This is just too stressful

Since I've joined this site I've been stressed out to the point of breaking down due to worrying about every little thing that goes in my body. I come to hate coming on here and having to input my information. It's made eating and exercising a chore. I don't enjoy either any more.

This whole calorie counting business and figure out what I should and shouldn't be doing is just so nerve-wrackingly stressful to me.

And yet people tell me it's the ONLY way I can lose weight. I want to keep going, but I also don't want to risk having a mental breakdown due to some stupid diet.

Yeah...so if someone could make me NOT hate all this...I'd be most grateful.


And PLEASE PLEASE PLEEEEEASE don't just tell me I'm making a big deal out of nothing and that I shouldn't be so stressed. I know that. It's like telling a starving person they need to eat and then not giving them any food. XP

You sound like an all or nothing person. One of the only things I will tell you is that you HAVE to hate being overweight, than everything else you posted above.
If not, then you will despise coming on here and eventually will quit logging.
If you want to make it easy, then eat systematically so you only have to log in once a week. Systematically means eating the same exact foods in the same portions for every meal daily.

A.C.E. Certified Personal Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 28+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

Since I've joined this site I've been stressed out to the point of breaking down due to worrying about every little thing that goes in my body. I come to hate coming on here and having to input my information. It's made eating and exercising a chore. I don't enjoy either any more.

This whole calorie counting business and figure out what I should and shouldn't be doing is just so nerve-wrackingly stressful to me.

And yet people tell me it's the ONLY way I can lose weight. I want to keep going, but I also don't want to risk having a mental breakdown due to some stupid diet.

Yeah...so if someone could make me NOT hate all this...I'd be most grateful.


And PLEASE PLEASE PLEEEEEASE don't just tell me I'm making a big deal out of nothing and that I shouldn't be so stressed. I know that. It's like telling a starving person they need to eat and then not giving them any food. XP

Sorry I don't have a comment. just learned how to copy a quote and post it and type something after the quote. Wish I knew this earlier tonight when I posted something. It's so out of context now and I can't fix it.

I'm kind of new at this but I have skipped a few days going on here. nobody is going to kill you if you miss a day here and there. Or like when I'm working out and I feel like I'm going to die and I want to stop I know I can just put the bike on number one setting and just ride it out and get my breath back and then start again. It's not the end of the world. Just keep going.

This is tough, actually looking at the garbage we feed ourselves. I have quit and came back so many times. I have finally come to the conclusion that I hate being overweight. I hate when I am out with my athletic husband how people look at me as though I do not deserve him. The fact of the matter is, I do care what others think. Most of all i care what i think. i think I need help. If counting calories (even though I hate it) is the way to get me in the best shape of my life (along with exercise) then I am all in. How do you feel about you? When you find yourself getting stressed put the calorie counter down and take a walk. You could kill two birds with one stone. The motivation can only truly come from within but the support is here.

Some things that help me--

take time to make recipes and save them. That way if you eat the same thing more than once you can just select it once from your recipes instead of entering each individual item

Use measurements that are standard in the database. It keeps you from having to do the math.

Use My Meals if you eat the same combos of things a lot. Once you get it set up it's really a lot easier and less time consuming than searching for each thing over and over.

Quick add calories at first. Quick add keeps you from having to search the database if you're eating something prepackaged. It's not ideal because it doesn't take protein/fat/etc into consideration, but it's much faster.

It does get much easier with practice, so try to keep going for awhile and see if you feel less overwhelmed.

Good luck, I hope you can stick with it.

I don't know how long you have been logging your eating, but remember; it takes about 21 days to form a habit, its always the beginning that's the hardest. Pretty soon it will be second nature.
Myfitnesspal makes it pretty simple by having such a huge database of food and the calories and nutrients already calculated, I have been a member of other websites where I have to log every nutrient myself!

Please stick to it, you can do it!

With the numbers I sent you it should be easy!
1800 calories daily is alot of food.
Eat whole foods and youll do fine.
Let me shoot your name out to my friends list so we can get you some support!
Oh yea!
Ralax!
Peaceful mind=peaceful body!

Everyone has posted very helpful suggestions. I hope you take some time to think it over and re-evaluate your time here on mfp. Ultimately, it has to be for you. However you want to make yourself better is your choice. We're here for you and wish you the best.

First fix is your attitude towards this whole process. Try focusing on making small changes at a time and planning everything out daily by pre-logging your food. That way you know what you can have and how much, and the rest of the day's meals are set to go.

Secondly, do not expect to change your lifestyle overnight. It takes a long time to make permanent changes so if you screw up, try not to let it get to you. Dust yourself off and keep moving in the right direction the next day.

Thirdly, focus on your goals instead of the challenges. Think about how you want to look and feel and all the things you want to be able to do. Remember your motivation for starting this journey every day, because there will be days when you just flat out do not want to log or workout. Staying motivated to keep going is a challenge that each of us has to conquer on our own.

Lastly, good luck to you Stay positive and keep going!

Thinking about counting calories is an insurmountable task and I must admit that it sounded really tedious to me as well. But after a while I learned to plan my meals by weighing my portions and measuring them. I would do this a whole day or so before, and shopping only for those meals. I read all labels to get a better idea of what a serving entailed. It sounds like you are stressing because losing weight is so important to you. Work the plan the best way it goes with your lifestyle. So hopefully planning ahead will be a suggestion that works. Losing weight is important but no one wants to lose sleep over it. Be patient with yourself, you can do this. :flowerforyou:

good advice.:bigsmile:

If you truly want help that doesnt involve counting every little thing, here are some simple rules and tips.

Use smaller plates for your food.
Use the 1/4, 1/4, 1/2 method. Thats 1/4 of your plate meat or protein, 1/4 of it carby foods and 1/2 of it vegetation.
Restrict sweets
drink more water, less soda
exercise at least 3-4 days a week for at least 30-40 minutes.

Following these steps you can lose as well. Ive done it when I didnt have MFP. I use it now because I LIKE being able to have pizza or chocolate on occasion and lose. That and I love the community and reading about success stories. I eat what I want thats reasonable and at the end of the day, I log it. If Im under great, if not, I work on tweaking what I eat.

I found that it worked best when I picked one thing each week to change, let go of, or try. This allowed me to not stress over what was or was not happening. I know I don't think of it as something I'm going to fail at or not anymore. I look at it as a way to retrain my eating habits so it's not a diet, but a new way to eat. A way that I can live with now and into the future. I eat way more food now at around 2200 cals then I did when that would be one meal. I can't judge another persons OCD, but take it from someone who would bag their peanut m&m's by color and amount and then eat by size. This is doable and I log so I am accountable, but mostly to myself. This is about you, for you and by you. Don't worry about what others think, just do whats best for you. Maybe that is not logging in everyday, or maybe it's keeping your diary private. Hang in there and goodluck. I'm not losing super fast, but a year ago I was 64 lbs heavier and wore 50" pants and 4xl shirts. Today I wear loose 44's and 2xl and it's so worth the effort. Breathe! You can do this!

I haven't been on the site for some time and have decided to come back again. I understand your stress. I have found if I plan my day/week out before hand, it is a lot less stressful and I find I am more successful. I even plan my workout time. If you are not eating a variety of meals and you are eating repetitive items, you can save them. If this data entry stuff isn't right for you then don't do it, just post your progress good or bad. However, this is the reason I like to use the Food and Fitness trackers. If I don't lose as much as I think I should have I review what I have eaten, then I compare it to my history of meals to see what I was doing differently when I was seeing the positive numbers expected.

Don't be so hard on yourself, give it time. An earlier post had indicated it takes 21 days to create a habit. Try to create a habit.

Keep doing what you are doing. Talk through it. Like an earlier post said "BREATHE." Don't worry about posting your activity right now, you know you did it.

I also thought this may help, kinda deep but maybe this quote by Tansu Ciller will help:

"Nobody can resist a ripe idea. The idea today is change."

This site is for you! If you are not ready to do all the calorie counting or fitness monitoring, then just review other's posts. See their progress and hopefully you will find your motivation. I do believe tracking will be most beneficial to you but not if it is going to stress you. I understand STRESS and how debilitating it can be. Try to make slow daily changes.

Honestly, if I were you, I'd find some other way to do it. I mean if it's stressing you out (which stress can cause you to gain weight so in the end it probably isn't helping much) then you won't stick with it for long. You need to find something you can stick with. I HATED logging calories with a passion. It wasn't as much your reason, but that it was soooo hard for me. I NEVER make the same recipe twice, heck I never USE RECIPES. I'm a throw it all together and cook it type and it's always different! So I just gave up.

Something I want to try this year instead is just writing down everything I put in my mouth in a notebook so that I still acknowledge everything I eat. It's not counting calories but I honestly try more for eating whole foods, skipping processed foods, sweets, etc, etc. I can't see myself counting calories forever and always being concerned with calories so I want to try to find a habit I can stick with. I think writing down everything you eat is a good alternative. Maybe more so if you're already aware of the calories in the foods you in. Since I already eat fairly healthy things and eat most whole foods then I'm not overly concerned with the rest.

In the end stress will only cause you to gain weight...or at least stop you from losing so it's stupid to keep doing something to lose weight that is only stressing you out because it'll make you have to work even harder to lose the weight and you'll end up just getting more stressed that you're not losing the weight.

I know I go against what everybody else said and nobody will agree with me probably but I don't believe that you can only lose weight by counting calories. I know that's a BIG part of this website but I'm only here for the support I get from my friends on here and the forums (and to log exercise as motivation).