Fine line between counting/logging and obsessing?

I think you have to be obsessed to a certain extent. It becomes a part of who you are. Like second nature.

If you can't change the situation then the only thing you can do is to change your own perspective.

When you're eating out & if the eatery has their menu online, pre-log it before you get there to have a meal with your friends & avoid some of the teasing.

I'm not sure how long you have been in maintenance but initially I was just overwhelmed with the fact that I may have to log my food for the rest of my life. But now going on 2 years, it really has become a seamless part of my routine - so frankly I don't even notice it any more. Sort of like an auto-drive mode like when automatically reach for my seatbelt before starting the car.

And obsessing is only a bad thing when it starts to have a negative impact on your quality of life. If being vigilant & diligent to keep the progress made is obsessing then I say so be it!

Best of luck to you!

If you get the results and it works then I wouldnt worry about it. I spend a lot of time thinking and montoring my diet, but my logging and counting could always be ightened up. I choose a level of attention that suits me, which is at a level to give me max benefits for effort taken, but not too much. For isntance worrying about 50 calories isnt really going to do it for me, since its pointless and I can exercise that way more eaily. Theres a point of diminishing return and common sense. Get your priorities right and keep things in perspective.

My girlfriend has told me that and it feels like an accusation, not complimentary. But I'm seeing good, consistent results. If it's obsessive to make sure I'm getting enough protein, fat, carbs/ fiber - all those goodies that make me stronger and healthier, then so be it I'm happy.

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

I am right there with you...I guess there are worse things I could obsess about!

I saw this on Buzzfeed the other day and it made me laugh! Any MFP'er will totally understand!

http://www.buzzfeed.com/catesevilla/hold-on-i-just-need-to-log-this#.pvWBz2Red

been there. when i stop counting is when the calories start creeping back up and before you know it, you are back to square one. I wish I could be a little more obsessed again.

I'd just say, "I don't care. It's working." I really enjoy logging, believe it or not. It's a habit and just part of my daily routine. I'm maintaining now and I still log every single day, and will continue to do so long-term. My husband is used to it and, aside from playful teasing, he has no problem with it. Some people can lose the weight, stop logging, and maintain just fine without calorie counting - but not many. Quitting counting calories is one of the reasons why most people gain their weight back. I have no plans to do that, so I do what needs to be done, regardless of what anyone else thinks.

There are things that I think are going too far, like bringing a food scale to a restaurant or being so strict that you worry about things like holidays when it's totally unnecessary to do so, but that's my opinion and I wouldn't actually say something negative to a person that does that, as long as I wasn't genuinely worried about their health. People need to learn to mind their own business. I'll say things on MFP that I'd never say in real life because it's rude to call someone out like that in person. People here are asking for help - unless you're asking someone for help in real life, they should keep their advice to themselves.

I heartily used my obsessive nature to stick with the tracking this long.

I do think that some may take the tracking so far that everything is weighed/measured, all the time. The motive may be, "if weighing and measuring is good, more measuring will be better." There has got to be a law of diminishing returns, however.

The weighing and measuring is a great wake-up call on what a real portion is, and how many calories we are really consuming. But after that initial lesson, getting ever finer in our calculations won't significantly improve outcomes.