Eating obsession
bibbob300
Posts: 48 Member
I'm currently maintaining my weight using keto but just wanted to know at what point does tracking your cals & macros daily and getting weighed daily, thinking / planning food for the day after tip over into an "eating disorder" as I'm finding I'm obsessing a bit over keeping my weight stable, but is this obsession or just healthy vigilance ?
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I am still in losing phase and I am extremely obsessed with tracking. I dont want to relapse/go the other way. I have this vision in my head that once I do get to my desired weight that I will simply weigh myself/take measurements to monitor and if I start going the other way record all my foods again. But I have a long way to go before that so for now I can justify running a spreadsheet with trends and projections. Take care good luck! Nothing wrong with continuing what works.1
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My question would be how long has this been going on? If its a recent thing you might want to examine things a little closer and see if you can make things easier on yourself. If its been going on awhile I would recommend finding a qualified counselor.1
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I am quite preoccupied with making sure I get as close to my calories and macros right. In my personal opinion, I think it tips into a disorder when you deprive yourself of an essential caloric intake. Nothing wrong with sticking to a healthy lifestyle.1
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My personal, non professional opinion is: tracking, weighing and measuring self and food becomes "disordered" at the point it causes anxiety when you do NOT engage in such activity.6
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@bibbob300
For me, that point is "whenever it interferes with any aspect of my life." Do I avoid going out with friends because I can't weigh or measure my food and know exactly what's in it? Do I skip family gatherings because I'm convinced others will nag me or try to trick me into eating something I don't want? Do I find a way not to sit at the table at a work function, just so no one sees what I'm eating? Do I hide my food diary so other's don't know what I'm eating? Do I avoid legitimately healthy and nutritious food just because it might put me 2-3 grams over a preset limit? Do I regularly skip meals rather than have to deal with uncertainty of a small percentage of error? Do I eat pats of butter to "meet my macros" even when I'm not hungry? Does my food planning interfere with with my normal activities or sleep? Do I feel panicky or very uneasy if I realize I can't bring a scale with me to a restaurant - or actually bring one/debate bringing one with me?? If I gain a pound or three, do I suddenly go on a drastic food restriction bender, eating at unsafely reduced caloric levels? Do I lose track of the fact that there are naturally hungrier days and naturally less hungry days, forcing myself to either gorge or starve to meet a number? Can I let go on occasion and keep my carbs low but go over on calories for a special event? Do I use fasting, intermittent fasting, or fat fasting as a punishment for a slip, intentional or otherwise? Does a bad scale day or tracking day make me angry or depressed - or can I just use it as data to modify my plan if things continue that direction?
Basically, if I answered truthfully yes to any of those questions, I'd take a hard look at my motivations. There is a large difference between staying on track, and obsessing about every aspect to the exclusion and isolation of my person from participating in a worthwhile life.1 -
I tracked everything religiously for a few months. Then realized the stress was causing issues so I haven't been tracking since about the end of December.
I still weigh myself everyday at the gym M-F. I don't pay attention to it more than making sure I am +/- 4 lbs. I figure that is a bit more than 2% which is within the range of just water weight and digestive variation (avoiding getting too graphic here).
At first, I did go up a bit more than I wanted so I made sure I was making eating decisions very consciously. By that I mean more about quantity than quality. I had the quality part dialed in pretty well, but when I really started looking at it, I realized I was eating beyond satiation just because I was allowing myself to feel too free to do so.
I refrained from starting to track again because I wanted to make sure I could do this on my own. It took about 6-8 weeks to get it dialed in where I was matching both quality and quantity to stay even and get back to being consistently within 4 lbs of that ideal weight of 185.
Now, fast forward another 8 weeks or so, and this morning, I weighed in at 183.8, and haven't been above 188 since the last week of February, so my range has been even smaller than my allowance.
My thinking is that I may have another 30, 40 or even 50 years left on this planet. I don't want to have to manually log every meal from now on for that long. I want to be in good health so I can enjoy life, not so I can be tied to a food journal.1 -
I agree that it is very personal and can only be determined by the anxiety any of those actions directly cause for YOU!
I personally have never had a magic number I want to reach on the scale. My intentions are to "feel" better and regain my energy. I used to weigh once a week. I also know myself well enough that I could weigh 6 times a day and have up to a 3 lb variation... never mind day to day. Scale numbers have never caused me direct anxiety.
A few weeks ago I started charting EVERYTHING... my weight (actual vs goal), sleep (actual vs goal) and my calories (goal, actual & burn) on a daily basis. Also, since I've increased my physical activity, I'm logging measurements and body fat % on weekly basis.
It is helping me stay honest with my food logging and is starting to prove quite insightful. I am looking at it somewhat scientifically to learn MY personal triggers, responses and sweet spots. I recognize others would find those numbers overwhelming.
If you are using the words obsessed and feeling anxious, overwhelmed or stressed with any of it... then maybe you need to adjust. You are the only one that can answer that for yourself. Mental health is equally important as physical health.1 -
@kimberwolf71 - Love your post. I know some of us use worlds like obsessed due to intensity, and not specifically a negative intention... I use words like that as dramatic punch, particularly in our flat, text based universe here online, even though vigilance or even diligence may be more technically accurate... But I agree, if there is negative connotation to our speech/thought patterns about any of this, regardless of what pretty or dramatic words we use, it's time for concern.
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Orthorexia ?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orthorexia_nervosa
@bibbob300, I don't believe you're within a country mile of being a candidate....
A prior thread:
http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/comment/38564382
Some, cough, pertinent discussion:Sunny_Bunny_ wrote: »A system that pricey and that strict is set up as a safety net to blame the client when they fail and not have to give a refund. lol
She can easily say "Well, you didn't follow the plan and pat your head and rub your tummy 16.23 times every 5.32 hours while singing ram-a-lama-ding-dong so you obviously don't want this".1 -
Thanks for all your replies, phew, feel better already! I was getting worried that i was getting obsessive but I think like Hmikkola says it's more a " pre occupied" thinking.
I've only been tracking since September last year, I initially set my first goal as 9st, once I reached it I thought, well that was easy, and I've still got loads of belly flab I'll see what 8st looks like, (I'm only 5'1 btw) once I got to 8st the flab was still there, I'm now down to 7.7st, I've had to accept that I'll always have the tummy, but I love my new tiny clothes and how I look and feel and I guess my "obsession" is now with keeping this look, give or take a few pounds.
KnitOrMiss I answered no to all your questions, I have no anxiety, I'm now thinking it's more a mad obsession, similar to the thoughts on the " you know when your LCHF" thread, I am really mindful of what I put in my body, I suppose to the casual onlooker I may seem a bit mad, taking my own food when I know others will buy fast food ( but that maybe also that I'm a tight wad!!) Checking the carb content in EVERYTHING, planning and plotting what I'm eating tomorrow etc.
I love this woe as my appetite is diminished somewhat, I could still eat my own arm sometimes but I'm learning that I will sometimes get hungry, I guess my worry is that if I relax my eating routine I could slip back into bad eating habits and I don't ever want to go back there!!
Thanks all for reading x
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My personal, non professional opinion is: tracking, weighing and measuring self and food becomes "disordered" at the point it causes anxiety when you do NOT engage in such activity.
This is true. I have been logging on MFP daily for 4 years or so, but I don't panic if I don't manage every detail. It takes about 5 min a day. It is just a routine habit now. And it keeps me from straying into carbland ...2 -
Sometimes you need to be a bit obsessive to achieve your goals. When it starts affecting how you live your life, is when it becomes a problem.3
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We're all a little bit OCD.
Me, I'm CDO....0 -
...because the letters SHOULD be listed alphabetically!!!!2
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Quite right too!0
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I've literally logged my food and exercise for the past 1566 days. I don't think I'm obsessed or disordered in any way however. It's literally a habit for me. Plus it gives me great insight for various reasons. Maybe I'm not feeling great so I can look back and see what my food and activity was like during a time when I was feeling better. Maybe I'm in a food rut and looking back reminds me of meals I've not made in awhile.
I confess I would be slightly devastated if I should be forced to lose my "streak" at this point! lol! The reason I say I'm not obsessed is because I log good and bad days and I feel ok doing either. I think if I were in disordered territory I'd be upset when values when over goals...instead I'm like meh, I'll do better tomorrow.2 -
I know from experience that if I don't log my food I won't eat enough protein - the things I like to eat the most are just not things that have a ton of protein in them, and I don't eat enough volume to make up the difference...so if I'm going to keep my body well nourished I'll be logging for life!!!1
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We're all mad here . . .
I think especially in the beginning a bit of obsession is necessary to build up the habit, but what KnitOrMiss said was completely correct - as long as it isn't interfering in how you live your life then it isn't disordered.
Now, my thinking does sometimes become disordered when I start tracking my food, I have to be very mindful of it. But I don't think that it's disordered just because I'm tracking.1 -
If you dont track or log then its like jumping in the car and saying "let's go to California from New York" and not having a map to track progress, show you where you are going off the right route, how far you still have to go, how fast your getting there etc...1
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