OCD Dieting

Dieting sucks.  I know "diet" is now a four letter word... so instead let's just say I've put on like 10 pounds and need to "make a lifestyle change."

Diet Portion vs. Epic Portion

Changing eating habits is difficult for everybody, but OCD can add an interesting component to the mix.  Calorie counting or sticking to a regimen are ripe situations for over analysis.  Basically, you have to make sure you don't tag an obsession onto your new habits.

In the past, when I've tried to diet I used that MyFitnessPal app.  You can log everything that you eat and it counts up the calories for you.  It's a brilliant concept: it helps keep you in line, it makes you more aware of what you're eating, and it's easy to use.  However, it can become an OCD nightmare.

I was so worried about under-counting and accidentally eating too much that I was always overestimating what I had eaten.  When you're given a limit of ~1200 calories a day, overestimating can leave you very underfed and angry.  This is different than anorexia, it's more an obsession with accuracy than anything else... or at least with not cheating (I'd much rather overestimate than underestimate).  

I never kept these diets going very long because I would get frustrated.  Not eating all the delicious food that you want can make you irritable enough...Maintaining a diet when you're overly concerned with a log is just shooting yourself in the foot.

So this time I'm trying it on my own without a counter or a log and just trying to eat less and make better choices.  So far I've been good for like a week (Triumph!).  Hopefully this can continue without spiraling out of control.