New Lifestyle-or eating disorder?

Wow I know what you mean, I can see it in my wives eyes each time I bring up foods and calories. I'm trying to work on my food diary a day early so I have an idea of how much I can eat and if I exercise I know those calories will go down too. Good luck

How many wives do you have? :noway: :laugh:

Sorry, couldn't resist. :bigsmile:

bump- i am having the same problems!!!

I was starting to have an unhealthy relationship with my scale...I was weighing 3-5 times a day, telling myself that I was only "watching" the fluctuations of the day, and the only one that counted was the first one in the morning. Then when it wasn't moving each morning, I became more and more depressed, even though I know that plateaus are bound to happen. My emotions and self-image were getting all mixed up with the number on the scale, so I had my husband hide it from me about a week and a half ago. Letting go of the scale was hard!

With your wedding in only a couple of weeks, I would just keep watching your calorie count until the big day, then give yourself permission to relax a little on your honeymoon. When you get back, if you still feel yourself obsessing, maybe it's time for professional help. If you, as a dietitian, know that you're eating properly but still worry over every single calorie, a psychologist might be better able to help you.

Wait.... What has happened here??

I've been good about tracking my calories daily and trying to avoid certain foods...I exercise almost daily and am almost under my calorie goal.

However...I've also started cutting back on lots of things...I hardly ever drink alcohol anymore, I eat lots more veggies and a lot less meat...and I also find myself obsessing over whether or not I will go under on calories. I am miserable and feel like a bad person if I don't work out for an hour each day. Indulging in things I used to love makes me feel horribly guilty. I have the MFP app on my smart phone and I am constantly adding any small food I eat (sneaking a grape when I'm packing lunches for my fiancee and myself). I can tell it's starting to wear on him how much I think about my food and exercise.

I want to know when a person crosses over from trying to lead a healthy lifestyle and lose weight versus when it becomes an obsession/eating disorder.

I have two questions:

1) What foods are you eliminating and why?
2) Have you ever taken a few days off as a diet break?

Planning a wedding is a lot of stress. If you've noticed you're trying to take ultra-control of your diet at this point in time, it may be because you feel like things are so crazy in other parts of your life that you feel the need to compensate. Also, being diabetic, I imagine you've always had to be careful what you ate. You may be taking it to an extreme, though.

You must remember, balance is important. If you are super-restrictive, then human nature is going to cause you to rebel, and then you suffer guilt from eating something you deem as "bad". You have to be kind to yourself during this process of trying to eat healthier and make exercise a routine. I'd say try to back off a little with the calorie counting and being so hard on yourself, maybe re-evaluate the situation after the wedding. That could be the cause for a lot of your stress right now... if you really do feel this is getting out of hand, it's best to talk to someone, just to figure out where you stand. There is no shame in seeking help if you feel this is really beginning to become an issue.

Best of luck and congrats on the wedding.

I've always been obsessed with food. I'm always thinking about my next meal or my next snack. And I'm very anal about my diary and working my calories and macros. But it doesn't make me miserable. I don't think I can actually change my obsession with food, but this site makes it into a healthy lifestyle. If I sneak a cheezit when I'm giving my son a snack, nope, I don't log it. But if I want a serving, I'll prelog and work my day around it so I can have it. It works for me. Yeah, I do feel crazy for constantly thinking about food. But I'm also one of the healthiest people I know. It's a trade off. I find the busier I am, the less I'll actually obsess about food.

If you think you might need to see a psychologist, then there isn't a reason in the world why you shouldn't. You are worried about yourself, that is a good thing. Please, go talk to someone.

Didn't read any other posts except OP.
But this is the main reason why I'm not a super skinny girl, like I would like too be.
I don't want it controlling my life and I'm only 21 so i still want to live my young years out, such as going out drinking and having that extra piece of pizza sometimes!
I'm too scarred that if I weight myself, count every single calorie everyday etc, that I will develop an eating disorder.

It's not an "eating disorder" per se (you would have to be clinically diagnosed and meet specific DMS IV criteria) but it sounds like the beginning stages of disordered eating.

Get help and get out while you can.

This, you're best off getting out now while you can see it happening. Maybe tell your fiance your worries, then he can help break the obsessions? Good luck!

I think anyone who can afford to visit their doctor and get a referral to a nutritionist for personalized sessions and plans should do so because it's a fine line between being effective and being obessive. Everything I've read recently on weight loss says that if you are or have been overweight it's really hard to get and stay at a healthy weight. So obsessing is sadly a natural reaction to having to stay on top of your habits, thought processes, and foods. It sucks, get any help you can afford to get!

The saddest thing about my situation is that I am a dietitian. I know what healthy eating is. I've also had type I/Juvenile diabetes since I was 15...Doctors have helped me for 13 years figure out how to eat healthy and they reaffirm every time I go see them that I'm healthy and eating well...I'm wondering if I don't need a shrink more than anything else.

I got so sick of logging everything that I hurled my phone across the room. (I typically do not have temper tantrums like that). But it can be very frustrating to log every little thing. After the outburst I started writing notes on a pad in the kitchen about what/how much I eat and then log it all onto MFP a few times a day. That way I usually choose what to eat based on how hungry I am instead of how many grams of sugar it will put me over. You are not alone, and it will get better!

This post is so interesting to me and Im glad that you brought it up. Some of my family and friends have been annoyed with me for years bc I often talk about how fat i am and how discouraged i am over it. Most of them are much heavier than me so when they told me i seemed obsessed with weight i thought it was just because they were so overweight. But now hearing people who are like minded about a healthy lifestyle it makes me wonder.

Obviously obsessing about it hasn't helped me lose, it certainly hasn't helped my relationship with food. I still eat the bad things that i crave and then beat myself up about eating it and about my weight. And my poor husband, he has been listening to me talk about wanting to lose weight since we were dating and all i have done is gain. Don't take that into your marriage. Honestly men, good men that really love us usually don't even see the fat. And insecurity is very unattractive. If he is like my husband he just wants you to be happy, to be able to enjoy yourself when you go out. To feel confident in how you look, to see the beauty that he sees. To have life be about more than how you look or what you eat. To be able to have a conversation with you and have you be present and your mind not wandering about what you just ate or what you are doing to eat. I go nuts when I'm hungry and haven't eaten and then moments after the joy of being full i start feeling depressed even if i don't express it. We take them on this roller coaster with us and they go along because they love us but is it fair to him or to you? No. You don't want that for yourself. Make yourself be balanced. If that means logging once a week or maybe just agreeing to a cheat day so you can enjoy bad meals with him without the guilt.

I think that our creator wants us to enjoy our life, food was made for our nourishment and enjoyment. We didn't have to have taste buds to get the nourishment so the fact that we enjoy it is a bonus that we shouldn't turn into an obsession. What has happened to us is probably what has happened with a lot of things in life. Things that were created for our enjoyment have been distorted and has become an unhealthy obsession for some of us.

You are a dietician and I'm sure have educated yourself so eat clean and know that you are doing your best. There is no one that is perfect. I know a lot of people seem that they have the perfect body but really no one is perfect and we have to figure out a way to understand and accept our imperfections while not using them as an excuse to get out of control with our weight or health. Find a way to be balanced and to stop making ourselves and those who love us miserable. Thanks for the post. I think we should all talk about this more, just to help us be balanced.

bump

I went thru phases at the start where I was extremely obsessive (I do have some OCD traits though) and where I had said before I could see myself becoming too thin.

But the closer I have come to my goal, the less I ever have those feelings anymore. I have enough to snap me back to it when I go overboard or have a bad day, but all those obsessive feelings have passed.

Hi! I don't usually post on these forums, but I just wanted to say that this definitely could be the start of an eating disorder, like many have said.

I know, because this is exactly how my eating disorder started. The guilt, the obsessive counting, the exercising "just a little bit more." And eventually, that turned into a purging disorder. The guilt consumed me until I would purge away the bad stuff. I forced myself to quit the purging habit, but the guilt never went away. So I would have "fasting" days to make up for the times when I'd eaten a little too much, and thus, my anorexia was born.

I'm not trying to scare you with all of this, but I think my point is that some guilt is inevitable, but you have to tell people about your struggles so that you can be surrounded by positive support. Being reminded of all the GOOD things you're doing, instead of stressing over the bad, is what separates a healthy dieter from someone with a disorder.

I hope this helped, and good luck!