When does counting calories go from being a good tool to maintain weight to being almost destructive?

my mom is harassing me about counting calories saying im becoming “obsessive”

When it becomes an obsessive compulsion. If you can’t eat a single almond without fretting about it’s caloric value then it may be destructive. There’s nothing wrong with regulating or monitoring your food intake though.

If your mum thinks you’re becoming obsessive, you probably are. The same thing happened to me. You should really just try to eat healthy and only eat when you’re hungry- if you do that, your calorie intake isn’t likely to go too much over or under. I honestly don’t suggest calorie counting to anybody because more than often it DOES become an obsession and then leads to an eating disorder (speaking from experience).

Can you give an example of what you’re doing that she thinks is obsessive?

i eat every two hours because im never hungry but i eat healthy. lots of vegteables and fruit. my mom gets mad cause ill sit there and measure out the correct portions of food or if i dont know the calories i wont eat it and will eat something else(usually eggs and toast)

i check calories on everything and if it has to many i wont eat it. i measure out all correct portions to food. also if i dont know how many calories are in a food such as lasanga, or homemade alfredo i will eat something else i know has a good amount of calories in it.

To me, that sounds fairly typical of someone who is new to an activity. I would expect that over time you will learn to make rough but reasonable estimates for homemade dishes, and to consider them sufficiently accurate even if imprecise.

It can only be concerning when you begin to obsess about the amount of calories and nutrients in foods in an aggressive way, or in a way that causes you to stop performing an activity like eating because of the value of foods.

I count calories, nutrients, and even weigh my food on a scale. If I’m not sure about the contents, I guesstimate by looking at the food itself and how it’s been prepared. For instance, I know that one egg is about 70 calories, cooked in olive oil, it’s gained 120 calories, and is now 190. It may not be 100% accurate, but I am pretty close to the number I’m thinking of.

At your stage, it’s pretty normal. When someone tries to lose weight, counting nutrients and calories is a bit of a necessity because you want to consume enough to trigger weight loss, and eating over will slow that process down. You have to explain to your mom or whoever that in weight loss, it’s normal.

As long as you’re not killing people over a calorie, it’s not dangerous. The only other method of calories becoming obsessive is when you have a case of bigorexia (reverse anorexia). This is a mental disorder in which you think you’re not eating enough or you don’t feel as big as others, so you nutritionally begin to analyze your foods in order to stay healthy.

eh honestly i probably wont come up with rough estimates for my mothers home cooked meals because idk what she puts in them or how much, and adds tons of butter to whatever it is so id rather not eat it DX plus shes a bad cook ha

Well that is slightly obsessive, I would probably get pissed as well. You have to be a bit lenient at times. If you don’t know the calories of a dish at a restaurant will you just sit there and drink water? Because that’s unhealthy and obsessive. Calorie counting shouldn’t be your life.

i dont go to resturants and if i do i get a salad with dressing on the side.

All the more reason for you to try and have some idea what you’re getting into (or what’s getting into you) when you do eat her food, lol!

That’s obsessive.

read 4 hour body. Calories are useles…a calorie of wheat and a calorie of chicken will have different effects on your body. it is not as much how much you eat as what you eat.