Is counting calories disordered eating? Shouldn’t we be able to not overeat?
Replies
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If for you, "calorie counting" means something like "I cannot eat without obsessing over the calorie count"--such as, you can't enjoy a family meal or an occasional restaurant outing without having negative feelings--then maybe your calorie counting would be part of a disordered eating pattern.
But if your calorie counting means "I will do my best to eat within my calorie goal, accepting that I cannot always know exactly how many calories I'm eating, and balancing that with having a healthy personal life," then it's just a tool some people use to keep their weight in a range that they and their doctor feel is healthy.
Personally, I see calorie counting as treatment for a medical problem. I had a medical issue: obesity. I also had multiple related medical issues: high cholesterol, high triglycerides, borderline insulin resistance, PCOS. I used calorie counting to treat my medical condition by losing weight until I was in a healthy range. I continue to count calories because my condition is being managed, not cured; if I stopped managing it, the same health problems would likely come back.
Ditto to the ditto, and more ditto.
"Disordered" anything is about the mental state, i.e., not really about what one does, but how one conceptualizes the things one does.
if there is a mild problem with this sort of thing, it can be self-managed, analogous to how I can change a light bulb myself if my car's tail-light goes dead. If there's a major problem, one ought to see a professional, such as a licensed counselor or therapist, much as I would go to a mechanic if my car needs a transmission re-build, because I personally can't handle that well on my own (even though some people can).
There should be no more stigma to the professional help with true food obsession than there is to the auto mechanic's help with the transmission rebuild.
Some people can count calories without obession, because they conceptualize it as a health problem that needs to be managed, as apullum says; or as some other minor practical logistical problem that they can solve on their own. Others of us will need help from dietitians, personal trainers, sometimes medical doctors, sometimes therapists . . . and we should go get that help.10 -
BarbaraHelen2013 wrote: »In an ideal world we would all be able to judge to the last mouthful how much food was ‘enough’ for our individual heights, builds, activity levels etc but it’s never going to be an ideal world.
Take a 5ft woman, married to a man who is 5ft 11...plating the same meal because that’s how it often is...do you really think plated portions can be judged to the last necessary calorie on both those plates?
I’ll wager that for a lot of married/co-habiting women on here that sort of conundrum is a contributory factor for weight gain!
Yes, my OH is a foot taller than me and we used to split pizzas - now I eat 3/8 and a big salad and he eats 5/8 and a smaller salad.6 -
I don't believe that planning and counting is disordered. However I don't like the way I calculate down to the nearest peanut. But I do it anyway.4
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fastfoodietofitcutie wrote: »I wish I could just eat like a “normal” person and not count calories.
Speaking as someone who maintained her weight within a normal range most of her life, presumably your definition of a "normal" person ...
I've been loosely counting calories since I was 17.
I have a rough idea how many calories the things I normally eat contain ... and I have a rough idea of how many calories I'm burning in a day. And if my weight goes up a bit, I eat less or exercise more for the next few days.
Maintaining weight doesn't happen by chance.8 -
kshama2001 wrote: »BarbaraHelen2013 wrote: »In an ideal world we would all be able to judge to the last mouthful how much food was ‘enough’ for our individual heights, builds, activity levels etc but it’s never going to be an ideal world.
Take a 5ft woman, married to a man who is 5ft 11...plating the same meal because that’s how it often is...do you really think plated portions can be judged to the last necessary calorie on both those plates?
I’ll wager that for a lot of married/co-habiting women on here that sort of conundrum is a contributory factor for weight gain!
Yes, my OH is a foot taller than me and we used to split pizzas - now I eat 3/8 and a big salad and he eats 5/8 and a smaller salad.
This is how I resolve pizza night too (every week, because my skinny husband loves pizza). He eats 2/3 of his pizza, I eat a big salad and the remaining 1/3 of the pizza. We split a dessert. I've tried everything and this is what works for us--we're 65 and 66.8 -
An eating disorder is a mental disorder. It's not caused by tools or concepts. Calorie counting is just a tool for managing your calories. Like many other mental disorders, tools and concepts are sometimes used by those who have eating disorders. It's just like hand soap can be used by some people who suffer from an obsessive-compulsive disorder that presents with a hand cleaning obsession. Hand soap does not cause the disorder and is just a tool for cleaning your hands.
If you ask a "normal" person who isn't overweight and doesn't count calories, many of them use other methods and tools to manage their intake. Outside of a minority who have smaller appetites (which isn't normal, as evidenced by the obesity rate) or are active enough to not gain weight with their current eating habits, a "normal" person keeps certain boundaries around food. Be it portions, types, frequency, mindfulness, small rules, general awareness...etc. Not all normal people eat as much as they want whenever they want and don't gain weight.
Food seeking is normal behavior for all beings (again, as evidenced by the obesity rate). You're not abnormal for taking advantage of food abundance and being the product of habits driven by abundance and modern conveniences. Weight management is not a quest to return to "normal" behavior, it's seeking to adapt and manage your normal behavior around a food and activity environment that encourages fat gain.
You can use any tools you want to control your weight, whether or not you count calories, but don't ever feel like you're somehow broken for not being thin.
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Same here - i'm just over 5 foot, husband is about 6 foot. So I make a point of giving him a larger portion of everything (although I could easily eat the same size as him). I've been counting calories (although not very precisely) for maybe 3 years now - it definitely helps me stay at a weight that stops me feeling like a stumpy dwarf. I still think i am a little dysmorphic, but its not so bad now i manage to maintain under 7.5 stone.0
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kshama2001 wrote: »Here, reframe it like this:
"Is balancing my bank statement disordered financial management? Shouldn't I be able to manage my finances without balancing?"
Now, some people CAN manage their finances without balancing. But we don't consider those who do to have disordered practices.
Perfect analogy!3 -
nighthawk584 wrote: »kshama2001 wrote: »Here, reframe it like this:
"Is balancing my bank statement disordered financial management? Shouldn't I be able to manage my finances without balancing?"
Now, some people CAN manage their finances without balancing. But we don't consider those who do to have disordered practices.
Perfect analogy!
I plagiarized from someone here but do not recall who deserves the credit
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I am one of those people that @AnnPT77 eluded to that counted calories obsessively. I use to pre-log all of my meals a week in advance and would never stray from what I logged.
I have an eating disorder and OCD for which I have been seeing a psychologist weekly for almost 8 months now. My calorie-counting obsessiveness was very helpful in losing almost 250 pounds. However, I have been maintaining that loss for about 2 1/2 years now and that obsessiveness caused me severe anxiety and has harmed my relationships. I would get super stressed about situations where I wasn't sure what food may be available. I would never go to lunch with my co-workers or out to dinner with friends because I hadn't logged it (they don't bother inviting me anymore). My family was supportive but I could tell they were annoyed.
My therapist worked on me for months to be more flexible. A couple months ago she convinced me to stop logging on the weekends. I finally felt free! It went so well that I stopped logging completely last December. Things have been going well and I am starting to repair those relationships. This was in addition to stopping weighing myself (she had me stop because it would cause me to binge when I was under my goal weight). So, I am still uneasy about the unknowns but the freedom I finally feel has been great.
So, is counting-calories a disordered way of eating? No, I don't think so. However, it can cause issues if you have an eating disorder or OCD. I am grateful for MFP. It was the one tool that was indispensable in my weight loss.25 -
I am one of those people that @AnnPT77 eluded to that counted calories obsessively. I use to pre-log all of my meals a week in advance and would never stray from what I logged.
I have an eating disorder and OCD for which I have been seeing a psychologist weekly for almost 8 months now. My calorie-counting obsessiveness was very helpful in losing almost 250 pounds. However, I have been maintaining that loss for about 2 1/2 years now and that obsessiveness caused me severe anxiety and has harmed my relationships. I would get super stressed about situations where I wasn't sure what food may be available. I would never go to lunch with my co-workers or out to dinner with friends because I hadn't logged it (they don't bother inviting me anymore). My family was supportive but I could tell they were annoyed.
My therapist worked on me for months to be more flexible. A couple months ago she convinced me to stop logging on the weekends. I finally felt free! It went so well that I stopped logging completely last December. Things have been going well and I am starting to repair those relationships. This was in addition to stopping weighing myself (she had me stop because it would cause me to binge when I was under my goal weight). So, I am still uneasy about the unknowns but the freedom I finally feel has been great.
So, is counting-calories a disordered way of eating? No, I don't think so. However, it can cause issues if you have an eating disorder or OCD. I am grateful for MFP. It was the one tool that was indispensable in my weight loss.
Congratulations on the weight loss, that’s awesome! The question is though, could you have lost that 250lbs without calorie counting?1 -
fastfoodietofitcutie wrote: »
I think he answered your question to the extent that anyone can know given that he didn't lose the lbs some other way! I would have asked whether he could have lost the same amount of weight with a smaller deficit, and whether that would have been less triggering for him; but, the same answer applies: we will never know
Now if one were to take your question as a generic question and tie it to your OP: of course anyone can lose weight in any number of ways. Same as with anything else some methods are more suitable to a task than other methods (more direct/higher success rate) and some methods are more suitable to particular individuals as compared to others.
If you, as an individual are being negatively impacted by counting calories I would consider the following in no particular order:
-what is your attempted deficit; is it realistic given your current height, weight, history?
-how obsessive/rigid are you with your counting? Are you able to make changes to your approach?
-is your overall health better served by adopting different methods of controlling your intake or would it be even better served by modifying your near term goals and adopting different ones?
I chose calorie counting because it SUITED ME better than the alternatives I was engaging in. And I made modifications along the way to make it suit me even better (for example choosing a lower MFP base goal with the intention of almost always being above it; choosing a, relatively, low percentage deficit as compared to my TDEE, keeping TDEE high, etc.).
There is no universally correct answer. Just experimentation so that you can find out what suits you best. But without sacred cows. You don't just look at your method (calorie counting, time restrictions, macro restrictions) but at your whole approach as a combination.
And no, in a world of easy to access and tasty food that doesn't cost much relative to our earning power and in which we don't move much... it is probably necessary for most of us to apply some form of limits to our eating/drinking/caloric consumption. As is evidenced by the number of people who do not easily fit in an average airplane seat. Which, at a normal BMI and just below average height (172.5 cm), I now find surprisingly comfortable. Assuming my next door neighbour is not overflowing! 5 -
Igain weight if i stop calorie counting. (I am currently trying to lose 25 lbs i put on assuming i was good at goal weight)
I spend more money if i stop using my budgeting app .
I get lost if i do not use a directions app.
I think these are not disorders but gaming the system knowing that these are tracking mechanisms that work for me and are tools in my personal arsenal of adulthood.4 -
So many people are way too quick to label things as a "disorder".
Could calorie counting be a part of someone having an eating disorder? Absolutely. Does it mean that it is itself disordered eating? Absolutely not.
It's circumstantial, as so many things are. For something to be labeled as a disorder, it must impair the individual, give them dysfunctional thoughts, cause them significant distress, be socially inappropriate, and/or cause dysfunctions in their everyday life.
Counting calories? By itself, it is not a disorder. Just like drinking. Drinking alcohol alone isn't enough to call someone an alcoholic. People get the label "alcoholic" when it starts causing problems, gets out of hand, becomes a need rather than a choice.
Counting calories doesn't cause problems for me. It doesn't cause problems for many people. It helps us learn and it helps us become healthier by losing weight. To suggest that counting calories alone is "disordered eating" is really no different than calling someone who likes to drink on occasion an "alcoholic".
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Any practice can be a trigger for disordered habits.
Do I believe counting calories can trigger eating disorders? Absolutely, if a person has a disorder or a predisposition to developing one.
For many people, calorie counting is basic math and science that gives us a simple framework to work within, and personally, I find a lot of freedom in that.
Look at it this way: some people are triggered by seeing alcohol, because they have an addiction problem. That doesn’t mean no one else can use or enjoy alcohol.
And in terms of eating disorders: calorie counting won’t be the best approach for a lot of those people. But there is help for people who suffer from an eating disorder to deal with healthy habits in a more appropriate way for their disorder.3 -
fastfoodietofitcutie wrote: »Congratulations on the weight loss, that’s awesome! The question is though, could you have lost that 250lbs without calorie counting?I think he answered your question to the extent that anyone can know given that he didn't lose the lbs some other way! I would have asked whether he could have lost the same amount of weight with a smaller deficit, and whether that would have been less triggering for him; but, the same answer applies: we will never know
@PAV8888 is right, I honestly don't know. All my previous attempts at losing weight failed. I think there were 2 things that played the biggest role in my success this time. My OCD and the heart failure I suffered in 2015.
My therapist thinks I developed OCD because of my mom's long, and ultimately unsuccessful, battle with cancer. The loss of control I was feeling during that period made me start to control things I had power over. It also didn't help that my dad was keeping the family mostly in the dark nearer her death because he "didn't want to bother us" (I've been told this is common among German families). Her death was somewhat of a surprise even though we knew her issues with cancer had been going on for 15+ years. The not knowing also fed into my OCD. It was her battle with cancer that coincided with my weight gain. I was using food for comfort since my family has never been good with sharing our feelings (so these days I overshare as you can probably tell
).
The OCD wasn't helping with my other weight loss attempts though. It was my 10-day stay in the hospital in 2015 because of congestive heart failure that was my rock bottom and wake-up call. After realizing I was on a path to an early grave I finally turned all my energy to losing the weight. Ironically, my OCD is probably what made me successful.
To PAV's question: yes, I think I could have lost the same amount of weight with a smaller deficit. I actually wish I did so. I suffered many of the symptoms of under-eating: fatigue; constantly feeling cold; constipation (lead to hemorrhoids); hair loss; and no sex drive. I also have a lot of loose skin. I'm not sure if a slower loss would have prevented that, but regardless, it sucks to not feel comfortable with my body even though I am in the best shape of my life (currently working on my body image issue with the therapist!).
edit: fixed quotes
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Keeping track of my calories has helped me to lose and keep off 80 pounds.
When I didn't keep track I overate, wasn't mindful of my eating and slowly packed on the pounds over the years.
I will do whatever it takes to keep that weight off. For me, I find planning and keeping track my meals very helpful. If some consider that disordered eating (which I have heard before) then so be it. I'm the smallest and fittest I've been as an adult and I'm very happy and proud of transformation so I will keep going. 9 -
counting is not disordered
obsessing is disordered
eating within your calorie allotment and being ok with not being able to be perfect when eating out, ordered
i cannot trust my body/mind to tell me when to stop eating. that's why i am here6 -
I posted this almost a year ago in this thread. It seemed relevant here:I knew I had to lose weight, and I knew that meant I had to eat less and be more active. But I lacked a strategy - how much less to eat? How much more active to be? Lacking that strategy, I would vow to give up everything good to eat, get up early every morning to exercise, and so on. You know the routine. I'd usually last a few weeks, until I get fed up or until "life got in the way."
Once I realized that there was a manageable way to lose weight by counting calories, it was like the heavens opened. Suddenly I had a strategy that I could live with -- one that was reasonable, adaptable, and allowed for occasional lapses and frequent indulgences. It encouraged exercise and rewarded consistence and responsibility, without being restrictive or punishing.
I have been going strong ever since. That's why I'm an advocate of simply counting calories - it was a liberating experience for me and has literally changed my life. It baffles me that others don't feel this way too.12 -
Counting calories is informed eating.
Informed =/= disordered.
Also counting calories is intentional eating.
Intentional =/= disordered.
If you think that counting calories makes you not a normal person or wish you "could be a normal person" and not count calories, consider that the "normal person" in a first world country is overweight.13
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