should I be concerned about MIL's dietary choices

[Blondefancy]

Right, please bare with me as I haven't posted in this section before and only really ever read on mumsnet so I hope this post comes across well.

So for backstory my MIL (in her 60's) has always been one for many fad "diets", in an attempt to lose some weight. My MIL's total image around her health has been worrying me, for quite a while now and I'm not sure if i should just let her get on with it or say something. I have spoken to my partner (her son) about it and he expresses concern but just says that is the way she always has been.

Some examples...

she is often paying for courses to take part in certain challenges i.e to the tune of a couple hundreds for online classes and seminars about certain diets, pays to do juice colon cleanses (she gave up on this after 3 days), regularly uses a prick test to test her Ketones in her blood etc, has self diagnosed herself as having diabetes despite never getting tested by the doctor. For a few years she has been on and off of doing keto, originally losing a-lot of weight however has since regained or just remained the same. Every morning she pricks her fingers to test for ketone levels (something which I don't have the upmost knowlege about i must say). For the last year or so she has been on on and off 48 hour fasts only to break it by apparently eating one small dinner every couple days...honestly I have no idea how this works as she seems to look the exact same. My point is that I have grown increasingly concerned for her and I don't want to just tell her out right that I feel like this as I don't know whether I am being unreasonable.

In regards to the fasting (which she says is intermittent but can go on for 3 days) only drinking bone broth sometimes for her meals, she says that it is completely healthy and that she has done the research on it. I'm not implying there is anything wrong with the fasting as I know it is commonly accepted within cultures and of course within day to day life for some people, but she quite honestly says that she won't eat for 2 days and then eat something tiny only to not eat again for 3 days. Between this, the finger pricking and the self diagnoses I honestly grow concerned. Anyway, I'm rambling but I would love professional or personal opinions on this, please feel free to tell me AIBU.

Imo if your mil is an independent woman who pays for her own fads and is not genuinely ill then its really not your business.

I would stay well out of it. She may have an eating disorder, food/weight anxiety, etc, but she isn't starving herself and it's her right to try whatever cockamamie diet she chooses to.

OP if you read Fast 800 you'll gain an insight into this way of eating. Supposedly it had lots of health benefits etc. It's not my cup of tea but each to their own I guess!

Leave her alone. She's an adult!

You'll learn a lot about it if you listen to the podcast casts by Jason Fung & the woman (whose name I can't remember).

You generally pee on a stick for ketones & finger prick for glucose levels for diabetes. None of that will do her any harm.

Extended fasting isn't too uncommon & not a problem if she's feeling ok.

Does she have a few pounds she can spare?

Keep out of it. It’s her money to do with as she wishes. You’ll get no thanks for interfering.

I’m a big fan of fasting and have done it for many years. However, only eating one small meal every few days sounds extreme on the face of it, but I’d wager that she’s actually eating more than she’s letting on. Nobody who ate a couple of small meals over the course of a week would stay the same size. The calorie deficit must be huge. I think she’s not telling you the whole story.

It does sound like she probably has an eating disorder or at the very least a rigid and unhealthy preoccupation with restricting what she eats (which surely is the same thing). But she’s a grown woman with capacity so I think you can’t really do much other than to leave her to it.

None of your business.

Just keep out of it and don’t have an opinion , although I would be a bit sceptical why someone who only eats one small meal every 2/3 days isn’t noticeably losing weight .

Thankyou guys! I had a feeling i should stay out of it..i just want to make sure she’s okay you know. I’m not going to ask the rest of the family about it because that would border on gossiping, it’s why I wanted to ask anonymously! Thankyou for the suggestion of reading material also!