Measuring food CAN be a lead way towards eating disorders

Telling someone who is dealing with an eating disorder sometimes isn't enough. Like I said before, our brains actually function differently. You don't know what its like to live with an eating disorder so you cannot just read a damn article and automatically know how to get someone recovered. Its the victims choice. Its something the victim will live with for the rest of their life. Something they will have to fight forever.

I will always be an anorexic, but I'M FIGHTING IT.

...and mental health professionals can possibly offer help.
... but only if you want it.

everyone gets that eating disorders are bad. no one is disagreeing. because of your past with an eating disorder, it is pretty clear that you need professional help. at this point, you are just looking for attention on mfp.

Did I not make myself clear? Counting calories is not a trigger. Its measuring.

you do understand that in order to count calories correctly you have to measure your food, right? & also, counting calories is a type of measurement.

Okay I just want to make things clear about measuring. It can possible, not always, but possibly lead to an eating disorder. Or even could lead to a relapse as well. Measuring foods DOES NOT work for EVERYONE.

Nothing works for EVERYONE

And ANYTHING is possible

... except for skiing through a revolving door.

I think you're madly in love with your mental disorder.

I think it's your identity and is what gives your life meaning.

Being a 'victim' and having 'issues' is so much fun to go on about, huh?

Telling someone who is dealing with an eating disorder sometimes isn't enough. Like I said before, our brains actually function differently. You don't know what its like to live with an eating disorder so you cannot just read a damn article and automatically know how to get someone recovered. Its the victims choice. Its something the victim will live with for the rest of their life. Something they will have to fight forever.

I will always be an anorexic, but I'M FIGHTING IT.

Then why are you on MFP, a calorie counting website?

Did I not make myself clear? Counting calories is not a trigger. Its measuring.

Its neither counting nor measuring that's the real problem. Its obsessing over keeping the count 100% accurate and BELOW a dangerous limit that you have set yourself for an extended period of time. But then, you know that, don't you? Because anorexics tend to be both obsessive and highly intelligent, don't they? And over-achieving, perfectionist, and very, very stubborn.

Everyone who is here, is here for their health,and has their own story. We'd like you to join us in that goal, despite that fact that some of us decide to be effing a-holes on this board sometimes. So if you feel it would help you, go ahead and count, and measure if you are in any doubt, and use those activities to make sure you reach the healthy goals that you know you should have. I personally doubt you need to measure many things to get a count that is within about 90% of accurate. But if you truly feel that you can't measure without triggering, then you need to focus on NOT counting calories, because I have no doubt that your estimates and logs (here or mentally) are pretty darned accurate, due to your likely intelligence and years of experience that I suspect you have counting calories in your head.

We all wish you health and happiness. I wish you self-respect and to love yourself inside and outside no matter what comes. If you don't want to seek professional help, then seek your own help; that is your right. But I see a great deal of love and concern for you here on this board, and I hope you see the same.

It is actually very simple. A person who already has the compulsion to be obsessive about things will become obsessive about weighing and measuring. Just like an addictive person will switch to food or tobacco if stopping alcohol or any switch among these.The weighing and measuring will NOT lead to an ED. The obsessive thinking in the person's mind will do that

Oh, and just to go back to your original question in that other thread, where you were asking what you can do to jumpstart the loss of a last 10 or 15 pounds: you don't need to. You're a little too thin now, but you're beautiful.

Measuring food, counting calories, weighing oneself daily, exercising daily, etc. all can manifest in someone with an eating disorder, but in no way CAUSE an eating disorder. Eating disorders have deep emotional and psychological roots. The food behaviors are a manifestation of the disorder not a cause.

OP, I don't know if you would count this as measuring, but what about following the My Plate guidelines for healthy meals? If you are working out a lot, I would consider setting it at maintenance so you can get some use from all the exercise. You'll probably some days eat a little less and a little more on others. It's obviously not as precise as measuring or weighing, but if that's triggering for you, that's not the plan for you, like you said. I actually really like the My Plate site, just wish there was a bit more emphasis on how fats can be healthy.

Okay I just want to make things clear about measuring. It can possible, not always, but possibly lead to an eating disorder. Or even could lead to a relapse as well. Measuring foods DOES NOT work for EVERYONE.

Okay! And I just want to make this clear.Thanks for the information, not that I can see anyone asking asking you for clarification about anything in such a hectoring tone. Apart from stating the obvious, the purpose is lost on me but measuring food sure works for the majority of people on here, if it doesn't work for others why would they use a calorie -counting site?

I'm unclear. Are you talking about measuring food and shooting for realistic goals? Or measuring foods but not using any goals which wouldn't make a lot of sense.

Inversely setting unhealthy goals can and likely will lead to an ED but that isn't the fault of measuring.

By my thinking when you measure and plan it can become a habit but unless you set unhealthy goals it can only be good.

I agree with this guy. I mean you do have to have a healthy goal in mind. Measuring helps you to maintain healthy eating portions. As long as you are not trying to use measuring to under eat or something. When I started measuring it helped me to know what I was eating and to put it into proper portions instead of being a mindless eating machine.:drinker:

still mad about the "what am I doing wrong" thread...? You know, the one where you asked for help and then folks figured out that you were eating more than you think, burning less than you think, and having no success.

In case you forgot, it was this one: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1392667-what-am-i-doing-wrong

trying to shame the folks that TRIED to help you by giving you appropriate answers is sad.

Please seek help. You need it.

Go Trog!

I weigh every single thing I eat down to the gram and I couldn't imagine using MFP without doing so... It's not compulsive or disordered behavior - it's just meant to keep logging as accurate as possible.

But see - for me, personally, this would lead to EXTREMELY disordered eating. It doesn't work for me. It does work for you (assuming you are being honest about your relationship with food and why you weigh so accurately).

I get what the OP is saying, and I hear frustration and fear in the OP's voice.

Could you please list what can't become compulsive for those who are predisposed to being compulsive?

And this is where you comletely miss the point....

You are correct anything can become compulsive. Therefore, if someone tells you that they have an issue around that particular thing which could lead to negative consequences, you don't tell them to do it anyway!

"Hey, Bob. I really shouldn't drink tonight because I can't control myself once I start drinking."

"Shut up, Joe. You'll drink if you know what's good for you."

"But Bob, I'm telling you that alcoholism runs in my family, and it's a bad idea."

"Shut up, Joe. Lots of people have alcohol without any problem. You're just being a wimp. Man up and have a drink."

See how stupid that is?

Just because most people do it without any problems doesn't mean everybody can do it without a problem. It has to be evaluated on a case-by-case basis. Why is this such a difficult concept to grasp?

^^THIS. This right here! It's why the phrases "Eat a sandwich!" and "Put down the cheeseburgers!" are so hateful. Compulsive overeating and alcoholism are close cousins. If you've ever attended Overeaters Anonymous, they follow the same tenets as AA and even use AA "Big Book" as part of their approved literature. I submit that compulsive overeating is HARDER to recover from than alcoholism. You don't *have* to drink alcohol to live, but you can't stop eating.