It's really starting to wear on me. How do I stop it

I think it is more of an issue of you telling yourself you 'can't ' have it, which in turn wil make you obsess about it more. When we think we can't have something we then want it more. So, put it in your head 'I don't want it'. Replace 'can't ' with 'don't '.

I'm not sure if you're aware you can add more meals to your day in your food diary. I do this and have six meals planned out including a 2nd breakfast, afternoon snack and late night snack. I'm not sure when you are eating your snacks but maybe if you lay them out like this all thruought your day at the most logical and opportune times to eat them you will be able to allot each one the appropriate amount of calories to stay satiated and munching throughout the day. I have to eat like this or I will get headaches. It sounds like you might benefit from lots of eating opportunities thru the day for boredom or stress I guess. ANyways it's not bad for you as long as you divide your cals right and the times don't matter either. If I know I'm gonna be up late coming home from a party or something I leave myself at least 200 extra cals because I'm a late night snacker if I'm up late and if I didn't get to have that little something I'd be up at night obsessing like you just described. because i'm just hungry. and a little snack takes care of it. it works. try it. :flowerforyou:

Makoce, when you are obsessing about food/meals/eating what sort of language do you use in your internal dialogue?

I know it is going to sound so incredibly silly, but it the following works surprisingly well. We often tell ourselves CANNOT. I CANNOT eat yet. I CANNOT have this to eat. In using CANNOT type thoughts we are denying something we are telling ourselves we want. It sets up a back and forth argument with ourselves.

Instead of thinking about food and attaching CANNOT/denying thoughts (if you are following that trend), trying using DO NOT and a reason for it. I DO NOT want to eat at this time BECAUSE I am not truly hungry, it exceeds my goal, etc. I DO NOT want to have this food BECAUSE it is full of poor calories (sugar, chemicals, etc).

I started out CANNOT and switched over to DO NOT. Works surprisingly well. Some days it took singing it out loud in the shower much to my girlfriend's chagrin, but what the hell. It worked.

Cognitive therapy: changes how you think then changes how you feel then changes how you behave. make sure your thoughts are realistic and factual and not exaggerated. For instance "I'm STARVING, I haven't eaten since dawn!!!" might become "Actually I had an apple and cheese at break I forgot about, so really I'm just eager for lunch which is only 30 minutes away, water/tea/juice/milk/etc. can hold me." . write and rearrange them if you must. it can help a lot.

I'm always thinking about food. It's a pain in the A.

When somebody has lost as much weight as you have, her body is likely secreting a hormone called ghrelin. Go Google that and read up on it. What it does is it sort of turns on the "I'm starving" reflex in your body and does as you are saying, makes you obsess about food until you gain the weight back.

One thing that really helps me a lot - and you don't have to be much of a cook to do this - is to keep a big pot of really healthy soup, usually vegetable, in my fridge at all times. Any time I am REALLY hungry, as opposed to "my wouldnt a donut be good," I can zap a cup of that soup in the microwave and that will eliminate the starving feeling 9 times out of 10. Guilt free.

Good luck and hang in there. It gets better.

Please research the terms 'satiety' and 'umami'.
Some foods are naturally more satisfying,
and will keep you from feeling psychologically hungry.
Another good research topic is
'cravings and food allergies'.
Cue the music : The More You Know!"

Best wishes!

Are you sure you're not really hungry? I mean, some of it might be boredom/psychological/something, but you're only netting 1200-something calories a day for at least the last week (that's as far back as I looked) and I don't know your stats, but I'd guess that you're probably eating less than you really need and that's what's making you obsessive about food.

It's great that you have been successful to the degree you have at your age - fantastic job! I began to have weight issues at your age, after being a very normal-sized kid and teenager. I wish I had done what I'm doing now way back then.

As a guy - with two daughters a bit older than you - I'm obviously NOT going to have the same challenges/experiences you'll have as a young woman. I can tell you this - it will be a life-long endeavor, this dealing with eating. I don't say that to discourage you - I firmly believe you can win out over the thoughts, doubts, obsessions!

What I do think is worth sharing, however, as hard as it seems now, is that it will only get harder - IF you let go and return to your prior patterns. NOW is the best time to conquer the issue - it will never get any easier. Whether you're now fighting boredom, feeling deprived, dealing with depression - you've done the hardest part in losing the weight. This is now the next phase of your battle - take it on with the same passion and dedication that made your first phase so successful!

I know the feeling where FOOD is your constant thought! It's a necessary part of our lives and can have a powerful influence over us. The thing that I think is helping me most at this point (I'm down 50 pounds, but that's only 1/4 of what I want/need to lose) is CONSTANTLY telling myself that food is "fuel". I used it as a reward, to celebrate, to gain pleasure, etc., for so long, I've had to almost re-program my brain as to what food even is. After 6 months, I'm just now beginning to find my every waking moment isn't just about food.

But that hasn't happened by trying to distract myself - although keeping myself busy and occupied is very important. I've had to REPLACE one pattern of thinking for another. Trying NOT to think about something is almost impossible. You need to give yourself something to replace that thought with, and while watching a movie or reading a book can temporarily divert your attention, you need to actually put another thought in the vacuum you're trying to fill, or the original thought will just come back. For me, that has been redefining what food is. I'm not sure I can explain it any better than that. I wish you the best!

Go talk to a therapist.