Counting Calories is an eating disorder?

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!!

Well... ****.

*throws everything in the air and walks out*

^^ This...made me giggle :happy:

This might have been already posted, didn't read all the pages -
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orthorexia_nervosa

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 : )

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.

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.

I think it's more this response. It could be a problem for someone but not for everyone . If it interferes with your life, it could be a problem. but we are all different with this . Some of us need to do it, for others it can become problematic. I know for me it was an obsession and that's why I don't use this website for calorie tracking anymore, but rather for support.

hello you lovely people....

That is my site!

You'll know whether you are dealing with disordered eating or not. It is an obsession. You'll know if it is taking up too much space in your mind, heart, thoughts, and life. You'll know. (...Well actually a lot of people don't fully know while they are going through it, but looking back it is clear as day.)

But HEY! If you're happy: keep on keeping on. If it truly gives you a sense of purpose and joy and freedom: keep it up.

Enough people have ruined their lives and hijacked their priorities by becoming obsessed with their bodies, I was one of them, and so I am there to support them. My life is immeasurably better now that I eat absolutely normally without too much thought at all. If that isn't you, then you have nothing to worry about.

The point of life is enjoying it, so if you are enjoying it... just... whatever!

Best,

Caroline
the****itdiet.com

hello you lovely people....

That is my site!

You'll know whether you are dealing with disordered eating or not. It is an obsession. You'll know if it is taking up too much space in your mind, heart, thoughts, and life. You'll know. (...Well actually a lot of people don't fully know while they are going through it, but looking back it is clear as day.)

But HEY! If you're happy: keep on keeping on. If it truly gives you a sense of purpose and joy and freedom: keep it up.

Enough people have ruined their lives and hijacked their priorities by becoming obsessed with their bodies, I was one of them, and so I am there to support them. My life is immeasurably better now that I eat absolutely normally without too much thought at all. If that isn't you, then you have nothing to worry about.

The point of life is enjoying it, so if you are enjoying it... just... whatever!

Best,

Caroline
the****itdiet.com

Hi Caroline

As much as I'm glad you've found inner peace with your food and body, I think you may be recruiting at the wrong place! Many of us have found relief from our disordered eating here, gaining a sense of control in software that we couldn't find from our hunger and satiety hormones.

I believe food is a massive part of our thoughts, it's perfectly natural, call it an obsession if you want. I call it a survival mechanism.

Most of us love logging and making sure we hit our macros. This is after all a fitness site. Many of us are looking to fuel our sports endeavours correctly, and many of us started here very unhappy with our bodies, but found not only have we found peace, pride and joy in our hotness, we have risen above vanity and started realising strength and fitness goals beyond our wildest imaginations.

Of course, now you are invested in your philosophy as you've made it a business, and I feel no security in your integrity.

I hope you're reading some of the posts here. There are some incredible stories, very successful sportsmen and women, and cutting edge info on health and nutrition.

Be also aware that there are some vulnerable eating disorder people here too. It's best to leave them to the professionals rather than alarm them. An analyst once labelled me orthorexic (he was NOT in good shape now I look back, funny how it's never fit slim people throwing the labels around) and it scared me, I ate all the foods and ended up over 30% body fat! I was young and impressionable. Should have been getting my fitness advice from a PT, not a smoking overweight psychologist.

But HEY! If you're happy: keep on keeping on. If it truly gives you a sense of purpose and joy and freedom: keep it up.

Well I wouldn't say calorie counting gives me a sense of purpose and joy and freedom - more that it is a mundane everyday part of my life that keeps my weight in healthy range.

Bit like, say, cleaning my teeth - hardly something giving me joy purpose freedom either - but just something mundane that keeps me healthy.

^^^ this is how I feel. The analogy with teeth cleaning is perfect, because that's how much mental space it takes up, really. It takes only about a minute to log a meal with the phone app, and you can do that wherever you happen to be. It tells me if I'm eating the right amount of food or not, or if I'm eating enough protein or not. With that info, I can adjust meals later in the day to ensure I'm a) getting enough protein and b) not eating too much overall. That's pretty much all there is to it. And I don't usually log when maintaning as my body tends to naturally maintain my weight so long as I'm not letting myself get too hungry as this leads to overeating due to excessive hunger. So I end up only logging when I'm doing a cut. But I know from past experience, trying to lose fat without logging either leads to eating too little (and cue rebound excessive hunger and overeating at some point) or eating at maintenance. Either way it doesn't work. But logging food and sticking to a calorie goal on here works.