New Lifestyle-or eating disorder?

MSepp

I've been good about tracking my calories daily and trying to avoid certain foods...I exercise almost daily and am almost under my calorie goal.

However...I've also started cutting back on lots of things...I hardly ever drink alcohol anymore, I eat lots more veggies and a lot less meat...and I also find myself obsessing over whether or not I will go under on calories. I am miserable and feel like a bad person if I don't work out for an hour each day. Indulging in things I used to love makes me feel horribly guilty. I have the MFP app on my smart phone and I am constantly adding any small food I eat (sneaking a grape when I'm packing lunches for my fiancee and myself). I can tell it's starting to wear on him how much I think about my food and exercise.

I want to know when a person crosses over from trying to lead a healthy lifestyle and lose weight versus when it becomes an obsession/eating disorder.

jerbear1962

Wow I know what you mean, I can see it in my wives eyes each time I bring up foods and calories. I'm trying to work on my food diary a day early so I have an idea of how much I can eat and if I exercise I know those calories will go down too. Good luck

FelicityEliza36

Good post Msep.

Since I have started I have become a bit obsessive, but I know that this will lead me to positive results with my body and the woman that I want to be. And all the while I feel very positive about the choices I am making and I am not miserable about it. Maybe its not the best thing for some people? This should be a lifestyle choice or change, the minute it starts wearing you down and making you unhappy maybe its best to stop.

Im sure none of us here want to see other people uncomfortable - unhappy - miserable... or even feeling like this is causing them to have an unhealthy relationship with food. We are all here to motivate and inspire each other though so good luck.

jess1992uga

As someone who is trying to recover from an ED I have had since I was 6 I think you realize you have steeped in eating disorder when you realize you want to stop, that you are miserable, and you can't. I have had literally every eating disorder but mainly anorexia and non-purge type bulimia. Gaining weight, which I have to do now (the profile pic isn't me now), freaks me out yet I am BMI of 15.7 and can't wrap my head around changing my behaviors. It is a minute by minute fight to not exercise, to not restrict, to not throw the towel in, to not obsess about not wanting to gain weight. Honestly, the best thing I can say is if you are miserable, why not stop MFP for a while or go see a dietician or just try and hit your calorie goals. Then you won't slip into an eating disorder and you will be happy. If you have questions feel free to friend/message me

artickb22

I was a little obsessive about it at first as well, then when my husband complained that I "spend more time with that damn phone (using the app) than anything else it put me in check. I still exercise and chart everyday, but I try to limit how often I chart. I chart my food for the day in the am and make any adjustments in the afternoon. I also got him on board (he loves to cook) by getting him involvoed in helping me create recipies and figuring out the stats on the food. I had to start making it fun and not like a chore. I agree with what others are saying as far as if it starts making you miserable and interfering with your happiness and relationships in life, it's time to step back and take a good look at just how well your coping with all the change. I wish you the best, it's hard, it's alwyas gonna be, but even by taking simple steps you can still move in the right direction and have a fullfilling life.

honeythatsokay

I literally just wrote a post like this on my wall. As someone who gained about 10lbs in the few years I have felt mostly recovered from my ED, I am now trying to get down my goal weight in a healthy manner but it's slow and I feel like I am in such a funk. I've been happy about this journey for over three months now and I genuinely like working out but for the past week I have felt unmotivated and fat again. I still eat around 1200 but I don't work out as much and the scale is stalling at 131 and my starting weight was 132. After three months! Some days it fluctuates down to 126 but I can't pinpoint why because I eat the same mostly organic, healthy things most days, and I rarely eat out anymore to cause such a sodium spike. I just don't understand how I can feel SO FAT at a weight which most people strive for. I'm thinking I should start running (not a runner - can barely run .5 miles) and up my calories because days when you don't work out 1200 is seriously limiting. I just hate feeling so gross and I can feel that nagging temptation to just quit eating until I binge in order to "punish" my gross body for being so gross... how the heck did food become so complicated! But I believe life comes in waves and this is just a lull between two highs so I will wait it out patiently and try to make healthy decisions this time around.

If anyone feels the same way, please feel free to add me

MSepp

Well and I was never really overweight to begin with.

I used to weigh around 135.0 lbs and was quite content at that weight.

I started using oral contraceptives and started feeling more hungry than usual-consequently I gained up to 145.0 lbs.

I am wearing the same sizes. My clothes look fine...I am more frustrated about the numbers on the scale. I love to eat healthy-it's not as much that I hate eating fruits and vegetables and I feel deprived. It's that I find myself worrying about everything I eat...even healthy foods. I had grape nuts the other day for breakfast and all I could think about was "I shouldn't put banana on this. Too many calories. Oh my gosh, a half cup of grape nuts is 200 calories?!"

I'm even limiting some healthier foods like fruit because of the calorie content. And the fact that I've now got my fiancee thinking about calories (which he NEVER used to do and, in all fairness, he should not have to worry about)...it kind of makes dates not fun because he takes me out to a nice restaurant and I find myself worrying about what I eat...It's getting worrisome-and with my wedding coming up in less than two weeks, I'm finding it hard to stop.

peachyxoxoxo

I think it can definitely become a negative obsession for some people. It did for me the first time I tried to lose weight 5 years ago. I got scary skinny by accident, before I even realized how little I was eating or how much weight I was losing. Since then, I have never been able to shake it entirely. But I've become a lot better at not feeling like I have to be perfect all the time. Just remember... being healthy is all about moderation.

MaraDiaz

I think anyone who can afford to visit their doctor and get a referral to a nutritionist for personalized sessions and plans should do so because it's a fine line between being effective and being obessive. Everything I've read recently on weight loss says that if you are or have been overweight it's really hard to get and stay at a healthy weight. So obsessing is sadly a natural reaction to having to stay on top of your habits, thought processes, and foods. It sucks, get any help you can afford to get!

Silverkittycat

This might help.

Orthorexia: When Good Eating Goes Bad
Sometimes healthy eating can make you sick
Published on April 28, 2011 by Pamela Wiegartz, Ph.D. in In the Age of Anxiety

What is orthorexia? The term comes from the Greek words ortho, meaning straight, right or correct, and orexis, or appetite; so orthorexia literally means "correct eating." Orthorexics are characterized by an obsession with healthy eating, avoiding the many foods that they perceive to be unhealthy. This preoccupation with food leads to meticulous and inflexible eating that goes well beyond making smart food choices. Different from anorexia, the goal of eating is not to be thin or to lose weight but to eat "right."

What's wrong with healthy eating? There is nothing wrong with eating healthy foods unless this inflexibility consumes your life. Health conscious eaters have diets based in moderation. They can make choices that are not dictated by food, can be flexible in eating when they need to be, and don't think about food all that much. Sufferers of orthorexia, on the other hand, make decisions around food, decline social invitations based on the menu, and spend a lot of time considering what they eat. Take a look at the checklist below to see if you share any orthorexic features.


 Do you have an extreme preoccupation with food or the quality of the food?
 Have you eliminated many "unhealthy" foods from your diet?
 Do you eat only a few foods?
 Do you focus on the virtuousness of eating?
 Does your eating negatively impact your quality of life?
 Are you judgmental of others' food choices?
 Are you socially isolated because of your eating habits?
 Do you have rigid eating habits that never allow certain foods?
 Do you experience guilt or self-loathing when you stray from your diet?


If you answered "yes" to many of these questions, consider whether your eating habits may be causing you more harm than good. Because orthorexics often have such a limited diet there can be serious health consequences from vitamin, mineral, and caloric deficiencies. Ironically, the quest for perfectly healthy eating can instead result in anemia, osteopenia or other health detriments.

What is the treatment for orthorexia? Orthorexia is such a newly named phenomenon that there are no scientific studies demonstrating what treatments may be most effective for this condition. However, we may be able to extrapolate what methods could be of benefit--for example, cognitive-behavioral therapy strategies such as targeting distorted beliefs and graduated exposure to feared foods.

In cognitive therapy, orthorexic beliefs about the need for perfection and the danger of occasionally eating unhealthy foods could be addressed. Detailing the true benefits of eating in this manner versus the costs--social isolation, loss of spontaneity and decreased quality of life--may be useful in motivating sufferers to relax their standards to more realistic levels and to gradually reincorporate feared foods into their diets.

What is the bottom line? Research studies are needed to better delineate what orthorexia is and how it can be treated. It appears that a significant number of people fall prey to this preoccupation with eating correctly. And because this condition far exceeds simply "healthy eating", the consequences can be serious. Until treatment protocols specifically tailored to orthorexia can be created and studied, cognitive-behavioral strategies designed to address the perfectionistic beliefs and compulsive behavior that characterize orthorexia may be the best path to true health via moderation.

this too, also from Pyschology Today.
http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/hunger-artist/201010/whats-the-difference-between-being-fussy-and-having-eating-disorder

MSepp

I think anyone who can afford to visit their doctor and get a referral to a nutritionist for personalized sessions and plans should do so because it's a fine line between being effective and being obessive. Everything I've read recently on weight loss says that if you are or have been overweight it's really hard to get and stay at a healthy weight. So obsessing is sadly a natural reaction to having to stay on top of your habits, thought processes, and foods. It sucks, get any help you can afford to get!

The saddest thing about my situation is that I am a dietitian. I know what healthy eating is. I've also had type I/Juvenile diabetes since I was 15...Doctors have helped me for 13 years figure out how to eat healthy and they reaffirm every time I go see them that I'm healthy and eating well...I'm wondering if I don't need a shrink more than anything else.

iris8pie

This site almost forces you to become obsessive. I very much related to your post, and thank you for adressing the issue. I am hoping that Once I get used to it, i wont think about it as much *fingers crossed*

iris8pie

OP: Do you think you may just be stressing about your wedding coming up in just a couple weeks?

MSepp

This site almost forces you to become obsessive. I very much related to your post, and thank you for adressing the issue. I am hoping that Once I get used to it, i wont think about it as much *fingers crossed*

I have always been a healthy eater-honestly my activity level is higher than before. Working out 1 hour 5-7 days/week...it's more my mentality that has changed. It's like I'm afraid of food. I'm afraid to enjoy it and afraid of going overboard.

I feel like the wedding has added fuel to the fire, but I feel like these worries go way back.

Bobby_Clerici

If you have to ask, chances are you're ED.
Get help for yourself.

SPNLuver83

It sounds to me like you've crossed that line.

MaraDiaz

I think anyone who can afford to visit their doctor and get a referral to a nutritionist for personalized sessions and plans should do so because it's a fine line between being effective and being obessive. Everything I've read recently on weight loss says that if you are or have been overweight it's really hard to get and stay at a healthy weight. So obsessing is sadly a natural reaction to having to stay on top of your habits, thought processes, and foods. It sucks, get any help you can afford to get!

The saddest thing about my situation is that I am a dietitian. I know what healthy eating is. I've also had type I/Juvenile diabetes since I was 15...Doctors have helped me for 13 years figure out how to eat healthy and they reaffirm every time I go see them that I'm healthy and eating well...I'm wondering if I don't need a shrink more than anything else.

Nothing wrong with a shrink, either, I guess, especially if you can find one who is familiar with nutrition and eating disorders and who will talk things out with you instead of shoving drugs at you.

iris8pie

It sounds to me like you've crossed that line.

but just because you cross the line, doesnt mean you cant cross back, does it? mind over matter?

EndlessSacrifice

If you're already starting to feel that way, I would say stop counting calories. I know it's hard, but you really don't want to develop an eating disorder.

GnochhiGnomes

I used to eat 500 calories per day when I first started losing weight since I had no Idea about healthy eating. Two months later I had lost 30lbs+ and everyone was congratulating and telling how better I looked. Then I finally found out how eating 500 calories was unhealthy so I upped it to 1000, I know its not healthy but if I go above that number I feel terribly guilty.

It also got worse when you had two other friend in the same position and we're very competitive with calories. We both try to eat under a 1000 calories and then compete to see who's losing the weight the quickest.

Though the thing is I probably had a ED before weight loss, BED. I used to binge ever day after school eating up to 2000 calories in one sitting. So now I still struggle with binging and every time I binge, I end up fasting.

kathryn_m

Hey!

I competely understand where you are coming from. I battled an eating disorder from age of 13 until I wa 16. To this day, I still struggle with unhealthy thoughts and habits, though now, I mostly have them under control.

I was a member of mfp twice before and had to delete my account because I was using it in a way that it wasn't intended to be used. I was using it to fuel my disorder. I was overly obsessing about calories and exercise, and it was mentally tearing me apart.

Now, I am back for the third time,and ready to use this resource as a means to truly become an all around healthier peson. My word of advice is just to be careful. When this sight begins to take over,that should be your cue to get help, or to step back, take a deep breath, and remember why you are here. Another opion is to simply take some time to off. There is no shame in that.

Whatever you choose to do, stay positive, keep fighting, and surround yourself with healthy people (physically and mentally!). Wishing you the best!

Kathryn