Seeking advice

[u/Vegetable_Apple8757]

A little bit of context: I am 22 Male, Athlete, and I developed food obsession since 2020, when I discovered calories and nutritional information.

Now, 2026, I cannot afford to eat out without thinking through the entire meal about the calorie count. Friends invited me to an unplanned lunch, and I say yes, of course, because it is nice every once in a while, but that simple derail of eating other thing that was planned (meal prep) torments me for the rest of the day, adding to this my food selection was high-caloric because I wanted to try something new, but know I am just thinking that and I am also almost out of calories for the day. I don’t know how to manage it and it happens even with family food, and with EVERY SINGLE THING THAT I EAT. I have a healthy athletic physique, but it is pain to mantain it with that mentality. I also used to train waaay more than now a couple yesrs ago, like 3 high intensity trainings per day, and I could eat whatever, now it is not like that anymore, and I am not being able to know what to do.

Because on the outside you see my diet and think: “this dude eats clean” or whatever, but on the inside, every day is excessively planned and any change like this drags me insane, literally, I feel sad, and I don’t have nobody of my friends/family that can understand nor give me a solution.

[u/faddymeat]

First of all I’m so sorry you’re living with these thoughts in your head it sounds super stressful and controlling, second you’d be surprised at how many people at your gym are experiencing this exact same thing, it sounds like the root of the issue comes from viewing food and ingredients as part of your gym goals and restricting it to what you need to look a certain way and not viewing food as something you need to power and fuel your brain and body.

You’ve already started improving by recognising you’re struggling with it and wanting to change that. The first thing you need to do is catch yourself when you think these things and learn to calm yourself and how to remind yourself that food is not bad just because it’s not what you had planned or what you think you “should” be eating. Then it could be good to try setting little goals for yourself, maybe not having one of your meals planned out every few days so that in that moment you just eat what you feel like and use those calming techniques and positive talk to get yourself through it, it’s not going to be comfortable but if you think that it’s too much for you then step back maybe to having a snack that you like just because you like it and for no other reasons, if you find yourself at any moment of the day thinking about a food or drink you’d like in that moment try go for it.

Ultimately the best thing would be to go talk with someone professionally it obviously depends on your area, group counselling or one on one or you could do it online or over the phone. There are a lot of options some cheaper than others but having someone to talk to about it and understand you on a more personal level and help you set goals and find what tactics work for you is what would help you the most.

[u/Remote_Top7241]

I’m in same boat, lost a lot of weight former athlete but still am extremely active lift/run 20-25k steps a day. I tried not tracking but lost 30 lbs in less than 2 months and I haven’t stopped tracking since I weigh everything lettuce, onion, sf sauces. My meals are normally simple enough but I have gotten slightly better at things like holidays or non tracking days because I used to binge on these days but now I try to listen to my body which is something I’ve never learned. Being big I’ve always over ate and now that I eat healthier I undereat if I don’t track. Tracking allows me to enjoy my life though and fit junk into my diet without losing or gaining weight