r/EatingDisorders

Having worked towards recovery for a little over a year now, I can’t help but feel regretful and insecure about the lasting physical effects of AN on my face. I just turned 22 but I feel like my face has a hollowness to it that ages me long beyond my early twenties. Also, I already have some grey hairs. I know objectively this isn’t a bad thing and honestly, it’s probably in my head. Plus, even if it’s not, I hate how my brain is conditioned to equate looking “old” with looking bad. That said, pre-ED I had a much fuller face that I often miss. Same with my body. I developed AN too young to “develop curves” and even in a more recovered body, I’m quite flat lol. It’s silly, but it’s been really getting to me recently. Does anyone else in recovery feel this way sometimes?

Sometimes I wish had more people in my recovery community who would talk more about the grief that comes with the “what if I never got sick” that accompany recovery. I know that AN and OCD (my other diagnosis, whose stress has also “aged me” by causing so much physical/psychological pain that it’s severely affected my body) are not choices and that I shouldn’t feel so shameful for allowing these diseases to affect me so badly that it’s caused visible physical strain. But still, as I get older that regret comes in more and more and I wish I had made different choices.

So I’m currently in recovery from disordered eating/an eating disorder and my therapist and dietitian both want me to set boundaries with my roommate/friend who makes triggering comments. It seems like every time I’m around food or eating with her she’ll say (some examples) idk why I’ve been eating so terrible lately (literally eating a Mac n cheese cup) or like omg I have so much food in the fridge I’m feeling gluttonous (when she literally has a normal amount). My team thinks that she has her own struggles with food, but I live with her and shes told me that she’s lucky to have never really struggled with food when I very inadvertently alluded to struggling. It triggers me because she always makes comments about how she hasn’t eaten all day too. I try and tell myself that I know she just eats bigger and more filling meals out and whatnot whereas I mainly snack and eat smaller meals at home. I am also very active and am a ballet dancer so I know our energy needs differ however my stupid ED says I’m not valid if I eat more than her.

I want to tell her to stop making these kinds of comments like my team has told me to do but I was talking to her about losing my period a bit ago and she said well I don’t think it’s because of food because I see you eat all the time (once again the snacking, I had the calorie counting issue so I know it’s because of food) but it just obviously stuck with me and made me feel super invalid. It also makes me think that she won’t believe me if I tell her what I’ve been going through.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated, I do love her a lot but I’m trying to better myself and find myself getting very irritated and almost not wanting to eat in front of her because of it.

I know I should honour my extreme hunger, but I’ve been experiencing intense bloating with physical discomfort and pain. Should I still continue to honour my mental hunger, or should I try to resist the urges?

I am now in recovery from anorexia and I lost almost all my hair which makes me so incredibly insecure and the uncomfortable weight gain doesn’t make it easier for me.

Any hopeful tips/experiences with weight resotration that your hair came back fully thick and healthy again?

I used to have such beautiful curly thick long hair and now it’s just sad, dry , short and brittle😭😭😭

Please, give me some encouragement to keep going !

I struggled with AN in high-school, while I was underweight I was also very into strength training and being fit so was able to evade most suspicion. As I got older, I still often starved myself but due to my metabolic issues maintained a normal weight. I am constantly stressed about food, my weight, my body. I think my brain is still fairly under the AN mindset but my hormonal metabolic issues make me constantly think about food and eating.

Due to health issues I started gaining and became diabetic, despite still restricting, I also have PCOS. My doctor put me on a GLP1 and it has been amazing. For the first time ever, the extra food noise is gone and I feel better inflammation wise, it has been a game changer. However, now that my metabolic brain is out of the way, my AN is starting to creep back in and I am starting to obsess over losing weight and not eating.

I want a better relationship with food. I want to eat and get strong again. Does anyone have any advice on online programs or books that helped? Or how to be less triggered on a GLP1?

Unfortunately stopping a GLP1 is not an option, medically I have to continue, likely for life so please dont suggest things I cant do.

Thank you.

I was really tall all my life but I got sick a while back. my metabolism went away when I did. in one in a half years I became three times my weight I didn’t really care at first. recently I couldn’t stand to look at myself in a mirror I then started eating less and less. Now I find myself not eating for days at a time. It’s a habit I don’t mean to but I do at the same time. The only problem I have is the nausea and empty pit in my stomach. I have lost 1/3 of the weight but I know it’s not right. But my biggest problem is the empty stomach it hurts a lot. Is there any way to help that with eating as little as possible. Sorry for my punctuation I know it’s bad.

i apologize if this breaks the medical advice rule, i’m just trying to get some insight on this. i have ARFID along with health conditions that have caused me to lose a lot of weight these past few months. yesterday i ate 2-3x as much as i had been for weeks because i got a random burst of hunger, and for the past 24 hours i’ve had extreme fatigue, body aches, and some flu-like symptoms. i don’t FEEL like my life is in danger and i haven’t been throwing up. i think i’d know if i needed immediate help, but i’m still scared. does anyone here have any advice? i may go to the ER just in case but i’ve also been a lot in the past due to health anxiety, so the doctors there don’t take me very seriously

I am really struggling to believe what my food scales are telling me as I weigh my granola every day for a specific amount which I know from the packet is a specific number of calories but everytime my brain makes me overestimate the calories because it looks like a big portion for the gram amount, does anyone have any tips on how to stop this????

My boyfriend and I have been together for about 2 months. Prior to that we have been friends for about 4 months. During that 6 month period I realized some behavior which were concerning to me and encouraged him to do to the doctor. He had an appointment today and was officially diagnosed.

I really do adore him and want to be as helpful as I can during his recovery. I have my own mental heath conditions so the world of anxiety disorders are not new to me, though this would be my first time being close to someone with an eating disorder. Any and all advice is welcomed. Thanks.

are individius aged between 18-19 still allowed in youth/adolecent facilites? or do you get moved to adult (and does any include ages 20-21?) and is adult wards a lot worse than adolecent to anyone who’s experienced both do you get less support and are more judged in adults?

I’ve struggled with eds pretty much my whole life. As a kid I was heavily restricted (very “clean” household), which led to behaviours like stealing food or overeating when I could.

As I got older, that turned into binge eating, anxiety, and depression. Then at 17, I developed severe anorexia. After about 3 years, I physically recovered (got my period back), but mentally things still feel like not normal.

Now at 20, I’m stuck in this weird middle ground. I follow and agree with the “no bad foods” mindset, but it’s very controlled (like everything has to fit into a mental budget). My actual diet is honestly shit, as in I truthfully live off barely any real foods, but maintain a normal weight by just living off junk food. And no, im not talking about fast food, i literally mean I eat a normal amount of calories, but it is made out of disorderly portioned, weird rule 'meals' + lollies, chocolates, coffee etc. It often feels like I have to choose between eating “real” food, or junk . like I decided early on i can’t have both and chose the wrong freaking door.

now im recovered but stuck in this, and the biggest issue is that I honestly can’t eat a normal, balanced meal without it triggering a binge cycle. So I avoid meals and just snack instead, which means i have low energy and so many deficiencies.

Has anyone been through something similar? How do you actually relearn how to eat normally without triggering binges?

Hello, I don’t normally like write or post anything here so excuse my shitty writing skills. Always, I have a friend (dude) who has an ED and my heart hurts for him (not gay way). I try to reach out but it feels awkward and forced. I need tips/ suggestions on how to reach out and make sure he’s doing okay in a way where it feels natural. He’s been my friend for a while (6 years) and I like him a lot. I just don’t know how to help. I also feel super useless as he lives all the way in Poland and I’m in Canada. Please give me some tips plssssss!!