I've stopped eating

[leakybucket]

Posted in mental health but not much traffic.

I've stopped eating due to a break up and a spiral into depression. I haven't eaten for two days now. I need encouragement to get out of bed and make food.

Digestive biscuits and cups of tea were my go-to. Even now if anything stressful happens I get them and live off them for a couple of days. I don't know why. Only tip I have is to eat "mindlessly" - so try and absorb yourself in something like your favourite TV show and eat little bits as you go like it was popcorn. It works as a method for fussy toddlers (the eating while they're absorbed in something) and worked for me during the worst of times. I guess it's the opposite of the mindful eating that you hear about.

.... also jars of things you can stick in the fridge that require little effort life olives, pickled stuff if you like that. Basically anything that won't require any preparation whatsoever. I hope you feel better soon - this will pass I promise you.

What about a filthy take away huh?

When I’ve suffered similar I’ve turned to chocolate milkshake to keep me going until I got my appetite back.

When I was physically ill and had no appetite I turned to omelettes and ate two a day for several months along with Complan drinks.

You will feel sad after a break up but in time you will get back on track.

Weetabix with warm milk to make it mushy was my friend during heartbreak.

It's not that I'm not hungry I am I just don't see any point to eating. My body doesn't really deserve it

Have you got Deliveroo or could you afford a takeaway? Deliveroo is good as it's a massive range, currys and pizza then right down to packet sandwiches and pop from the local Esso garage. I ordered a soft burrito with sour cream the other night from a Mexican takeaway I didn't previously know existed. It was exactly what I needed when the fridge was empty and I was too tired to make or get anything.

OP please see your doctor

OP, how are you this morning?

Our bodies are bodies, they don’t deserve it not deserve stuff.

Is there a reason you are hating your body? It supports the ‘you’ inside, and you are valuable.

Sorry, I have absolutely no experience or knowledge about eating disorder, but I am thinking about you this morning.

Hi OP. It's quite worrying reading your thread. You say you are hungry but your body doesn't deserve food? Do you think not eating is something you have control of at the moment as you don't have control in other areas of your life at the moment?

See your GP as soon as you can. Your body not only deserves food but needs it, badly. If you can't face a meal at the moment, what about some toast, a yogurt, some fruit? The more you don't eat, the worse you will feel. I've always said to myself and firmly believe that a long hot bath or shower and a good plate of food sorts you out when feeling low. It doesn't solve the issue but your body at least will feel more looked after meaning you will feel better

OP there is a great charity which runs a helpline, they deal with ALL disordered eating so although its called Anorexia Bulimia Care, they have experienced helpline counsellors who can support you just with someone to talk to (or you can e-mail):

www.anorexiabulimiacare.org.uk/help-for-you

Your GP is a good place to start of course, but the helpline staff at ABC are going to be more knowledge about disordered eating, any form of restricted eating, for any reason. You've reached out to us, now just try one more step.

They say the heart break diet is the best however it's not sustainable.

Think of something light yet comforting. Maybe scrambled eggs and smoke salmon or some jam on toast.

I bet you feel like cr*p now and I promise you it's not just to do with the break up. You'll have no energy from not eating so look after yourself and get something inside of you (I'm talking about food and not the whole "the best way to get over someone is to get under someone else"). Hopefully that made you chuckle Big hugs xx

Hi @leakybucket,
Just remind yourself of the golden rule of managing depression: you don't have to want to do it even a bit, but you do have to do it.

If you have no appetite anyway, then it makes sense to eat something really nutritious that will help manage your mood. Something easy that takes no effort. A bowl of soup then a banana? A bowl of muesli with yoghurt and berries if you have anything like that in the house. Some wholemeal toast with peanut butter and a big mug of tea?

Just feed yourself small nourishing amounts of fresh food as this will help you feel less shattered by what's happened. And if you can muster the energy, eat it outside in the sunshine.

This will pass.

I had exactly the same, horrible break up caused me not to eat anything for two weeks. Do not so this!! I ate a lot of soup, it was easy to do in a microwave and easy to eat. I started to get hungry once I was eating again so it slowly built up. I now am back to eating small lunches and a bigger dinner, you will get there, it just needs building up. You need to eat though. Have a look on the relationships board, there's a break up support thread running. Come and talk to us over there :)

Your body absolutely does deserve food, it hasn’t done anything wrong.

Even if you think that the break up was somehow your fault, don’t punish yourself with starvation. Have a think about how you might do things differently next time, but you need to take care of yourself.

If there’s even a subconscious idea that somehow harming yourself will teach him something, show him how much he hurt you etc you need to stamp that out now.

Don’t play games, with him or yourself, just take each day as it comes.

If it’s any help on a practical level, when I’ve been heartbroken or feeling ill, Slimfast is great. A can of chocolate shake with some ice is easy to get down and contains lots of nutrition and some energy. Get a Tesco delivery for tomorrow with a few flavours in it, some fruit and bread etc, anything easy to eat so you have no excuses not to.

It's not that I'm not hungry I am I just don't see any point to eating. My body doesn't really deserve it

That's a really vicious voice of depression speaking. Very familiar. I used to get it a lot. (Mine was: I don't exist so what's the point of feeding this body if there's no one inside it?)

Just say out loud: 'That's depression speaking. Depression says a lot of things that aren't true and that's one of them. I am having a slice of toast and an apple now.' You don't have to want to. You don't have to believe it. But you do have to just do it. If nothing matters much then you may as well follow advice from people who are well and know what it's like to be ill.

Try to have something at least, even if you don't want too. Maybe eggs just scrambled or toast. You could order a takeaway or supermarket delivery with some of your favourites.
Do you have someone in real life who could pop and you could have a chat? Or call the numbers given by other posters, remember too that your GP will help.

What I do is force myself to bung something in the pan/oven. The sight, smell of it often triggers the urge to eat it. If I don't actually do that I won't eat.

Sending

I did an online shop yesterday (single mum, ugh hate that phrase) and all the food was for the kids. Happens every time I just don't think about me). Not good.

How are you OP? Have you had something?

When my mum does I couldn’t eat. Just couldn’t. Never had that before in my life, but it was shock.

My brother watched me for a couple of days and he was like, em you need to eat. We were walking past a little cafe and he ordered us some sandwiches and he sat with me while I ate. I didn’t enjoy it much, but it nudged me in the right direction.

Could a good friend come by with some snacks

Been there OP.
Cuppa tea? Anything you can manage. Try not to fret. Keep yourself warm. How are you today?
Baby steps. You're alive. Anything that's alive deserves to be nourished. You included.

Hello OP, how are you doing now?

Hope you are, at least, ok and have managed to eat a little something.