r/eating_disorders

Not sure if this will help anyone but figured I’d put it out there in case it does.

I’ve binged for years on sugary stuff. Mostly candy, ice cream, anything from a bakery, anything in a wrapper. After 4 years of actively trying to stop, therapy, calorie counting, every diet you can think of, every book on bed I could find, I finally just completely cut sugar. First 5 days were honestly miserable. Headaches, mood swings, weird dreams about cake. Another week or two of random cravings hitting out of nowhere. But months later I’m basically urge free and binge free, which I genuinely never thought I’d be able to say.

What helped me actually push through those first couple weeks was tracking every single urge instead of trying to ignore them. I’d been using this app called urgr to log cravings as they hit and it kept me weirdly accountable through the worst of it. The streak thing got me. I didn’t want to break it.

I still eat fruit, carbs, lots of protein and veg, fats. Haven’t cut anything else. At this point I genuinely have zero desire for anything sweet which still feels insane to type. Of course we’re all different and I’m not saying this is the answer for everyone, but my honest sense is a lot of us know deep down that sugar is the main thing keeping the binge cycle going. Wanted to put this out there in case it helps even one person. Shocked myself with how well it worked once I actually committed.

I barely eat during the day (22 y/o at 150lbs) but at night I snack and I just can’t help it. I genuinely want to lose weight bc for my height (5’3) im told that im overweight by all these websites. I drink water and do Pilates almost everyday…I just genuinely don’t know what to do. I want to look better!! So I really can’t figure out what this issue is that I have. I restrict pretty hard during the day just to eat at night so is this a binge eating thing? I’m just trying to figure this out

I’m tired of reading books and listening to podcasts and spending time in meditation and all these stuff .

Nothing is working

Actually what is the solution?

my (F) friends are saying I'm gaining an eating disorder (specifically anorexia)

here's why:

I only eat pretzels at snack and lunch.

I don't really eat anything at home.

I'm counting kclas.

if I'm not hungry, I won't eat.

I'm watching how much I eat

I'm worried about how heavy I am (I'm eighty-nine)

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I don't think I'm getting an eating disorder.

what do y'all think and why???

How to stop thinking about food and weightloss? I just want to eat normally and be a normal weight, but I'm stuck in this neverending cycle of dieting and overeating.

Hi I’m so deeply triggered it right now. I’m twelve weeks pregnant and today I went to the gynecologist to get my initial scan and dating and that maternity papers (we have this booklet in my country where all the data about the mother and child is added) she didn’t measure my height and somehow wrote >!170!< cm in there. I am however, >!175!<. She didn’t ask either. I don’t know where she pulled that number from or if she just made it up when they weighed me in the waiting room by the way, which was heavily uncomfortable. They only subtracted >!2 kg!< for my Clothing despite me literally wearing a heavy patty coat that I know is at least >!4 kg!< so I know I only weigh >!60 KG!<. I know for most people it would be a small thing, but when I realized when I got home that they put in the wrong height and added >!2 kg!< that really triggered me somehow especially because I can’t have them change it until the next appointment. I am so uncomfortable with this and having basically >!2!< BMI points added on unnecessarily.

Is it common for healthcare professionals, and gynecologist to be that un thoughtful?

Does anyone have any books that have actually helped them in recovery? Thank you!

Hey! Do you have any safe, low-calorie snacks or foods to recommend? So far, rice cakes and tomato & cucumber salad are the only things I can eat without worrying about calories.

My friend is in the depths of anorexia/bolemia (it’s neither of those but more like a mixture she says)

She confides in me a lot but I’m afraid that I’m saying the wrong things. She’s never said that I’ve said anything wrong but I’m very very uneducated in the topic and I really don’t know how to navigate this.

She can’t go through therapy because of a multitude of family problems and mental problems so I’m really being leaned on and I feel responsible to help her through this but I’m totally clueless. How do I speak to her and how do I encourage her to recover any advice would be a great help.

I have been come so good at binging and purging that all the normal side effects are gone. I am able to binge upwards of 6000-10000 calories over the span of several hours without any weight gain. I have done so over the last month and I have lost weight without restriction the rest of the days when I don’t binge and purge. Other side effects I don’t experience more because I have as horrific as it sounds “perfected my technique”:

- puffy face

- acid reflux

- sweating

- sore throat from acid

- physical trauma to esophagus

The contents coming from my stomach isn’t really acid and when the cycle ends there seems to be no calories retained, as my body is still cold(no meat/sugar sweats) despite me having ingested pure frosting. My face isn’t puffy afterwards and I don’t experience a sore throat or acid reflux. The process it self doesn’t even feel bad, it just comes up when I want it to…

I am at a loss of how I will stop my binge/purge cycle when I have become desensitized to purging, it doesn’t feel bad anymore. I actually feels good, because when I am done with the cycle I’m get an overwhelming wave of euphoria and fatigue which puts me into a deep sleep. I know you can’t live this way, but I need to hear from somebody that has experienced the same stage of bulimia and how they stopped.

TL;DR: how do you stop binge/purge cycle when you have become so good at it there seem to be no side effects just euphoria?

So I’ve had eating disorders about my whole life. It started when I was eight years old. I started eating a lot to help with my feelings and I don’t know and then freshman year I stopped eating fully. I only ever ate when I was out with friends and I barely ever went out and that went on until the middle of my sophomore year and then I started eating a lot again and it’s all I can think about I can’t go a second without wanting to shove my mouth full of food and I don’t have friends. I don’t go to school anymore I don’t talk to anybody. I’m always in my room. I have no idea what to do and I really need help. I don’t know how to stop this I’ve gained so much weight and it’s making me sick.

Just like the header says, they're very upfront about it and are quite comfortable talking to me about it, as far as I know I'm one of the few people they actually discuss this with and I try not to make them feel bad about it, or say anything that might make them feel uncomfortable but i just want some advice as to how can I idk help them a bit? even the slightest bit would mean the world, thanks in advance.

Je ne sais pas, mais je n'arrive pas à m'arrêter de manger, et après je culpabilise. (Une fois, il était seulement 9 h du matin et j'avais déjà mangé une brioche au chocolat au petit-déjeuner, mais j'avais encore envie de manger. Alors j'ai attendu que ma mère prenne sa douche et j'ai dévoré une viennoiserie entière, deux yaourts au miel, des morceaux de sucre et un bol de semoule que j'avais mise dans une boîte Tupperware pour le déjeuner.) Je veux perdre du poids, alors parfois j'essaie de ne rien manger, ou alors je mange des glaçons et je bois de l'eau. Mais juste après, j'achète plein de gâteaux et je les mange en cachette dans ma chambre. Je me pèse tous les jours pour voir si j'ai pris du poids. Savez-vous d'où vient mon problème ? Merci.🙏

22F. Next week I’m going out of state for inpatient ED treatment at the ERC in Plano, Texas. I’m really scared because I already have severe PTSD symptoms from past ED treatment experiences. Anyone know what it’s like over there when it comes to flaws and good things?

So my whole life I’ve been naturally skinny. Getting comments my whole life asking if I eat, I’m too skinny or there’s nothing of me. Those comments did used to irritate me. However over the past few years I got diagnosed with anxiety and depression and last year I lost a father figure to me. Which as a result of that grief I stopped eating and lost a lot of weight to the point people were concerned. Fast forward to this year did begin to get my appetite back however started getting comments again about if I’ve lot weight and if I’m okay and it almost instilled some sort of buzz in me that I had lost weight and people noticed. I started to restrict what I was eating and constantly weighing myself to make sure I wasn’t gaining weight and losing it. Some days I don’t eat anything at all and just get by through fluids other days I’ll eat one meal and that’s as much as I can do.

I’m not really sure what’s going on and who to ask so here I am. I have struggled with gas, bloating and constipation for many years and about a year ago I made some changes to my diet like removing most ultraprocessed foods and most recently trying the low FODMAP diet. I am feeling a lot better physically now as a result of the changes I’ve made. In the process, I have become a bit rigid in what I eat, and am still on a low FODMAP diet in some ways. I have also lost weight so now I am slightly underweight in terms of BMI. I see people around me eating anything and everything and I feel like I just cannot do that anymore. I know that it’s normal and healthy to eat full meals but I don’t want to. I stick to the foods that I know I can tolerate and eat in small portions. I just find sometimes that I am embarrassed with how I eat and try to hide what I eat or my plate from others. I know my way of eating is a bit unreasonable or extreme but I don’t really want to change. Is that a problem?

how long does weight restoration take if you fully commit and listen to hunger

Hi I’m really scared and don’t know who to talk to. I’ve always struggled w my relationship w food and since November it’s gotten way worse. Just overwhelmed with the options and choices and decision making and nothing ever seems “right”. It feels different than just being afraid of gaining and the calories but I think maybe it wasn’t weird brain trying to convince me it’s not an ED idk. I’ve never thought about myself having one but i ended up in the ER last week and beginning of this week and had had to see a GI and colorectal person this week and have to find a pelvic floor therapist. I have hemorrhoids and a bad fissure and possible pelvic floor issues tbd once I make appointment. If my meds don’t work in 2 weeks I need Botox in my asshole??? If that doesn’t help I need surgery?? On so many new meds and feeling really sucky physically and mentally. I think/ am being told it might all be stemming from my “diet” or lack thereof and I feel “caught” now. I’m just trying to finish grad school and graduate in the summer but I have no motivation and am in so much pain. I’m meeting with new therapists to start this specialized therapy but an old therapist told me basically I need inpatient or I won’t be better but I’ve always been like huh? I’m fine? I also don’t want to even do therapy I don’t think I’m ready for it but I think I need to admit I have an ED but have never said it out loud. Why does is it feel embarrassing. I’m not even skinny since I’m always bloated I don’t look like I’m sick. I’m not really sure my question but I guess has anyone related to any part of my experience?

TLDR; GI/colorectal/pelvicfloor issues making me confront the bane of my existence aka food and showing me I might actually have an ED I’ve never wanted to admit I think. Wondering if anyone relates to any single part of this I feel scared and alone.