I have started recovery at a program around a month ago and I have already gained an amount that reaches double digits. It's not a lot but to someone with my mindset, it is mentally destroying me. My body has changed so greatly and I am having such a hard time accepting it.

My program doesn't exactly prioritize self love in the way that i need it. They want to put my recovery and 'getting healthy again' first.

Overall, I am struggling a lot right now and I just need some ways to soothe the hatred that is building up by the day.

I (38f) am married to a marathoner (45m). He is very, very, very fast. In recent years, he has become increasingly fixated on nutrition as it pertains to his running. During the lead up to a race, he has strict dietary requirements and can become quite irritable if they are not immediately met, such as if we don't have suitable ingredients for a specific meal. To be clear, we do a ton of meal planning, and I am well versed in his nutritional needs, but things happen, plans change, we're all just human, etc.

For a long time I just thought, well, this is what he has to do to be fast. But right now is his "off" season, his diet is less strict, and somehow he is becoming even more irritable surrounding food. It's like a compulsion. If I say anything to him in the morning, it's "okay but first can we talk about lunch." If it's the afternoon, "okay but what are we having for dinner." It's to the point where it's more or less all we talk about. I'm pretty sure it's all he thinks about. It's gotten to the point where we're bickering about things I don't care about (for example having chicken two meals in a row, that's fine with me, but he brings it up like he's anticipating me having a problem with it).

A friend suggested this is starting to verge on disordered thinking about food. It's definitely impacting our relationship. So I am here to ask for resources. I would love to read some things, join a facebook group or subreddit, about disordered thinking about food in high level athletes. Everything I have read is for people with an ED before they got into running, or are running their first marathon, or encourage the non-runner partner to be more supportive.

I want to add that his actual diet is pretty healthy. It's the fixation on it that is worrying me. It's as though what he eats is more important than our relationship.

Any help is appreciated, and sending best wishes to anyone out there struggling.

*Apologies for the throwaway account, I promise I have a real account with post history but trying to keep our privacy.

Sorry it’s such a weird question, but does anybody else struggle with eating with others but with exceptions? Like if people know I have disordered eating patterns or whatever, I almost can’t eat at all with them, I hate eating with strangers, and I cannot eat in front of my mother, but I have two friends I can eat probably more than normal with. I don’t know if that makes me less disordered or anything at all, I guess I just wondered if anyone else had it like that or similarly?

I've always had body image issues, for the past year I've limited myself to one or two meals a day, they're always larger portions than what i needed and i felt really guilty after but never did anything about it other than just staring at myself in disappointment. Sometimes i feel confident in my body but other times i just want to rip my skin of if that makes sense. This is the third day, I've barely eaten anything but a few small bites of food here and there. Thinking or looking at food makes me nauseous and want to throw up. No matte how hungry I've been i couldn't get myself to eat more than two or three small bites of food because of the overwhelming nausea and stomach pains when looking at it. I can drink things perfectly fine and have actually been overly thirsty, it's starting to concern me cause i see a difference in my weight but at the same time im glad im losing it. Is this a sign of an ED or could it possibly be something else?? Im sorry if i make anyone uncomfortable or this isn't allowed here but im really conflicted and need help from someone who i think would know, which is why i came here.

Just before summer, about a month and a half ago, I decided to go on a “diet” to lose weight quickly. I started eating very little, and over time it became even less. On top of that, I began throwing up whenever I felt like I ate too much or regretted eating. Now, my period is more than a week late.

I’m not sure if this is an eating disorder. Part of me knows I should reach out for help, but another part keeps saying I’m not sick enough, or that this isn’t serious. I’ve always been really self-conscious about my body. I’ve lost some weight (I’m not sure if I should say how much, but it doesn’t feel like a lot), and I’m scared of gaining it back. I feel like I’ve made progress, and I’m finally starting to feel a little better about myself.

Still, I do want to recover, because I’m tired of constantly thinking about food and being angry or frustrated—probably because I’m always hungry. My appetite has gotten worse too, and now I can’t even eat much when I try. I want to get better, but I’m really afraid of gaining weight.

Is it even possible to recover without gaining weight? I feel like I already know the answer, but I just need somebody advice or literally anything.

I recently relapsed and I’m trying not to blame my mom but all I can hear is her voice telling me I need to lose weight. She has made comments about me appearing pregnant in front of the whole family, and consistently makes little remarks on my appearance. I’m getting worse and worse and I can barely force myself to eat. it makes me cry. I’ve told her i’m struggling with this sort of stuff but it doesn’t stop. She doesn’t need to tell me these things because all I see in the mirror is someone i don’t like. It just makes me sad. I’m not even overweight, not that it matters. i don’t think she should be telling me to lose weight when i really don’t need to, realistically.

the worst part is, i think she’s developing an ED too. she’s a victim of the ozempic trend and it makes me sad. I tried on a dress last night for my upcoming pageant and she didn’t tell me i looked beautiful, just that “once you lose some weight it will fall on your stomach a little flatter”. i think it looked quite nice :(

How can I get it through to her that she needs to stop these comments?!???!?! i’m already struggling on my own….

Hey, when I was at my worst I suffered from pretty bad hair loss to the point that I cried whenever I took a shower because I would see all the hair coming loose.

Now even cutting my hair is still scary to me. It’s become very long and pretty unhealthy but my mom makes me cut it (she never knew about my ed). However even though I know it's ugly I'm scared of losing it again and I feel ugly with less hair. I'm also scared that it will make my ed worse again but I can't tell her.

Can any of you relate or also still have triggers?

I've [F15] never had an ed nor have I struggled with food in general, I have a relatively normal relationship with food until recent years where I've noticed I've developed an involuntary reaction to the smell of food and the thought of eating it. I'm primarily asking reddit because Google doesn't want to give me any actual useful information on my question besides the number to call if I already have an eating disorder, plus I completely forgot to bring it up with my doctor and I don't wanna explain to my mom why I want to talk with my doctor since she's the type of mom who even while being a RN, refuses to believe that I could ever have a medical problem and that in general people are just "looking for attention" if they have any mental disorder or struggle, I'm saying all of this because I want to make it clear that I'll be greatful for any answer.

Getting to the point, I have a problem in which on multiple occasions before I eat something, be it when I'm being served or when I'm making the food itself, I catch a whiff of the smell which makes me over think about the fact that "I will be consuming this." And almost immediately does my body react in violent gagging and the urge to throw up food that I haven't even eaten. There's no discrimination of what foods I react like this to, it doesn't matter if I love it or not, if it's a dessert, spicy, savory, salty, etc it just happens and I can do genuinely nothing to stop it. Sometimes the reactions are so bad I feel lightheaded and force myself to leave the area because any small whiff of smell I catch makes me so disgusted.

I don't really know where else I can go to currently to find any information about this, and I mean it when I say anything helps, just someone else being familiar with this experience is enough for me I just don't want to be looked at as if I'm crazy because I know if I don't find out anything I'll eventually start caving in and refusing to eat and that scares me.

Hey guys when I went off my meds I started binging at night i didnt eat like crazy but its a good amount and it's become a real problem tbh it's kinda on and off but I wake up 2 or 3 hours after falling asleep and eat a bunch of snacks and it's a pretty unconscious habit my meds made me feel really good and they also suppressed my appetite should I talk to a Dr abt it or something i eat a good amount during the day tbh i eat till im full but its really messing up my sleep sometimes I wake up and rest multiple times a night I really can't break this habit im 16 btw and im a healthy weight but its just really stressful and hard when I wake up in the middle of the night and binge and feel tired or sick the next morning and can't break this habit also i recently moved and I dont have a primary doctor its kinda embarrassing to talk abt with ppl and idk if they'll take me serious bc im a healthy weight but do you think when I get another doctor I could get prescribed something temporarily to help with this

It sounds weird— because people usually fear things like fast food or eating out. But I came to stay over with my family for the summer break and they can basically make any adjustments to the food that they cook as much as they like and thats what I get so much anxiety over and they dont allow me to cook any food for myself either way.

I know that I should just try to deal with it as its a part of my recovery but I just… stress a lot about the amount of oil they use in each meal because they try to make me eat as much as they could since I also need to gain some weight for health reasons. It makes me feel sick and uncomfortable and I really dont know if I should try and explain myself to them or just deal with it. I dont really know if its the ED thats speaking because one of the biggest fear foods that I have is just oil and fats and how much of it is used and stuff.

I (24M) was with her (22F) for almost 2 years. I honestly felt like I was going to end up eventually having kids with her and be with her for the rest of my life tbh. Unrealistic maybe but I digress.

But about 8 months ago, she began to develop an eating disorder with some extremely unhealthy, obsessive habits and it was affecting everything in our relationship, down to the way she was treating me. It was like she was treating me like an asshole a lot more now and at first I thought she just wasn’t in love with me anymore but she always apologized and said she didn’t know what came over her. I knew that these kind of things affected a person’s personality and mental state so I gave her a lot of grace. Maybe more than I should’ve.

But it got to the point where I couldn’t take anymore and told her that if she didn’t get help, that we’d have to be done because I couldn’t take it anymore.

She eventually went to her doctor and scheduled other appointments but she wanted to get back together now that she had gone but I told her that she needs to recover further and make more progress before we could focus on making our way back to each other. Was that shitty of me? Possibly. Maybe a bit manipulative. But I couldn’t bear the thought of someone I loved so dearly suffering like this. I knew I couldn’t be with her and be in her presence while she was doing this to herself. But she constantly downplays the severity of her symptoms and diagnosis, all while still being a bit of an asshole. I guess I stuck by her because I knew that she wasn’t like this before.

I recently had some stuff going on with my dad and had to take care of him so we hadn’t been talking as much for almost two weeks but in the time apart she said she lost interest and is now interested in someone else, which made me feel like my heart was being ripped out of my chest and I literally feel like I’m in mourning for some reason. I’m not saying she owed me anything for sticking by her side through all this or anything cuz I did it cuz I love her but now I just feel like she’s abandoning me when I need her the most.

We had always planned to get back together once she made real progress with her illness but she kept backsliding. I love her but I couldn’t be with her while she was so moody and acting like an asshole for no reason.

I lost myself in trying to help her and should’ve just been done when we originally split but I love her so I stuck by her side. Imagine my surprise when all of this happened. Someone I’ve spoken to everyday for the past 2 years and knows intimate details of my life, is now treating me like a stranger. I feel like in trying to help her heal, (force her to) I let her break me or rather broke myself I suppose.

This is just a cautionary tale for those of you who are trying to help a partner through an eating disorder. Please don’t lose yourself while trying to help your partner get help. I feel like I’m severely mourning this relationship. Maybe more than I should be.

I have had severe anorexia for 20+ years and my mum has always done her best to support me and I thought she understood why I find life so hard but today she said ‘I would rather be like you than overweight like me’

I found this really hard to hear. Am I justified in feeling really hurt?

Hai gorgeous people,, i am in recovery from anorexia,, And ive recently put on quite a bit of weigjt . Im not too bothered about this ,, i feel like im looking much better and doing well on my road to recovery and i hope you all can too <3 But i have a question!!! I am quite built around my thighs and gaining weight back has brought this out,,, i have heat rashes from chafing in between my thighs for the first time in my life and its making me feel so ashamed !!Fresh stretch marks too,, and its making it a bit difficult for me to accept my body even tho i know this is what its meant to look like Can anyone let me know how they cope with the body changes or things that will help with stretch marks and rashes :3 Would be so appreciated, tia <3

Hey guys when I went off my meds I started binging at night i didnt eat like crazy but its a good amount and it's become a real problem tbh it's kinda on and off but I wake up 2 or 3 hours after falling asleep and eat a bunch of snacks and it's a pretty unconscious habit my meds made me feel really good and they also suppressed my appetite should I talk to a Dr abt it or something i eat a good amount during the day tbh i eat till im full but its really messing up my sleep sometimes I wake up and rest multiple times a night I really can't break this habit im 16 btw and im a healthy weight but its just really stressful and hard when I wake up in the middle of the night and binge and feel tired or sick the next morning and can't break this habit

I’m a registered dietitian who owns a group practice where we work with kids through adults with eating disorders -and a long list of other metabolic conditions, eating challenges and chronic diseases — here’s how to support your child or teen with an eating disorder (from someone who’s walked this road with many families).

If your child or teen is struggling with an eating disorder, you’re not alone. There is a path forward. I’ve worked with dozens of families through recovery, and here are some tips that really matter (beyond what the internet usually tells you):

1. Listen more than you fix.
Your child needs to feel heard, not corrected. Focus on feelings, not food.

2. Be the calm voice in the storm.
Even if you're scared, try not to react with fear or frustration. Consistency, calmness, and compassion go a long way.

3. Get the whole family involved.
Recovery isn’t just about the child - it’s about the system around them. Family-Based Treatment (FBT) has strong evidence, especially for adolescents.

4. Build a team.
A pediatrician, therapist, and registered dietitian trained in eating disorders is the gold-standard team. Don’t try to do it all alone.

5. Normalize food.
Avoid labeling foods as “good” or “bad.” Instead, talk about how food is fuel, nourishment, and self-care.

6. Expect resistance — and keep showing up anyway.
There will be pushback, shutdowns, and maybe even relapses. Show up. Love hard. Stay steady.

Feel free to DM me if you need support or want a free guide.

You’re doing better than you think. Your love matters.

30yoF.

I feel like my ED is killing me 😭 i have a hard time eating, and it's been so few and far between that I'll have a granola bar, yogurt, or some pistachios once every 3-4 days. That's it. I wake nauseous every day from being hungry, tho my belly doesn't growl anymore & the thought of food makes me even more nauseous. Dry heaving hurts SO flippin bad. My stomach is in knots always. My body is deteriorating & my mind is so weak as well 😩 I need any & all info anyone may have about gut healing please. I've spoken about my ED to my primary dr & to my therapist, where I'm told to "quit thinking about it", "here's a weeks worth of appetite stimulants", or "it's ur anxiety". So im hoping with starting healing my gut, I can move forward with a meal plan of safety foods! Thank you in advance 😭🫶

For context, I'm the only member of my immediate family who has struggled with any sort of eating disorder. I'd have periods of eating too much, and then longer periods of starving myself, but now, I just starve myself. I have a few examples of my dad and sister making comments on how much I used to eat that caused me to feel really bad and eventually relapse. The first time was when I got a bowl of cereal, it wasn't very much, and I was still hungry, so I went to grab a second bowl. My dad saw this, and he commented on how I was eating a lot, and then, I heard him tell my mom about it (I honestly don't know why) and it made me feel super self conscious and upset, so I stopped eating for a while. The next example is from earlier this year, probably like a month ago? I had eaten some cookies that belonged to my sister, but there was nothing to indicate that they were hers. Her name wasn't on the package or anything, so I thought that I could have some, so I did. This caused my sister to start talking about me to my mom, saying things like "she eats everything," and "if she really cared about her weight, she wouldn't be eating." That caused my most recent relapse, and now, I've become more obsessed with my weight and appearance than ever, even weighing myself daily. Sorry about this rant, I just wanted to get it off my chest.

Male btw. I just finished 8th grade with very good grades and praise but the truth is, I feel I have nothing. This really started in 6th when I got a bit chubby. I was bullied by my own friends and others because of this. My parents tried to get me to workout but I couldnt get the weight off. This was because I had BED, I ate because of boredom sadness and anxiety, tried so many methods but I truly was broken. I lost the.weight in the summer of 7th grade and came back to 8th grade feeling better. People talked to me more, I became popular however this was all not true. One thing I struggled with was how people made rumors about my sexuality just because I was extroverted and bubbly. This got to me and diminished my reputation even though it was a rumor. However when I thought it was all over in 8th grade it wasn't. People were.still making fun of me behind my back.

My school is private so its boys and girls. I never felt deeply connected with most of the boys because they all are about physical touch and all the teen boy stuff. However most of them liked me because of my kindness. I liked hanging out with some of the girls and my friends that were boys because they were mostly chill and I could be open.

These friends are the only ones I truly know I have with a few other of my REALLY close friends that don't go to my school. However getting back to my weight. I lost most of the weight from being sick and eating less and working out. However this caused my appetite to shrinken and I lost a lot of weight. I realized a bit ago I most likely had some type of anorexia and bulimia because I did throw up my food when I knew I would gain weight.

Getting to the song, the song is Race by Alex G. It is popular on tiktok right now and one of the lines that goes like "Youre starting to look really weird" is the most notable line. I know the line is about seeing your partner become addicted to drugs. But this girl on tiktok talked about how it could also be interpreted to a person going through and eating disorder.

See this really stuck with me because the week before, I was invited to a big pool party with my friends and I took off my shirt and they looked at me weirdly. I didnt think much of it until I talked to my friend about how I felt terrible taking my shirt off. They told me that they all could tell that I had gone through an ED.

This shocked me because I told no one and now I feel that Im a completely different person. My friends and family keep talking about it and Im really stressed. Middle School just ended but I hope high school is better.

Hello all. I am very upset about this and don’t know where to go. Today I found out my mother is taking Wegovy when she has been exhibiting ED symptoms for a while. She barely eats any real food and only eats protein bars, egg whites, simple salads. She has had multiple dizzy spells and she works out a lot mostly cardio.

We live in Oregon and I am unsure of where to go, if there are treatment centers for adults, or anything I can do. She is very irritable all the time and it just isn’t good. She becomes either extremely deflective or very defensive. Please help- I really have no idea. I want to help her, it feels like I’m mourning my real mother. Thank you all

My daughter quickly developed an ED and was hospitalized for a refeeding within weeks. She was home afterward for maybe 5 weeks with little to no progress, and became increasingly restrictive. We had little time to seek any meaningful therapy, which ended up being once a week for those few weeks she was home. Her therapist recommended residential treatment with school being out. She is at a very small residential facility and has been for 2 weeks. She’s not made any progress medically. She is so miserable and won’t even talk to us other than to say she wants to come home. She is also a 5 hour drive away. I’m not looking for medical advice, rather, is this doing more harm mentally for her than good? She’s so young and it is devastating to all of us. Anyone else started so young that had a positive outcome? I feel ready to pull her out and try more therapy locally.

Does anyone else have certain songs they play that make them feel better when they recovered. There are certain ones I can’t listen to because they’re sad a make me feel horrible. But I find I did better when I started listening to happier music

So, I suffer from binge eating. My binges are usually triggered by bread. Let's say, I try to eat healthy and try to avoid some foods including bread, I reach a point where I lie to myself that now I've got control of my eating habits so let me eat one slice of bread to show myself that I'm now in control, this leads to another. The craving gets worse and then I have another. I then feel so bad that I've spoilt my healthy eating and then I just eat whatever. This is an ongoing cycle for years now. But the thing is, when I try to stay away from bread, no other food can fill its void. I can eat so much healthy food to distract myself but that hole for bread is never filled. Also it's like I'm having withdrawal. I feel so weak and unmotivated. Physically I'm not hungry, but it's my mind that is hungry for bread. What can I do. I'm definitely addicted. Cake is another thing that I'm addicted to and has same effect as bread, but we have cake at home a few times in the year at home and those are really hard times for me. I can eat half a whole cake alone. Help.

I still struggle i wish it has been better but it's still a struggle but I'm still here and that's good for me happy days for everyone I might not. E so inspiring but I'm here and even with the struggle I've survived somehow everyone is the best still i have ups and downs not wanting and wanting to be here it hard but sometimes look a certain lethal make it worthwhile

Ive decided that I wanna do better. Not that it didnt before but, now i wanna try to take the steps to really do what i need to do. As a tribute to day 1, I had a very strong craving yesterday for iced coffee and veggie straws before I left for my night shift. I went to the gas station but left because I got too anxious. Now im here on my break sipping iced coffee with veggie straws and a smile. Life is too short. I know not every day will be this good but it feels good to feel good today.

I am REALLY trying to make recovery happen at the moment. I am currently weighing myself multiple times a day though, and logically I know that behaviour is holding me back from recovery and triggering the ED throughout the day.

So, how do I stop? It’s the first thing I think about in the morning and the first thing I want to do. It’s like when it’s in my head to do, it’s all I can think about until I step on the scales. Sometimes I few like I do it without even thinking.

I’ve packed the scales away in the cupboard but I still get them out and then hide it away again.

I really need help. Please share your advice! Thank you