Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Flexible and made to last.

Meet the Other Phone.
Flexible and made to last.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To tell them to mind their own business (maybe triggering? Eating stuff)

218 replies

TheParisofPeople · 02/04/2018 11:41

Hi,

I’ve been a lurker for a while but finally took the plunge I need some advice because I don’t know which way is up anymore after Easter.

Some friends of mine are convinced i have an eating disorder, I tend to restrict my food so I don’t pig out and I do a reasonable amount of exercise. Not manically though, I’m not a gym fanatic or anything I just walk a lot. I’m a size ten so not anorexic by any means, obviously. My mum is a big fan of diets and weight loss but in a healthy way and is supportive when I want to lose. I recently broke up with someone and it knocked me a bit and I piled on some weight. Like I went up to a 12/14 really quickly and she helped me with a new diet.

So I did the blood sugar diet for a month and it was amazing I melted back to a 10, but I was cold all the time and kept feeling like I was going to pass out. Decided to eat ‘normally’ for a bit but I fast regularly too. This helps me maintain.

Haven’t shifted any more weight but because I refused to binge on chocolate at Easter and I lost quite a bit quite quickly my friends are saying they’re worried I have an ED. All because I don’t want to pig on thousands of sugary calories for no reason and I fast sometimes. Fasting is more traditional at Easter than letting yourself turn into a gross chocolate monster anyway btw. It’s a religious event ffs.

I’m getting fed up of being told to ‘just eat a burger’ by them, or watched when I eat. But I know that when people get sick or obsessed they sometimes can’t see there’s something wrong. Do I sound ok?

Thanks everyone.

OP posts:
fleshmarketclose · 02/04/2018 12:14

I think if you have to work hard at not pigging out or have dieted so strictly that you became faint and regularly fast to maintain your weight then yes I'd say you should see a doctor. I tend to think everything in moderation is fine. I'm not sure your approach is healthy.
FWIW I've not touched any chocolate this Easter in spite of there being lots in the house,not because I'm worried about pigging out or worried that I will gain weight it's more that it's just food and right now I don't fancy it.

PotteringAlong · 02/04/2018 12:15

Also, sugar is a foodstuff? Surely? It’s not arsenic?

PotteringAlong · 02/04/2018 12:16

Just watching people eat makes me freak out

That’s not normal. You need to look carefully at your own eating I think.

Steeley113 · 02/04/2018 12:16

Hmm I’d be worried too if you were my friend. And pissed off you were judging me for eating a bloody creme egg.

puppower · 02/04/2018 12:16

Just watching people eat makes me freak out

Bet your fun at a buffet! 😂

missperegrinespeculiar · 02/04/2018 12:17

oh dear... OP, in the kindest possible way, talk to a GP

if you are grossed out by food and can only eat what you perceive as "clean" then there may very well be an issue

BTW, good quality chocolate has some nutritional benefits eaten in moderation

Idontdowindows · 02/04/2018 12:17

OP, I mean this in the best possible way, but you have a problem with food.

I would suggest that you see if you can talk to a professional about your relationship with food, weight and body image to try and turn it into a healthier way of looking at yourself and your habits.

Graphista · 02/04/2018 12:17

We can't diagnose but...

Yea sounds distinctly possibly to me.

My sister was bulimic and never underweight. Your size doesn't mean you don't have an ED and that inc anorexia because becoming underweight doesn't happen overnight any more than being overweight does.

Ed's are mh conditions that lead to physical consequences so it's your thinking that maters and your thinking does seem disordered in relation to food.

Fasting is really not healthy, you talk of sugar messing up insulin regulation what do you think fasting does?

And chocolate isn't just sugar it also contains milk and cocoa so contains calcium, iron and other nutrients.

There's no such thing as a bad food but there is bad diets - and that includes diets with not enough calories and nutrition.

How do you feel about eating fatty foods?

Tbh it sounds like this is learned from your mum too.

The exercise - I'd like to know exactly how much you do.

Original poster
TheParisofPeople · 02/04/2018 12:18

I fast in an 18/6 pattern so I get my daily calorie in in a six hour period. Fast the rest of the time. This includes overnight though so it’s not like I’m starving myself during the day?

OP posts:
ShawshanksRedemption · 02/04/2018 12:18

A little bit of chocolate every now and then is not gorging or stuffing, OP. The language you are using is what concerns me, as are the fad diets like the blood sugar one where you became ill on it.

I would remind yourself of what a healthy balanced diet is, as that includes all foodstuffs in moderation. The odd "junk" food is ok, eating it every day isn't. FWIW you can even do healthy versions of junk food these days (e.g. make your own burger with lean mince).

steff13 · 02/04/2018 12:19

Dark chocolate has lots of antioxidants.

WazFlimFlam · 02/04/2018 12:19

'just watching people eat makes me freak out'

This is not OK OP. Maybe people are snapping at you to 'just have a burger' because you are forcing them to be defensive as you are making them uncomfortable.

Take it as a warning before they cut you off.

IrenetheQuaint · 02/04/2018 12:20

'It’s poison for the body, how can people enjoy putting dirty food in themselves?!'

This and the fact that watching people eat makes you freak out does make it sound like you have some issues. Yes, gorging on chocolate over Easter isn't very healthy, but it's chocolate not cyanide, and lots of people will overeat a bit at Easter and Christmas and then go back to a normal balanced diet.

Original poster
TheParisofPeople · 02/04/2018 12:20

Graphista - exercise I do 100 sit ups a day, planking and 100 press ups. On the weekends I go running or swimming.

OP posts:
Balaboosteh · 02/04/2018 12:20

Please listen, Op. the hive mind is kindly telling you that, yes, it is perfectly possible that you have a bit of a problem here.

ShawshanksRedemption · 02/04/2018 12:21

Just watching people eat makes me freak out...
I would ask why. That isn't a normal response to be honest OP.

MsGameandWatching · 02/04/2018 12:22

Your friends are right about you.

creamcheeseandlox · 02/04/2018 12:22

Your eating as you describe it is not normal and disordered I.e fasting, doing faddy diets, restricting certain foods therefore I would say you have some kind of eating disorder. You sound over invested in it and it seems to get up all types of barriers and defence mechanisms and denial when people mention it...this also is not normal...I'm taking from experience. Sorry if that's not what you wanted to hear.

Hotdoggity · 02/04/2018 12:22

You shouldn’t need to think about food this much. You have a visceral reaction to watching others eat. You sound obsessed.

Original poster
TheParisofPeople · 02/04/2018 12:23

I don’t know why tbh, I just get really anxious and sweaty when I see people eating, especially stuff like chocolate or fast food. It makes me want to go for a run like right there and then, or fast for longer.

OP posts:
Balaboosteh · 02/04/2018 12:23

“I fast in a 18 6 pattern”
You are out of touch with what your body tells you. Your brain is over riding your body’s “normal” messages. You are distancing yourself from your bodily functions. Please be open to the idea that you may be taking all this a bit far.

Graphista · 02/04/2018 12:23

That's already a lot, you do that on fasting days too? How much walking in addition to that?

I'll bet you know exactly how many calories you consume too.

How quickly do you lose 1/2 stone?

Steeley113 · 02/04/2018 12:23

Does your diet take up a lot of your head space?
Is it effecting your social life?
Do you feel anxious at the thought of breaking your ‘diet’?

If you’re answering yes (which I think you are) then it’s pretty likely you have an ED.

LolaTheDarkdestroyer · 02/04/2018 12:23

The gross chocolate monster comment says it all...sorry but you do have an eating disorder.

Graphista · 02/04/2018 12:24

How do you feel if for some reason you can't exercise? Do you work/study?