Counting Calories is an eating disorder?

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  • jwalworth
    jwalworth Posts: 32 Member
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    no. if you're at goal weight and still counting obsessively then that would have some concerning elements but this is a learning process and while you're learning you need to keep track and be careful

    I'm at goal and still here and counting and probably will for a long time to come. I got fat by not counting and eating whatever the h3ll I wanted. Don't consider it obsessive or an eating disorder, has just become my way of life. I still go out and enjoy myself.

    This + 1
  • 777twist
    777twist Posts: 75 Member
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    First off the guy/gal who did the website F'itdiet.com where the OP got the article doesn't say he/she is having any success not worrying about dieting. So I'm not sure why anyone would quote anything from that site.

    The site is basically Atheism for food. But although I agree (and post often about it) with the point on stress, it's moronic to think not thinking about food, calories, diet, exercise is more healthy and a better way to lose weight. Most people are in the fat-boat they are in because of not thinking about food, diet, exercise.

    So the website is ridiculous and has barely any merit. Anyone who listens to it, has very flawed logic. At least force the website creator to post his/her journey to see how they did it by saying F'-it.

    Oh, and when the website creator said they went through all the diets out there... that just shows me they didn't count calories, they just looked for the magic bullet of fat loss.

    Counting calories is about figuring out when, what, and how much you can eat given your current lifestyle. And then making adjustments to everything based on how you are doing weight/health wise.

    It's sad that many people will probably listen to the F'-it diet and balloon back up in weight. BTW, I follow the F'-it diet... it's call my CHEAT DAY!
  • Rays_Wife
    Rays_Wife Posts: 1,173 Member
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    For me, counting calories has helped me overcome my eating disorders! Simple as that. It's not for everybody, but it's for me and I will continue to do so until it suits me no more.
  • KarenLue
    KarenLue Posts: 94 Member
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    I have heard this too. And I do love to eat and tend to over exercise. Whether it is or whether it isn't an eating disorder I don't care. For me it's necessary and it's what works. And I'm glad I am willing to put in the extra effort than let my weight and health decline get out of control. Don't worry about what "They say". Say you have an eating disorder. What would the answer be? Just quit having a disorder? No that won't work. Probably to consciously keep track of what you are doing...........which is what you are doing! Congratulations!!!
  • PortiaBentley
    PortiaBentley Posts: 381 Member
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    If counting my calories and paying attention to what i eat, trying to exercise and being healthier is a disorder well, i confess, i have it and am proud of it! Too bad I have other health issues due to my out of control eating that brought me here. Wonder what they say about that?
  • ironanimal
    ironanimal Posts: 5,922 Member
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    Is it disordered? Probably, in the sense that is abnormal, and for some does become an all consuming obsession on the forefront of their mind every minute of the day.

    For others.. we can take breaks from it and stop altogether whenever we like without any mental repercussions, and there's nothing disordered about that - it's just a tool to further our goals.
  • DenialTwist33
    DenialTwist33 Posts: 10
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    In some cases, I think it can be, I think.
    I've been told I have an eating disorder in the way I count mine.

    I'm not overweight, according to BMI, my weight is healthy but i'm not happy, so I want to lose some of it and tone up.. (I'm 18, by the way)
    However, I do count my calories. I won't go over 1,200 and If I do, or I feel like I've eaten too many in a meal, I will exercise some of it off.
    I'm very particular about this..

    I have been told the way i'm so fussy and so pedantic about the calories and then having to exercise them off classifies as part of an eating disorder.

    Yes, I can recognise I'm doing this.
    If I stop I will feel worse about myself, as stated in a previous post, it is a consuming thought in my mind all the time.


    Xxx
  • rjmudlax13
    rjmudlax13 Posts: 909 Member
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    The biggest issue here is the use of the term "disorder." If you do something regularly that interrupts your life, makes daily tasks difficult/impossible, or wreaks catastrophic damage to your personal well being, then it is a disorder. Counting calories? Not a disorder. Spending hours mapping out your meals for the next day, bursting into tears at the grocery store, developing bleeding ulcers from the stress of deciding whether to eat this or that, that's a disorder.

    Psychology is a science, not a buzzword.

    Yeah...this. Calling the act of counting calories a disorder is ridiculous. Anything can become a disorder if taken to an extreme from drinking alcohol to brushing your teeth. However, only a trained mental health professional can make the determination of when it becomes a disorder.
  • CarmenSRT
    CarmenSRT Posts: 843 Member
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    In some cases, I think it can be, I think.
    I've been told I have an eating disorder in the way I count mine.

    I'm not overweight, according to BMI, my weight is healthy but i'm not happy, so I want to lose some of it and tone up.. (I'm 18, by the way)
    However, I do count my calories. I won't go over 1,200 and If I do, or I feel like I've eaten too many in a meal, I will exercise some of it off.
    I'm very particular about this..

    I have been told the way i'm so fussy and so pedantic about the calories and then having to exercise them off classifies as part of an eating disorder.

    Yes, I can recognise I'm doing this.
    If I stop I will feel worse about myself, as stated in a previous post, it is a consuming thought in my mind all the time.


    Xxx

    It sounds like you know you have disordered thinking as far as eating goes. MFP is probably not the first stop you should make. A doctor would be a good idea. Catch it and stop it NOW before it lands you in a health crisis down the road.
  • 1sisrat
    1sisrat Posts: 267 Member
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    what she saying is that if it causes you serious distraction and distress from daily activities and that you feel you will FAIL without doing it, then, it is a disorder. Technically if anyone does ANYTHING that causes such an amount of guilt or distress it is a disorder... check it out in the DSM. true story. Typically an eating disorder, OCD disroder (the true sense of the diagnosis, not the one where people say 'oh man, I'm so OCD because I ...."), impulse control disorder (which is very similiar to OCD). The disorder was there BEFORE the calorie counting and the calorie counting/food obsessing is the manifestation.

    but

    if you are not kept from enjoying life, enjoying family, your hobbies, or whatever in addition to what you are doing to stay fit/healthy then you are fine. most people are fine while counting calories.... it's the people who can't sleep at night because they ate red meat at a restaurant instead of just a salad that are the disordered ones.
  • sleepingtodream
    sleepingtodream Posts: 304 Member
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    I had disordered eating when I DIDN'T count calories and I DIDN'T recognize there needed to be a balance between intake and burn.

    Exactly!!
  • Bekahmardis
    Bekahmardis Posts: 602 Member
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    If counting my calories and paying attention to what i eat, trying to exercise and being healthier is a disorder well, i confess, i have it and am proud of it! Too bad I have other health issues due to my out of control eating that brought me here. Wonder what they say about that?
    Bingo. I have a terrible disorder and I refuse to get help for it. Does that mean I'm a caloriholic?
  • kdsp2911
    kdsp2911 Posts: 170 Member
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    Well... ****.

    *throws everything in the air and walks out*

    ^^ This...made me giggle :happy:
  • bumblebums
    bumblebums Posts: 2,181 Member
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    Nope. It doesn't interfere with my life and I suffer no ill psychological or physical effects from watching my food intake. Let's not pathologize behaviors just because we do not want to partake in them.
  • etoiles_argentees
    etoiles_argentees Posts: 2,827 Member
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    This might have been already posted, didn't read all the pages -
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orthorexia_nervosa
  • crystalflame
    crystalflame Posts: 1,049 Member
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    Coming from someone who had an eating disorder: it becomes disordered eating when it's an obsession. It becomes disordered eating when, if you fail for a day, you feel like you've lost control and have a strong negative emotional reaction. Just counting calories and planning out your meals so you can achieve your goals is a healthy, intelligent behavior for the world we live in where fast food and little exercise is the norm.
  • arisaurus
    arisaurus Posts: 10 Member
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    I posted already but I have something to add. I've been eating disordered for 12 years now (i'm 23) and being on MFP and counting my calories and macros and all that is getting me back on trrack to eating healthfully.

    Counting calories doesn't equal eating disorder.

    When you can't brush your teeth because you're afraid of cals in toothpaste, that's a problem.

    If you're healthily planning meals and eating enough to sustain yourself, you have nothing to worry about : )
  • SDkitty
    SDkitty Posts: 446 Member
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    Ahe1m_zps79da5447.gif

    :noway:
  • LoveHummingbirds
    LoveHummingbirds Posts: 17
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    Well I'm no psychologist but from personal experience, counting calories actually HELPS me to stay stable and sane and feel better about myself in general. Self control equals self respect.

    I completely agree with this. I am at my goal weight and I've never felt so healthy, strong, and fit both physically and mentally. I do still log my food and exercise to avoid the yo-yo dieting that plagued me in the past.
  • endoftheside
    endoftheside Posts: 568 Member
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    There was some disordered eating that contributed to my weight gain, and there will probably still be some disordered eating when I am at goal weight. My hunger signals are wacky and it just takes more for me to stay on track...more thinking, more planning and more "rules". I would rather be disordered and at a healthy weight than the kind of disordered that had me obese, and my hope is that over time my relationship with food will become easier and not as much work.

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