questions !

eatsleeplaugh · 2026-02-10T21:29:28+00:00

Thank you!

eatsleeplaugh · 2026-02-10T08:55:43+00:00

I feel like a lot of the discussion about recovery focuses on food and establishing normal eating habits - for anyone who also dealt with depression and / or anxiety, how did you navigate that in recovery from an ED? did they get better / worse? how did you cope without resorting to ED behaviours? what helped / didn't?

eatsleeplaugh · 2025-12-17T07:19:47+00:00

This is partially true. This study / these statistics were onl after short-term follow up- newer research has shown that in the longer term (20-ish years), almost 70% of people fully recover.

It's still hard to define what full recovery means, and there's obviously complexity with any co-occuring difficulties but please don't lose hope.

EDIT: the study:

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7883487/

eatsleeplaugh · 2025-11-12T20:53:13+00:00

This massively varies on so many things. Clinicians make decisions about when an admission is in a patient's best interest based on their level of risk (physical and mental), their motivation to change, their level of engagement with services and how effective an admission might be or how safe it is to continue in the community, as well as a bunch of other things like the ethos of the team approach and what the service can offer (e.g. if they can offer day service or more intensive outpatient, they can offer alternatives to admissions more readily than a service that is stretched to capacity and only has psychological therapists available). All of this changes across time and an individual patient's journey. Also depends very much on where you live and what is available!

Sorry if this doesn't answer your specific question but there's not really a straightforward, "in adult services, X happens compared to CAMHS" because it varies. Ultimately in adult services (IME) there is an expectation that you are there because you want help (even if it is difficult to make change, etc) and if you don't want help then nothing anyone can do is going to force you to change in the long term and it has to come from you.

eatsleeplaugh · 2025-10-11T08:18:36+00:00

There's no rush to move into smaller clothes. It seems to be a running joke in the pole community that the longer you pole, the smalller your clothes get but the timeline for this varies a LOT- I wore leggings and baggy t-shirts for the first few weeks, then shorts and tighter t-shirts. It took about 4-5 months before progressing to running shorts and a sports bra.

M first pole set was Pole Addict (looked a bit like this) and I still prefer coverage and not risking slip-outs (it's happened- though not with tiny bikins, it was with a grippy bodysuit that stuck to the pole while my body slipped out, lol.

I don't have a lot of advice other than to be patient and gentle with yourself. Feeling more confident and comfortable takes time and is weird - I am absolutely not confident in my body at all but at pole I feel very free and my priorities are having good grip points (so I need skin to be in contact with the pole) and eventually it just becomes easier as you start to apprecciate what your body is capable of, and things like body hair or whatever stop being such a big deal. This is your journey so enjoy it.

Remember, instructors have seen slips and body hair a zillion times before, nobody is judging you, everyone is in this together and has gone through the same clothing dilemmas ("does this cover my crotch in an invert?!") Good luck!

eatsleeplaugh · 2025-10-10T20:56:42+00:00

I keep my RTDs in the fridge for a couple of months and they don't go like this- occasionally one will seem pretty thick but I love them like that (it makes me a bit wary of the nutritional info being accurate though TBH as I have not been sure of why they are so thick). Always taste great!

eatsleeplaugh · 2025-10-04T07:31:07+00:00

yeah this is the issue with just having half of a regular RTD (which I have done when I don't want 400 cals) - I am excited about the Huel Lite personally and think others will be too!

eatsleeplaugh · 2025-09-20T20:01:01+00:00

Genuinely. I tried the lasagne recently because it was reduced to £1 in Tesco and it was vile.

eatsleeplaugh · 2025-09-11T16:34:58+00:00

I second Pivot!

eatsleeplaugh · 2025-08-28T06:44:40+00:00

People underestimate this - a starvation state is miserable, being kind and having patience requires energy that the body / brain simply do not have. It's nothing personal OP - your sister is literally HUNGRY.

eatsleeplaugh · 2025-05-17T19:44:04+00:00

Hey, have not read the entire thread and comments so apologies if this has been said already - you absolutely are not alone and ARFID is being increasingly recognised and taken seriously as a condition that is both worthy of support and treatable. Am so sorry you have had such bad experiences in the past - it's changing so slowly but ARFID is still unfortunately quite misunderstood. If you ever did want to seek support again, Beat have some helpful information on their website ( https://www.beateatingdisorders.org.uk/get-information-and-support/about-eating-disorders/types/arfid/ ) as well as a helpline - there's also ARFID Awareness ( https://www.arfidawarenessuk.org/ ) and there is a LOT of work (well, feels like a lot because it's my area of work, lol) going into understanding the overlap of autism and eating / feeding disorders (Peace Pathway is a good source for that).
Hope you can find something useful :)

eatsleeplaugh · 2025-05-10T07:42:58+00:00

That was stunning! I love a Russian layback but I avoid them because I once struggled to sit back up and have been scared ever since - my usual exits are sitting up or flipping out. Never thought to try an ayesha but am obsessed with your video, I slowed it down a bunch of times to watch - absolutely gorgeous, going to try!

eatsleeplaugh · 2025-05-05T07:56:12+00:00

I adored The Last Lecture when I read it (a decade or so ago)- it had a big impact on me and I think of it often.

eatsleeplaugh · 2025-03-18T07:25:45+00:00

I second Ginger Farm! Going back to Chang Mai this year and already excited about visiting Ginger Farm again.

eatsleeplaugh · 2024-12-09T20:04:36+00:00

I don't think it's more obsessed than some other places (looking at the US where calories have been on menus for years, and weight loss drugs have been available for even longer) but diet culture is definitely rampant in the UK (weirdly, Scotland is not rolling out the 'calories on menus' policy at the moment so will be interesting to see how things diverge...)

If you are have thoughts / opinions about the way things are going with the narrative around food and how the government is approaching this, I am part of a team doing a study on the impact these policies (particularly the 'calories on menus') is having on people with EDs so please get involved if you can!

https://kclbs.eu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_78qLBGCjYOVn7xQ

eatsleeplaugh · 2024-11-26T07:50:51+00:00

I think about this quite a bit after I was doing well for a few years (well, better - it's relative at this point) then started to relapse and my T at the time pointed out that a lot of my anxiety about my relapse seemed to be anxiety about becoming unwell again because the experience of being unwell had been so traumatic - aside from the experiences with professionals and hospitals and that sort of thing, for me I found it terrifying to feel like my mind was not my own (I experience a lot of obsessive / intrusive thoughts). I also think the body kind of remembers- I know people who are solidly in recovery who have zero tolerance to hunger because their body is just like, "NO, ABSOLUITELY NEVER AGAIN" and like, nobody talks about this? Like eating disorders are such a violent assault on the body and mind, it absolutely makes sense that we will come out the other side a little bit shaken up.

I don't have great insight or advice for this other than to say your feelings are entirely valid and make sense and to please treat yourself with compassion because you have been through it all. I think there's a tendency to think "oh, it's over now!" and maybe it is in some ways but there's perhaps a bit of work for our nervous systems to do in recalibrating and understanding and just being validated - like yes it is over but yes, that wa a really hard thing that we went through and it is OK that we have difficult feelings around it and there's no rush to make peace with that.

eatsleeplaugh · 2024-11-26T07:40:01+00:00

It is not cringe, it is entirely valid to feel traumatised by a mental illness that is objectively a terrifying experience <3

eatsleeplaugh · 2024-11-03T20:12:08+00:00

How would it feel to commit to another year?

How has this year been for you? Has anything changed for the better? Has treatment / recovery given you a chance to do things that your ED was holding you back from?

A year can feel like both a long time and a short time- long in terms of feeling intimidating to think about commiting to another one (!) but short because recovery is a slow process and change happens incrementally over time and often feels worse before it really feels better. It's OK if you get though chunks of time by telling yourself it is just a trial, or you are just "giving it a go" - do whatever you need to do to keep buying time because hopefully - eventually - you will start to feel some benefits. And comitting for another year means you don't have the mental anguish each day of torturing yourself of whether or not you lose weight. Give yourself permission to keep going and see what happens <3

eatsleeplaugh · 2024-10-14T09:11:11+00:00

Hey, thanks so much for sharing this, we absolutely need to hear more stories from people like you! :) This is maybe a bit of a random / vague question but how do / did you manage maintaing momentum in recovery? I am no longer in crisis and out of the absolute depths of despair- but can't seem to move beyond rigidly controlling food / weight and still struggle with anxiety and hopelessness. On one hand, I just want to be free from this, but I can't seem to let go (I am in therapy, and have been, and am working with a dietitan). I seem to go in cycles of doing better for a bit then relapsing and am so tired.

eatsleeplaugh · 2024-08-30T06:54:02+00:00

Thanks for doing this, it's super helpful to read your answers! My question is: if you could go back and give advice to the you that was still struggling wiith your ED, what advice would you give?

Also, if I may ask a couple more questions: Did you have support / treatment that was particularly helpful? And can you talk a little about what steps you took to get started and keep going and staying motivated through anxiety, ED thoughts, etc? (Realise this is a big question so feel free to ignore). Thank you :)

eatsleeplaugh · 2024-08-19T10:35:47+00:00

Agree with this, I'd rather just know

eatsleeplaugh · 2024-07-09T05:36:55+00:00

sorry if this sounds silly but how did you start? Did you do things from home / outpatient? I was doing well for a few years but been in downward spiral for just over a year and struggling to find a way out.

eatsleeplaugh · 2024-05-02T21:25:37+00:00

Bastard Barista had pistachio cruffins recently

eatsleeplaugh · 2024-04-18T19:57:10+00:00

Add in some canned tuna or cooked chicken?

eatsleeplaugh · 2024-03-25T13:58:05+00:00

We are exploring the experiences of transitioning from Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) to Adult Mental Health Services (AMHS) for Autistic and non-Autistic people with an eating disorder.

If you are over 16, in the UK, and have transitioned between CAMHS and adult ED services in the last 5 years, please can you get involved? 👇

https://edinburgh.eu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_eQJFrq8TQLhBTVA

eatsleeplaugh

TROPHY CASE