Do you ever feel like losing weight is a full-time job?

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Magjistare
Magjistare Posts: 5
in Health and Weight Loss
I'm not sure if I'm OCD, but it just feels to me like losing weight is a full-time job that eclipses everything else. If you have any tips, please share!

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  • MystikPixie
    MystikPixie Posts: 342 Member
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    It really is, it's something that's on my mind 24/7, I even dream about it. If it was easy then everyone would be fit and trim. You are not alone.
  • lmhbuss
    lmhbuss Posts: 282 Member
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    I think that it can feel like that in the beginning when you are just starting and learning a lot, but eventually the things that take effort now simply become habit and don't seem to dominate your life.
  • seleniumbaby
    seleniumbaby Posts: 18
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    Don't let it become an obsession, though. That's where eating disorders begin. (so my therapist says...)
  • marjoleina
    marjoleina Posts: 189 Member
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    It does take attention, but it gets better once you develop a routine.
  • joanthemom8
    joanthemom8 Posts: 375 Member
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    Same here.... not so much losing weight as constantly thinking about what I'm eating and am I getting in my exercise. I've been logging on here for over 800 days straight, so it's been a mini-obsession for me. But I truly think I'd be worse-off if I wasn't obsessed.
  • seltzermint555
    seltzermint555 Posts: 10,741 Member
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    It does take attention, but it gets better once you develop a routine.

    This describes my feelings as well.
  • Boogage
    Boogage Posts: 739 Member
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    It has been for me but then I needed something to throw myself into when I finished uni and became a stay at home mum. I love spending time with my kids and needed to be at home as my new born was poorly for a long time but I also needed something else to get stuck into so weight loss became my full time job.
  • improweight
    improweight Posts: 7 Member
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    Yes, I don't think I could have begun it as seriously unless I had some time off like I do now. But it is getting more natural, which is great. The real test will be when life events get hectic/surprising.
  • SummerRain43
    SummerRain43 Posts: 358
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    I know it can seem that way.....it's like that for me to a certain extent.....to be so focused on something, to the extent that it takes over your life is not limited to just losing weight....some people can feel like that about other things in their lives too.....for us on MFP, it happens to be weight loss.....I guess the important thing is to try to create a balance.....and I know that it easier said than done, especially in the beginning.....but as another poster said, eventually it just becomes a habit and a way of life.....I will be counting calories (although not as strictly as I did in the beginning to lose the weight) for the rest of my life.....for myself I just know that I have to do that....but yes, health and fitness is a full time thing....best of luck to you.....feel free to add me as a friend if you want someone to rant to now and then or if you need encouragement....I've been here a long time just with a different name now.....:)
  • amaysngrace
    amaysngrace Posts: 742 Member
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    Act like you are losing weight, but think like it is just a normal part of your life. I have to think of exercise as a job that I must report to, or else, I would never go work out. I enjoy the diet part of fitness more so than the exercising part. So, I have to come up with ways to psyche myself up when I get to the gym. When, I get on the treadmill, I think about diabetes, then I don't mind being on there after all because I don't want myself to get diabetes or any other health condition associated with obesity. I find creative ways to eat things and I love to create my own healthy dishes which are fun! I don't deprive myself of the foods I love either, but since I have been eating much healthier, some of those foods I no longer crave, like soda and fast food.
  • scubasuenc
    scubasuenc Posts: 626 Member
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    Losing weight is hard and takes a lot of work. I find that I'm planning my day to get in my exercise and to make sure I meet my calorie goals. Beyond that there is the emotional energy needed to stay in the right mind set.

    As I'm eating well and getting plenty of sleep, I don't find it to be physically exhausting but it is emotionally exhausting. I'm trying to change 40+ years of habits and thought patterns. I shouldn't expect that to be easy.

    I'm still waiting for it all to become 'habit' and natural. :smile:

    My biggest tip is to take it one day at a time. I get up each morning with 2 goals.
    1) Eat under my calorie goal
    2) Exercise at least 30 minutes
    If I meet those two goals, then my day is a success.

    Yesterday is finished. I can't change what happened. I'll worry about tomorrow when it becomes today.
  • K3rB3ar89
    K3rB3ar89 Posts: 263 Member
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    the only thing i find that takes over is adding everything into MFP lol and measuring everything but i kinda got used too it and its kinda become a habit minus the past few days. but ill be back on track with my tracking starting today. but i have a pretty active lifestyle with work and my 2 year old so even if i dont get time too legit work out i still feel like after a day of cleaning and my daughter i worked out anyways:P
  • djxil
    djxil Posts: 357
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    It kind of is. At the beginning, it might seem more of a job because you are establishing new habits. As time goes on and you have established your habits and know your body better, it becomes as second nature as driving a car or riding a bike, you just know what to do. Like riding a bike or driving a car, however, you can hit bumps and even fall off the bike, so you log your food, it's your bike helmet, it's your steering wheel.

    Hope that helps.
  • Tanya949
    Tanya949 Posts: 606 Member
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    In the beginning it sure seems like a full time job. If you get organized and create a plan for your meals, then it can become a one hour a day job, and a few (cooking) on the weekend. I do all meal prep on Sundays, then just log in the mornings what Im eating for the day and pack my lunch. When i get home at night, meals are ready to eat.
  • SwampWitch666
    SwampWitch666 Posts: 110 Member
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    I used to feel that way because it was such a drastic change from how I was used to going about my life. But now that my stomach has shrunk to accommodate smaller meals, my body recognizes its need for proper nutrition, and my brain has evolved from obsession to healthy habit... it's become a lot easier and this lifestyle much more rewarding. You just have to train yourself.
  • childhoodshour00
    childhoodshour00 Posts: 23 Member
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    yes i agree with you. It does take so much work, but like some people on here said in there own words, if I wasn't super dedicated it won't work. I'm an "all or nothing" kinda gal. My internet was out for a day and i was FREAKING out because I couldn't enter my stuff on MFP.... i know it can turn into an obsession, and it's very hard when you are a multi-tasker. I feel like some days I have 4 jobs. I work full-time, I'm going to school full-time for my doctorate, I have 3 small children, and trying to drop 95 lbs. Just remember on your overwhelmed days that it is progress, not perfection.
  • dakotababy
    dakotababy Posts: 2,406 Member
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    :) best full-time job EVER.
  • DopeItUp
    DopeItUp Posts: 18,771 Member
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    It's like that in the beginning but after a while it just becomes absorbed as a normal part of life. You'll get used to it.
  • jimmmer
    jimmmer Posts: 3,515 Member
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    It's like that in the beginning but after a while it just becomes absorbed as a normal part of life. You'll get used to it.

    This^

    You ingrain some new habits that work better in terms of weight management than your old habits. Then you think about it less and less.

    I don't really devote much energy to it on a day-by-day basis anymore.

    In Mass Made Simple there's a great tip (although for people bulking, it's equally apt for people cutting) take a day out of your week where you don't do exercise and use that productively to shop and cook for the week ahead. Then you're not worrying about what you're going to be eating when it's already done - you've just got to defrost it, or decant it, or whatever on the day and away you go.

    You can bulk cook large stews, curries, etc. and freeze individual portions for the week ahead. You can roast a tonne of chicken breasts and slice them, bag them and freeze them. Whatever. You've got the main stuff with all the macros you want to hit done and dusted for the day and all logged in about 20s in the morning. Then you can leave yourself a bit of calorie "headroom" per day to eat/snack/drink spontaneously without derailing everything or overthinking stuff hour-by-hour.

    It's not for everyone (in that you have to be organised and planned) and requires that you enjoy cooking (a lot, or at least, a lot at once), but if that sounds like you, then it's a great way to do things without driving yourself too far up the wall....

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