Fine line between counting/logging and obsessing?

I tell them I don't care if it's obsessive, I only care that it works.

Obsessive is the ONLY thing that works for me.

Obsessive works. If it works, who cares what others say.

I would ask yourself how the logging behavior affects the quality of your life. If you find that it's creating problems then I would seek other methods that allow you to either stop logging or reduce the frequency of it.

amandarunning wrote: »

Obsessed is a word the lazy use to describe the dedicated...

This is ridiculous.

Some people (those who don't count calories) call it obsession when it's actually focus. Obsessing would be if it happens all the time, even when you're not eating or preparing a meal. Focus is when you're doing the work related to monitoring your intake.

And aside from that... let your friends think what they will. If it's working for you, don't worry about it. I plan to count calories for the rest of my life. It's not burdensome anymore. It's just what I do now.

Thank you for asking this question and for the positive answers. I am trying to stay focused on my weight by logging everything that I eat because it works. I have lost 60 pounds and I don't want to gain a pound of it back.

SideSteel wrote: »

amandarunning wrote: »

Obsessed is a word the lazy use to describe the dedicated...

This is ridiculous.

Ridiculous probably.... But it is also the truth...

No, there is a huge difference between logging diligently and being obsessed. I got to a point in logging where all of my macros had to be perfect and if they weren't I'd have a breakdown that usually including binging on bags and bags of chips, jars of PB and nutella, anything I could get my hands on (including once, an entire jar of pickled beets). I would scrutinize my diary for HOURS a day. I wouldn't eat anything I hadn't prepared myself because I couldn't guarantee the accuracy of nutrition. THAT is obsessive. Logging your food does not make you obsessive.

Lrdoflamancha wrote: »

SideSteel wrote: »

amandarunning wrote: »

Obsessed is a word the lazy use to describe the dedicated...

This is ridiculous.

Ridiculous probably.... But it is also the truth...

This is a bunch of fitspo garbage and it's insulting to people who actually develop obsessive attitudes towards their diet.

I get this accusation from my wife on a fairly regular basis. Suffice to say it's definitely annoying but I don't let it bother me. I'm getting results, logging is usually a pretty seamless part of my life at this point, I have my methods and processes down for most situations I find myself in, I'm planning/expecting to do it forever and that thought doesn't concern me in the slightest. Is logging, or comments and reactions regarding my logging, annoying sometimes? Yes. But it's far less annoying than being fat.

It helps, in my case at least, that I've noticed my wife mainly makes that accusation when she's annoyed that I've asked about something she's made because neither of us have any clue how much of anything she put in it.

Frankly, comments from anyone other than my wife, my kids, or my parents are met with less-than-polite responses from me. Particularly is said commenter is overweight themselves.

SideSteel wrote: »

I would ask yourself how the logging behavior affects the quality of your life. If you find that it's creating problems then I would seek other methods that allow you to either stop logging or reduce the frequency of it.

These are wise words. I'm at maintenance and still logging food. It takes at most 5-7 minutes a day, most of the time: a minute each for breakfast and lunch (I'm pretty consistent in what I eat then), and somewhat longer for dinner. It doesn't bother me, nor does it detract from my quality of living. If it begins to do so, I'll seek alternatives.

At one point, I definitely crossed the line from just trying to hit my goals and becoming obsessed. I didn't care what most people thought about it, but I did care about what my wife thought about it and how things were impacting our relationship.

Basically, I was to the point where I didn't want to go out on dates and eat out...I couldn't sit down and just enjoy a meal and a couple glasses of wine with my wife because I didn't know exactly how many calories was in what or if it was going to throw my macros off or what if this or what if that.

I remember the tipping point actually...I had booked a couple of nights over a weekend at a local resort for a birthday getaway for my wife. We got there and everything was great...until we headed for dinner that evening. Here I am at a 5 star restaurant trying to treat my wife and I'm thinking about just ordering a garden salad because I'm scared to death of anything else. I couldn't even sit out on the balcony with my wife and enjoy a bottle of wine.

It was ridiculous and my wife told me so...she basically told me that she liked me better when I was fat, but fun. That was it for me...I had become overly obsessed to the point that this was no longer healthy (and health was my whole purpose for starting this in the first place).

I stopped logging and keeping my diary shortly after that...that doesn't mean I'm not mindful of what I'm doing...I am. But I started focusing my energies on my fitness aspirations and focusing my diet on simply making more healthful choices overall rather than obsessing about a number. I've been able to maintain, more or less for over 1.5 years now without logging and obsessing about every little calorie...worrying about some silly dollop of ketchup, etc.

I just eat healthfully and I work out..it works for me and I'm a lot more fun to be around these days...and I actually enjoy a nice, indulgent meal out and don't think much of it anymore.

I am exactly the same way! I've been doing this for over a year now with no end in sight. You said it best when you said, "I KNOW that if I overeat (too many calories) ...I will gain weight." I'm never going back to being lazy and fat - if it takes being obsessive then so be it!

tammylee57 wrote: »

Thanks everyone! I find it kind of odd that I hear/read that you don't need to diet...that you only need to change your lifestyle? Isn't it true ...that the lifestyle change they are speaking of (usually) is reducing the amount of calories you eat? Isn't it all "obsessive" in that you have to be aware and sensitive to WHAT you are eating and how many calories it has? If it's a "lifestyle" change ( really kind of being overused IMP) ...it's STILL counting calories, even if it's disguised as eating more fruits and vegetables and avoiding sweets and junk. Same thing...??? Anyway... I just don't consider maintaining weight loss for over 7 months by counting calories and logging them into MFP as being a negative thing? I think attentive, strict, and conscientious are better words than obsessive. If I didn't log, I would often be unaware of how many calories a day I have eaten..especially outside of home. It is no wonder our country has an obesity epidemic...I had no idea until using MFP how many calories most restaurant dishes have. WOW

I understand what you are saying but it's not necessarily true that you always have to be aware of the number of calories you are consuming.

It is possible, over time and with the correct resources, for some people to learn eating habits that allow them to respect hunger/satiety cues and use that, along with good food selection habits, to eat a reasonable range of calories for their goal.

It's not simply "eating whatever you want" but it's also not "mentally tracking calories" either.

I think the reality is that there are many people who are here for whom calorie counting is the only method that has worked, so they are willing to do whatever it takes to use that method.

Perhaps for some people this might be true, but it's also a possibility that they have not yet learned the habits necessary to have success without logging.

Fortunately, it's quite possible to learn those habits WHILE you are tracking intake so that AT SOME POINT you do not have to keep logging.