How to balance everything?

kristilynne84

Hi,

Just wondering if there's anyone who has had similar struggles as I do. I can count calories and muscle my way in to healthy eating--and I have lost weight successfully this way in the past. But, I got quite obsessive about it (was even wondering how many calories there are in communion at church which is about a teaspoon of grape juice and a tiny piece of cracker). I sort of scared myself then because I was starting to have tendencies toward eating disorder-ish thinking and was showing strong tendencies that way on some self-evaluation tests. So, I quit counting calories then, after a 20-lb loss....and in the 3-4 years since I have gained almost all (but 5 or so) lbs back.

Now I'm afraid whenever I start trying to control what I eat and exercise that the same thing will happen. I really, really want to look good and be comfortable with my body and be able to wear whatever I want to without fear of what I look like in it. I want to be healthy for future pregnancies. I have lots of good reasons to lose weight (I'm 182 now and need to get down to at least 145 to be in a "normal" BMI range), but I am afraid of my relationship with food and a healthy lifestyle. It just doesn't seem right and all this effort feels really forced, which makes me afraid of failure. For now, I'm taking it one day and even one meal at a time, but I'm afraid it won't work or that I won't be able to follow through (after multiple failed attempts)--which i know only makes the problem worse.

Anyone have any experiences with this or thoughts you could share to help me? Thank you in advance!

WinnerVictorious

Hi,

Just wondering if there's anyone who has had similar struggles as I do. I can count calories and muscle my way in to healthy eating--and I have lost weight successfully this way in the past. But, I got quite obsessive about it (was even wondering how many calories there are in communion at church which is about a teaspoon of grape juice and a tiny piece of cracker). I sort of scared myself then because I was starting to have tendencies toward eating disorder-ish thinking and was showing strong tendencies that way on some self-evaluation tests. So, I quit counting calories then, after a 20-lb loss....and in the 3-4 years since I have gained almost all (but 5 or so) lbs back.

Now I'm afraid whenever I start trying to control what I eat and exercise that the same thing will happen. I really, really want to look good and be comfortable with my body and be able to wear whatever I want to without fear of what I look like in it. I want to be healthy for future pregnancies. I have lots of good reasons to lose weight (I'm 182 now and need to get down to at least 145 to be in a "normal" BMI range), but I am afraid of my relationship with food and a healthy lifestyle. It just doesn't seem right and all this effort feels really forced, which makes me afraid of failure. For now, I'm taking it one day and even one meal at a time, but I'm afraid it won't work or that I won't be able to follow through (after multiple failed attempts)--which i know only makes the problem worse.

Anyone have any experiences with this or thoughts you could share to help me? Thank you in advance!

it's only obsessive if you feel you absolutely MUST hit your calorie goal every day. once you realize it's ok to be over 50 calories one day and under 75 calories the next (or whatever) and that it's the long term trend that matters, you'll beat that obsessiveness. the fact that you lost weight counting calories and gained most of it back by not counting calories should show you that you need to start tracking your calories again. just don't sweat the small stuff. record what you can. best guess for what you can't. don't obsess with your daily totals. check your weekly totals and see if they fit in with your goals. if not, make some adjustments for the upcoming week.

eating 1506 on MON, 1623 on TUE, 1389 on WED, 1425 on THU, and 1560 on FRI is the same as eating 1500 every day.

kristilynne84

Thanks for your thoughts, I really appreciate it! Is there a way to see weekly totals on MFP?

WinnerVictorious

Thanks for your thoughts, I really appreciate it! Is there a way to see weekly totals on MFP?

i don't know. i put my numbers into a spreadsheet i can manipulate. i look at the trends on there. however, there is currently a thread about graphing weight loss with one or two responses pointing to online graphing sites. you could use those sites, enter your daily calories (or any other interesting metric) and see a graph. that would show you the trend even if all of your individual data points vary from your goal. MFP Reports (calories) will do something similar with a bar chart.

just get out of the mindset that every day must exactly hit your goal and into the mindset that every day needs to be close to your goal, and i think you'll find that you don't obsess so much.

good luck.

rvicini

In the Android and Ipad or Iphone apps I get the weekly totals. They are very helpful because it show as other forum members said, you are always down anyway..

vtmoon

First of all you got to realize those calorie numbers on nutritional labels are off by minus/plus 20% they are meant as a guide for you, so you obsessing on the smallest thing isn't doing you any good. So use your calories wisely, as in aim to be with in 100 calories or so, you are human so messing up here and there is okay as long as you get up dust yourself and keep at it.

You can see weekly reports on the android app of MFP, here on the website you cna see the last 7 days through the Reports tab.

wimeezer

Yes, you can see weekly summaries. Look for the weekly tab at top of page.

Winnervictori is right, a bit over or under each day is fine...it's the long view that matters. Deep breath, you can do this!

WendyTerry420

Yes, you can see weekly summaries. Look for the weekly tab at top of page.

Winnervictori is right, a bit over or under each day is fine...it's the long view that matters. Deep breath, you can do this!

The "weekly tab" ??

i have not seen that. I guess that's another phone feature.


I click on "printable view" on the food diary page, then choose the dates at the top. That is the only way I can see a whole week. I use that view to enter the data into a spreadsheet to get a long-term view.

fldiver97

Don't let the numbers be all........log and try to make good choices to get close to your numbers. I believe that logging and tracking what you eat will help you to eventually learn to make better chfood choices, balance your diet, give you an idea of portion control and show you the value of exercise (in the form of giving you more cals to consume). Many people have forgotten or never really 'learned' what a normal portion size/serving of food is, never realize what they actually eat as far as nutritional value and have no idea or grossly underestimate cals, fat/transfat, sodium, sugar and protein content in their foods. Just logging and tracking what I eat and how full my meals and snacks make me feel (and for how long) help me tremendously to make better choices (i.e eat more protein, less processed food/eating out as it always runs high in sodium, sugar and junk calories...). That does not mean I don't eat my treats, drink alcohol, stop eating ice cream or dessert or don't enjoy eating out. Just trying to make improvements in my food choices, exercising (even just walking more) and limiting days that really go over 'the limit' to just a few a month still gets you results. Remember that you should aim for LIFELONG habits, not a short term diet to lose x lbs and then fall back into your old habits. Slow changes that are maintained for a while will hopefully become 'normal'......just think of the reward of being healthier, feeling fitter and hopefully preventing many health issues later in life that are related to weight issues and unhealthy eating. Keep trying, any changes however small and slow are worth it!