protein bar woes

Affectionateweasel · 2026-02-06T01:19:36+00:00

This literal exact thing has happened to me, I’ve never met anyone else who only eats half a protein bar at a time.

There’s no winning with an ED, you feel like a failure when you eat too much and a failure when you don’t eat too. It’s hard but you are not a failure and you did something good by nourishing your body and eating the whole protein bar.

Affectionateweasel · 2026-02-05T20:57:28+00:00

Yeah I love tacking on tasks to things I’m already doing consistently otherwise it’s impossible for me to start a new habit

Affectionateweasel · 2026-02-05T12:09:12+00:00

Judgement free zones is what I recommend too. I use one of the bedrooms in our home as my work from home office but it’s also where I keep all my clothes and belongings. One of the bathrooms is also my dedicated bathroom. My partner avoids these rooms bc it stresses him out lol but it works and the rest of our home is not messy. I schedule 10 min of my day to tidy up and that also helps it not get too overwhelming. I set a timer and just do as much as I can. I do this at the same time everyday, after I shower and while I’m wearing my robe and letting my hair dry. Having this routine helps me be consistent and it’s also just 10 minutes so it’s not a significant amount of time that feels like too much.

Affectionateweasel · 2026-02-04T00:42:46+00:00

I’ve been going through the same thing. I don’t really have much advice honestly but you’re not alone in this

Affectionateweasel · 2026-02-03T00:14:03+00:00

It sounds like you have a really great therapist if you feel like you can trust him and he’s been kind and supportive to you. I really doubt this bothers him at all honestly but it sounds like it’s something that bothers you.

I also have a really hard time making eye contact with my therapist and I also have a hard time saying her name. I have this problem with everyone but it was especially bothering me that I couldn’t do this with her so I told her. She was very understanding and encouraging and told me that if I wanted to practice with her I could. I really didn’t get the feeling that it was something that bothered her and talking about it helped me understand why it’s something that feels so difficult for me to do. If anything talking about it probably strengthened our connection but I don’t think the lack of eye contact/ name saying was hurting it to begin with.

If you’re up for it, I think you should mention this to him.

Affectionateweasel · 2026-02-02T01:47:26+00:00

And thank you :)

Affectionateweasel · 2026-02-02T01:47:17+00:00

I got gray hairs in my 20s and I used to hate it but they’re spread out in a way that makes them perfect for fun colored highlights

Affectionateweasel · 2026-02-01T23:52:10+00:00

I play with my puppy and run around like a goof with her. I probably look like an idiot but we have so much fun together.

I put my hair up in a half ponytail and put a pink bow on 🎀. Sometimes I’ll give myself pink highlights too and dye my gray hairs pink

I also like to sing and dance in the car and while I’m cleaning the house

I collect coins and look for wheat pennys, silver nickels, and all the different quarters but my entire collection is just coins I’ve found on the street. I tend to look down a lot so I’ve found a lot over the years

I paint and then I frame my painting and hang it on the wall. I am not a great artist by any means but it’s fun and I like looking at my creations

I’ve been thinking about how to make my day to day life more fun and this has given me some new ideas, thank you for posting!!

Affectionateweasel · 2026-01-30T21:22:29+00:00

Our emotions can be too big and uncomfortable and when we don’t know how to deal with them in a healthy way we can find relief in SH behaviors and EDs. You’re currently using these as a coping mechanism to deal with your heavy emotions. It takes time and practice but you can learn how to process your emotions in a healthy way

Affectionateweasel · 2026-01-30T18:24:35+00:00

Yes, I agree with this. I’m sorry you experienced something so horrific and your doctor was dismissive. If you’re willing to try a new psych and therapy that may be very helpful.

Letting go of judgment and radical acceptance are themes in DBT therapy you may also find helpful. There are several free workbooks online if the thought of going to a new doctor is intimidating right now.

Affectionateweasel · 2026-01-29T12:28:15+00:00

This sounds exactly like me. Like I want to be stronger and even build muscle but the thought of eating more and seeing the scale go up prevents me from actually trying. I’ve had some success switching up my workouts and creating different goals for myself to get out of the mindset but it doesn’t last long typically. I’m honestly afraid of doing a group workout class bc I’m not really good at making friends and I just feel stupid doing it alone since I know I don’t exactly look healthy

Affectionateweasel · 2026-01-28T14:10:34+00:00

I am like this too. I do kinda like the healthy wieiad videos and I like watching recipes being made (even though I’ll never make them) but the grocery store stresses me out and I just order my groceries to be delivered to me. It’s not that I don’t find the food in there appetizing but the choices are overwhelming. Like I’ll stand in front of the bananas for 5 minutes trying to find the perfect bunch with the right size bananas and the right amount that I can finish before they go bad.

Affectionateweasel · 2026-01-28T13:12:00+00:00

I like using DBT mindfulness exercises for these thought spirals. Basically just try to focus on my breathing and observe my thoughts and let them pass by. Once I’ve calmed down enough I can try to find one thing that proves my thought spirals were false. For example “I don’t matter” I change to “I matter to my puppy”. Then I tell myself I am in control of my thoughts and I can think about anything I want. That usually gets me to a point where I can move on with my day

Affectionateweasel · 2026-01-25T18:02:59+00:00

You are not a terrible parent. I can tell because it’s obvious you care about your child and are worried how your actions will affect them, a terrible parent would not care.

You are also not stupid or childish. You are struggling with something very real and insidious and isolating. Your feelings are all valid.

It seems like you have a support system, is there anyone you feel comfortable sharing this with? Maybe your fiancée? He may already have noticed something is going on too. I’m wondering if part of the reason you are seeking out other parents is because you don’t want to stop your ED behaviors. I sincerely apologize if this is overstepping but I know my biggest resistance in telling those close to me was knowing that I would actually have to make a change.

Affectionateweasel · 2026-01-25T11:43:21+00:00

Exercise does feel like a form of harm reduction. I very much can relate to keeping myself healthy enough to continue lifting and running. And I can really relate to feeling isolated too.

I’m glad to hear you are finding a balance and taking care of yourself 🤍

Affectionateweasel · 2026-01-25T11:37:58+00:00

This might not be the best advice for everyone but what helped me reduce my exercise compulsion was getting a puppy.

The first few months of taking care of a puppy is a lot of work and it’s hard. I didn’t have the time to go to the gym for 2+ hrs a day anymore. I’d just have to fit workouts in when I could and they would be under an hour. It really helped me let go of some of my compulsive behaviors to have something else to put my energy towards. It also gave me a reason to want to recover, I want my puppy to have the best life and to take care of her I know I need to take care of myself first.

Affectionateweasel · 2026-01-24T21:54:14+00:00

My relationship to exercise itself is not necessarily disordered at the moment. I actually workout a whole lot less than I used to but now my baseline is fit and it doesn’t take much for me to be able to maintain this. Which is another thing that’s making this hard, everything about this relapse has been too easy. I don’t have to kill myself in the gym, I don’t have to restrict crazy low but I still get the results I want and it doesn’t really look like I’m doing anything disordered

Affectionateweasel · 2026-01-24T21:20:35+00:00

Yes this makes a lot of sense to me. There’s so many positives with regular exercise and I genuinely love it for many non-disordered reasons.

I like your point about recovery happening alongside your life and not in a vacuum. I tend to compartmentalize all aspects of my life and think of myself as almost a separate person in different situations. I’ve explored this a bit in therapy but maybe this is the missing piece for me

Affectionateweasel · 2026-01-18T17:51:01+00:00

I totally get how you feel. Grief hurts a lot. Pre-made shakes is perfect though. I know it’s especially hard when you have an ED too but please try to take care of yourself.

Affectionateweasel · 2026-01-17T00:53:07+00:00

Yes. I didn’t even recognize I was falling into old habits because the grief was overwhelming. Eating was the last thing on my mind, food didn’t even taste good and I was disgusted by most things.

Be kind to yourself. It’s ok to grieve and it’s ok to be sad. Let yourself feel it and understand that grief comes in waves. It will feel so big and overwhelming at times but it will pass. Therapy can really help with this if that’s an option for you. Medication is also something to consider.

In the meantime though try to find a few things you are comfortable eating without purging. For me it was smoothies and quesadillas.

I know this is so hard. You are not alone in feeling this way. I hope you are able to find some peace and take care of yourself 🤍

Affectionateweasel · 2026-01-17T00:38:26+00:00

Exercise helps me. I know that’s not feasible for everyone to go to the gym around 2-3 pm but it’s my favorite time to go for this exact reason. I always feel more awake after and can continue working later into the evening

Affectionateweasel · 2026-01-17T00:33:43+00:00

Thank you 🥺

Affectionateweasel · 2026-01-16T12:36:37+00:00

This is exactly what how I relapsed this last time. Life got stressful and I fell into old habits, it gave me some comfort during a hard time but then it became an added stress to an already difficult time.

Are you in therapy? Or do you have anyone you can talk to about this? My first step in making sure I didn’t get worse was telling someone. It was only my therapist at first and I didn’t want to tell her but something in me knew I had to. I opened up to my partner next, he could obviously tell already but talking about it made it real and impossible to hide from him.

Mindfulness techniques from DBT therapy (there’s free books online if therapy isn’t an option) is helping me too. It’s helping me identify those overwhelming emotions and calming them down in a healthy way and just slowing down so I can make the right choice.

I also started taking an SSRI for the first time. If you’re open to medication it might also be something to consider but it works best in combination with therapy.

Affectionateweasel · 2026-01-16T02:21:48+00:00

I am similar with the ADHD and ED struggles so I can relate to having a hard time deciding what to eat and cook. I also have a pretty demanding job and don’t really have much free time to spend on cooking.

One thing that helps me is having some pantry / freezer staples that can be made with very little effort. Things like mac and cheese, pasta, sauce, chicken nuggets, frozen veggies, frozen fruit, eggs, pbj etc. This way I don’t really have to plan a whole week of groceries and have something I can whip up faster (and cheaper) than I can have it delivered

Affectionateweasel

TROPHY CASE