Stressing about food is making me anxious

[pinkgeek]

Hi, I'm not entirely sure this is the right place for this but I figure since its making me anxious it's a good place to start. PS Sorry for the long post.

Basically in the last few months I've become super conscious of the food I eat, I also have hypoglycemia. In the past I have had an attitude that would had I acted on it, definitely lead me down the physical path of bulimia. I am average weight and a little shorter than average but have a very petite (naturally petite) family. I don't wanna play the blame game but my father put a lot of pressure on me during my teens about my weight, quite often my meals were moderated for me and I was unable to have extras or be made to do laps around the block because I had been lazy that weekend. I was very active in my teens and am moderately active now. I have gym twice a week and play netball on the weekends and have training once a week.

Recently my PT has been hassling me about food as I have not been eating enough and have been struggling more than usual in our sessions. This has lead to my being extra conscious of making sure I get enough fruit and vegetables but often once I start thinking about food I stress myself out that I start feeling sick and so I only make myself eat half of anything (because food is good) otherwise I will get sick from not eating enough. But sometimes the only things available are chocolate bars etc and I have to eat something because I will faint or vomit from low blood sugar which in turn makes me feel worse.

Anyway this has recently led me to actually getting sick before my gym sessions and having to calm myself down before going.

So what I'm asking is whether this is serious enough for me to get help or whether I just need to pull myself together and make sure I have support and proper food available when needed.

[romantic_thi3f]

Hi pinkgeek,

Welcome to the forums and thank you for being here.

I'm so glad that you decided to post about what was going on. You asked if you should just 'pull yourself together' and I think it's a big deal that you wanted to reach out instead of hiding it all in.

If there's anything that you can take away from this post please let it be this:

There is no requirement to get help. If it's bothering you and affecting your life, it matters. It doesn't matter how big or small it is. It still matters.

You may end up finding that you can do both; in some sense you already have so much insight into how this is making you feel, that you're needing more support and proper food - this is a strength. Even something as simple as having juices ready to go can be one small way to make things a little less intense as well as being able to take care of yourself.

One resource that might be useful is the Butterfly Foundation - their website is here https://www.thebutterflyfoundation.org.au/our-services/helpline/ They have both a helpline, online resources and a web-chat so it can be a great place to start.

Hope this helps,

[stormcloudz]

Hi pinkgeek

I'm not sure if you are still online, but just wanted to say hello.

You asked about whether this is serious enough to get help, or whether you should tough it out.

I have a little experience in these issues, and I can say that now is the perfect time to go get some support. Eating issues are better treated early, so any therapist or group will welcome you and be very happy to provide support.

It's hard to deal with this sort of thing solo, because the very nature of the problem is about your mind playing tricks on you in relation to food/body, and it's helpful to have another person to help you see the patterns. You also have some strong messages from your dad that you'll be fighting your way through.

Definitely worth getting some external support, and if you aren't happy with the first try, keep looking, there is good support out there.

Thanks for posting and sharing your story.