxiety (or realization) is how much garbage is actually hidden in the foods I always thought were "healthy"...

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