Hello All,
Some background information, I am someone that has struggled with eating for as long as I can remember. I have gotten help but It has been quite a rollercoaster throughout my recovery. I was getting to a point where I was decent enough with my relationship with food as of the past couple years.
Late last year, I started dating someone. As of recently, I have seen him start to develop some eating disorder tendencies. For example not eating all day and only eating at little at night so he can lose weight. He is not at a weight where he needs to lose weight at all, not that it should matter at all because it’s harmful regardless. However I think he is struggling with his self image (I think we all can understand that).
Enter the problem, I have a hard time hearing him talk about this. Even though I’ve seen countless nutritionists over the years, he doesn’t want to listen to me (Another thing I’m sure we have all struggled with in the past as well).
How can I be supportive while also making sure that hearing him talk like this doesn’t subconsciously impact my progress?
I really like this guy a lot and I can see a future with him. This is the only thing that has bothered me with him. I get he wants someone to talk to, but I have told him in the past that I am not a good person to talk to about this but I get when it’s on your mind so much, it’s hard not to talk about sometimes.
I do not want to break it off with him, but I could use some advice to help navigate me through this situation.
TLDR: How to talk with a partner that is struggling with eating while you are trying to stay on track for ED recovery.