Disordered Eating Support Thread page 4

[Neanderthal Betty]

After reading Fierce Hunter's post about Hagan Daaz I went out yesterday and bought a 500ml icecream tub and ate it all in secret. I don't even like icecream particularly. I hear suggestions about food and it goes into my head and I eat. Does this happen to anyone else? Other people's food habits seem to affect me and trigger me. Insane.

This morning, I had breakfast, my attempt to self-nurture after the icecream. Feeling very compulsive though.

God yes. I would make a great drug addict as I have a ridiculously high addictive personality. But I've been somewhat learning to negotiate with myself when it comes to food. If I'm craving like say ice cream I tell myself that I need to eat a regular meal and then if I still need ice cream then maybe I'll consider it. As to if thats a healthy alternative I don't know, but typically I find that I dont need it. But it still is very much a battle, what I wouldnt give to just be able to shut my head off.

[VacillateWildly]

God yes. I would make a great drug addict as I have a ridiculously high addictive personality. But I've been somewhat learning to negotiate with myself when it comes to food. If I'm craving like say ice cream I tell myself that I need to eat a regular meal and then if I still need ice cream then maybe I'll consider it. As to if thats a healthy alternative I don't know, but typically I find that I dont need it. But it still is very much a battle, what I wouldnt give to just be able to shut my head off.

I would pay thousands for a Head-Off Switch. I didn't have a conscious thought process with the icecream. It was in my shopping basket and then in my stomach before I'd even considered considering it. Today I feel crap and ate a whole packet of chocolate chip cookies to continue in my misery. Tomorrow I will restrict and starve myself. Tonight I am pretending to go out with friends, what I will really be doing is going to the gym and frantically doing cardio to work off the cookies. This is not the way to live, it's so boring and depleting.

[amyeek]

Hello gang. This is a nice idea for a thread - I would imagine a lot of people have found primal as a result of their attempts to overcome disordered eating. My weight has bounced around for years, from a UK size 6 to touching close to a UK size 12. Raw veganism was my weapon of choice last year, but during my teens it was starve, binge, purge. Even through university, if I felt stressed at any point, throwing up would help. Never been an over-exerciser, too tired all the time. I'll have phases of eating nothing but a small salad every day, and then have months on the carb wagon, trying to avoid mirrors. My recent Slimming World stint was a carb wagon affair, left me feeling dreadful, and now I'm here.

I'm now omnivore (after nine years veggie, three years vegan, and a few months raw vegan in the middle), and hoping to find a happy weight, healthy body, better outlook. I suffer with quite severe anxiety and depression, though I consider myself not highly strung, just find normal situations stressful (e.g. getting the bus, walking round a shop) so this can be a trigger for my disordered eating.

I'm doing IF at the moment with my other half, and trying to monitor myself that it doesn't lead to overdoing it.

Anyway, hello! Hope primal is proving useful for people. Here if you need an ear.

[Kochin]

Going through phases of obsessing about feeling too thin, then too fat. :/
I'm guessing it's the exam-stress, but I have guilty feelings when I eat too much caffeine or carbs.

How I cope with this at the moment:
For the carb-obsession I remind myself that carbs aren't bad, that they're needed and that, if I'm craving 150-200g/day, I probably need that much to direct my studies and overcome the stress. It's hard, but you eventually break out of the worries.
For the dysmorphia I'm just focusing on the parts of my body I still like. For me, it's muscle, so, when I feel down, I stand in front of a mirror and just pose. Tense arms, check back for further progress, admire quad. It stops me feeling bad about something that's all in my head (I can't be fat one day and skinny the next, now, can I? ).

How do you guys try and cope with when disordered thoughts try and climb back inside your head?
It'd be interesting to see and could help anyone who isn't coping by providing them with a few ideas.

[andi]

Hello everyone,
Eating habits have always been a touchy subject. Over the course of ~7 years, since the ninth grade, eating properly was incredibly difficult. I would be constantly obsessive about what I'd consume in a day, often being restricted to, literally, a few pieces of fruit or vegetables. It had gotten to a point where I had very little energy, and what I did have I'd spend trying to burn more calories. I've also struggled with something similar to BDD, which is a 'body dysmorphic disorder'. It seems as though regardless of what I did, or tried, I'd only find something else to be self-conscious about. Often, I'd cancel plans or resent going out because of how I felt about myself. People noticed, and became concerned with how thin I was, and how little I would eat.
It's gotten a lot better now, I have a steady nutrition plan and am starting to feel better about including fat in my diet. It's scary to find myself still feeling like I need to severely restrict things I eat/diet, or the obsession now focused on fitness and working out, but I guess it's just something I need to continue working on. It helps to have people you can talk to, maybe not to necessarily 'monitor', but to be aware of trends and know when it would be helpful to step in. My family and friends have been really encouraging in this process.
I wish everyone here all the luck.

[Driedmango]

Reading this was pretty odd for me. I was surprised how much I identified with all of you, because I would never have said I suffered from disordered eating. However, looking back, it's pretty obvious. I lost ~15kgs (65 to 51) in 6 months through severe caloric restriction and at least 2 hours of cardio daily. This set off some health issues, and I was told to gain, which I did, which resulted in binging (and then hours at the gym to burn off the calorie). The binging got so bad that I went from 51 to 61 in only a few months.
I'm writing this after what I can only call another binge-fest. I really wish I could stop, because it's a massive road block on my journey to happiness (and a kickass body, as superficial as it is), and I wish I could have more faith in myself and that I can overcome this. I wish I could help all of you, because, well, it feels pretty damn crappy.
I'd just like to put it out there that any of you can feel free to message me if you ever need any moral support (I may not be able to help myself, but I think I'm much better at dealing with other peoples issues).

I wish you all the best on you primal journey!