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Fitday contributing to obsessive behavior?

Old 05-11-2011, 05:13 AM
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Question Fitday contributing to obsessive behavior?

Hi folks, first post here.

I have a question for you. 4.5 years ago I used FitDay to lose 90 lbs. I kept track of EVERYTHING, worked out religiously, and kept an iron grip on my lifestyle. In the years since I realized that while I was proud of my loss I had achieved it in a really unhealthy manner: too quickly and with a very disordered attitude towards food and myself.

Now it's years later and I've gained back 60 of the pounds due to stress of going back to grad school while being a mom and starting a new relationship. I hate that I've lost so much of what I worked so hard for. I know how to eat, I know how to exercise: it's a matter of how to approach it in a way that's healthy for my body and mind. I'm worried that if I start using FitDay again that it will trigger all my old obsessive behavior, and part of me also rebels at having to work so hard (eating ~1300 calories a day, exercising (weights/cardio) 40-80 min 6-7 days/week) for so little return when compared to my friends who look great and eat anything they want with no exercise at all.

So my question is, can FitDay be used in a _moderate_ fashion? I mean, if you're going to write it all down, you have to write it ALL down, don't you? So how do you do it without being your own worst enemy?

Thanks, and congratulations on your successes!

eta: I'm sorry, I posted this in the wrong forum: I didn't mean to have it be in Successes and I don't know how to move it. :-/ Oops...

Last edited by Wolf_Girl; 05-11-2011 at 05:15 AM.
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Old 05-11-2011, 05:27 AM
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Welcome back to Fitday and welcome to the Forums. If you are gong to use Fitday you need to write it all down, you can't just pick and choose what you want to log.

I think the secret however is not to look at this in terms of a diet that will end when you reach a certain point. Whatever you do now, you need to be able to do for the rest of your life, so there is no point in going to extremes in either diet or exercise. If you exercise excessively for the next 12 weeks to loose the weight, but stop after the weight is gone you will gain it all back shortly after. The same goes with diet. We need to learn healthy habits that we can keep forever not just the short term.

Good Luck in your journey.
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Old 05-11-2011, 05:40 AM
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Welcome to the forums, and welcome back to FitDay!

I wasn't sure where you wanted your thread, so I moved it here (hope that's OK).

Now, I, too, am a "former" FitDay user. I used FitDay back in '01 to lose more-or-less 200 pounds in less than a year. Yes, I was compulsive/obsessive--eating 1,000 cals a day. FitDay worked great and I got the results I wanted.

I found out, as you did, that when I stopped the obsessively "good" behavior that old habits came back with a vengeance and I found myself back here last May back to my 400+ weight.

What's different this time? Well, I am NOT obsessive about my weight loss this time. I've learned about "all or nothing thinking" and that I don't have to be "perfect". I also decided that I was NOT going to starve myself and that I WAS going to have the occasional day or two "off". I also decided I was going to eat real food--no "slim quicks", "fat-free" junk or the like.

I've gotta say that my progress has been almost as good as the last time and a lot less painful. What I'm trying to do is, I guess, train myself to eat "normally". Now you may not have the compulsive eating issues that I do and you may be able to wean yourself off journaling your calories in and out. If so, that's great but if not, so what? I spend, perhaps 5 minutes a day logging my food and exercise--a small price to pay, IMHO.

Anyway, that's where I'm coming from--hope you decide to stay.

Regards,
Michael
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Old 05-11-2011, 01:10 PM
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I think many of the quick fix diets are that way. You go all or nothing -- then when you quit it's back to the old habits. I find fitday a tool I use to help me with my diet. I lost before on a similiar program and gained when I quit journalling. I don't blame the program that helped me in the first place, I retained a lot of the information and managed to get back on track before regaining it all. Other times I regained with 10 - 20% interest. I plan on staying with fitday to help me maintain. One of my fears is I will stop using it for some unknown reason! Mary
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Old 05-11-2011, 11:38 PM
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I hate to point out the obvious, but you sound like you are stringing together a series of excuses so that you can avoid getting healthy. I don't think fitday contributes to obsessive behavior, but if you find that knowing exactly how many calories you are eating and burning is in some way hurting you mentally then I guess you have to weigh obsessiveness against having a healthy body.
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Old 05-12-2011, 06:33 AM
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Originally Posted by almeeker
I hate to point out the obvious, but you sound like you are stringing together a series of excuses so that you can avoid getting healthy. I don't think fitday contributes to obsessive behavior, but if you find that knowing exactly how many calories you are eating and burning is in some way hurting you mentally then I guess you have to weigh obsessiveness against having a healthy body.
This sounds right to me, it is not fitday that makes you obsessive...
Like the wife/girlfriend that ask do these jeans make my bottom look large?
A: No it is all the ding dongs you keep stuffing away!

FitDay is a tool you will be obsessive with it if that is your nature. Be careful and good luck.
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Old 05-12-2011, 06:55 AM
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You say that you see people eating anything they want and not having to work at being slim. That's a difficult assumption to make. They most likely know exactly when they are overeating - even just a bit - and when to cut back. Without much fuss, they keep an even keel with calories, and it's easy to resent them for it. However, they still are awake and aware of every bit of food they eat, just like the rest of us have to be!

I woke up today and remembered that I ate a fiber bar and didn't put it in my food log. Big deal - well, yeah, it is. The way I can eat something and completely forget about it, until it suddenly occurs to me, hours later... that's what being compulsive about what Weight Watchers calls 'tracking' is good for! Just because I totally forgot about something like 250 calories doesn't mean I didn't eat just that many calories - and they went in my mouth, not in my imagination!

I use fitday every day and I'm still trying to lose all the weight I gained when I low-carbed. Now, I've been losing weight again, steadily.

I'm a person you would see eating fast food and think, 'Well, that's why she's fat.' In fact, you wouldn't know that I was almost 30 pound fatter when I was low-carbing and now, I eat everything and anything in much smaller quantities, with an eye on my total calorie count for the day, and a consciousness of nutrition. I want a diet that can last me through my entire life, through every situation and every family holiday, every crisis, every new environment. Knowing a calorie limit and respecting it - it's just a fact of life.

I see people who spend money recklessly and seem to have no problems from that. I don't know if, behind the scenes, they have a lovely nest egg in the bank, earning interest. I don't know if they are deep in debt. From what I see, I only get a tiny part of the picture. It's the same with what you see when you watch other people manage their food and be slim or fat. All that you see doesn't take away the reality of having to manage your resources (calories) and produce the best results with that management... the results are your heath and your body. It's a fact of life that everyone does that. You can gracefully accept it or go on a roller-coaster of diets and pills that give you short-term results with bad after-effects (weight gain and much worse).
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Old 05-12-2011, 07:36 AM
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Hi Wolf-Girl,
I think that fitday has certainly made me more aware of my macro nutrient percentages, which is a good thing, but then sometimes I do get a bit obsessed. So obsessed that I also wonder if I'm being healthy or unhealthy. I think it is good that you are questioning this, as you want something that will work for you.

I go back and forth between tracking foods on fitday verses just writing everything down in a journal and trying to manage my portions and eat healthfully. For about 1 week now I've just been writing my foods in a journal, which is very freeing. Maybe you can switch it up, too. Track all of your foods on fitday, then go for a month with just journaling and reading the forums.

I never stop visiting the forums, even if I don't log my food here.

Developing a healthy relationship with food is really hard for me.

Last edited by blackrhino2; 05-12-2011 at 07:41 AM.
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Old 05-12-2011, 11:01 AM
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[\quote]Hi Wolf-Girl,
I think that fitday has certainly made me more aware of my macro nutrient percentages, which is a good thing, but then sometimes I do get a bit obsessed. So obsessed that I also wonder if I'm being healthy or unhealthy. I think it is good that you are questioning this, as you want something that will work for you.

I go back and forth between tracking foods on fitday verses just writing everything down in a journal and trying to manage my portions and eat healthfully. For about 1 week now I've just been writing my foods in a journal, which is very freeing. Maybe you can switch it up, too. Track all of your foods on fitday, then go for a month with just journaling and reading the forums.

I never stop visiting the forums, even if I don't log my food here.

Developing a healthy relationship with food is really hard for me.[/quote]

I'm with Julia, I too have found myself getting a little too obsessive with FitDay. Don't get me wrong, I love the site and it has been a god-sent to learning how to manage what and when I eat. But there have been times - mostly last year - when I seemed to be spending more time logging food, both real and "what if" schenarios, and thinking about food than was really healthy.

But to answer your original question, Wolf-girl: yes, you sure can learn to use the site as a tool rather than an obsession. Log on and in, and move on. But as a couple have mentioned it is part of developing a healthy attitude about food in general. Most likely the obsession with this particular website is just a simptom of a greater problem. And lord knows you have lots of company here!!!

Last edited by RunbikeSki; 05-12-2011 at 11:03 AM.
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