How Many of You Have Been Told You Were Obsessive?

2

Replies

  • SoDamnHungry
    SoDamnHungry Posts: 6,998 Member
    Me. Because I work out on a regular basis. Which, for me, is a maximum of four times a week. People are just that lazy, I guess.
  • Danny_Boy13
    Danny_Boy13 Posts: 2,094 Member
    I am always told that I am either "obsessed" or that I am "Too much into myself", ect. People that do not have what you have will always try to pull you down. It is like the bucket of crabs... Once one is starting to get out the others pull on him so that they can get out but end up pulling that one back in and the cycle continues.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    I can see it both ways and there is a fine line when it comes to dedication vs obsession. Vacillating over what amounts to natural body weight fluctuations, especially when you have very little to lose isn't really a very healthy mindset. You should also understand that with you being at a healthy weight and BF% it is going to be really slow and that natural body weight fluctuations are likely to mask fat loss on a pretty routine basis. You'd be best served to not focus so much on some arbitrary scale value and focus more on body re-comp...losing 5 Lbs isn't going to make you look all that different...re-comping your body will even if your weight were to stay exactly the same.

    I have been told I was obsessed before...and they were right...I had crossed the line and little things related to my weight, etc started to consume me. For me, it was a good thing to just chill out a little. I started doing a lot of research and discovered I was indeed making mountains out of molehills with a lot of this stuff.
  • patrickfish7
    patrickfish7 Posts: 190 Member
    Obsession is only measured against something. Am I obsessive against Usain Bolt or Mo Farah? Hardly. What about my 38-stone brother in law? Well, maybe.

    If something makes you happy, then keep doing it. There will ALWAYS be people trying to pull you down because they can't/won't do it themselves. My wife goes on about how I am obsessive over exercise. If onyl she did some she'd see that I'm not and in actual fact, I do less than I used to.

    My general definition to obsession is doing something single-mindedly without a justified reasoning. Except I'm a qualified sport scientist, nutritionist and former athlete who works in IT. So I'm obsessed...:grumble:
  • sassyjae21
    sassyjae21 Posts: 1,217 Member
    I can see it both ways and there is a fine line when it comes to dedication vs obsession. Vacillating over what amounts to natural body weight fluctuations, especially when you have very little to lose isn't really a very healthy mindset. You should also understand that with you being at a healthy weight and BF% it is going to be really slow and that natural body weight fluctuations are likely to mask fat loss on a pretty routine basis. You'd be best served to not focus so much on some arbitrary scale value and focus more on body re-comp...losing 5 Lbs isn't going to make you look all that different...re-comping your body will even if your weight were to stay exactly the same.

    I have been told I was obsessed before...and they were right...I had crossed the line and little things related to my weight, etc started to consume me. For me, it was a good thing to just chill out a little. I started doing a lot of research and discovered I was indeed making mountains out of molehills with a lot of this stuff.

    That's a good way to put it. That's for your input. It's just so easy to get frustrated. A friend of mine suggested that I leave the scale alone for a bit, and I think that's a good way for me to go.

    That being said, I am still going to keep going. I just find it irritating that I say very little already, and someone suggests that I'm obsessive when I do say something. I'm over it. I just wanted to vent. It's annoying to have people constantly telling you that "you don't need to lose any weight" when I'm not doing it for them in the first place :)
  • rostraqueen
    rostraqueen Posts: 22
    My immediate family know I am trying to lose weight - my 15-year-old sister told me I wasn't eating enough (she's a bit of a worrier) until I showed her my food diary and that seemed to placate her!
    I'll still go out to eat, but just try to choose the lower calorie option off the menu. I notice that if I'm eating with friends and say no to that second biscuit or 3rd slice of pizza they don't even notice, but if I say I'm trying to lose weight they start saying "But you're not overweight" (I might not look obese, but I am carrying too much weight for my height!) or "Oh, I really need to go on a diet too" and asking "does it fill you up?". Not really a conversation I want to have whilst eating so it's easier not to say anything in the first place when out. The only time I might mention it is if we're having a general in-depth girly chat. I do feel like they support me though luckily.
    Perhaps don't mention it again - if you're losing weight for yourself, does it matter if other people know about it? If anyone questions whether you're healthy or says you're looking too skinny, show them your BMI is normal using a scale like this one:
    http://www.nhs.uk/Tools/Pages/Healthyweightcalculator.aspx
    And if they're still not convinced, show them your food diary - tell them MFP will tell you if you're not eating enough!
  • AddieOverhaul
    AddieOverhaul Posts: 734 Member
    I really don't consider myself even remotely obsessive...I'm still trying to reign in my eating and work out MORE. But my Mom did say once "It's like you are on a mission or something." I knoew she meant it critically but I just smiled and said "I am!"
  • sassyjae21
    sassyjae21 Posts: 1,217 Member
    I really don't consider myself even remotely obsessive...I'm still trying to reign in my eating and work out MORE. But my Mom did say once "It's like you are on a mission or something." I knoew she meant it critically but I just smiled and said "I am!"

    Lol, well of course you are!! haha:laugh: Oh moms :)
  • amgreenwell
    amgreenwell Posts: 1,267 Member
    I've noticed in my own life that even family cannot provide the encouragement we need based on THEIR OWN ISSUES! The comments I get from family range from compliments all the way down to asking why I'm wearing certain clothing... the truth is they can't handle me looking good and feeling great, when they are miserable.
    I come from a family with an overweight majority so this is something we've dealt with for years.
    I hope your sister can let you open up without judgement and let you be who you are on this journey to get fit and healthy.
  • MissKalhan
    MissKalhan Posts: 2,282 Member
    My co-workers think I'm bat$hit insane, I'm constantly logging and double checking things(currently looking at healthy options for tomorrow staff christmas lunch) and I know I talk about it a lot. A few of my friends get annoyed with me when I turn down going out for drinsk ect for the sake of my calories. Other than that I have some very supportive friends and family that root for me and sometimes question my sanity lol
  • sassyjae21
    sassyjae21 Posts: 1,217 Member
    I've noticed in my own life that even family cannot provide the encouragement we need based on THEIR OWN ISSUES! The comments I get from family range from compliments all the way down to asking why I'm wearing certain clothing... the truth is they can't handle me looking good and feeling great, when they are miserable.
    I come from a family with an overweight majority so this is something we've dealt with for years.
    I hope your sister can let you open up without judgement and let you be who you are on this journey to get fit and healthy.

    Thank you :flowerforyou:
  • sassyjae21
    sassyjae21 Posts: 1,217 Member
    My co-workers think I'm bat$hit insane, I'm constantly logging and double checking things(currently looking at healthy options for tomorrow staff christmas lunch) and I know I talk about it a lot. A few of my friends get annoyed with me when I turn down going out for drinsk ect for the sake of my calories. Other than that I have some very supportive friends and family that root for me and sometimes question my sanity lol

    Whatever you're doing is certainly working!! You look great!
  • fannyfrost
    fannyfrost Posts: 756 Member
    Honestly, I think that anytime people become focused on a goal, those that aren't focused call it obsessive.

    Obsessed is what I saw at the gym one time. This girl says to me and someone else (It was my building gym, so I knew her) "I ate one oreo so now I have to do the treadmill for 60 minutes to burn it off" followed by how that is the only thing she had for lunch but she knows she has to work it off. OMG I was like OK your crazy and obsessed.
  • sassyjae21
    sassyjae21 Posts: 1,217 Member
    Honestly, I think that anytime people become focused on a goal, those that aren't focused call it obsessive.

    Obsessed is what I saw at the gym one time. This girl says to me and someone else (It was my building gym, so I knew her) "I ate one oreo so now I have to do the treadmill for 60 minutes to burn it off" followed by how that is the only thing she had for lunch but she knows she has to work it off. OMG I was like OK your crazy and obsessed.

    Ok now THAT is scary. But that's what I said too. If I was obsessed, I think I would be doing this the wrong way. I'm doing it right. I'm just not shoveling in food by the truckload anymore, which is what I was doing lol.
  • JoRocka
    JoRocka Posts: 17,525 Member
    I'm taking my food scale to dinner tonight- I'm 100% objective about it. I'm not going to let it affect HOW much I eat at all- but I need to know.

    I'm sure I'm going to get looked at funny- but if science was easy- everyone would do it.

    Same with looking fabulous- if it was easy- everyone would do it.
  • healthymissfit
    healthymissfit Posts: 648 Member
    I've been told I am obsessive all the time. My boyfriend sees it as a good thing, but most of my close friends see that it's either annoying or a health problem. I personally am working on me, and for everyone that matters, that's explanation enough ;)
  • DavidSTC
    DavidSTC Posts: 173 Member
    I always wait for people to ask me about it first. That way, I don't feel like I'm shoving my success in their face. When I tell them that I've just been watching what I'm eating and exercising, they don't seem to have any follow-up questions. And, that's OK with me! :smile: I've been doing this all for myself, not anyone else, and I know that people who don't care about losing weight probably don't want to be bored with tales of my journey.
  • ModernNerd
    ModernNerd Posts: 336 Member
    *raises hand* I actually don't talk about my fitness goals or health-related topics outside of the mfp community. However, people in my experience tend to scream "obsession" when they see a relatively thin girl paying attention to those things (ie going to the gym, choosing healthy options when eating out, etc). It gets pretty frustrating to be honest. I think it's remarkably ignorant to ask a perfect stranger if they have an eating disorder simply because they don't want 3 appetizers and dessert at a meal.
  • MysteriousMerlin
    MysteriousMerlin Posts: 2,270 Member
    I have not, but I am really hyperaware of my actions, so I curb the fitness/nutrition talk around certain (ok, most) people. I only go into details when someone is truly interested or needs help/advice and asks for it.

    I find most people are either rude about it or completely uninterested. I won't waste my time.
  • happysherri
    happysherri Posts: 1,360 Member
    Me! I've been tolda that I'm obsessed, but that's because I am a little. But Hey! better to be addicted to being healthy and fit than drugs or other vices! LOL
  • kmbweber2014
    kmbweber2014 Posts: 680 Member
    I hear it form family when I weigh my food so I have learned to keep things preweighed (is that a word) when I family coming. And sometimes they tell me I am drinking too much water and need to slow down :grumble: , that one kind of annoys me. I have a 32 oz Nalgene bottle I fill twice a day and maybe have two more glasses at night.
  • 00NL
    00NL Posts: 171 Member
    people are supportive on my end :)
    i dont discus it a lot. the results show the dedication :)
    but most of the people suspect i am doing it for "Someone"
  • sassyjae21
    sassyjae21 Posts: 1,217 Member
    people are supportive on my end :)
    i dont discus it a lot. the results show the dedication :)
    but most of the people suspect i am doing it for "Someone"

    Haha, yes. She asked if my boyfriend was behind this sudden and drastic dangerous change in behavior. Like I give a rat's *kitten* what he thinks :laugh:
  • mkcmurphy
    mkcmurphy Posts: 438 Member
    My husband did once. I got mad, pointed at my shrinking self and said "Twenty pounds down and not done yet. This isn't obsessed, it's getting the job done!"
  • molonlabe762
    molonlabe762 Posts: 411 Member
    I hear it all the time at work.
  • captaincharisma24
    captaincharisma24 Posts: 155
    I was told yesterday that I am obsessive when I showed my family a daily log of what I eat and what exercises I do.They tried to convince me that my high blood pressure was due to worrying about how much i ate. Also, that I should relax and not overdo it exercising. Then the conversation came up where I told them you don' t even realize what you are putting in your bodies.There is a reason why you take 7 medications and its because you can't control what you put in your body. That conversation went quiet really fast as they had nothing to say.
  • seltzermint555
    seltzermint555 Posts: 10,740 Member
    Yeah, I think we've all been told this at some point.

    I mostly get it from my mom or husband when I am counting things. For example, I often have a little snack at night that includes 4-5 chocolate chips and/or 4-5 almonds, and I count them out and enter them in my log exactly. Or the other day I went to my mom's place for lunch and she was serving chili with some very small chips. I looked at the serving size which was 32 small chips and I counted out 32 exactly and she thought that was so weird, but actually if I'd guessed at my serving size I probably would have eaten like 15 chips so I wound up being "free" to eat more than I would have.


    I think my husband gets it a little bit more now that he is also on MFP, though! Last night he only had a few calories left and I noticed he measured out some cereal before eating it :-)
  • DavidSTC
    DavidSTC Posts: 173 Member
    And sometimes they tell me I am drinking too much water and need to slow down :grumble: , that one kind of annoys me.

    Geez. Everybody's a critic.
  • diannethegeek
    diannethegeek Posts: 14,776 Member
    "I just want to do the cabbage soup diet. I don't want to get as obsessive about dieting as you."

    Yep.
  • kiwigal41
    kiwigal41 Posts: 1,059
    I've been told that, and much worse

Categories