How do you not feel guilty about eating/your body image

[coffeeandbooks]

I know this is above Mumsnets pay grade but how do you manage to keep a healthy relationship with food and your body (if you're a healthy weight)?

I've had anorexia and bulimia now for over a decade and my weight is healthy but I still really struggle with binging and bad body image. It's so hard for me to eat 3 healthy meals a day and snacks yet I'll eat 2000 calories in one binge sitting!

I am seeking help for this, just thought I'd try here for some tips.

Thank you!

I'm recovering from anorexia so I don't know if my answer will be helpful, but at the moment I feel my relationship with food is the best it's ever been. I think about food groups, vitamins and minerals and what they do inside my body to help me function how I should. I also think about how good it feels to not have that aching pain in my stomach I had got so used to living with. I'm still teaching myself that when I'm hungry it's ok to eat, and I don't always remember, but after I do eat I try to enjoy the satisfaction of not feeling those aching pains. I hope that makes sense.

As for my body, I'm underweight still and am eating a lot to try and gain weight. I honestly don't know how I feel when I reach a proper healthy weight, but at the moment I'm happy when I see that I'm looking healthier - my skin is less dry and my hair is growing back (I'd lost a lot of hair) and I focus on those sorts of improvements. Tbh I have reached a stage where I actually want to be bigger. I'm sick of baggy clothes and feeling like I stand out next to normal sized people. I spent so long hating my curves and now I'm envious of other women who have breasts and hips and I really want them myself. I've learned to accept that there are parts of my body I will never be happy with. I don't know if my mindset will change when I do reach a healthy weight, but I hope not.

Sorry you're struggling.

We really don't "have to" eat 3 meals a day, let alone 3 meals and snacks. You can just eat only when you're hungry, which when we follow our body, isn't always up to 3 meals, let alone with snacks.

So you could start there and eat your first meal (You also don't 'have to' eat it in the morning but you can if you need to), then see what happens from there. When you're hungry again, you have another meal.

You can use this to track your system to see what it does and when you feel hunger. You'll see patterns and even changes in these patterns depending on hormones and so on.