Thursday, May 26, 2022

I’m Counting Calories Comebacks

 I am a 48 year old woman with a history of eating disorders going back 30-35 years. It is HARD for me to give up “dieting”. I feel like I’ve been on a diet my whole entire life. 

When I made the decision to give myself some time to figure out what not dieting looks like, I still went back and counted. For months. I counted calories. I counted “points”. I counted carbs. I counted protein and fiber. It doesn’t matter what the metric is, it causes a problem if I try to “not diet” diet. 

So. I’ve been noticing on trips with my coworkers, they are dieters too. The women are not, but the men are. Maybe it’s that the women are younger? I’m not sure, but it’s so refreshing to be around women who don’t talk about calories or carbs constantly. 

This week, I went on a 1 day trip with some of the guys on my team. We went to dinner at Ruth’s Chris. The topic of “I’m counting calories” came up. I ignored it. Nobody ordered dessert, so I didn’t. One of the women on my team who wasn’t there is always the instigator to order dessert. 

The next day, the vendor brought in lunch, including desserts. I had my tiny half sandwich and salad, and went and grabbed a brownie. Nobody was eating these amazing brownies. I made the comment that they were really good. 

Guy next to me says nah, but is clearly low carb (he pulled the bread off his sandwich). 

Guy across the table: oh I can’t eat that, I don’t have enough calories.

AAAARRRGGGHHH!! 

This time, I can’t help it. I have to say something. 

Me: “If I could get back the time I thought about calories or carbs or dieting, I could have conquered the world”

Sad, but true. 

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