Eating Disorder - Stories of Hope

Trigger warning for trauma mentioned.

I suffered from an undiagnosed eating disorder for about 11 months. It started when I enlisted into the U.S. Army. During my initial training period they were strict with food and exercise in attempts to prepare us for the doctors of our duty station and eployments. I took this to an extreme. I cut out a lot of food groups and just told people I was vegan. I was restricting for about 4 months. Then, I was sexually assaulted and what went from this limited diet was what I figure bulimia. I hadn't become completely weight restored when I started experiencing bulimia, so I'm not sure if I would be diagnosed with anorexia b/p sub type or an unspecified eating disorder. The bulimia continued for 6 months, 2 of which I spent researching online sources to self help and stop my eating disorder habits. That was a year ago now. I'm much healthier in terms of weight restoration, my hair is growing back (you have to be patient, but your hair will come back), and while I still have urges to binge or restrict sometimes, I have the skills to cope with them now. My body size and shape does not define me.

If you're not seeing someone professionally for treatment, I recommend it. I would never suggest anyone to try to recover on their own. Even though I was able to manage stopping my eating disorder behavior (as I used it to cope), I am currently being treated for PTSD and BPD. I've been in therapy for 10 months and wish I had started sooner. So, please, get professional help in anyway you can.

Some resources I used during my recovery:

http://www.your-bulimia-recovery.com

https://www.edinstitute.org

http://tabithafarrar.com

I used to be anorexic. It didnt last long since I had a good support system, but I did have it.

For about two months, I stopped eating everything, I only took in liquids. What made me angry was that, no matter how much weight I lost, I never looked thinner. I went from [edited] to [edited] in a matter of a little over 2 or 3 weeks. If a doctor saw that, they would probably go crazy, since the healthy maximum weight loss over 3 weeks would be about [edited] pounds. I lost [edited].

Eventually, my friends noticed that I was getting weaker and more tired and just looked bad. I eventually told them what was happening, and they started helping me to eat again, even when I argued with them that I didnt want to. Eventually, after being nearly forced to eat for a few weeks, I got my appetite back. I started wanting food again, and I gained my weight back.

Ive stayed st mostly the same weight for about 2 years now. I am actually considered overweight, so I was put on a diet by my doctor.

In my personal opinions, teens should NOT diet, unless they are told to by a DOCTOR. You do not need to look thin right now. You dont need to look like models or celebrities. While you do need to maintain a healthy weight, you need to take into account your own needs. Everyones bodies are different. Worry about weight when youre an adult. Be yourself and be happy with who you are:) <3

edited by Anomalia to remove weight specifics

I struggled with an eating disorder throughout high school.

It's been 5 years since then, and it feels scary. I gained weight since then, and half of me feels awful and like I "need" to go back to my (unhealthy) weight, and I see older photographs and I want to look like that again, and then the other half of me tries to be reasonable and knows that doing that isn't healthy, that I should lose weight to be healthy as a priority, not to look skinny.

I was doing a little better, and then the pandemic hit and everything got closed. My anxiety has been through the roof and I want to eat everything in the fridge and at the same time I feel guilty for eating junk food or sweets and I also want to stay healthy, but I feel like I'm spiraling.

Does this ever get easier?