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Posts: 973
11/19/09 2:25 P

I wouldn't say they're the same thing. I can wake up one day and say, "I'm not going to eat that, I can feel the fat already hardening my veins!" But then later that day I'll be like, "But I want it now..." And then I'll have it, or some of it, depending. And I don't think I'm obsessed. I think I'm normal.

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11/14/09 8:49 P

I wake up and my first thought is, how soon can I exercise. So it's a little different, but it's a panic that hits me. Also, when I am under my caloric range, which it appears to be necessary to lose weight, I eat at night, I am sure I am a little bit undernourished. But, on the whole, I am achieving more and more balance.

But it is always on my mind, and like one poster said, I have to make a serious commitment, and I have let other commitments (social life, forget dating) slide while I do this fitness program that means so much to me these days.

Cheers.

Posts: 240
11/11/09 6:36 P

some people can eat anything and not gain weight, but if you gain easily it may seem obsessive only because you have to be more careful and selective.

Posts: 148
11/11/09 4:46 P

perhaps we do seem a bit obsessed to other people because we are looking for best food nutritionally, and calorie wise. We are all still learning.

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11/7/09 12:16 P

I think it depends on the individual.

Posts: 643
11/7/09 10:30 A

Maybe......the more I think about food the more hungrier I seem to get sometimes. I can do things in excess and sometimes that can play a major role in whether your obsessed.

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11/7/09 10:29 A

I don't think so. One can be conscious about eating
healthy food but that does not mean one is obessed.
Obsessed to me means that one thinks about food all the time and I don't. I don't get upset if I eat something I probably should have not.

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11/7/09 10:23 A

That depends...

We all stray from what we want to be doing and when I get back on track usually hit it pretty hard to get back to where I want to be. Tracking food, planning meals, etc
I talk about it a lot to the people around me and I think to the average person I may sound like I'm "consumed/obsessed" with what I'm doing but it all takes lots of focusing until it becomes natural and easy again and makes me "conscious" of my choices.

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11/4/09 2:34 P

no

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Posts: 240
11/4/09 1:52 P

i don't mind admitting i am a "foodie" and love new recipes. collecting cookbooks is my hobby maybe because my father owned his own restaurant. also have always had to work hard at controlling my weight. i don't know if that is food obsessed to always be conscious of eating healthy, slimming foods.

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Posts: 622
11/4/09 11:18 A

No. I believe being conscious of foods is a way for you to know what are good foods and bad foods for you to eat. Being food obesses means you are overly needy for a variety of different foods.

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11/4/09 9:30 A

I think that being food conscious should mean that you are better able to make healthier food choices.

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11/4/09 9:00 A

I've wondered the same thing myself. My goal is to be intentional in what I do, whether it's eating, talking, working, etc...not to be brought under control by the food, but to bring my eating habits under control, to think before I eat. Thanks for the input, ladies.

Posts: 197
11/4/09 7:54 A

no it means being aware of what we ingest and making a conscious decision whether we want to put it into our mouths or not

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11/4/09 7:16 A

No--it just makes you more aware of calories and proper diet

Posts: 1,425
11/4/09 1:27 A

I often find it difficult not to become obsessed with my food intake...especially around the holidays!

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11/3/09 10:35 P

I am happy to report that the longer you do it the less "obsessed" you become and the more routine it all is...

For me food conscious means paying attention to where my food came from, which farmer grew or raised it, and how far away that farmer was, what techniques were used to grow or raise it, and if the people that grew, picked, and processed it make a reasonable living at it. The best way to answer these questions is to support your local farms, that way you get all the fresh goodness and variety that you can't get at the supermarket. Well that was my soapbox for the day.

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11/3/09 8:34 P

Being concious of what you eat is a positive!

You have to be aware of what fuel you are taking in, how much and what value it has to your health.

Obsession...is the over concentration of food(s).

For example I know people that everytime they post I swear it's about some food they have cooked, want to cook, blogging about the food..it comes across like their lives totally revolve around food.

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11/3/09 8:26 P

Hi Creole Big Girl- You are awsome! - 166 lbs lost is amazing. Keep up the good work, and God Bless

Posts: 25
11/3/09 8:09 P

I know it's only my 9th day at it(SPARKING) but, I also have found that tracking has helped alot!

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Posts: 81
11/3/09 7:13 P

I agree that these are two different things. To create new habits, I have to be conscious, to pay attention. There is some effort involved - a good bit in fact! I work for balance - to neither over- nor under-eat. Consciousness feels good despite (or maybe because of) the effort

Obsession is a different animal. I have been obsessed with food when I wasn't eating enough and when I was overeating. Obsession does not feel good or balanced. It interferes with life.

This is one thing I love about the nutrition tracker. I use it to be conscious. And it lets me know if I am over or under-doing it. And I find that I am not obsessed at all.

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11/3/09 5:33 P

MONIQUEARIELLE you have an excellent point and just made me feel much better about the focus I put on eating healthily...sometimes it is easy to fear that it has turned to obsession. I also agree that obsession is still better than obesity and all of the physical and emotional problems that come with it!!!

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11/3/09 3:54 P

I only read a few pages of these comments, and here's what I have to say about it:

It's only been in the last couple hundred years (or less) that our entire existence hasn't been focused on obtaining and preparing food. Modern farming practices, refrigeration, etc. have opened the doors to spending our time doing other things. Because other things seem so much more important, convenience foods have become a HUGE industry and we don't have to think about what we eat at all if we don't want to. But at what cost? It's not hard to eat healthy -- maybe it takes some thought and preparation, but we're a lot better off than we were a few hundred years ago, and the alternative -- obesity, disease, fatigue, unhappiness, etc. -- is worth avoiding at all costs, in my opinion.

I think eating disorders are obsessive and definitely need to be addressed. But I definitely do not think that spending some time planning our meals and trying to be our healthiest selves is obsessive.

Posts: 15
11/3/09 3:25 P

No matter how skinny I get I will forever and always be a live to eat person. I love food so much! Its all about moderation and knowing your limit. I struggled with this for awhile, but now after losing 166LBS I think I have a better handle on it then I use to.

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11/3/09 3:23 P

I feel this way too. I think more about food than anything else. Sometimes when I start to feel too obsessed I binge because I start to think that life's too short to be so focused on food. So, I stop worrying about it and eat everything and anything.

I have to remember moderation and to relax when I start to get too obsessed or stop caring altogether.

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11/3/09 3:21 P

I don't think being food conscious means being food obsessed. Honestly after reading the ingredients in most of the food I use to eat I no longer have the desire to eat it. I do no deprive myself of food. If i want chocolate I eat Dark chocolate so at least I'm getting less sugar and those wonderful antioxidants. There is nothing better then some non-fat vanilla yogurt with berries and dark chocolate sauce... Yummy!!!

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11/3/09 2:20 P

For me it crosses the line to obsession when it takes me an hour to figure out what to have for a meal because I don't want to "waste calories/carbs/fat" on "so and such food". That's when I know I need to dial the obsession back a bit. Its not an obsession with food by itself, its an obsession with getting the "perfect" food.

And yes, I do struggle w/ OCD tendencies in other parts of my life also.

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Posts: 240
11/3/09 1:59 P

to live to eat or eat to live. if you are not around food all the time it is much easier to eat to live. it becomes more difficult when you cook for a family.

Edited by: SJPAPMOM at: 11/3/2009 (14:01)

Posts: 182
11/3/09 1:51 P

I think there is a difference between food conscious and food obsessed. I would say that food conscious means that you are conscious of what you are putting in your mouth. I think it also means that you understand the nutrition values in what you are eating.

Food obsessed has a simmular definition in my mind except that the amount of thought you put into it is unhealthy. It may be you are counting calories in and trying to figure out how to get every one of those last calories out. To me food obsessed would be in the same lines as anarexia, bulimia and compulsive over eating.

To me food conscious is a healthy form of thinking of food and food obsessed is very unhealthy.

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11/3/09 1:37 P

I think it does - I spend far too much time calculating the calories - making substitutions and measuring portions BUT this is the only thing that has worked for me and helped me lose weight.

I would normally go for the too many of the bad choices (because I prefer them to an apple or a salad) if I didn't obsess and work out if I have enough calories in the bank first

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11/3/09 12:36 P

I think a lot of people think it does. When I first started on Sparkpeople and I was tracking every calorie and practically reciting everything I knew about calories, protien and fat I had a friend who became convinced that I had an eating disorder.
The thing is, I turned out to be one of those people that only works really well when shown statistical evidence of their success.

I think that most people can be food conscious without going to the extreme, but with me it just made me feel really positive whenever I'd have a perfect food day. It was like getting A+'s instead of B's, you know?

So with me, yes it does. But with most other people, I think they can be food conscious as in picking fruits instead of frozen foods without obsessing over every calorie.

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Posts: 185
11/3/09 11:55 A

I am not sure if it is being obsessed or eating healthy. Either way it works for me and i feel good about myself.

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11/3/09 11:39 A

When starting as I am I think you have to devote the time and energy to learning everything. portion sizes, substitutions, etc. At first it takes so much time of checking and double checking it feels like I am obsessed. Its getting easier though so I think over time it will fade into just conciousness.

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11/3/09 6:26 A

I dont think it does. Until you know what you are eating and seeing variety of things you would eat frequently or even those you dont, the correct portion size is the key. I hate to deprive myself of anything, and I have had to learn that just a taste is often enough to satisfy my craving or curiosity.

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11/3/09 12:57 A

Nope.

Food conscious = you're aware of what your body needs and you feed it accordingly, neither over-doing it nor under-doing it. You eat enough when you're hungry and stop when you're full. If you've been trained to eat larger portions than your body actually requires and you need a food scale to relearn your portions, that's being consciously active with your health.

Food obsessed = you fixate on food, using it to over-satiate yourself physically and emotionally. Or, on the flip side, you obsess about not eating what your body desperately needs, unduly limiting the amount of food you feed yourself.

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11/2/09 11:45 P

I prefer to think i am focused and not obsessed. just how I roll...lol

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11/2/09 10:41 P

For me - yeah so far it means obsessed. I figure over time that'll fade, least I hope it will.

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11/2/09 9:14 P

I definitely feel obsessed, I'm hoping in time it will fade.

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11/2/09 7:40 P

i don;t think so, but you always need to be aware of what you are eating, otherwise you run the risk of going off track

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11/2/09 7:05 P

It doesn't have to be food obsessed. BUT unless you know all the ins and outs of healthy eating and living, you will need to keep being active on calorie counting and portion control as well as balance the food groups. Later it will come naturally. We eat to live...we do not live to eat!!!!

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11/2/09 6:31 P

When I'm using the nutrition tracker all the time, I feel more like I'm learning than obsessing. However, I've gone for periods of time without tracking my food, but usually I'll come back for a couple of days to check and see how I'm doing without using it all the time.

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11/2/09 4:18 P

I'd have to say no. Being food conscious means just that: conscious of the foods that you're putting into your body due to practicing good health habits. Now being food obsessed (I believe) means that you're being a fanatic and an extremist(if that makes sense) about practicing good health habits.

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11/2/09 12:21 P

I have been called obsessed about losing weight- but I am learning that some of my friends may have their own insecurities about this-I am now surrounding myself with friends who understand my healthy lifestyle.

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11/2/09 11:31 A

I got to be the weight I am by having an unhealthy obsession with food. I ate what I wanted when I wanted, how I wanted. I am now conscious of what I eat and why. I can go to a restaurant and make healthy choices.

Going with friends that don't get it is no longer difficult for me. I can say to them yes I can eat it other foods. But that doesn't mean I want to or that I'm going to.

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11/2/09 10:37 A

I know a lot of people think that I'm obsessed with what I eat (or don't eat, to be more specific) but then again, most of them can't understand the concept of a healthy lifestyle. I can't let their lack of knowledge affect my health.

Like so many people have pointed out before me, it is an obsession if it has a negative impact on your life (emotional, psychological etc) So far, it has helped me lose weight, my health is so much better and I'm in the best shape of my life.

I don't care about what others perceive my habits as, I'm not complaining ;)

Edited by: LIL.ANGEL at: 11/2/2009 (10:45)

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11/2/09 10:12 A

It can mean that you are food obsessed if you think too much about your eating habits all the time and it stresses you out. I know personally that I am obsessed and addicted to food...sometimes I would go out of my way to get certain foods...I eat fast food all the time.

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11/2/09 4:34 A

I was once told if we go "unconscious" around food, that's when we make bad choices, we switch off and disengage our mind so we do not reflect on what we are really doing...hence binge eating, when we stay conscious around food, we will make better and wiser choices with less tendency to over eat and binge. I can totally relate.

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11/2/09 12:08 A

I think for me the answer is yes. I can make good food choices as long as I don't make any bad choices. Once I make one bad choice during the day, I just go overboard and overeat for the rest of the day.

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11/1/09 11:29 P

Sometimes it feels that way. I think about food more now than I used to, but I am also thinking about food in a different way than I used to.

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11/1/09 9:54 P

Yes and no. i think being "food conscious" is making right decisions for what you intake BUT i do know you have to basically become "obsessive" on the things you intake as well..so they basically go hand-in-hand".

Posts: 42
11/1/09 9:28 P

I don't think being conscious of what goes into your stomach means you're obsessed. Obsessed is being irrational, conscious means being aware of. There is vast difference in meaning and I think it's better to distinguish them before we start labeling ourselves.

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11/1/09 5:27 P

For me yes! It is better to obsessed with healthy food choices than to not be! For me, i'd rather be considered obsessed than obese...obsessed with healthy food choices beats the heck out of the rapid decline in health that I would inevitably experience with obesity...the place I was headed for after I quit smoking almost 2 years ago...

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11/1/09 5:15 P

I prefer to think of it as focused - not obsessed. Watching what we eat is not a negative thing. Are we going to make mistakes or bad choices - probably at some time or another. The goal is to continue on our journey and learn from our mistakes.

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11/1/09 4:43 P

Well I have had people tell me I am obsessed but honestly, I know without being aware of what I am eating, I will put weight back on because I did last year! If people want to call me obsessed then so be it, the fact of the matter is that most people that say things like that are the ones that could stand to count some calories themselves

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11/1/09 2:29 P

No.....it usually means that you are better able to make healthier food choices.

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11/1/09 2:25 P

no its not

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11/1/09 1:03 P

i agree that this can be positive or negative. youre being conscious of what you eat, so youre either staying away from the bad foods, or are more attracted to them. being a student and living off campus definitely made me more conscious of the food i buy in the grocery store, than going to a dining hall and just stuffing my face with whatever is in front of me

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11/1/09 12:04 P

I think it depends on whether the approach to food consciousness comes with a positive attitude or a negative approach. I have been food conscious for a very long time but that does not mean I always made healthy choices. At times I used tacking to leave room for a less than healthful choice. And other times it can be quite revealing. Tracking food can be time consuming but I learn new things about the food we eat all the time and I find that very beneficial.

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11/1/09 11:40 A

If being "obsessed" is the only way I can keep my weight and good eating habits in check - then so be it. It's become part of my life!