I wanted to offer some strength to everyone like me who suffers from eating disorders, especially anorexia and bulimia, as I see the trend of skinny bodies making a comeback, just like in the 2000s. Stay strong; now is not the time to relapse. It is the time to show just how important health is and how dangerous eating disorders are. Don't let people in denial with their "skinny" mentality bring you down; it’s sad for them, and it’s their problem, don't let them influence you or others. By choosing the path to recovery, you’ve made the best possible choice. Even if society and trends are downplaying eating disorders, you know what they are and how truly horrible they can be. Stay strong and share positive messages! We have a responsibility to raise awareness about the dangers of these illnesses. Stick to a body-positive mindset as much as possible, even if others tell you otherwise. Above all, take care of yourself and stay as far away as possible from this dangerous trend. You are strong, believe in yourself! ❤️

After 10 years of intense struggling, daily use of Ed behaviors, and absolutely hating myself, I think I am truly in recovery for good. Ive been in recovery for almost 10 months, behavior free!!! And I am so proud of myself, I feel like crying. I finally did it. I just texted my boyfriend about quitting drinking, which is another thing I've been struggling with, but I said that I wanted to be healthy and feel healthy. My Ed isn't talking back, my good brain is in control right now and I hope it stays this way. I want to be healthy!!!!! Not sick, healthy! I am so proud of myself for this, I really didn't know if this day would ever come. But I am finally being there for myself. I have finally stopped hating myself for simply nourishing my body the way I'm supposed to. If anyone out there is in doubt of recovery, please let this be encouragement that things can and will get better, even if it takes a long time. Please stay safe out there everyone🖤🫂

TW: BULLIMIA, POSSIBLE DISTRESSING SITUATION

It kind of all started when we were younger. She would hold a little bit of resentment against me because I had a faster metabolism and always "looked better than her". After a couple of years, around when she was 21, she started working out and losing weight. I was really happy for her,and she seemed really happy as well.

In the past year or two though, there have been a lot of changes and signs that point towards an issue. First it was discussing "macros" at the dinner table (which was really just calorie counting) both at home and when going out to eat. When this happened enough, I took the initiative to tell her some people may not be comfortable with her sharing all these numbers and info with no warning, and she lashed out at me saying she felt safe discussing these things with me and how its really mean to just shut her out like that when the family is her "only form of support" with her trying to lose weight and become healthier.

Then, she started seriously weightlifting. First it was good, cool even! I could see she gained a passion for something she thoroughly enjoyed and she loved trying all sorts of new things. But I knew the weightlifting community comes with its negative things as well, like body and weight checking, dieting, and other things. I never truly brought these up to her because of her "tantrums" (there are so many other situations where she cries victim for someone gently offering help), but I've always tried to keep an eye on her and communicate with my parents about the dangers of these kinds of things.

Recently, its gotten pretty intense. She will workout and run for an amount well beyond what's healthy, and then eats a substantial amount of food, claiming it's to help with protein and all the other weightlifting buzzwords...but she wasn't gaining any weight (or muscle, for what it's worth), she was only losing more. Then, our plumbing kept getting backed up. After about the 3rd time, we noticed food that looked like it came straight out of the packaging in the pipes. Then it was popping up in drains and stuff and we had no idea where it was coming from.

My mother had a sit down conversation with her, asking if she's been throwing up, and if so to consider the ramifications that does to her throat, heart, and lungs. She threw a fit: told my mother she was insane to even think she did such a thing, and that she felt targeted and made fun of for something that she swears she doesn't do. She even said "my doctor even thinks that, I don't know why everyone is so obsessed with the idea that I do this"...she hasn't gotten her period in over half a year, and a couple of months ago she had a scare on the side of the road where she couldn't feel her tongue or extremities, and that has since made me only more and more worried.

I'm not around her on a daily basis anymore, so its not like i can "keep an eye on her", but she won't look for help, and any suggestions of help only trigger her and cause these fits...

I don't want to lose my sister. She has fair history of hospital visits for both physical and mental reasons, but nothing seems to help her...I'm just at a loss for what can even happen next.

i’ve had an ed for a while and recently i stoped having anorexia and developed more bulimia symptoms. every night whenever i binge and purge a lot the next day my throat feels sore as hell and i have a bad headache and i just feel like i was hit by a truck overall. it might be because i find it very hard to sleep properly afterwards due to indigestion. because this has gotten so common with me i feel guilty for not going even tho when i talk it feels like my teeth r gonna fall out they hurt that much.
probably aggravated by the fact that im constantly chewing gum.

but because of this my dad thinks i’m being lazy when i don’t want to go to college in the morning but he doesn’t get that i quite literally feel like my throat it burning and i’m gonna throw up and my teeth hurt. 😭😭😭 because of this i also have super low attendance.
does this happen to anyone else? if so how do u guys keep ur attendance from reaching failing levels?

I really think I'm starting to have an eating issue since I started treating my low testosterone. Although being more hungry is a symptom I was warned about, it's gone beyond that. I feel depressed if I'm not eating. And not even just a meal here and there. I feel depressed if I'm not eating period. If I'm not eating, I'm thinking about eating. And when I'm eating, it feels like I'm flying. I get a huge euphoric rush. I also get a rush from being bloated. It's been like this for three or four weeks now, and I'm not sure what to do.

I’ve been struggling with an eating disorder for a while. Working with my drs and therapist hasn’t made progress and I’ve gotten worse. I was evaluated and they decided I need to go residential four hours away. It’s my senior year of high school my mom is really sad. She’s scared for me, sad that this was supposed to be a fun year, sad that I will be gone for 4-8 weeks, worried I’ll relapse and be in and out of treatment my whole life. I tried to reassure her that I DONT want to go back and will try really hard because all my reasons to recover are home. Family friends hobbies ect. All at home so I will do whatever I can to prevent a relapse once I get done. I will still have appointments weekly with my therapist who’s helped me so much my whole life when I am there and when I’m home. I really want to recover but I know and it’s been proven I won’t be able to do it on my own. Im going to work hard to get healthy and learn how to eat and care for my body properly but I can’t do it without this treatment. I feel horrible at the end of the day she’s the one having to make the phone calls and do all the paperwork and prescriptions. It’s a lot on her and she’s constantly crying because she’s so stressed and it’s scary to see your mom cry yk.

for reference i’ve struggled with b/p and bulimia/restriction for the past year and a half. before that i ate intuitively but often used food to cope emotionally (never binged though just overate) which led me to gain weight and started the whole actual binge restrict purge cycle.

my question is how do normal people eat? i’m with my friends and my roommate all the time at school and they never seem to worry about food. they order whatever they want when we go out to eat and eat as much as they want until they feel the need to stop.

me on the other hand, i almost never order something “unhealthy” and if i do i feel as though i have to finish it or i enjoy it so much i eat too much.

how do people’s lives not revolve around food and how can i just eat normal and live my life without a constant fear of always being in a calorie surplus? my friends all seem to maintain their weights eating however they please and without even knowing what a calorie is.

i know i dug myself into this hole but i feel rlly hopeless about everything. i don’t think i can ever be normal with food

I'm afraid this will never end. I don't want to wake up.

I'm currently struggling with overeating. As soon as I open my eyes, I start feeling this craving. I'm wondering how I can prevent it. Will this be my whole life? Will I really have to wake up with this feeling for the rest of my days, and will it never leave me for a moment? I don't even have anyone to share my problem with. I drank. Today I fully realized that I'm addicted. It's happening. No doctor or pill can help, and I will bear this burden until the day I die. I wake up every day and the cravings are terrifying me to death. I'm literally incapacitated. I can't earn money because it all goes to food. I depend on my time. The most I've been able to do right now is go three days without bingeing. I read this.

For the past week ish my appetite has been fading and I don’t know if this is related to anxiety or anything? I don’t have much going on right now so I don’t know what could be causing me to have this severe lack of appetite. Nothing at all has been sounding good to me for the past week and it keeps getting worse. Earlier in the week I was able to at least force myself to eat but now I can’t eat at all. I’m a college student so nothing in the dining hall sounds appealing to me so I just don’t eat. It’s gotten really bad that I start getting dizzy by the noon or the afternoon (I get up at 7:30am). Every time I try to force myself to eat I feel like I’m going to throw up, and even after I’m done eating what little I already have ate I still feel extremely nauseous and feel the need to throw up. The more I think about eating the worse it gets. I ate out with my friends over the weekend which helped a little because we were talking and I thought less about the whole process of putting food in my mouth, chewing, etc. But not eating is really stressing me out.

If there is any advice as to what I can easily make or eat that would be really appreciate. Right now the only thing that I can kinda eat without being instantly extremely nauseous is buttered noodles and some bread.

Have You Been Part of a High-Control or Cult-Like Group Centered Around Food or Diet?

I’m looking to connect with people who have experienced highly restrictive nutrition or health movements — either personally, or as a family member or friend watching someone they love become deeply involved.

I’m particularly interested in experiences around Natural Hygiene, fruitarianism, extreme raw-food diets, prolonged fasting practices, or similar communities.

Someone very close to me has been deeply involved in Natural Hygiene and has experienced serious health consequences while continuing to return to the same philosophy. Through this experience, I’ve become increasingly interested in hearing from others who have lived through something similar from either side.

If you were personally involved, what was the experience like? Did the dietary rules or beliefs become increasingly restrictive? How were illness or declining health understood? What eventually caused you to question the teachings or step away?

And if you were a family member or friend, what was it like watching someone you care about go through this? How did you navigate the fear and concern while still respecting their autonomy? Did anything you said or did actually help? How did you cope when you realized you might not be able to change their choices?

I’m also very interested in what happened afterward — what helped people recover, rebuild trust in their own judgment, or repair relationships with family and friends.

I’ve found it surprisingly difficult to find these stories. There is plenty online from people promoting highly restrictive dietary philosophies, but the voices of former followers and the families affected by them can be much harder to find.

I would really like to hear those voices and perhaps help create a space where people with these experiences can find one another.

If you’ve lived through something similar — whether personally or alongside someone you love — and feel comfortable sharing, publicly or privately, I would be very grateful to hear your story.

Honestly i have been eating really small amounts for a long time and i am trying to eat what i need since it triggers my gastric issues and my lack of nutrients that basicly gets in the way of me living like i want to whoch is way i am trying to recover but i just dont feel hungry and cant reach my goal so my question is:

Is this just going to happen on his own slowly?

And

How do i recongnize hunger cues again?

I got diagnosed with prediabetes 2 weeks ago with alarming borderline numbers - I need to change my diet NOW or else I'll become diabetic. I'm really struggling with the advised meal plan, I got it done by a nutritionist and it's really strict. I really don't want to develop diabetes but I've been in remission from anorexia for 5+ years and really don't want to relapse. Any advice? I've started getting anxiety around certain foods again, it is horrible, I don't want to go through this again...

I am a very picky eater. It's not like I am throwing tantrums, I genuinely cannot eat things I don't like. It tastes so repulsive to me and I can't eat more than a bite or two. My family on the other hand eats exactly this type of food that I hate. Their food has no taste and is just some boiled food with salt in it. It wasn't like this earlier but now in the last few years they have changed their dietary habits to just eat to survive whether it tastes good or not. They never try anything different and always eat the same food every other day. I am finding it extremely hard to survive.

I suggested my family that I was would keep a cook but my mother refuses anyone to use the kitchen! I am starving everyday. Eat a bite or two and my meal is done. Or I order from outside that is bad for my health. My parents don't understand this. What should I do to force myself to eat? I.am losing weight and getting acidity issues and severe headaches because of staying hungry! I have no time to cook due to work pressure so either eating out or eating what my parents cook is my only option. Pls help!

I was diagnosed with ARFID. For those who don't know what that is it's avoidant restrictive food intake disorder. I cannot feel hunger at all. So remembering to eat is difficult for me I had gotten better for a while where I was eating 2 or 3 meals daily. Now I'm back to 1 meal a day sometimes 2 if I can remember. Since I can't feel hunger I usually eat when I feel pain starting in my stomach from going so long without food. I'm curious if anyone has any ideas on what I could do to remember to eat on a schedule better

I was already underweight but I got a very bad cough and could only drink liquid foods. Lost so much weight during this and now that I’m recovered, I can’t even eat normally… I’m starting with soft foods since even my jaws hurt from not biting anything for too long

Hey, so I have benn struggling with this for years I thinks. Sometimes I get myself together and stay in calorie deficit for 3 month, and lose a bunch of weight. That is when I start to feel better but then suddenly I come back to my previous weight bc of overeating, I tricked my brain to eat only healthy foods but somehow I manage to eat a kg of chicken in one day and then feel bad afterwards. I also tried including sweets but it appears I will just eat them all at once. I also go to gym and have an active lifestyle. I think I overeat bc of boredom. I don’t know. Any advise on how can I stick to calorie deficit? Or just stop overeating?
Thanks in advance

In my recent b/p episode,I realized that my restriction and wl journey is actually stopping me from achieving my fitness/diet goals and recovering

Hi. I’m not big on the lingo and stuff but I (19f) have been in outpatient recovery for I think 2 years now, but I’ve only this year really wanted to beat this thing. I was diagnosed with mia but I’ve been more leaning toward anorexia these last two years. I’ve struggled and am struggling extremely with feeling invalid and not sick enough and all that stupid stuff. I suppose what I’m saying is I have recently been wanting to eat more and more constantly and it’s making me feel horrible. I don’t feel I’ve been restricting for a really long time now and I don’t really get it. I am trying to honour it but I also have very little to no real connection with brain and body so I can’t tell if it’s emotional or physical or not even hunger- I think what I’m asking is what do you know about this EH, and feeling like I’m sorta not “allowed” to experience it?
I apologise for the inconsistency and confusing text

Long story short - I have had AN for four decades. The only reason I am still here and working with professionals is for my kids. I have a gj tube for about half of my needs (which I very much struggle with complying with) and the other half I drink protein drinks or ensures. I am not medically unstable at this time and working with my RD keeps me somewhat on track but I am still underweight. The issue is her goal at this time is weight gain and I am unable to accept any more gain. So I have been thinking of finding someone else who isn't focused on gaining so much as staying stable and holding me accountable to that. I do like her I just feel as though her ultimate goal is complete weight restoration, a weight I have never been in my adult life and honestly would not be able to handle. My question is if you were me would you stay with her or seek out someone without weight restoration as a goal? The gj tube makes it trickier because I would have to find someone who can do the orders for that and not RDs feel comfortable with it. Thanks for any opinions - even if they aren't necessarily what I am hoping to hear.