Constant calorie counting.. Making me nutty.. Will I be coun

OCD is a definite plus with MFP.

It does get tiring, and it is time consuming but it gets a lot easier with time too. I know people say you should always mix up your foods, but at the same time, I like consistency. So for me, logging is really easy when I know that every day I'm going to have one orange, one banana, and 12 baby carrots. And the longer you're on here, the more foods it remembers, and I find that I can usually just go back a month and copy a dinner to today. You still have to make minor adjustments if you changed it up, or used different quantities but it all makes it a lot quicker in the long run. My boyfriend hates all the weighing and measuring before dinner but honestly, I don't mind it much at all, because it's become routine and it's worth it.

i feel the same. and some days it doesnt bother me, others i really just wanna let all my MFP friends know im taking a week off! what keeps me coming back are the friends! some people have been there since the beginning and i would feel sad in knowing to never have "contact" again.

mabe we could still use the site but just take a break here and there from logging. just come on and be an encouragement and then get off im hoping with time i will just know what a right portion is and dont need to think about it. i wont over-eat becasue i wont want or need to. this is my goal.

I find it just gets a habit over time

I can see how it comes across as obsessive to others. My old housemate "you are measuring your wine?!"

Yes, yes I am. SHUT UP!

yes it does. The thing is this ... it is the only thing that works for me.calorie counting. I once lost 100 pounds this way. Then I did get tired of it... started to relax a little.
I said thats ok to eat more calories (though I wasn't writing them down) because I exercise. Then I had to take two jobs (desk jobs) Was going through school and effectively cut out my exercise. Now I am back up higher then before because I let myself slip. The thing is to me you just need to keep track.
Now I have taken a day off, but had a mental note of what I ate and did, and wrote it down the next day. Its important so you can see your progress too.
I say log all your days ... but don't wait any longer then 1-2 days. That is just my opinion

OCD is a definite plus with MFP.

I prefer to call my condition CDO so that it is alphabetical

:noway: Must put the letters back in the right order......must.......

OCD is a definite plus with MFP.

I SOOO wish there was a 'like' button!!!

YES. It gets so tiring and is a constant worry.

The thing that drives me the nuttiest is not having access to nutritional values of food at restaurants, especially local ones. I always do a search on something I think is similiar and sometimes quick add extra calories.

It's become a habit for me. It really bothers me when I'm eating something that someone else made so I have NO idea how many calories are in it... drives me crazy. On those days sometimes I just stop logging and forget about it or sometimes I just do a search for whatever type of food it was and just pick a random "homemade" one in the database. But other than that, I like counting. I feel more economical this way, I'm only eating as much as my body needs lol :-p

I keep measuring cups out on the counter so that when I am serving food, I can quickly scoop the correct portion onto my plate. I try to notice what "5 oz. wine" looks like in the glass, so eventually, I will be able to pour without measuring. I also have an electronic scale on my counter, so I can measure food in ounces or grams, so I know what I am eating. I also have a calorie book handy, so I can look things up, this helps me plan what to cook. Sometimes, I abandon a choice because it is too calorie filled. My goal is to learn how to eyeball correct portions, and remember the calorie count of foods I eat most often, so that eventually, I can to portion control with little conscious effort. I will be very vigilant now, so I can relax later. I will need to control portions for the rest of my life no doubt. I intend to change my ways so I can maintain a good weight after I have lost my present extra pounds.:bigsmile:

I think I would feel more crazy if I was still gaining the weight and aimlessly eating and not exercising and getting absolutely nowhere and feeling miserable. Your weight loss is amazing. People like you inspire me to keep doin it!

Everything that's food has become a number to me and i'm constantly considering should I eat this now or have that later. It does get easier as you go because the things that you eat all the time, you wont have to look them up after a while. Honestly, I don't use the food tracker on MFP. I don't feel like taking the time to surf through the webpages punching in every single ingredient in a recipe (say fijitas). What I do is calculate them (usually using the nutrition facts on the packages) then put the total in a note pad I have on the home screen of my phone. So instead of having to punch in peppers, onions, tortillas, salsa and mushrooms all separate, I just write 1 fajita 150 calories. Its what works for me so you just need to find your stride and what works for you.

Only prob i would run into with this is that this doesnt take care of counting fat, sodium, etc.

After counting calories and measuring for awhile, I've gotten pretty good at eyeballing proportions/sizes. If I stop counting calories at some point in the future, I'll still have this skill, and I'll still be able to make more informed/educated choices in the future.

I feel the same way! I end up on the website a good portion of my day calculating calories for that day or the next (or sometimes the next WEEK). I have a very addictive personality though...So it could just be that taking over. However, anytime I actually think about when I'll leave the site for good I get SUPER anxious & can't imagine not tracking my calories...Damn you MFP, feeding into my OCD & food habit addiction! {i really do love the site though! ]