Mfp has cause more harm than good for me.
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I haven't had a problem since logging on to this site. It has been very helpful to me. I have seemed to have found a balance of eating and working out that works for now. This site is meant to help you keep track of what you already eat, it doesn't tell you to change your diet to anything except portion control. If you feel you have become overwhelmed then try something else, log off and take a walk in the part or try diet program like Weight Watchers or something. This is supposed to help you not make you go nuts. Good luck.0
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what rarity2013 said.0
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I have found since joining MFP I don't eat clean but I do eat cleaner. I don't eat some things because I've realized that it is worthless calories but I still eat things I like. Yesterday I had a bagel for breakfast, a fruit and veggie smoothie for lunch and then for dinner I had bacon and eggs and potatoes with cheese and a piece of cake. It was yummy and it all fit in my calories! (and I've lost 30 lbs since Jan 20, 2013 so its working for Me) I exercise because I want to because it makes me feel strong. Just because other people are doing something doesn't mean you have to! Just worry about you! If reading what everyone else is doing is pressure instead of motivating maybe you should step back. You have to find balance. Use MFP to watch your intake and maybe track your exercise and maybe that's it. If you can't find the balance you should prob walk away. I wish you the best! Good luck!:flowerforyou:0
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I have found that since finding mfp, I have spent every evening glued to the forums, obsessing on 'clean eating', have developed a fear of having any pre packaged meals, of allowing myself the treats I used to have regularly amidst my regular food, along with the fact I now feel impelled to workout everyday, regardless of anything else I might feel like doing, because everyone else seems to be working their *kitten* of obsessively on a daily basis, burning anything up to thousands of calories. Along with this, I have been having severe binges, only since joining the site. As soon as I started actively counting calories, obsession took over. Not to a point of starving myself or anything like that, but to a point of becoming totally consumed by analysing what might be the best diet for longevity, what might be the best diet for a lean body etc etc. It has removed whatever remnant of intuitive eating I had remaining. Sure, I did not have the best diet. I ate a lot of veggie microwave meals, alongside my fruit and veg, and mcflurries and chocolate were a fairly regular fixture in my life. I walked a lot, or swam, or rollerskated or cycled, and I was not overweight. Not 18% bodyfat lean, but not overweight either. I felt healthier. I felt happier. I was more relaxed and I was living my life and had space for other things. Now, every evening, all evening, is spent on mfp, reading more posts and feeling as if I am on some alien planet when I see people logging every bite, every calorie burnt. I go out for a long bike ride, and no longer feel able to stop off for a coffee and toast, or a slice of cake. No way jose, that is not clean, we are not meant to have treats more than once a week, once a month, once a year even, lol.
Has anyone else hit this issue with mfp?
I know it works great for people who are endangering their lives with their weight issues.
But for me, sadly, it seems to have just kicked in my competitive, perfectionist streak, and made me feel compelled to have a perfect diet diary, to burn 600 calories + in exercise a day to not feel lazy compared to everyone else, to revolve my life around eating the best I can for a long life and health, which ironically, is making me feel less healthy. Yep, eating a pile of veggies everyday, and fruit, and greek yoghurt, eggs, fish, chicken, beans, almonds and sweet potatoes, has left me feeling more crap than when I had baked potatoes, microwave veggie meals, quorn(horribly processed), smaller amounts of veggies, ice cream, chocolate and some fish.
Well log off then
That sounds a little like telling a fat person to eat less.
For many of us, we have very complicated relationships with food. I think of food not as the stuff I eat but as an entire spectrum. Weight loss involves the whole experience of thinking about, planning and shopping and paying for, preparing, consuming, cleaning up, etc. It's easy for those of us with such mindsets to transfer a previous obsession with bad-for-us food to the MFP lifestyle of counting calories, working out too much, compulsively reading discussion boards.
It's never that simple. We are not simple people. I look forward to reading others' thoughts on this topic because I too lean toward the obsessive and that's unhealthy.0 -
Hell no, I agree that it's made me look more carefully at what I'm eating and at times not buy some items because of the calorie content, but if I've learnt anything in my 190 days here, it's that you are allowed to make mistakes - you are allowed to screw up once in a while without it majorly affecting your losses...and that sometimes it's a good thing to go over as it can give your metabolism a much needed boost.
Just because you have all the information doesn't mean you need to obsess over it and strive for perfection - there is no such thing and what works for one person doesn't always work for another. There's no point in being healthy if you're not happy - find a balance & enjoy life.
THIS!!0 -
Sounds like you need to ease up a little on the expectations you set for yourself. No one is perfect. Maybe clean eating is not for you (it sure ain't for me, I try to make healthy choices and have cut out a lot of processed foods but I still have SOME PROCESSED YUMMINESS!). For me, seeing calorie burns and healthy food diaries is motivating, but you are feeling pressure in a negative way. Delete the friends that have lifestyles that are too different from you, since it's making you feel bad. (Send a nice note to them explaining why if you like). Take all the advice in the forums with a grain of salt, it's just people's opinions. Try to limit the amount of time you spend on MFP. Good luck.... and b-r-e-a-t-h-e!0
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Some people (including myself) have a tendency to be this way, but this extreme control makes me feel empowered and I thrive on it. Embrace the crazy
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yes and I feel burned out0
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Sounds like your activity on this site may have kicked in some obsessive part of your personality that may or may not have existed before...something to consider?0
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you have an issue. you need to address it. not much to do with MFP really.0
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I didn't read the whole thing but if you are unhappy you can always leave. I am not saying that to be rude either, if something is seriously making you unhappy do not stay. If you feel that the mindset is not a healthy one change it, if you think you need help get that help.
Put yourself first always.0 -
I don't spend too much time in the forums. I spend most of my time just logging my calories and exercise and trying to be a support to the friends I have made here. At the beginning I would read the forums and get worked up thinking I was doing something wrong. Maybe take a step back for a little while if it is getting too intense. You have to find a happy medium with this. You can't take away everything and still enjoy what you are doing. You need to find a balance. You can do this...don't give up!0
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Sounds like MFP doesn't work for you. You should probably leave, and maybe get a therapist if some of your obsession doesn't recede.
Seriously, you need to decide what's good for you. Don't work out so much just to keep up with other people.0 -
I guess if you are going to become obsessive compulsive about something, at least this one is actually good for you.
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I'm really sorry you feel that way. I know there is a lot of people out there that use this site that way but I do not. I will not let this or anything else control me. When I first started MFP i logged my calories for the first day and could not believe what I was eating. From that moment on I use this to make sure that I can still eat what I want & drink what I want , but still stay within my calorie limits. I do really good during the week and on weekends I take care of what I need to do and want to do but still watch what I eat. It seems like you chose this path and not one that was happy for you.0
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While it may well be issues that you personally need to deal with that's causing this, I'm going to <GASP> criticize MFP a little here and agree with you a bit. This site reallllyyyyyy helps me be accountable, and I appreciate that a lot. It helps me organize my new lifestyle, and I love that. But all of this chatter on these forums can get to me. "EAT BACK ALL YOUR EXERCISE CALORIES OR ELSE YOU WILL FAIL!" made me scared. But then I met with a dietician who taught me to listen more to my body and count calories less. It just makes no sense to me to eat extra food just for the sake of eating back exercise calories. So I'm learning more to follow my intuition and what my body is telling me instead of focusing on numbers. I eat whole, natural foods in appropriate portions...no more processed junk....water instead of diet drinks...3 meals and 2 snacks a day....daily exercise...and my weight is secondary to all of that. Use MFP for all of its awesome benefits, but trust your own intuition as well. Good luck!0
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MFP is just a tool. Nothing more, nothing less. If you use it to simply eat at a sensible deficit, then it'll work.
If you're going for "long bike rides" you should be burning enough calories to enjoy a simple slice of cake and a coffee. I think your incorrect preconceptions have caused you more harm than good.
Remember, a hammer is a simple tool: you can use it to build a beautiful cabinet or brutally murder someone. At the end of the day it is just a hammer, you have to look to the person wielding it.
"A bad workman always blames his tools" - don't be a bad workman/woman, be a good workman/woman.0 -
It is simply a tool to use to track your diet and fitness routine. You can be part of a supportive community or not. MFP doesn't push you to eat clean. Your issues will remain with you though whatever tool you choose to use.
Totally agree ...0 -
Honestly MFP has helped me to become more aware of what I was doing to my self. I do not spend all my time on here tho, I still have to take care of my kids and home and husband. I love working out so it makes me happy to see my friends doing it also. I find I make more sensible choices since MFP but I still find room for enjoyment. Maybe you just need to step back from it for a while, I am mainly on here during working hours and I may log in at night once Im done with my night activities to log in dinner and check on my friends on here and lend encouragement. Idon't beat myself up if I over eat or dont work out for the day I just start over the next day and so far that has really worked for me Good luck you! 0
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I am similar...I think the obsessive calorie counting leads me to make unhealthy food choices. If a banana is 100 calories, but a bag of chips is 50 (just making this up) - I will choose the chips to try to be under my calories, even though the banana is the way healthier option.0
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Maybe you're making too many changes at once. You can still eat the foods that you love, in moderation, while you transition to a healthier diet by finding new foods that you love. You could start by improving one meal, or adding one food that is a healthier choice. I hate steamed vegetables, for example, and I won't eat them. I'm still finding ways to eat more vegetables, and I'm logging anyway, even though I'm far from being perfect.
Good for you if you want to get a treat when you go for a bike ride! It makes exercise into a fun outing. Sometimes I really want scones, and I make scones for dinner, even though that's all my dinner calories. I eat treats, albeit small ones, everyday.0 -
I have found that since finding mfp, I have spent every evening glued to the forums, obsessing on 'clean eating', have developed a fear of having any pre packaged meals, of allowing myself the treats I used to have regularly amidst my regular food, along with the fact I now feel impelled to workout everyday, regardless of anything else I might feel like doing, because everyone else seems to be working their *kitten* of obsessively on a daily basis, burning anything up to thousands of calories. Along with this, I have been having severe binges, only since joining the site. As soon as I started actively counting calories, obsession took over. Not to a point of starving myself or anything like that, but to a point of becoming totally consumed by analysing what might be the best diet for longevity, what might be the best diet for a lean body etc etc. It has removed whatever remnant of intuitive eating I had remaining. Sure, I did not have the best diet. I ate a lot of veggie microwave meals, alongside my fruit and veg, and mcflurries and chocolate were a fairly regular fixture in my life. I walked a lot, or swam, or rollerskated or cycled, and I was not overweight. Not 18% bodyfat lean, but not overweight either. I felt healthier. I felt happier. I was more relaxed and I was living my life and had space for other things. Now, every evening, all evening, is spent on mfp, reading more posts and feeling as if I am on some alien planet when I see people logging every bite, every calorie burnt. I go out for a long bike ride, and no longer feel able to stop off for a coffee and toast, or a slice of cake. No way jose, that is not clean, we are not meant to have treats more than once a week, once a month, once a year even, lol.
Has anyone else hit this issue with mfp?
I know it works great for people who are endangering their lives with their weight issues.
But for me, sadly, it seems to have just kicked in my competitive, perfectionist streak, and made me feel compelled to have a perfect diet diary, to burn 600 calories + in exercise a day to not feel lazy compared to everyone else, to revolve my life around eating the best I can for a long life and health, which ironically, is making me feel less healthy. Yep, eating a pile of veggies everyday, and fruit, and greek yoghurt, eggs, fish, chicken, beans, almonds and sweet potatoes, has left me feeling more crap than when I had baked potatoes, microwave veggie meals, quorn(horribly processed), smaller amounts of veggies, ice cream, chocolate and some fish.
It sounds like you take too much advice and 'facts' from the MPF community (who we all know are 99.99% not qualified to be giving advice).
MPF is only a tool and like any tool, it can be misused. If it is so detrimental to your health and well being, enough so that you'd write a post like this, you should quit and find something that is better suited to your perfectionist, obsessive, overly competitive and easily convinced personality.0 -
For Real!0
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Thankyou for all the replies.
I have been spending inordinate amounts of time here, addicted to reading the forums, and endless threads, on all manner of methods of eating. I have hit a point of eating almost all so called 'clean' food most of the time, but when it gets to a point that I would feel guilty for having a few slices of toast with beans and eggs rather than my usual chicken or fish, sweet potato and vegetables, it has become too extreme. I wish I was someone who could simply pass by a café on a hot summer's day, and not want to sometimes be one of those people sitting enjoying an ice cream, but that is not me.
Most of my food choices are very good. I eat over a pound, sometimes two pounds of vegetables a day, a lot of lean chicken, fish, beans, potatoes, greek yoghurt, almonds, 81% dark chocolate, cottage cheese etc. That is most of my diet, but sometimes, I want to grab a ready made cottage pie for dinner (there are relatively ready meals here in the Uk in certain shops) or have a big bowl of cereal and not feel as if I am somehow ruining my body or my nutritional achievements. I am a perfectionist by nature, so it is very easy for me to slip into the whole 'must eat perfect' mentality. And then I end up going hog crazy when I am out of my own environment and taken for meals out, and have come to even dread meals out and events like my birthday for this reason. It breaks my streak.
Exercise wise, I do not do hours of exercise, but I feel guilty if I only do 45 minutes of gym exercise a day on top of my walking, as I see so many doing really hardcore workouts, and think to myself, well, why can't I do that? Truth told, I have mild emphysema and have 68% lung function rather than the usual 84% for my age, but that doesn't stop me wanting to be as good, and wanting to be able to do as much and be able to enjoy it. Hell, I feel like an old woman sometimes when I am cycling. I can cycle for hours at a time, but not at 20mph. Not close. I am competitive by nature, unfortunately. I see someone has burnt 700 calories on a day I have only done a bit of walking and sat on my butt taking it easy, I feel guilty, lazy and almost as if I have failed somewhere along the line. That is not there problem, of course, it is mine.
A lot on my list do a lot of daily exercise, some burning 800-1200 everyday. I was doing that last year, but I got burnt out. I cannot do that anymore. Not on a daily basis anyway. But If I do not exercise, I struggle to limit myself to the 1500 required for me to lose 1/2 Ib a week, even if I am eating all nutritious, healthy foods. I am tall, at 5'10, so maybe that is why I struggle on 1500, or 1470 to be precise.
Either way, I think those of you who have suggested a break are right. I need to exert some willpower, and either take a week break, or only come on and log food right before bed, so I am not constantly adding up as I go along, and then log off again. I have an addictive personality, so I guess it is my fault in the end for coming to this site. As time has gone on, I have been spending more and more time studying endless articles on nutrition, on longevity, on meat and longevity, on clean eating, primal, high fat diets, you name it, I have been studying it, then getting my head in knots trying to decide how and what I should eat for the best quality of life and health. And it is not as if my knowledge I have acquired can benefit anyone else. And it sure isn't benefiting me because let's face it, there is probably a study for and against just about every food out there. I even contemplated becoming vegan after reading so much on dairy and how bad it is for you, and the hormones etc, and then, the studies suggesting meat eaters have shorter lifespans.
I need to direct my mental energy in a healthier direction I think, use my innate enjoyment of healthy food, but still allow myself a treat if the mood takes me on a certain day, and keep my exercise within manageable amounts. I would love to be lean, and have a low bodyfat %, and have been getting there, but it is coming at a high cost for me. And is not simply slotting into my life, leaving room for other pursuits.0 -
I wouldn't say harm, but I would say that you're an extremist. Sounds like the all or nothing type. If it's affecting your actual happiness, then change your routine. Log on and set a limit, find one "bad" thing you'll to eat a day, etc.
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Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition0 -
I had this same problem. I became obssessed with food and everything in my life began to revolve around it. I started planning all the places i was going to eat at on vacation and realized this is not me. I was always very skinny and never cared much about food. I also noticed i was shoving peanut butter down my throat some nights when i couldnt meet my calorie goals and other nights i was starving because i didnt want to go over. Ive always been good about eating when im hungry and stopping when im full. I dont think its healthy for me personally. I do know some people have a hard time listening to their bodies and it helps to be told how much to eat, but thats not me! I decided to stop tracking my calories. I only have 10 pounds of baby weight left and figured with healthy eating and exercise it should come off in a few months. Its more important for me to be happy.0
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I have made incredible friends on here. I use the tools and advice offered and then make a decision as to whether I feel as if this will work for me or not. I have tried every diet on the planet over the years and always felt like I was suffering. I now eat- striving for calorie deficit- but some days fail. I went to a conference last week and drank too much beer and ate Cheesecake Factory :-) Now the difference is...I logged it (all of it) and am aware of it, and adjusted and knew better. In the past it would have just been another day and I would not have cared. But using the knowledge I have learned and tools on MFP, I allowed myself a good time and knew how to get right back on track when I came home.
You have to do what works for you. You are the only one that can change. I do not eat clean. I eat what I want within in my calorie allotment and exercise. I am seeing results and feel awesome! It's probably going to take me a little longer because I do allow the splurges and cheat meals every once in a while, but it works for me :-) Weight loss is not a sprint, it is a marathon.
Good luck to you...0 -
And it sure isn't benefiting me because let's face it, there is probably a study for and against just about every food out there. I even contemplated becoming vegan after reading so much on dairy and how bad it is for you, and the hormones etc, and then, the studies suggesting meat eaters have shorter lifespans.
Studies suggest all kinds of nonsense depending on the selection criteria used. You can frame any question in such a way to derive an answer, and with the proliferation of often poorly understood statistical analysis methods in modern science, even with a correctly set-up study you can derive a poor result that is meaningless, or cannot be applied widely. I would suggest people not trained in the actual sciences be very careful about making life decisions based on "studies" without sufficient understanding of experiment design and data analysis techniques.
I can tell you that on my Mother's side of the family all the members have been pushing 100 when they died. They all ate what you may call an "English Farmhouse" style of food. High fat, Meat heavy. Loads of Dairy. High in carbs. A lot of this so-called nutritional "science" is bollocks. Remember that Physics is a science. Chemistry is a science. The further you get from these "hard" sciences, the more problematic you find things to be.......0 -
What is your support system IRL like?0
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I need to direct my mental energy in a healthier direction I think, use my innate enjoyment of healthy food, but still allow myself a treat if the mood takes me on a certain day, and keep my exercise within manageable amounts. I would love to be lean, and have a low bodyfat %, and have been getting there, but it is coming at a high cost for me. And is not simply slotting into my life, leaving room for other pursuits.
At least you've identified your personal weakness in this area and are making a plan to overcome it. Good for you and good luck.0
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