weighing food = eating disorder

Do you WANT to lose weight?

Sure you do.

When people tell you that you look fine, do you feel a little offended that they are making that up to make you feel good about yourself?

All females will look their best at 20-25 % total body fat.

Ever try to attack the eating side of the equation through hunger control?

Folks thing that hunger is something that is locked in stone. But the sensation of hunger starts out as signals from the stomach that it is not as full as it is used to being. That gets processed by the brain, with input from almost every part of the brain, so that for the obese this sensation drives them to eat. A lot.

But the brain is plastic. You can rewire it. You can attenuate the sensation of an empty stomach with the urge to eat.

Want to try?

First, eat small volume meals, as many as you want, to shrink the volume of the stomach. Count calories if you like, but that is not important.

You might be surprised at how you will feel. You might start losing weight.

After a couple weeks of this, start cutting down on the number of meals you eat.

I guarantee you WILL be surprised at how you feel and your change in hunger urges.

Ultimately, the goal is to skip breakfast, and eat your first meal of the day at noon or so. Not only will the fat-burning process be extended in the morning, but you will further get used to working and living your life on an empty stomach.

Your brain will re-wire. You will be a new person. You will gradually lose weight.

Look at the freebie pages in the kIindle version of Dr. John Hagan's "Breakfast: The least important meal of the day."

Take control of your life. Sky's the limit.

You go girl!

You can't measure what you don't track.

It's ok to keep track of your money, but it's not ok to measure your food? People are whacked out of their minds.

I was chatting with some family members and we got on the topic of weight loss. I mentioned that since I've been exercising and counting calories, I've lost a few pounds. I started to go into detail about how I weigh my food so I can know how much I'm actually eating, and my aunt said "but only people with eating disorders do that! You'll become anorexic obsessing over food."

Have any of you been told this?
What do you say?

I just switched the subject.

Calorie counting in general can lead to a lot of disordered thinking...obviously it doesn't mean that everyone who counts calories or weighs and measures everything has an ED or disordered thinking, but many do. There is plenty of evidence right here on MFP.

If you can weigh and measure and track your intake while still maintaining and/or developing a healthy relationship with food then it is the best way to go in my estimation...but people often do go down a very dark road when they start doing this stuff. For those that suffer ED, it is generally not recommended to count calories or weigh and measure their portions, etc as it often triggers their disorder.

Hi Steve!

It's true if you become literally obsessed. It can become a habit. Counting calories really isn't important, quality matters more than quantity.

Not for weight loss.

Depends on your goals I guess. If weighing your food aids you in reaching your goals, why is it considered a disorder?

if I set a montly budget on my spending and I track it through my online bank account, I have a disorder for that as well?

I like this. Great analogy.