OCD Action

Nicx
Member

Hi.

I have just eat some chocolate and I am really worrying over it cause I haven't had it at a time that My head says I can eat and I am worried that it will have made me put on weight. I stress out all the time over what I eat and when I just don't want to get overweight again like I was before. I can't stop thinking about food and what I am going to eat and when. Dose anyone else have this sort of problem.

Nicola xxx

Wed Oct 28 2009 19:26:12 #
OCDLONELY
Member

Hi Nicola,

Sorry this has worried you so much but you are not alone. I'm right now suffering from Anorexia. I had it when I was 14 and I'm 31 now. My whole day revolves around what I eat and how many calories it contains. I have to eat at a set time too everyday. Strange thing Nicola I too just had some chocolate tonight andI'm so worried about it! I know it won't make me fat deep down but the fear is still there! About mayby 16-18 months ago my weight was 16 stone and I was horrified. I lost a bit over time but in the last mayby 6-8 weeks I've lost 3 stone. I weigh 12 stone 1 now and according to my BMI I'm a normal weight but I'm in the 15 percentile and 50% is average so I'm now underweight. I know this problem is getting worse and I don't want anyone else to go through this as I feel pretty awful daily. Try not to worry as a one off will not make you fat just don't let it get out of control! All the best to you!

Daniel

Wed Oct 28 2009 21:37:15 #
Nicx
Member

Thank you daniel for reply. It is really hard to get trough everyday without worrying about what to eat and when. I am sorry to hear you have the same problem. I do worry about myself and my eating but it is hard not to let it get to you and try and forget it. Some days are better than others and that keeps me going.

Nicola xxx

Wed Oct 28 2009 21:56:04 #
Parvez Choudhry
Member

Hi Nicola and Daniel

I also spend a lot of time thinking about food, especially planning what to eat for my next few meals, even up to several days in advance. I find it difficult to choose what to eat, and after having made a decision I tend to reconsider it because I feel anxious there might be something else I could eat instead that I would enjoy more.

I think it is a daft and pointless thing to do. I am shamefaced to admit that I do it. I know there are many more important and worthy subjects to think about, but it has a powerful grip on me and I find it very difficult to stop myself.

I eat a fixed number of calories per day - no more, no less. I am very strict about keeping to my quota. I worked out my quota by using trial & error to see how many calories per day keeps my weight constant in the long run. Providing eating a chocolate bar won't push my running total for the day past my quota, I can enjoy eating it without feeling guilty and without worrying about putting on weight.

Regards .... Parvez

Fri Oct 30 2009 16:14:17 #
Nicx
Member

Hi Parvez.

You sound just like me. I am always planing what I am going to eat days before then worrying I have picked the wrong thing. People around me don't understand when I say what are we doing for tea, they just tell me to stop asking questions all the time. It really gets me down.

Nicola xx

Fri Oct 30 2009 18:42:41 #
Parvez Choudhry
Member

Having a full-time job helps me take my mind off food. When I am very busy at work I simply don't have time to think about food, so the busier I am the better! Mealtimes at weekends tend to be more difficult to cope with because I have so much free time to anticipate what I am going to eat. I can understand how OCD must be harder for unemployed people because they don't usually have the structure and routine that a job gives to your day, such as having to be in the office/factory/shop by a certain time in the morning and having to achieve deadlines in your work. For those who are unemployed it may be worth considering committing yourself to some sort of regular voluntary work in which other people depend on you to show up. If I were in that situation I would consider helping out at a hostel for mentally handicapped people - I think I would gain far more from them spiritually than I could give back to them practically.

Another way I am trying to beat my obsession about food is to find something else in life that is spiritually & psychologically healthier to be obsessed about than food and then trying to switch over to that. Obviously you can't just choose soemthing at random and switch over by clicking your fingers, but with patience and perseverence you can gradually shift the focus of your attention to something else. It's a matter of cultivating new habits by repeated practice. It's not easy but it does a help me, and it would probably help me more if I was more self-disciplined at doing it.

Another way I have tried to beat my obsession about food is to change my diet to make it as bland as possible, without compromising on nutrition. For example, eat a tin of sardines instead of steamed fresh salmon, and beans on toast instead of chick pea & lentil curry on basmati rice, and porridge instead of malted granary bread! But this doesn't help me much because after an initial period of adjustment my taste buds get just as excited about sardines as fresh salmon!

Parvez

Wed Nov 4 2009 16:55:56 #
Unregistered

I realize I am terribly boring, and few people (my daughter assures me no-one!) would do the same, but the way I control my eating is to eat the same things every day. My meals are identical throughout the year.

My paternal grandmother had an obsessional personality and made meals according to the day of the week. She always ate at exactly the same time. Breakfast at 6.30, for example. Even cups of tea were timed. An amusing incident occurred back in the forties, when her cousins arrived by train from Plymouth (she lived in Suffolk). To begin with, she was reluctant to let them in the house. She then announced they had arrived fifteen minutes late for a cup of tea and a biscuit and would have to wait almost three hours for the next one, but that would be tea only - no biscuit!

She allowed herself two cigarettes a day and two chocolates. The chocolates were from an assorted box which she kept in a locked drawer, the key to which hung on a chain around her waist. No-one else in the family was ever offered a chocolate, and no matter how much she would have liked a third one, she never exceeded two.

Thu Nov 5 2009 14:52:20 #
Unregistered

P.S. I agree with Parvez about being busy. It's surprising how quickly I can forget that I am hungry when I am absorbed in work. Exercise is also effective.

Thu Nov 5 2009 14:56:11 #
Unregistered

Nicola, How is the course going?
Tricia x

Thu Nov 5 2009 15:28:27 #
Parvez Choudhry
Member

Tricia wrote:

I realize I am terribly boring, and few people (my daughter assures me no-one!) would do the same, but the way I control my eating is to eat the same things every day. My meals are identical throughout the year.

I doubt if you are the only person who does that voluntarily, Tricia! (Of course, many people in Asia, Africa, and Latin America eat exactly the same things every day but for different reasons.) My menus tend to follow a weekly cycle with only small spontaneous variations, and there is a lot of repetition even within the same week. For example, every breakfast without exception includes red kidney beans and muesli, and every supper includes either soya mince or tinned fish, with oats. Following a predictable pattern like this makes my life easier because making decisions about what to eat causes me much anxiety.

Your paternal grandmother sounds an interesting character!

Fri Nov 6 2009 16:15:36 #