Jasmine’s question

[@idontknowagoodusername9552]

Thank you so much for replying to my comment! I’ll definitely be coming back to this video whenever I get these thoughts again just to give myself a big smack in the face of reality LOL. I’m really scared of the future, but it’s not gonna wait for me to be ready so I know I can’t restrict now hoping it’ll somehow make things better (when has it actually ever), I’ll try my best to keep eating unrestrictedly despite all the doubts and thoughts

[@trucsbeauty8626]

Hey, I’m experiencing the same fears and the same thoughts i literally can not sleep I’m afraid a lot i think like my brain lie to me and I’m wondering if that really mental hunger or not I’m afraid that will last forever or become another illness, i relate to what you are experiencing, i want to ask you about how much you have been in recovery?

[@idontknowagoodusername9552]

@@trucsbeauty8626 I have been in recovery for a little less than 2 months now :)

[@trucsbeauty8626]

@@idontknowagoodusername9552 good me i have been in 2 months i started it in the end of June. I can feel your worries I’m struggling too i feel so scary and lost i just don’t know what to do i hope we get better

[@trucsbeauty8626]

@@idontknowagoodusername9552 do you have instagram? If you want we can talk there and support each other

[@tatteredquilt]

I'm struggling just to get to the minimum I'm supposed to have. Being "atypical", I have weight to lose, as well as medical issues that require too many "numbers rules" (protein, purines, carbs). I've gone backwards as far as what is "allowed" for food- and I know I have to get it together. I can't imagine eating what i want. I'm terrified of having to eat at all.

[@juliewanderz8741]

Hello Tabitha! Does the incessant thinking about your body ever stop? I’m so sick of it I cannot take it anymore. Every 5 minutes my brain decides to scroll up in my gallery to check if I looked smaller last week. Or compare myself to someone on IG. Or on the street. Could this be a form of mental hunger? I’ve decided I’ll just start eating every time I do something like this, but so far it hasn’t been working and I still think all that crap. I literally want to crawl out of my head…. This is month 8 in recovery and I thought I’d be doing much better by now…

[@caleighjusten1821]

Hi Tabitha! I really love your videos and find them immensely helpful as I am going through recovery. I have a question/ concern though. I am still in the early stages of full recovery and I have started eating what I want when I want without judgement. I thought that this would make my life better (and maybe it will), but my anxiety has been absolutely RAGING. I am so scared and hyperaware / hype analytical of everything all the time(not just food-related things). I can barely leave the house due to just how overstimulated I feel. It is making life really intolerable and I guess I am just wondering if this is normal and if it goes away. I want to believe that a recovered life is better than a life with an eating disorder, but I am feeling quite incapacitated and I am tempted to return to the eating disorder just to get some peace and quiet from my brain. Any advice would be much appreciated!

[@danap6486]

I have the same problem!! I feel just like you described I hope that she answers this ...cause i am wondering the same thing

[@nellijune]

Hi Tabitha! Can you tell about rewiring the lower level movement compulsion. This little devil is so sneaky!

[@mariamkamal]

I know it's easier said than done. But try to do the opposite. I was suffering from compulsive walking and a household routine. I just trained my mind to normalise sitting and doing nothing by consistently doing the opposite. If i wanted to go for a stroll- I would resist the urge and stay home to watch a movie. If I wanted to clean home, I would just sit down, relax and listen to a podcast or so. With time these behaviours became my new norms.

[@nellijune]

@@mariamkamal wau, sounds wonderful! 😍 You have done a huge job! I am almost recovered, only thing that bugs me is my inability to sit and chill instead of standing and compulsively walking. 😔

[@mariamkamal]

@nellijune totally understand you. It's a taxing experience that needs real hard work (much harder than eating enough), and it takes time. All you have to do is the opposite of what your mind tells you to do. With time, your brain will adjust the reward system towards movement only for pleasure, not for managing your weight or fixing your body. Just start and believe in your abilities.

[@nellijune]

@@mariamkamal it is so amazing how everything you describe is exactly what I think and am going through. And I definitely agree: weeding out movement compulsions is way more hard than eating more. I wish that my effort to stop moving doesn't lead to compensatory behaviour with food. Well, it doesn't if I decide not to compensate. Some time I was more relaxed with moving less, but now it has gotten worse. Like "I don't have anything to do so I go for a walk ". Thank you for this ❤️ I start to do the opposite actions. 💪

[@mariamkamal]

@@nellijune Sending you my support ❤️

[@SeveranceSeverance]

I think I saw this post on the r/Fuckeatingdisorder subreddit. I honestly relate to the post a lot, but the difference is I've been all-in for about 7-8ish months. I've weight restored and I've also recently got my period back too, but the mental hunger still persists and no matter how much I eat or honour my hunger, I don't find satiation or relief from food thought patterns whatsoever. I literally feel as if I could be eating every second of every day and I'm not sure if it's actually EH or MH anymore. I don't restrict, I don't compensate and yet the feeling of eating to eat ALL the time is still as strong as it was in the beginning of my recovery.

[@thealiceftw]

I totally relate. I can eat for HOURS

[@trucsbeauty8626]

Please Tabitha could you answer to this question

[@mailin9092]

Same here pls I need an answer to this. I'm NOT restricting and I'm not scared of weight gain! I embrace it all and eat everything I like and love and truly want to eat

[@fernandagouveia6048]

Hi ❤ I hope you’re feeling better today! I know I’m not Tabitha and I do hope she answers this one for you as I’d also love to hear her opinion on this, but I hope you don’t mind if I also leave a reply. I’m almost 2 years (1y and 8 months) into recovery and sometimes I feel exactly like you. One thing I had to be completely honest with myself was if I TRULY wasn’t restricting (which I was some days). But even now that I’m not restricting AT ALL I still find myself in this situation and honestly?? It helps me to remember when Tabitha said (multiple times) that our bodies got this and we just don’t have to worry about it….the body knows what it’s doing and it’s doing it for some reason we DO NOT need to understand. I know it’s hard and confusing but at the end of the day, it’s a challenge that’ll show us wether we truly TRUST our bodies or not, which is something Tabitha always talks about as well. We gotta trust it without any kind of judgement, ESPECIALLY when things get messy and confusing like that. And please know you’re definitely not alone. I’m almost 2 years into recovery and experiencing the exact same thing as you described so that must mean something!!! ❤ I’m here whenever you want to chat. My inst@ is @fegouv 😘

[@fernandagouveia6048]

Also - my weight was stable after gaining a substantial amount and being the heaviest i had ever been, and I genuinely thought it would stay like that and I wouldn’t gain more (or maybe that it wouldn’t fluctuate that much). HOWEVER, I’ve been experiencing extreme hunger out of nowhere and I’ve put on somewhere about 10+ kg in a short period of time. I’m not bingeing, just listening to this weird hunger and trusting it’s here for a reason. It was so hard to accept the fact that my body got bigger AGAIN, after it had already gotten the biggest ive ever been. Now I’m even bigger and I went crazy about that for a while, questioning myself and trying to find the answers…until I remembered that my body is the fucking best and so so smart. It wouldn’t just gain a lot of weight again for no reason, obviously something is happening, either mentally or physically (I’m not in a good place rn, mentally speaking) so that’s that….my body is asking for more food and huge meals and I’ll give it to it without asking questions. Simply because I trust it. It’s taking care of me in ways I don’t understand and that’s ok, we don’t need to control everything ❤

[@trucsbeauty8626]

Hey Tabitha ! I have food thoughts (some food i don’t really crave) i don’t know if it’s mental hunger or just my brain mocking me and that gives me anxiety and fear i don’t know what to do and those thoughts just after a meal and i don’t feel physically hungry at all and i keep arguing with my brain that I don’t want it and I’m afraid to act on it cuz really if I’m gonna eat them I’m gonna feel ashamed and scary

[@dorothypond2373]

Hello, Tabitha. In your live video of August 16, you mentioned that during the initial session with a new client, you provide step-by-step instructions on what he/she needs to do to fully recover. I was wondering whether you would be willing to share these steps in brief/point form in a future video. I have read Rehabilitate, Rewire, Recover! (as well as three of your other books), and though it’s an essential, detailed blueprint for ED recovery, it’s a bloody huge book 😁 and can be a bit overwhelming, at least IMO (my copy is festooned with Post-it Notes, LOL). I would, therefore, be grateful if you could disclose a little of what you tell new clients in their first session with you-that is, more information than “eat and rest” but less (of course) than what’s in your book. (For those who haven’t read RRR, I hasten to add that it’s well worth the time investment.) I guess I'm requesting a sort of cheat sheet or a “TL;DR” of RRR. To be honest, I can’t imagine the possibility of recovering in a mere 6 weeks, even when a person is totally committed to the process. I suppose it’s doable for people who haven’t had an eating disorder for very long, but such a short recovery period sounds like pie in the sky to me. Still, you’re the expert, so I do hope you’re right! Thank you.

[@dorothypond2373]

BTW, thank you for answering my earlier question concerning whether you ask new clients what they weight, etc. I wish more ED recovery pros shared your philosophy! There have been lots of articles in the news lately about how sadly common it is for “normal”- weight and especially “overweight” clients/patients to be discriminated against by ED treatment providers and centres, who apparently often discourage unrestricted eating, and encourage exercise, for anyone who doesn't present as emaciated.

[@trucsbeauty8626]

Hey Tabitha, i have been in recovery for 2 months right now,and i got my period back recently, i don’t feel the recovery symptoms anymore, such as night sweats, swallowing, skin pain , but i still think about food even if I’m not hungry or don’t want to eat and that brings me anxiety i feel that i don’t want to eat cuz i don’t have the desire and then my brain tell me you should eat that and i start to argue with my brain that i don’t want it at least for now , but my brain keep telling me and if i get it i just feel anxious and afraid cuz i don’t want it in the first place but just my bra pushed me to do that and this is really scares me so much i feel that I’m in a battle with my brain and I can’t support this feelings. I don’t know if anyone relate to that or not?

[@trucsbeauty8626]

And also i have an anxiety during meals about fullness cues i feel this is time to start listen to my fullness,and also i feel that i feel full and i want to stop and just my brain keep pushing me to eat , specially i saw a video of a recovery coach that said that in recovery we got the habit of overeating and we have to break it cuz it comes from the history of deprivation because we want to eat past fullness because we are afraid that food is not available. I’m afraid I’m experiencing that and i eat just from habit

[@Anneha603]

Hi Tabitha, First of all, thank you for your great support. I have read all your Books and they have changed a lot in my brain. But in the moment i am still struggeling with my recovery, so i have one question to you. My therapist asked me last hour if I was never afraid for my life. Not even in my worst phase of the eating disorder. And unfortunately I had to answer her question in the negative. I always thought that I could still do everything and that I could manage everything. Then it won't be so bad yet. She is also recovered from an eating disorder and this fear for her life helped her to get out of it. Did you have this fear too? Or did you have another fear that drove you? Maybe you can answer my question. Thanks Anne

[@NoraMüller-o7f]

i have done much of intermittent fasting in the past. how to restore then? i am not able to feel anything. and i had anorexia 14 years and i dont think about food but i wished for extremhunger due to " pleasure". i was also mentally exhausted due to pain so i was pleasure seeking. what about this? i am now "heatly bmi"

[@emersonb.5399]

Wishing for hunger sounds like hunger to me. Mental hunger isn’t always just wanting to eat food; sometimes it’s thinking about extreme hunger, obsessing over whether or not you’re hungry, wishing you were more hungry, etc. The solution to this is to eat more. Your normal hunger cues will return over time if you eat adequately.

[@katieann9039]

Do you believe you could get me to full recovery? I completely appreciate you won't wish to reply here but please reach out if possible. Thanks Kate

[@lilianef5955]

hi do you always feel guilty when u challenge something. cause I started doing the fear food jar. even if it's in my fear food jar most of the papers I don't make me feel an absolute anxiety or rush of emotions.. am I faking my €d? lying to the specialist? Im trying to go all in but I never commit entirely cause I am scared of more weight gain (im already very weight restored) and letting go this part of me. I know Im not entirely pleased to eat some of those fear foods cause I still choose to not challenge the ones I first picked in the jar but idk I feel really bad to not have extreme or more intense reactions other than overthink it. I feel bad that those 2 first challenges proved I could eat normally without a problem