I just started cuz coach said to hah. Really, I need to lose some weight and this way I can figure out what's working, what's not, and have some input from others on how to make my diet better (more balanced/healthy). I think when I am trying to lose weight, like you I might not eat enough either so that's another reason for logging.

As for you, I think it's bad news because you are obsessive haha! But really, I think until you have moved past your ways of the past, maybe it is good for you to track so you don't fall back into unhealthy eating habits. I know you didn't ask my opinion, but you got it anyways :P

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I know I'm promiscuous, but in a classy way

I never wrote what I ate until I turned 39 years old and realized I couldn't eat whatever I wanted without effecting my weight. I'm sure I could have eaten better when I was younger, as far as it helping my athletic performance, but I was just training so much I just needed calories. I tried to live that way even after retirement from real competitive swimming, and got away with it for 15 years. When I decided I needed to see if I could eat healthier, I started recording it in fitday, and it was great. I did it for many months and I began to eat much better just seeing the bad stuff add up. I don't record anymore, because I know what I have to do. That doesn't mean I do well all year round, but I can generally get myself on track pretty easily. I'm usually more concerned now with eating well right after workouts, and making sure I have what I need to recover well, and I don't get in a tizzy if I have a cookie after lunch.

I write down what I eat for a couple days at a time if my weight drops or I seem to be eating really poorly and am low on energy. Sometimes I analyze it and sometimes it just helps me to make sure I am eating a little better. I would say I maybe do it for a couple days every 2-3 months.

Every day. Not too obsessive about it. Just at the end of the day I put it in my training log with my workouts, etc. I like to see how much I'm eating, what I'm eating, what % are carbs, etc. But I am a data person, so I think that's what drives it.

I don't track what I eat by writing down at the end of the day but rather I pretty much know in the morning each day (or night before) what I am going to eat and when for the following day, probably even more OCD and sometimes leads to being too disciplined by thinking maybe I will not go out to eat for lunch or dinner because I already planned out what I was going to eat.

I've been logging both calories in and out (via Bodybugg) for the past 95 weeks. It's part of my job as a trainer and knowing my calories burned-rate is very helpful to follow as my triathlon training progresses.

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DFL > DNF > DNS

I don't , but I would if I could find a program to use that wasn't as agonizingly slow as Fitday. I guess if you don't eat that much packaged food everything has to be entered individually, and eventually you'd store up a log of your usual stuff. I never had the patience.

I've tried but I just can't be bothered. Luckily weight's not really an issue for me.

TC - from what you've posted previously in the forum about eating issues, I think not tracking what you eat is a very positive step for you. You eat a healthy balanced diet and are very active, paying attention to how you feel rather than tracking calories definitely seems like the smart thing to do.

WeRide - I don't use any programs or anything like that; I just have a notebook :-) very quick.

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maybe she's born with it, maybe it's chlorine
If you're injured and need some sympathy, PM me and I'm very happy to write back.
disclaimer: PhD not MD

I used to be really obsessive about tracking everything. To the point where as soon as I ate something I'd record it in Calorie King. It was great information and I learned quite a bit but I have done it for a couple months. It has been very freeing. Of course, that doesn't mean my weight is where I want it to be but this fall has been about resting and recovering from a couple years of intensive endurance training. I'm ramping back up so I'll be working on my diet and watching my food intake so I'll start recording again after Thanksgiving.

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Jen

"In order to keep a true perspective on one's importance, everyone should have a dog that worships him and a cat that will ignore him." - Dereke Bruce

TC-I agree with Alibabawa that discontinuing the tracking of your food intake may be good for you. I have read your extensive eating disorder history. So long as your weight stays in a healthy range and you are eating a well balanced diet and exercising, it seems like writing down food may just be a way to hold onto control over food and it may be one of the last ways that you are doing so. It may only seem this way though. Or maybe you are scared that if you don't write it down you will stop taking care of yourself? I speak from experience, so don't be offended if this isn't the case. I struggled with anorexia when I was 13-14 and to a lesser extent when I was 20 and still have trouble with eating/weight issues at times.

as to the control part of it - yes it is a way to feel some control that I dislike letting go of.

No, I eat plenty whether I write it down or not.

Is tricky. Something I brought up in therapy last session and will do so again in the next one.

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maybe she's born with it, maybe it's chlorine
If you're injured and need some sympathy, PM me and I'm very happy to write back.
disclaimer: PhD not MD

I don't keep a training log, much less a food log.

Absolutely - almost every single day. When I go off this for even a week I gain at least 3lbs.

It scares me. 16 years ago I began my first year of gain 100lbs in 3 years. I lost that weight with Weight Watchers 5 years ago ... about 10lbs has crept back on and I'm fighting like hell to get rid of it.

I use www.livestrong.com/thedailyplate - I pay for the gold membership, it's cheap and it lets me track what I eat.

I understand what you're saying re: the mental freedom and I wish that I was one of those people who could be free from this, but I'm not and I accept that. I think I feel more relaxed when I journal my food ... but that's what works for ME and where I am at in life.

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Tri Hard !

... the downside of keeping track, is sometimes it fuels panic. I will forever freak out if I eat more than 3000 calories a day, even if I know I need that much. When I was gaining a couple years ago I had to eat at least 3000 calories a day so there is this link in my mind "if you eat that much you WILL gain weight." The number 2800 is fine with me. The number 2900 is okay too. 3000 my head goes AAAAAAAAAAAA!

and the thing is, right now, if I gain weight it's totally FINE. Still, the "voice" is there.

If I don't write it down, I still tend to keep a running tab in my head of calories... so the number is there regardless.

sorry for more eating disordered ranting but it helps me to write it sometimes... I would give ANYTHING to be a healthy athlete without the shadows of an eating disorder.

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maybe she's born with it, maybe it's chlorine
If you're injured and need some sympathy, PM me and I'm very happy to write back.
disclaimer: PhD not MD

Don't even be an ounce of sorry. We all need support in something and I think EVERYONE is happy to give it to you for this - especially since weight is something almost all of us have an internal struggle with, even if it doesn't manifest itself into a full-blown eating disorder.

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I know I'm promiscuous, but in a classy way

It's funny, I think, that I try to second-guess my body so much. Think about it - isn't that what we're doing when we keep track of calories and stuff anyway? "I am going to do all kinds of funny math and - there - I need X calories." As opposed to "I'm hungry and I'm going to eat." Or "I am craving peanut butter, time for an apple and peanut butter." Which is what I do, then freak over the numbers. It's ridiculous. I wish I had never learned what a calorie WAS... on the upside of things, I've stopped measuring stuff, now I just estimate.

Hmmm maybe my next step would be keep the food journal but not write the calorie amounts down.

Thank you for the support - I WILL get rid of the eating disorder shadow, I will I will I will. I hate it when people tell me "you'll have a part of this in you forever" because I want to believe SO much that there is a complete recovery from it, that you can get rid of all the obsessing for good.

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maybe she's born with it, maybe it's chlorine
If you're injured and need some sympathy, PM me and I'm very happy to write back.
disclaimer: PhD not MD

I think getting rid of the calorie amounts would be a big help.

For me, I can eat several donuts in the morning for breakfast at work or what probably amounts to 3000-4000 calories a day when I am training hard, but not care because I know my body needs it if I am eating by how I feel. If I started writing it down and actually seeing the calories, I know I would start to restrict it because I have done it in the past. That's why whenever I write food down I try to not even figure out the calories anymore. I just try to look for patterns like not getting enough fruits and veggies, not enough protein, whether I am eating right after workouts, getting protein and carbs together, eating too many donuts ;)

I had to come to terms with knowing there is something I have to live with for the rest of my life that I wish I didn't. This is something that will need treatment every day. Nothing fatal or physically debilitating, just always there. There are days where I hate it, where I'm angry, but most of the time I recognize I know this is part of what make me uniquely me. I like me. So, if I like me, I have to like all of my experiences and "flaws" that make up who I am.

I don't know if you will ever get rid of your eating disorder. But, if you don't, its OK. It is what makes you who you are and you should be proud of that. You are a student, an athlete and clearly you have many people who care about you as you are.

It is OK if you aren't perfect. None of us are. But, that is what makes us who we are and that is what is great.

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Jen

"In order to keep a true perspective on one's importance, everyone should have a dog that worships him and a cat that will ignore him." - Dereke Bruce

Just an interesting comment from my perspective. One of the best things that food logging has done for me is to make sure I get enough calories on my big training days. If I ate 6500 calories on my 7+hr training days, which is exactly what CalorieKing prescribed, I would have the most amazing long run the next day and feel fantastic. Before the logging, I always felt like the long Sunday run was a death march of torture. The main thing I use it for though is to try not to overdo the calories. I used to snack on cashews out of the giant cashew jar at night before bed...probably had 1000+ calories each time, just considering it an after dinner snack. No wonder I couldn't get to race weight! This year I used CalorieKing the whole year and had a great season staying right where I wanted to be weightwise. Now I've put on 3 lbs of fat for the winter (which is exactly what I needed to do) and I ate 1000 calories too much yesterday on Thanksgiving...worth every bite : ). I also set a PR at my local Turkey Trot and won a yummy apple pie : )).

I definitely agree with you that eating enough, particularly on long workout days, is critical for feeling good the next day. I usually do not eat enough on long days and wind up waking up hungry during the night. My roommate thinks it's hilarious when I stumble out of bed at midnight to cook french toast or make a pbj etc.

Am grateful for all the responses. Is interesting to read the differences in perspective from those of us in the range of disordered eating/eating disorder to you lucky people free from it.

I am going to challenge myself to stop adding up calories. I have a [mental] list of the "stupid anorexic things I do" and need to start getting rid of those symptoms one by one. Keeping track of what I eat and adding up calories is certainly on that list.

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maybe she's born with it, maybe it's chlorine
If you're injured and need some sympathy, PM me and I'm very happy to write back.
disclaimer: PhD not MD

On a general level, i think that healthy athletes who are very serious about their training naturally know how to regulate their bodies without logs or computer programs. I guess I am lucky because I know exactly where I perform best, and exactly what to eat to get there (not ignoring hunger, and not giving in every time I want dessert). But, if someone is on the extremes, something is out of whack and for some reason they are ignoring the natural balance in their body. If through a food log someone finds that they are consistently undereating (possibly fast metabolism, probably mental eating issues) or are consistently overeating, then I think finding out the roots of those problems will be MUCH more effective than continuing to write down numbers that aren't serving that person well. Find your triggers, address them, and counting calories won't be necessary. Then you can go by the age old method of eat when hungry, stop when satisfied. Repeat.

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"What am I on? I'm on my bike busting my ass for six hours a day. What are YOU on?" - Lance Armstrong

C. - that was a really good answer. Thank you.

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maybe she's born with it, maybe it's chlorine
If you're injured and need some sympathy, PM me and I'm very happy to write back.
disclaimer: PhD not MD

   

I do keep track of what I eat. I log my nutrition intake daily in a food log, that monitors my calories, carbs, fat, and protein. I find it helpful when I'm aiming for certain caloric goals during Tri season, or when I'm just trying to maintain out of season. I'm studying to be a Registered Dietician, so I recommend this to my clients, as it gives them a better perspective of what they need to do. But, in your situation, you already know what you need to do. I think you could get away without crunching all those numbers every day, and just know that you are in control, and you don't have to beat yourself up over every little calorie. I had 3 cookies on Wednesday, big ones, and I felt horrible for it. But you know what, we can't change those things, so we move on and just try to get back on track. Life is too short to be so worried about these things, just use common sense, and you will be fine. Best of luck to you!!

I've kept a detailed log of what I ate and counted the calories for about a single week and then decided it simply took too much time and effort! So, now I monitor my weight based on a scale and based on how my belt feels.

wrote stuff down today - no calorie amounts (didnt' measure anything so how would I guess anyway?) just eating when I'm hungry. Haven't been obsessing. Feels nice :-)

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maybe she's born with it, maybe it's chlorine
If you're injured and need some sympathy, PM me and I'm very happy to write back.
disclaimer: PhD not MD

Good for you! Keep it up.

Good for you TC.

Personally I just eat whatever, whenever. I used to be a bit obsessive regarding weighing myself, resting HR etc everyday etc. I stopped this when I took a year off racing due to illness. I will try and carbo load if there is a goal race at the weekend, but won't record intake. I've fortunate that I've not gone up a jean size since high school, although the belt is a notch or two looser. I will probably jump on a scale come February to check I'm still under 75 kilos.

I do have to keep a check on my coffee and chocolate intake though as I've got up to 3 bars of choc and 4 mugs a day.

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"Here's how you run a marathon. Step 1: You start running. Step 2: There is no step 2." - Barney (How I Met Your Mother)

Thanks. It's a work in progress. Yesterday I didn't have time through the day to write stuff down and I got to the end of the day and debated, write it down or no... compulsion got the better of me and I did. But I managed to not write down/add up calories!

I've had a rough week of school, not gotten much sleep, and when I am over tired I freak out more than usual over eating related things, I go right back to the 'stupid anorexic things I do' symptoms. Talked about that in therapy last night, how it's my "default" for coping with stress.

Happy to have a guy chime in on this BTW, I think females are far more obsessive over what we eat and we're more likely to keep track (and stress over it!). just an opinion. Do any other of the men lurking in the womens forum want to chime in :-)

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maybe she's born with it, maybe it's chlorine
If you're injured and need some sympathy, PM me and I'm very happy to write back.
disclaimer: PhD not MD

I think triathletes in general are prone to eating dissorders in general. Reading the main forum and this one blows my mind someone about how obessive people are (Not pointing figures and or judging etc). It looks like your taking a step in the right direction, I used to worry about what I ate etc, but now I eat what I want within reason and never feel guilty about eating a brownie or cookie or both. Life is wayy too short to stress over "minor details". I've become a foodie and try new restraunts every weekend If I can. Food should be an exciting thing not a prison of sorts. But keep it up, being free of anything that binds us is an awesome thing.

Post #6, i'm male. And seem to be as obsessive as anyone else who's posted:)

Talk about irony, just saw this while I got on my computer to go to http://www.fitday.com to log my dinner and 3 cookies I had for dessert.

I put in a best effort level for what I eat, plus I use it to log exercise and I get a guess as to my calorie balance for the day/week. I tend to take at least one weekend day off.


If hardcore journaling of what you eat causes you stress, go for something that is in the same vein but less stringent. I think something like a log/journal where you put +'s and -'s for the overall health of the food. +1 for veggies, -1 for french fries, etc. Do that for a week or two, then try and have a +5/-1 ratio or something?

Yesterday I did not:

measure anything
write down any food log
add up calories at all

We even went out to eat (which was stressful for me but for other reasons than the food itself... had more to do with my dad being snappy with me all day, and my just not wanting to go out as a family!) and I had dinner and dessert.

just wanted to share, is rare for me to have a day w/o anxiety around eating, and being ok with not writing stuff down or adding up calories!

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maybe she's born with it, maybe it's chlorine
If you're injured and need some sympathy, PM me and I'm very happy to write back.
disclaimer: PhD not MD

HUGE!



Here I was about to write that I'm starting to record again. Since I've been running regularly my appitite is picking up. Consequently I'm overeating and put on weight the last 2 week. Damn.

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Jen

"In order to keep a true perspective on one's importance, everyone should have a dog that worships him and a cat that will ignore him." - Dereke Bruce

Happy to have a guy chime in on this BTW, I think females are far more obsessive over what we eat and we're more likely to keep track (and stress over it!). just an opinion. Do any other of the men lurking in the womens forum want to chime in :-)


I absolutely obsess over what i eat. I may not have an eating disorder, but I definitely have issues. No one in their right mind would call me fat, but I still look in the mirror and think, just another 10 pounds.

I have never been able to actually keep up with writing it down, only because I genuinely beleive it would make me obsess even more.

I took a lot of flack for being a "the fat kid" when I was young(er).

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Proud member of the MSF (Maple Syrup Mafia)

There is a whole spectrum of disordered eating to eating disorder, and none of the ways they're clinically diagnosed are all that great, either. I "technically" do not have an eating disorder - I don't even fit the EDNOS criteria. Which is in some ways a happy thing and in other ways, absolute ly ridiculous, as I have a constellation of symptoms but they don't occur enough to be classified as anything. I fall under the "disordered eating" category. And some of that, my therapist believes is anxiety or obsessive compulsion that manifests itself in food/eating issues... for instance, I have some odd "need" for certain orders, colors, and things that "match" with food still. As an example, if you gave me two different flavors of yogurt... I would have to figure out which one to eat first, and that decision is based on their color and how it matches / lines up with whatever else I've eaten for that day. Another "order" thing is if you cut toast into triangles which part are you supposed to eat first - the piece with the top of the crust or the bottom? These my therapist thinks are not too "disordered" as for something to be a disorder it has to interfere with your life significantly... both of these things used to cause a lot of stress for me, now I still think about them but it doesn't cause as much anxiety. It is purely some manifestation of obsessive compulsion. That said, there are certainly a whole bunch of eating disordered symptoms I cling to that are very much out of fear of gaining weight and getting fat - and those range from disordered eating to true eating disorder.

Maybe I'm just plain neurotic ;-)

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maybe she's born with it, maybe it's chlorine
If you're injured and need some sympathy, PM me and I'm very happy to write back.
disclaimer: PhD not MD

swimming is always the worst for me in terms of hunger, running kind of kills my appetite. But after an hour+ of shivvering in the pool all I want to do is eat.

Today I wrote stuff down, but didn't measure anything, and have no idea of calories. Only one anxiety-thing. And I had 3 new 'foods' - crackers, popcorn, glass of wine (the last an experiment to see if it helps me sleep!)

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maybe she's born with it, maybe it's chlorine
If you're injured and need some sympathy, PM me and I'm very happy to write back.
disclaimer: PhD not MD

"swimming is always the worst for me in terms of hunger, running kind of kills my appetite. But after an hour+ of shivvering in the pool all I want to do is eat"

Me too! When I run a lot, I am not that hungry. But swimming...I barely swam today and the showers were cold at the pool and I was soooo hungry.

About your post above with the colors. I find that interesting. I used to eat fruit loops and would eat all the colors one at a time--orange, purple, then yellow, green, red. I don't know if that was just a way to slow my eating process or what. I don't do that any more (no more fruit loops anyway...) but I'm curious if I follow any patterns.

Froot Loops were always a treat for me when I was little - my mom would rarely buy sugary cereals but Froot Loops and Oreo Os on occasion, yum!

When I was little, I would pick sandwiches apart and eat all the veggies, cheese, and bread individually. That was long before the eating disorder developed, and I don't remember *why* I did it... I guess for some reason I just didn't like to eat the sandwich all together. I'll eat them "whole" now.

it is just hard to figure out sometimes, is this one of the stupid anorexic things I do, a non-invasive 'quirk,' or driven by obsessive compulsion.

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maybe she's born with it, maybe it's chlorine
If you're injured and need some sympathy, PM me and I'm very happy to write back.
disclaimer: PhD not MD