Losing weight if you have eating disorder tendencies?

JellyyBeanz

Hey guys, I’m wondering if anyone has any experience with this or knows any good advice. I’ve struggled with disordered eating habits for a while (excessive restriction, binging, purging etc) and it’s pretty easy for me to slip back into serious self-loathing and self-abuse when it comes to my diet. But I have gained a lot of weight recently and am close to entering the overweight category so I would like to lose about 20 pounds. Is it possible to lose weight effectively without slipping back into bad habits?

lorrpb

i would encourage you to talk to your treatment team about this. If you don't have a ED treatment team, please talk to your doctor. This can be a slippery slope. Take care.

effieolsen

As someone who's struggled with an eating disorder, I also agree with the above person that you should consult with a doctor or whoever guided you through your recovery process, if you have anyone like that. If not, I'd recommend looking into some doctors, dieticians, and therapists that specialize in ed recovery and fitness.

For me, after my recovery I had gained 25lbs and didn't really feel comfortable there so I dropped about 7lbs and now I've been at the same stable weight for the last 5 years or so. When losing weight, I never went under 1500 calories and I always gave myself a time limit on exercise. Not sure if you struggle with orthorexia, but it was a big thing for me so I have to set a timer so that I don't go over an hour on my workouts because I'll end up losing track of the time and working out for hours upon hours.

It's an individual experience and so I don't wanna tell you what you should or shouldn't do, as I'm definitely not a professional. As previously mentioned, I would highly recommend seeking the advice of a dietician or doctor that specializes in eating disorders with a focus in fitness and maintaining a healthy weight throughout recovery.

It's also very easy for me to slip into old habits, but I think it helps to have what's called an accountability partner. Basically someone who can, not necessarily monitor what you do and eat, but someone you trust who can tell you when it looks like you're slipping backwards. Since eating disorders can be very secretive, having someone hold you accountable can take that aspect out of it. For example, when I worked on losing the bit of weight I wasn't happy with after recovery, I told my mom everytime when I was going to workout and told her when I was finished, I reported back to my dietician through text message everytime I had a meal and how much I had. I think you really have to be mentally healed, at least for the most part, from your ed in order to even think about losing weight. Just the act of losing weight can trigger bad feelings for people with ed tendencies. So I think it's most important to make sure you're in a healthy state of mind first, which again, a professional can help you with. It's definitely possible to lose weight post recovery or during recovery but those of us with a history of ed behaviors need to be much more careful in doing so.

kshama2001

I agree with the suggestions to get professional help. If you are in the US, many states are allowing more tele-health these days.

I'm looking into that for myself, but I'm with the VA, so my resources may not be applicable to you.

kshama2001

kshama2001 wrote: »

I agree with the suggestions to get professional help. If you are in the US, many states are allowing more tele-health these days.

I'm looking into that for myself, but I'm with the VA, so my resources may not be applicable to you.

In a win for what is essentially socialized medicine, health care through the Veterans Administration, I emailed my psychiatrist yesterday requesting a consult, got a call from Behavioral Health today, and have a tele-health appointment for next Tuesday.

go52182

@JellyyBeanz I sent a private message to you.

go52182

Someone flagged me because I wanted to talk to the OP in private? What is wrong with this community?

janejellyroll

go52182 wrote: »

Someone flagged me because I wanted to talk to the OP in private? What is wrong with this community?

I wouldn't take it personally. People who are trying to sell MLM goods or personal services are notorious for asking OPs to PM them or sending PMs. Someone probably mistakenly thought you were trying to do something in that vein.