my rant for the day..anyone else feeling the same way?

No, you're not alone. But as a friend told me, "Nothing tastes as good as fit feels".

I TOTALLY feel that way. Everything that goes into my mouth is something I question now. I was actually thinking about that tonight and was thinking that maybe I wouldn't log for a bit just to see how it would go. It's like I am obsessed but not a good obsession. I want to have just a normal lifestyle at a normal weight.

I feel the constant need to do that as well. I'm not to my goal yet and I'm so happy I finally feel this way. I'm sure at some point it will be annoying. Maybe just pick one or two days a week that you are not allowed to log or look up anything. Perhaps that will keep you at your goal, but give you a little more freedom. Hope that helps a little.

Yep. It's why I stopped counting and instead decided to just make myself more aware than anything.

Ok, I apologize in advance because I'm about to go on a little rant..but I need to get it out of my system and would love to hear people's responses! I've been on MFP for a few months now..started at 146, down to 130. I'm a freshman in college, and fell victim to the freshman 15. Well, now I've lost all the weight I gained, but I miss the way I used to feel about food!
I could take a handful of chips without caring. I didn't look up the menu for whatever restaurant I was going to, and figure out which meal has the lowest calories ahead of time. I could go out for pizza with friends and eat 3 slices without even caring. You get the idea..
Now, I constantly feel the need to log everything, and really feel like this whole 'counting calorie' thing has taken over my life.
Does anyone else feel the same? Or am I totally alone in this?

Well without out all the calorie counting you would not have lost the weight and may even be heavier. At maintenance you always have to be watching what you eat and how much. It is something that we need to accept. You may not need to do it to the same extent as when you lost. You could eat at a lower calorie amount during the week and then have to worry less about calories on the weekend. You don't have to count calories - just portion size and types of food - low fat, lots of salad and lean protein during the week. Find a way that lets you maintain for life. But accept that it is for life.

I get what you mean. I miss not caring and I miss just going out with my friends and picking a random place to go eat. Now I can hardly eat a slice of pizza without being filled with guilt...
Sometimes tho I feel like I enjoy it more because that when I eat that one thing that I know is calorie filled, It'll be the last time I enjoy something like that for a while so I savour it!
But my plan was to just loose a little more that my goal and give myself about 5 pounds wiggle room. As long as I stay between 145 and 150 I'll be happy, so I can splurge on some calories from time to time.

I am the same way. I question everything I eat and sometimes I think about what everyone else is eating. I have friends that will order 1200 calories of crap and I order a salad with dressing on the side thinking, "How can she eat that?? Doesn't she know how many calories she's eating? No wonder she can't lose weight!" I feel terrible about it. Almost an obsession.

Well...I'm in my 40's now and have been doing this calorie counting thing for so long as I can remember.....it has become my reality. At some point you'll probably accept it as yours. I'm so thankful MFP has made it so easy with their awesome food database and mobile app....my original college day calorie counting was from Jean Carper's Total Nutrition Guide...a very thick book that is not so convenient to keep with you in your purse....and not to mention the 5000 tabs I had in the book for the various places I needed to look up calories. Hopefully you can go back to the NOT counting days, but know that if your metabolism sucks like mine.....it may become your new reality. Good luck

I guess I sort of understand how you feel, but as someone who previously never gave such things a thought I just don't think it's such a bad thing to give a bit of thought to what you eat. I think it has more to do with your attitude or mindset about it than anything. A good thing is a good thing.

Nah, not really. Just becoming a habit, but I just log calories and compare with my fitbit and stop eating when I get to that daily magic number. I eat pretty much the same things at the same times. Just know that if you eat pizza, eat one or 2 slices. If you eat chips, just eat a few. Weigh every week and pay attention to your clothes. If you start inching up again, go back to logging everything. MFP is just a way to train us to eat better.

i have come to the conclusion that i had to look at food differently. Food for me know is fuel with an occasional treat, but for the most part I have planned exactly what i will be eating that day. It may sound boring or regimented but when I think about how i disrespected my body, I had to come up with a new approach. Hope that helps. Good luck to you

You are still a "young 'un", but I'm 46 years old and I know what you mean!! I remember when I was little (or a teenager) thinking "When I grow up, I can eat anything I want to!" And for a little bit, in my early 20s, I did, and it didn't seem to matter. But after college, I got a desk job and got married and the pounds started coming on, slowly creeping up. Add 2 kids into the mix and that just made it worse!!! I feel like I can never think (or not think about) food the same - I am obssed with tracking - even if I know I've gone over my limit for the day, I still record it all. It's probably a good thing, but I miss the time when I didn't have to "think" about food so much. The good thing is that I've been at this since the beginning of December 2011, I haven't lost a ton of weight (just abut 10 lbs), but I'm in my weight range for height, age, etc. I've been exercising regularly (5-6 times a week) since then, too. So I know I'm a lot healthier than I ever was. I still have a long way to go, but I know what you mean!!!

You are young, so maybe for you this will eventually become second nature. I wish I had started a lot sooner (and stuck with it).
Good luck to you - you sound like you've got a good head on your shoulders! :happy:

I did. I was sooooo sick of micromanaging the calories in food and out of exercise that I gave up in November. I restarted again in Jan (with no weight loss or gain in the time off) and gave up counting the calories in the basic things, like each and every slice of tomato or lettuce leaf in a salad roll, or every carrot and onion that went into a meal. I'm much better for it, and I found that the actual weight of 'about that much' in things stayed much the same anyway. As it stands now, I really don't give a toss if there is 95 grams of onion in a dish, or if it is 102. I don't count 54 mins of my morning walk, or 63 either. It stands at a steady 60 and that suits me fine. If it is less TIME, I walked faster, so it evens out anyway.

YMMV

I actually feel the opposite. I put on the freshman 10 every year for 22 years. When I finally found MFP and started eating just three meals a day and logging everything it freed me from the chains of a food obsession. I am starting to feel like I have gotten my life back. I can still eat almost everything I want I just have to adjust my other meals and exercise to fit it in.

Good luck with your weight loss.

Yup. I hit that point. I no longer calorie count. I eat everything in moderation, make healthier choices & workout.
It works for me.