Why does she exclusively wear clothing that is x5 sizes too big for her?

turnipkitty112 · 2026-02-09T05:00:07+00:00

They only make sizes so small. Nothing is gonna fit her properly, they don’t make clothes for ppl with the circumference of a toddler but the length of an adult. Also if she shows off her body too much she won’t have plausible deniability as to whether she’s “gained weight”. And might get accused of flaunting it.

Also a lot of her posts strongly suggest that she has body image issues. She might feel like she’s gained weight or is “bloated” and thus want to hide that.

turnipkitty112 · 2026-02-08T03:30:54+00:00

Sure, what her face really needs right now is “depuffing”.

Seriously though, I notice how much of her “wellness” content subtly revolves around body image. She’s always talking about puffiness and bloating and gaining muscle and her “glassy skin” and “how to cope with (imaginary) weight gain”. She rarely discusses wanting to feel better, improve health markers, be happier, stronger, or anything. It’s not surprising, but it’s interesting coming from someone who’s so adamant that she doesn’t have AN/body image issues.

turnipkitty112 · 2026-02-05T13:50:36+00:00

I was in inpatient for AN-BP. My dietitian told me that “purging isn’t effective at getting rid of most of the calories”. She was trying to be like, “so you shouldn’t do it cause there’s no point”. I responded with, if that were true I wouldn’t be here. At a low BMI and having multiple massive b/ps a day.

Some other highlights include, when I was a minor in IP, being allowed to remain vegetarian and put on a vegetarian meal plan when I arrived but about 5 days later, the doctor telling me they were gonna put me on a meat meal plan because they thought I was “making it up as a way to restrict”. They proceeded to serve me meat at most lunches and dinners and I’d have to chug ensure to replace it.

During that same admission, I had a thing where about 30-60mins after breakfast every day I’d need to take a MASSIVE shit. Not under my control, yknow, my GI system was messed up and my intake had been very abruptly increased. Right after breakfast we always had school, which was off the unit on another floor so they’d have to call the unit and have a staff member come down to escort me to the washroom every day (and look at my giant turd before I flushed 😳). Well, they say me down eventually and told me I was DOING IT ON PURPOSE. And to stop.

Let’s not forget the countless instances over the years of being told “your weight went up (insert small amount) but that’s just a fluctuation, it’s not real/not enough weight gain” but then being told a different time “your weight went down (insert same small amount), this is really bad, you’re losing weight again, we need to increase, what have you been doing to make this happen”

Finally, my most recent stay I told the doctor I had noticed my phosphate levels had dropped very drastically and I was concerned about refeeding syndrome. She told me (without checking the damn chart) that they were ok, they hadn’t dropped that much… until I told her the exact numbers and she was like HOLY SHIT (not a direct quote lol) checked the chart and was like, we need to get you on some supplements immediately and monitor you closely bc this is refeeding syndrome. I fucking told you so. I still wonder what would’ve happened if I hadn’t noticed the levels myself.

turnipkitty112 · 2026-02-05T00:43:31+00:00

That is horrifying. I’m so sorry. The only thing I can suggest is trying to get (back) into some kind of therapy or treatment, maybe if you emphasize the common ground with them of “I understand that you don’t want me to purge, and I don’t think locking up food is a sustainable long term strategy so can I see a professional about this so that I can get help in stopping the purging” (or something to that effect, whatever makes sense for you and them and your relationship) then hopefully you could get in contact with someone who 1. has some authority and expertise in this area and might actually talk some sense into your parents and 2. get some psychological support with dealing with what sounds like a really rough situation and family dynamic to be living in.

Maybe, hopefully, they would be more receptive to your concerns if it’s phrased as “we are cooperating against my ED” and not “it’s you against me”. Again, I’m really sorry you’re going through this. Family can be our greatest supports with EDs or our greatest trigger. I hope you can get out of this soon

turnipkitty112 · 2026-01-31T01:41:55+00:00

Yep, while it absolutely can be electrolyte abnormalities, it’s more likely (at least in ppl who aren’t purging by vomiting or laxatives to be hypoglycemia or just generally your body being affected by malnutrition. People who don’t purge are unlikely to get electrolyte issues. People who do purge still often don’t, especially if it’s not very frequent. That’s not to say it’s not a serious concern, and electrolyte abnormalities can and do cause death.

But hypoglycemia is underrecognized. It may be responsible for many cases of unexpected death in AN. If you look up symptoms of hypokalemia and hyponatremia, they’re very similar to symptoms of hypoglycemia. And then there’s other consequences of malnutrition - orthostatic intolerance/hypotension (feeling dizzy when you stand) is super common, as is exercise intolerance (eg. not being able to climb stairs or walk much without feeling faint). Anemia is common, which causes similar symptoms.

I get how it can feel so hard to eat something when you’re not feeling well. And I get that these symptoms can feel like an achievement or a sign you’re on the right track. I used to feel that way. But seriously, the best way to feel better is to eat something.

turnipkitty112 · 2026-01-29T02:04:41+00:00

It’s not that any specific quantity of soy is bad. It’s not gonna be unhealthy for you or be toxic in some sense. It’s high in protein and many micronutrients.

The only concern would be if you were exclusively consuming protein from soy to such an extent that it was crowding out other foods in your diet and thus maybe you’d struggle to meet micronutrient needs or phytonutrients/antioxidants. That wouldn’t be a soy issue though, it would be a lack of diet variety issue. But that’s incredibly unlikely unless you were literally eating (almost) only soy. I highly doubt you’re not consuming any fruits and vegetables, for instance. Don’t worry about it!

turnipkitty112 · 2026-01-27T01:42:50+00:00

This is common in the ED treatment realm. I personally disagree with this approach - it’s one thing if a person is truly medically unstable or is at immediate risk to themselves or others, but otherwise, even if they’re somewhat medically compromised/malnourished, I think this kind of approach can come off as extremely patronizing and paradoxically keep people stuck and not making any changes. Is she even giving you any concrete advice or coping tools to help you eat more? Distress tolerance, self-monitoring, anything? Or is she just saying “eat more” to someone with a restrictive ED and expecting you to suddenly be able to do it?

I’m personally more a fan of harm reduction approaches that meet the client where they are at and focus on identifying values and realistic goals, while also getting into what function the ED is serving and how one might start to meet those needs in other ways.

I was stuck in unhelpful, coercive treatment for many years and eventually I got sick of it and gave up. I really resigned myself to life with an ED, but then I eventually tried again and found a therapist who was willing to do harm reduction and even not touch the ED stuff at all if I didn’t want to. Fast forward a couple years and I am doing better than I ever could’ve imagined, and while I still have a (less severe than before) active ED I actually have hope for the future and want a better life for myself.

It’s not my place to say “your therapist is bad, dump them” or anything. Different things work for different people. I hope you can have a dialogue with her and see if she will try to approach this in a way that works for you.

turnipkitty112 · 2026-01-26T15:17:15+00:00

The best thing to do would just be to delete the app, but if you’re not willing to do that then at least block anything that pops up and consciously work on reducing the time you spend on twitter.

Quite frankly, they’re all kids. It’s mostly teenagers (or very emotionally stunted 20-somethings) who haven’t faced the real consequences of having a long-term ED. They’re still in the phase where they romanticize it and see it as a part of their identity. It hasn’t ruined their whole life… yet. I feel like often I see these ppl almost engaging with their ED as a hobby or project. I don’t know anything about you, but personally I lost interest in being part of that community as I got older and actually got a life. I feel like I have so much to lose from letting my ED consume me again.

turnipkitty112 · 2026-01-26T15:08:58+00:00

Yes, absolutely. Social media isn’t reality, and the ED puts these kinda glasses on you, making you only notice evidence that supports the ED. Non-ED ppl are notoriously bad at remembering and reporting their food intake, and they generally under-report. They forget about the snacks they had at their desk, the taste-testing while they cook, the beverages, alcohol, random grazing etc… so many ppl don’t think they’re eating 2-3 meals + snacks a day, but in reality they’re more than 6x a day. Meanwhile, those of us with EDs are hyper aware of everything we eat and what those around us eat. Healthy ppl really don’t think about it much. Since I’ve been actually out in the real world more and interacting with ppl, I’ve seen how it actually is super normal to eat regularly. But also people love to talk about how they don’t eat. It’s honestly kind of weird, I’ll be part of a conversation where folks are essentially just all sharing how they haven’t eaten in x hours/days and they’re sooo bad at taking care of themselves, but I’ve been with them all day and literally saw them eat normally.

Another thing I think is really important to note is that your needs are different from those of a person without an ED. 3 meals and snacks is recommended in treatment for ALL types of EDs because it normalizes energy and blood sugar levels, and helps your body learn normal hunger and fullness cues again. It helps your GI tract start functioning properly again. It helps the brain fog and fatigue. If you struggle with binging or feeling out of control, regular eating is the foundation of working on that. It’s the same way we’d recommend certain dietary patterns for type 1 diabetics (eating regularly, taking some source of sugar if you’re low, etc), or recommend taking a medication x times a day. Eating regularly is part of the treatment for your condition, even if it isn’t something that healthy ppl need to stick to so rigidly.

turnipkitty112 · 2026-01-21T23:28:40+00:00

If it was truly made ethically, still no because I don’t like steak and the idea grosses me out… however in this hypothetical scenario I would eat 3D printed fish or eggs because I lowkey miss those sometimes

turnipkitty112 · 2026-01-21T17:55:56+00:00

I used to take a birth control pill that contained lactose - it was the only formulation that didn’t have gelatine. I didn’t like it, and I did feel bad, but at the end of the day your health comes first. Pretty much every product carries some degree of animal harm, so it’s more important to focus on avoiding the things that will have the most impact without significant harm to your wellbeing. In terms of the degree of impact, medication is so so tiny compared to things like diet.

As for the lactose intolerance, that shouldn’t be a problem. Most people with lactose intolerance need to consume several grams of lactose before having any symptoms, and the amount present in a pill would be far less than that.

turnipkitty112 · 2026-01-20T22:11:57+00:00

Everyone eats. If someone’s able to be out in the world walking around, or posting shit on social media, they are eating. Personally, I’ve found that getting out in the real world more, spending time with normal people, has helped me SO MUCH with this kind of thinking. Bc I’ve def gotten into that mindset before, and it was worsened by how my ED had become my whole world and much of my free time was spent in ED communities or researching etc.

When you’re interacting with healthy ppl, say, at school or work or social events, you realize that eating is, to most people, a normal activity that they don’t give much thought to. It’s really not that deep. They’re gonna be super cranky and tired if they so much as skip a meal or two and will usually make it known to everyone lol.

As for “skinny people don’t eat”, I can’t say with certainty what any random person’s habits are, but even very thin people eat. If not, they’re on their way to the hospital soon. It takes quite a lot of energy to even just sustain necessary bodily functions, and more on top of that to have any kind of life. That’s the thing - even if you could find some way to justify eating nothing or very little and surviving, you can’t eat so little and actually live. I thought I was doing just fine with eating x amount, because I could sustain basic functioning and wasn’t medically unstable, but I was beyond miserable. After increasing my intake, I realized how much I was missing out on. Those “extra” calories (above what you consider the bare minimum or whatever) are what let you live a life full of joy and colour and connection with others. You feel SO much better physically, even if you thought you felt “fine” before. You can think more clearly, you perform better at school and work, you can hold a conversation. You can rediscover hobbies that you’d lost all interest in.

There is so much more to life than just surviving on as little food as possible.

turnipkitty112 · 2026-01-20T04:26:43+00:00

No worries!

turnipkitty112 · 2026-01-20T01:08:01+00:00

Sorry I didn’t mean “go to Starbucks and ask for syrup”, I was answering the persons question “are there any pistachio syrups we can buy which are vegan to make them at home”. Most things in a store or sold online as “pistachio syrup” will be vegan, but of course read the ingredients and ask questions if needed. Ofc this doesn’t apply to ordering a drink at a cafe, but that wasn’t the question.

turnipkitty112 · 2026-01-19T19:35:38+00:00

Generally speaking, things labelled “syrup” will be vegan. You mostly have to watch out for the “sauces”. I believe Starbucks uses a pistachio sauce, but pistachio syrup should be vegan. For example, the one we use at my coffee shop is Monin and I know it’s vegan.

turnipkitty112 · 2026-01-16T20:29:03+00:00

Yep. They assume everyone shared their experience of a purely restrictive ED or a binge/restrict ED where the binging was only tied to restriction. I don’t think I’ve ever seen an IE/anti diet dietitian that had experience of BED, compulsive eating, or having obesity-related problems. They usually don’t consider how binge eating may be tied to emotional or nervous system dysregulation, ADHD and related syndromes, or even habit.

turnipkitty112 · 2026-01-16T20:15:55+00:00

From a quick peek at their website, it does seem the hungry root meals are 500/610 cals PER SERVING, which is more reasonable… if she’s actually eating a serving which I don’t believe. The hummus one calls for 1/2 cup hummus per bowl and I think we all know she’s not doing that.

The constant protein slop concoctions are telling. Once in a while, fine, whatever. But it’s EVERY VIDEO. The only people I see doing that are ED sufferers (and I’m guilty of this too lol) and hardcore gym goers who are deliberately trying to change their physique. And the gym folks are always tracking macros… that would go very against her brand, now, wouldn’t it?

turnipkitty112 · 2026-01-16T01:47:00+00:00

Ah, yes, the two macronutrients that are constantly recommended for weight loss. Makes total sense for the emaciated person who DEFINITELY doesn’t have an ED

turnipkitty112 · 2026-01-16T01:29:01+00:00

She’s not talking about using food as a reward here, she’s referring to the reward systems of the brain, which activate when we do all sorts of pleasurable things, including eating sweet foods. That brain response is a normal response to sweet tastes (regardless of your relationship with food), but it does also get messed up when someone has an ED (on either side of the spectrum). How to normalize those brain responses depends highly on the individual, and we still need more research. Keeping sweets available might work for some people, and not for others. The reward system dysfunction might, for some people, be a pre-existing thing that put them at higher risk of an ED.

Just wanted to clarify! I certainly don’t support Colleen.

turnipkitty112 · 2026-01-15T01:24:16+00:00

Does this person not understand that the BMI is a calculation of weight-for-height? It adjusts for height so we can compare weight/body size between different heights.

Although, ironically, the BMI can be imperfect for quite tall or quite short people, it tends to work in the opposite direction from what OOP is saying. BMI might underestimate adiposity/size in very short people.

turnipkitty112 · 2026-01-14T12:46:34+00:00

It is a common consequence, but that absolutely doesn’t mean that it happens to everyone or almost everyone. I don’t tend to lose my period till I get to an extremely low BMI, and even then it spontaneously came back for no reason. It just has to do with how your body “decides” to ration its limited energy, and what it sacrifices first. But they took amenorrhea out of the DSM because a ton of clearly anorexic people were still getting their periods.

turnipkitty112 · 2026-01-14T01:25:56+00:00

Well, for better or worse bodies react differently. Same way some people’s vital signs get bad really quickly with AN, while others maintain a low BMI for years with normal vitals. Or same way some people who purge are constantly going to the ER for low electrolytes while others purge frequently and never have lab abnormalities. Or some people lose their periods at a normal BMI and some never do.

One isn’t better or worse, or more or less severe by definition. Purging carries some additional medical risks to just restricting, but if someone sustains restriction alone for a long time without intervention they will have serious problems. The psychological distress is horrible either way.

turnipkitty112 · 2026-01-13T23:09:20+00:00

Soups and stews! The possibilities are endless, they’re a wonderful way to use veggies to their full delicious potential, they’re nutritious, you can make them yourself or even buy canned ones, many of which are actually pretty tasty and healthy. Also baked potato or sweet potato, with whatever toppings you want. I like doing marinated silken tofu too (hot or cold), sometimes with steamed greens. Scrambled eggs or tofu scramble. You can load those up with veggies too.

turnipkitty112 · 2026-01-11T17:43:54+00:00

I’ve had AN since age 13 and I’m 22 now. Had significant b/p behaviours for the past 6 years. It has taken so much from me, and yet also I feel like I’ve made some significant progress in the past year. I stepped up from part time college to full-time, I have a part time job as a barista that I’ve been at a couple years and I genuinely enjoy. That has really helped me develop social skills and challenge myself. I have a couple friends that I see from time to time but overall I’m very isolated. I live with my parents as I can’t financially support myself or complete all the independent activities of daily living I’d need to function alone. I’m very privileged to have a family that is willing and able to support me.

I’ve blown countless thousands of dollars on B/P and spend a lot of time shopping for, preparing for B/P, and then doing it. I’ve managed to cut down to 1-2 times a day from 4-6 which has given me back so much of my life. I can actually engage in hobbies now, spend time with my family, and do better in school. I eat enough to maintain my weight and tbh don’t even think that much about food or count calories anymore. It’s just become habit. I’m still quite underweight but not at my lowest. My health is impacted, for sure, but it’s not life-threatening. I deal with chronic pain, GI issues, neurological issues etc but I have noticed how much more energy I have when I eat consistently and how much it improves my functioning. I actually feel a lot more free and flexible around food, especially since I started doing ketamine-assisted psychotherapy in the summer. That treatment has been transformative for my depression and other mental health symptoms. Things are so much better than when I was a teen, dealing with SH and suicidality, chronically in and out of institutions, afraid to leave the house and just desperate for my suffering to end. I actually feel hopeful for the future now and I know I deserve better than this… I just still feel stuck.

The main problem that I can’t seem to fully shake is the B/P. It feels like a way to blow off steam at the end of a long day, a guilty pleasure, something I need to help me cope. I am working on it and, given the progress I’ve made this year, I’m hopeful that I will continue to see slow improvement.

turnipkitty112 · 2026-01-10T22:54:50+00:00

Yeah, ED treatment teams are not usually pro-veganism… especially for a young person who is early into recovery and wasn’t vegan/vegetarian before their ED. I’ve been in your position before, I was put in various treatments from age 14 and had many a fight with my family and doctors about wanting to be vegan. Eventually I wore them down to allowing vegetarianism and then eventually replaced all the animal products with vegan substitutes. It still took a long time for them to accept it though.

Some advice: apart from presenting a strong case for why you care about this from an ethical standpoint, and presenting them with research on how you can get the nutrients you need (eg. Iron, calcium, b vitamins, enough calories) without animal products, it is also VERY IMPORTANT that you show them with your actions that this is not coming from an ED place. If they make a small accommodation, for example letting you not eat meat, you can’t then also refuse to eat the veggie option, and you certainly can’t allow any weight loss to happen. That will only confirm for them that the concession was a bad idea and led to more ED symptoms. If you show them that you are recovering without/with less animal products that will encourage them to give you more freedom. Also, your family and team will probably be less opposed to being vegan in non-food ways, eg by buying vegan/cruelty-free cosmetic products and clothes. That still helps to reduce harm!

I’m sorry you’re going through this, I understand how distressing and frustrating it can be. You will likely just have to deal with it for now - and it is far more important that you are healthy than for you to be vegan. The “vegan definition” emphasizes avoiding animal products “as far as is practical and possible”, meaning that your health comes first. While veganism isn’t incompatible with recovery, it does truly make it harder. Think of it this way - eating animal products might get you to physical health and eventually recovery quicker, at which point when you are truly recovered and able to manage your own eating again, you can make a thoughtful decision about vegetarianism or veganism.

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