My relatives love commenting on how people look, and it’s most definitely not in a cruel way and everything they say is very casual. But even the most neutral comments send me into this spiral of analyzing myself. Someone said I “look healthier lately,” and it stuck with me for days even though it wasn’t meant to be anything more than an observation. I’m frustrated that these little remarks get under my skin because I know logically they don’t matter, but my reaction still feels automatic. And like it gets so annoying because they’re my family and I shouldn’t take anything they say super to heart since I know they love me and everything

I feel like I’m constantly monitoring myself, whether it’s what I eat, how I move, how I look from different angles. It’s so tiring to live like this, but I don’t know how to rest without feeling guilty.

Eating in front of other people makes me incredibly anxious. I replay it afterward in my head, worrying about how I looked or how much I ate. I know people probably aren’t judging me, but it feels impossible to believe that in the moment.

Some days I feel completely disconnected from my body, like it doesn’t belong to me. Other days I’m hyper-aware of every detail. Both extremes are exhausting, and I don’t know how to find balance.

Compliments about my appearance make me uncomfortable, but criticism devastates me. I wish my body didn’t feel like the most important thing about me, yet it’s what my brain focuses on the most.

I avoid social events because they usually involve food, and that makes me anxious. I feel guilty for isolating myself, but the stress feels overwhelming. I hate that this has started affecting my relationships.

I've been tracking every calorie since I was 13 and I'm 19 now, and it feels like a part of me I can't get rid of. I don't binge or purge anymore but I still panic if I don't know the number and I don't think I qualify as "sick" anymore but I don't feel recovered either. I just don't know if this is normal.

My relatives love commenting on how people look, and it’s most definitely not in a cruel way and everything they say is very casual. But even the most neutral comments send me into this spiral of analyzing myself. Someone said I “look healthier lately,” and it stuck with me for days even though it wasn’t meant to be anything more than an observation. I’m frustrated that these little remarks get under my skin because I know logically they don’t matter, but my reaction still feels automatic. And like it gets so annoying because they’re my family and I shouldn’t take anything they say super to heart since I know they love me and everything

I know something about my relationship with food isn’t normal, but calling it an eating disorder feels too heavy for what I’m experiencing. At the same time, pretending everything is fine doesn’t feel right either. I’m stuck in this middle area where things aren’t catastrophic, but they’re definitely not healthy. I kinda just want there to be a way to talk about it without feeling like I’m exaggerating or minimizing it.

I literally cannot tell what I look like anymore and it’s starting to really really mess with me because my reflection looks bloated but my camera makes me look skinny and I can’t tell what’s real and what’s not

Everyone keeps telling me I look “healthy” now, and I know they mean it as a compliment, but it makes my stomach drop every time. I feel like they’re saying I’ve failed somehow. I hate that I think this way, and I hate myself even more for not being able to just feel normal about food or my body.

The only time people check on me is when I’m visibly not okay. When I’m trying to get better, everyone just assumes I’m fine and stops asking. It makes me feel like I have to be visibly struggling to deserve support. But thinking about my “condition” like this also makes me feel like I’m just seeking attention

People keep telling me to “just love my body,” but that feels impossible right now. I don’t even know what neutrality looks like. All I know is criticism, comparison, and constant dissatisfaction. I wish someone would tell me how to exist in my body without hating it.

I tell myself every day that I’ll stop obsessing over my body, but the thoughts don’t listen. I check mirrors, reflections, photos; basically anything that might tell me how I look. And no matter what I see, it’s never okay. I’m tired of hating myself like this.

I feel like I don’t deserve to eat unless I’ve “earned” it by being productive or successful. Even when I know that thought isn’t logical, it still feels real. I’m scared of how deeply ingrained this mindset is. I also don’t even know if that counts as an eating disorder but it still affects every aspect of my life and it’s so consuming.

My friends are all pretty relaxed around food, and I feel like the odd one out. If I mention anything slightly negative about my eating habits, they respond with jokes or tell me I’m overthinking because I’m “super skinny” and have nothing to worry about. I know none of them mean harm, but it makes me shut down and pretend everything’s okay. I don’t want to unload on them, but I also feel weird carrying this by myself. I wish I could explain it without sounding dramatic or like I’m fishing for concern or attention because I don’t wanna be that “pick-me” friend

I feel like I have two voices in my head: one that wants to get better and one that’s terrified of change. They’re constantly arguing, and I’m stuck in the middle. I don’t know which one to listen to anymore.

I compare myself to everyone (friends, strangers, people online) and I always come up short. Even when I know photos are edited or curated, the comparison still hurts. It feels like my worth is tied to how my body looks, even though I don’t want it to be.

I’ve been trying to eat more consistently, but every time I do, I second-guess whether I actually needed the food or if I’m just “being indulgent.” I know that sounds ridiculous, but it’s become this constant background noise in my head. I’ll make a meal, feel fine about it, and then five minutes after I finish, I start picking apart the decision. It isn’t extreme enough to sound serious if I try to talk about it with anyone, but it’s affecting my mood every single day. I’m getting tired of overthinking something that’s supposed to be basic.

I use food as a way to cope with stress, but then I punish myself for it mentally afterward. It’s like I can’t win. I wish I could just eat when I’m hungry and stop when I’m full without turning it into a moral issue.

I keep telling myself I’ll stop once I reach a certain point, but the goalposts always move. Nothing ever feels like enough. That realization scares me, but not enough to make the thoughts stop.

Hi, I feel like I've been having this issue for so many years but I've never really thought it was that big of a deal—every single time I go out and I'm wearing something more fitting, I have to suck in and I just don't feel comfortable being around others with my authentic body and it makes me so upset that I'm so self-conscious about it because I feel like it's not even that important and I still do it. I just don't really know how to fix it and I don't really feel comfortable going to a formal doctor about it.

I don't know how to explain this but recovery feels like losing a part of my identity. I don't know who I am without my routines and my rules. Everyone says it gets better but it's been months and I just feel emptier.

My friends keep saying I look healthier lately but that just makes me want to skip meals. I just don’t know how to want to recover without feeling like I’m giving up control I guess? Like I know I should want to be healthy but I just have this weird mindset where looking healthy triggers something in me that makes me want to keep up my disordered eating habits

I feel like I’m constantly at war with my body. No matter what I do, it never feels like enough. If I eat, I feel out of control. If I don’t, I feel powerful but also miserable. I don’t know how something so basic has turned into something so complicated and painful.

I’ve been struggling with my eating habits for pretty long and I really didn’t think I was doing too much damage but then I found out sometimes eating disorders can cause infertility and a bunch of other things so I’m getting pretty frightened now but it’s not like I can just go back and stop what’s happening to me idk I think I really just need some reassurance

My body image changes depending on the day, the outfit, the lighting, or even my mood. Some days I feel almost okay, and other days I can’t stand to be seen. I don’t understand how my perception can shift so much, and it makes me feel like I can’t trust my own mind.

Some days I’m hungry constantly, and other days I barely feel anything until late in the evening. It’s unpredictable and makes me distrust my own signals. I’ve been trying to eat more normally, but it’s hard when my body feels inconsistent and confusing. I end up overthinking whether I should eat based on hunger or based on a schedule, and either option leaves me feeling like I’m doing something wrong. It would be nice to know if this is something other people deal with too.

the last few weeks i’ve been accidentally falling back into patterns i thought i had grown out of. i skip meals because i’m “busy,” but i know i could make time if i actually tried. i’m not intentionally restricting, but the end result is similar. part of me keeps insisting that it’s not a big deal because i’m literally functioning fine, but another part of me is nervous because this is how things started last time. i don’t want to wait until it gets serious to acknowledge it.

It isn’t that I hate how I look, it’s more that when I see myself in a photo or mirror, I don’t fully recognize what I’m looking at. I keep comparing myself to old versions of me in my head, and it makes it hard to feel settled. Some days I feel relatively fine and other days I feel completely out of sync, like I’m watching myself from the outside. It’s an uncomfortable feeling that I don’t really know how to describe to anyone in my life without them assuming it’s just insecurity.

I’m scared to recover because I don’t know what that would look like. This disorder feels like it’s become part of my identity. I don’t like it, but it’s familiar. The idea of letting go feels like losing control and stepping into something unknown.

I feel embarrassed even writing this because I don’t look like what people imagine when they think of eating disorders. That makes me feel like my struggle isn’t valid. But my relationship with food feels broken, and I don’t know how to fix it on my own. I don’t feel comfortable telling someone else about it because I just know they’re going to undermine my emotions all because I don’t look anorexic.

I’m afraid to talk to my family about this because I don’t want them to worry or watch everything I eat. At the same time, keeping it all inside is becoming unbearable. I don’t know how to ask for help without losing my privacy.

I’ve been dating my boyfriend for over a year now and he’s aware of the fact that I have pretty bad body image issues and my eating habits aren’t the best. But I’m too scared, even though we’ve been dating for A YEAR, to let him know how truly bad it is. He’s never seen me without my sucked-in stomach and he thinks I’m this skinny little girl with a flat stomach when in reality I don’t let him pick me up because I’m so scared of weighing too much, and I won’t go to the beach or anything with him because I don’t ever want him to see me in a swimsuit. I know it’s toxic and probably overdramatic but idkkk I don’t want to live like this forever

I don't even know if I actually have an ED or if I'm just being dramatic because some days I eat fine and other days I eat too much and other days I won't let myself eat anything at all and I just can't really tell what it is.

I was doing okay for a while but I looked through old pictures of when I was sick and I miss it which is literally insane to say. But I miss how small I looked and I hate that part of me still wants that back.

Some days I feel okay with how I look, but today everything feels wrong again and I don’t know what changed or how to fix things.

I tried telling my mom that I don’t feel okay around food lately and she told me it’s just a phase and I need to stop overthinking. Now I feel embarrassed for even bringing it up. I can’t tell if I’m actually struggling or just being overdramatic like she said.

I don’t really know how to explain this without sounding dramatic but food feels like the main thing my day revolves around. I’m either thinking about eating, not eating, or feeling guilty about having eaten. It’s exhausting, but at the same time, the idea of letting go of these thoughts makes me panic. I guess I just want to know how to break this cycle of thoughts without always panicking.

I want help, but I don’t feel “sick enough” to deserve it. I tell myself other people have it worse, so I should just deal with it. At the same time, I know I’m struggling, and ignoring it isn’t making it go away.