Does anyone else find themselves thinking about food all the time?
LadyElectron
Posts: 43 Member
I’ve been tracking and trying to maintain a modest deficit for over a month now, and I notice that I’m constantly hungry and thinking about my next meal, obsessively planning what I’m going to make and it’s getting kinda weird. I mean, I’ve always enjoyed meal planning, trying new recipes, eating tasty food so it’s normal to think about food to some extent but not like this. I don’t like that it’s so often in my mind. I’m just beginning to wonder if tracking is making me crazy and I’m thinking of taking a break from it. Can anyone else relate? Did others think about food too much at the beginning and did it lessen over time?
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Replies
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All I do theses days it take care of kids and think about calories and food. I just want tequila! Lol7
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I can so relate I think it’s because we’re getting excited about our weight loss journey or whatever and we are kind of obsessing over our food since this our new way of eating lol atleast that’s how it is for me.. I try to have fun cooking healthy meals and try not to feel like I’m only eating veggies 24/7 haha3
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Is your deficit too steep? What is your daily intake like? How many calories?3
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Yes I thought like this and it lead to losing 60lbs. Now that I've lost that weight, I think about calories still but not as much as I did before.6
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Being organized is crazy?2
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The first month was rough. The next 3 months were easy. This last month has been the hardest yet though. I'm always thinking about my next meal even when I am currently eating a meal.
Cravings come and go. I don't think it will lessen much over time, you'll just get use to it so it'll annoy you less. When you swap from cutting to maintaining, you can usually eat about 500 more calories but it will still be a lot less than what you use to eat.5 -
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I can very much relate to this. It became obsessive thinking, even after I lost the weight and started Maintenance. Thinking about food and planning food choices became my primary hobby - like my brain was hardwired to think about food first and everything else second.
I simply had to find a new subjects that keep my mind occupied. I’ve taken up learning Spanish, practicing for the LSAT, keeping up on NFL news (versus just news about my beloved team) and watching Netflix - trying to train my brain to go to these thoughts first, THEN food. It’s hard, but I’m making progress...
Hope you find you own path to success.9 -
When I'm not eating I'm thinking of eating.13
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Pretty much constantly thinking of food.4
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Yup, pretty much always thinking about food. Hour after a meal and I'm already planning my next one in my head. I keep a bottle of water at my desk, and once I was exercising enough where my deficit didn't "feel" so great I adjusted and the thoughts of food seldom mean "I want to eat whatever I lay my eyes on."
I've just kind of gotten used to it....but most of my life I was controlled by my stomach (despite being thin and healthy, I was just super active before the dreaded desk jobs).2 -
I've been doing this for 2 years and I constantly think about food. Even though my deficit is usually less than 200cals.2
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I love food. I thought about eating all the time when I was obese, and I think about eating all the time now that I'm at a healthy weight in maintenance, lol. But it is definitely worse when I'm eating at a deficit.1
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Yup i think about food constantly. When I'm going to eat next, what's for dinner, how many calories is it gonna be, etc. All. The. Time.1
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Yep, it's regain human biology.3
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No. Sometimes I'm even too busy to remember about food.4
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I think about food almost all the time too. But I don't see it as a real problem. I have to think about food because it's my responsibility as the only adult in my household. But I love to think about food, to plan meals and grocery shopping and cooking. Sometimes I feel guilty, as in guilty pleasure, but I'm working on that.
What worries me with what you're saying, is that you're constantly hungry. This would normally indicate that you're eating too little and/or poorly. Your calorie deficit (what you're not eating) is made up by your excess fat, and your body is designed to do just that - every day, it regularly switches between storing and using energy, and when you're losing weight, your body just stays longer in "using" mode than "storing" mode. What is that modest deficit?
Keep in mind that you can't (or shouldn't try to) lose more than 1% of your body weight per week and still be in good health; this 1% is reduced by multiple factors - your current weight, your calorie target, your adherance to calorie target.
If you are indeed eating enough, and well, it's a hunger you just have to get used to. It's not normal or necessary to feel full all the time.4 -
Same here OP, but honestly, the reason I didn't think about food that much before is because if I wanted something, I just bought it or ate it, so it didn't stay on my mind very long...4
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I don't know if my thoughts about food changed with tracking. I prelog my food so my thoughts are not really about can I eat this or I ate too much. I don't feel anxiety about it.
I'm not thinking about food because I am hungry all the time. I think I just like food.
I have always planned and cooked meals, searched for recipes, anticipated what I would eat.
I cook every day- almost all meals for my family are prepared from home by me.
I guess I would only think it was a problem if the food thoughts were causing you anxiety or distress or keeping you from doing other things.
If you are hungry all tbe time maybe you should have a smaller calorie deficit or change the kind of foods you eat a bit.2 -
I dis at first, while I was still trying to create new habits. Now I do think about it often, but it's more of a matter of scheduling and planning, than it is feeling hungry or obsessing. Although I think a lot of that is because I have MFP app as one of the hotkeys on my phone, so I see it all the time and am reminded to stick to the plan.
Before MFP I really only thought about food when i was hungry, or saw something that looked yummy. It was a pretty mindless area for me, which is probably why I had gotten so heavy. I just ate for eatings sake most of the time. Hardly healthy. Now my thinking is usually things like "Ok, I'm getting hungry, what fits my budget? Let's see , dinner will be in about two hours, what do I have available? Ice cream sandwich? Nah, those are.only ok, don't want to waste dinner calories on ok. Carrots? Oooh cake! This size is 250 cal, I know I will want some before bed, can I afford it? Barely.... Ok, I will just skip the rice with dinner,. Yay cake!" But I find that happens much less.now, especially on working days. Non working days are harder for me, because one of my issues is boredom eating. I have to constantly rrmind myself that I am not actually hungry, so I do not need to go find a munchie.7 -
At least your only thinking about food all the time. Just got back from vacation in Florida and all I saw were passengers eating all the time. I don’t know what it is about a three hour flight that makes people freak out about having enough food2
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I think that while eating in a deficit you kind of have to think about it. Without careful planning, it would be too hard to stick to 1200 calorie net for me. Also, when overeating, it is the NOT thinking about it that led to me gaining so much weight. I have thought much more about the food I put into my body over the last year and a half. Sometimes I feel weird too, but I'd rather feel weird and not get back up to 193 pounds.6
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I suppose when you're hungry an hour later after your last meal, you think about your next one. That happens to me often.1
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Tiny_Dancer_in_Pink wrote: »Is your deficit too steep? What is your daily intake like? How many calories?"kommodevaran wrote:
What worries me with what you're saying, is that you're constantly hungry. This would normally indicate that you're eating too little and/or poorly. Your calorie deficit (what you're not eating) is made up by your excess fat, and your body is designed to do just that - every day, it regularly switches between storing and using energy, and when you're losing weight, your body just stays longer in "using" mode than "storing" mode. What is that modest deficit?
I’m aiming for 1560, but usually end up eating more than this and just try to stay below maintenance. There are many days I have trouble sticking to that and end up eating over maintenance. The days I’m closer to 1560 are the days I feel most obsessive and often end up over eating later in the day.
I think I’ve been in denial about this but I think the real problem with the hunger might be that I’m still breastfeeding a toddler. She doesn’t nurse that much (maybe 1-3 times a day, mostly for comfort). I know everyone says to eat at maintenance and let the breastfeeding make the deficit but when baby doesn’t nurse much it’s seems like that shouldn’t count anymore. Maybe I’ll try increasing the calorie budget again and see what happens. When I’m too hungry I’m at risk of overeating for sure, although maybe I’ll feel less voracious when I’m totally done breastfeeding.
Anyway, it seems to me that even folks who aren’t breastfeeding think about food a lot when dieting so that makes me feel less weird.2 -
Yes. I don’t love it. It was worse the first few weeks. Now that I have some routines down and I’m starting to build good habits it’s a little better. But I found myself briefly thinking about how many calories I had left when I was making out with my bf the other day. That was a bit of a new low.5
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Even people who aren't dieting, think a lot about food. Hunger isn't the best gauge, and shouldn't be the only gauge, of whether you're eating enough. How fast are you losing - is it as expected, or faster? Do you feel energetic and strong and focused, or lethargic, dizzy and irritable? Are you well, or do you often get sick?1
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LadyElectron wrote: »Tiny_Dancer_in_Pink wrote: »Is your deficit too steep? What is your daily intake like? How many calories?"kommodevaran wrote:
What worries me with what you're saying, is that you're constantly hungry. This would normally indicate that you're eating too little and/or poorly. Your calorie deficit (what you're not eating) is made up by your excess fat, and your body is designed to do just that - every day, it regularly switches between storing and using energy, and when you're losing weight, your body just stays longer in "using" mode than "storing" mode. What is that modest deficit?
I’m aiming for 1560, but usually end up eating more than this and just try to stay below maintenance. There are many days I have trouble sticking to that and end up eating over maintenance. The days I’m closer to 1560 are the days I feel most obsessive and often end up over eating later in the day.
I think I’ve been in denial about this but I think the real problem with the hunger might be that I’m still breastfeeding a toddler. She doesn’t nurse that much (maybe 1-3 times a day, mostly for comfort). I know everyone says to eat at maintenance and let the breastfeeding make the deficit but when baby doesn’t nurse much it’s seems like that shouldn’t count anymore. Maybe I’ll try increasing the calorie budget again and see what happens. When I’m too hungry I’m at risk of overeating for sure, although maybe I’ll feel less voracious when I’m totally done breastfeeding.
Anyway, it seems to me that even folks who aren’t breastfeeding think about food a lot when dieting so that makes me feel less weird.
Breastfeeding makes me so unbelievably hungry. My LO is almost 14 months and still nurses a few times a day. I was at 1600 and hangry. I bumped to 1800 and feel much better. Weight is coming off and I've been eating at maintenance a couple days a week and that helps keep my supply up.2 -
Yep. Calorie counting messed up my relationship with food.2
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Honestly eating anything less than 3000 calories for me requires thinking about what my food for the day will be. On days I dont plan I will guaranteed end up at or above 3000.2
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I think there are 2 modes in which we think about food while changing our eating habits.
1 is ‘thinking’ - this is the place where we plan, look at items, try to see what fits in our day or our protein count. It’s our meal prep, our meal planning & how we think about getting variety not being bored & trying new recipes. (Arguably this can tread into obsession)
2 is ‘fantasizing’ - this to me is a less healthy mental place to be. It’s thinking about what that cake would taste like, wishing your salad was Mac & cheese & staring at the dessert menu while ordering a coffee.
If your just thinking about food and planning I don’t think you need to worry, but if your fantasizing then indeed taking a break from tracking might help.5
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