I’m 27f and like most women born in the 90’s, I have struggled with an eating disorder most of my life. It always took form in some kind of restrictive behavior whether it was low carb, raw, vegan, high protein, extended fasting. Really whatever arbitrary rules I could impose on myself to feel smaller.
Now I’m an adult. Luckily I have mostly repaired my relationship with food. I eat when I’m hungry- usually something whole food based, I have sweets occasionally, drink plenty of water, exercise for 1-2 hours 4-5 times a week. I’m doing all the “right things” yet I’ve gained weight over the last 6 months. I no longer fit in most of my clothing and I’m physically uncomfortable in my skin.
I’d like to make a change to get back to fitting into my wardrobe, and I think IF is it. I’ve fallen into a 16:8 schedule fairly easily over the last couple weeks. Now I’m thinking of increasing my fasting hours but am doing so cautiously. Does anyone have experience or advise about IF post-eating disorder? I have worked so hard to heal but I want to give this a try.
IF and post-ed here. Binge-eating.
The steps that worked for me was 1. Getting Mentally Healthy 2. Emotionally Healthy, 3. Prioritize weight.
There is no way on this planet I can healthfully lose weight when my mind and soul are unhealthy. Listening to my body has really helped a lot in keeping me making the decisions that I need to make for my health; whatever those decisions are.
I have some of my favorite foods right now next to me while I’m fasting and I tell myself that I can eat it and I can stop my fasting whenever I want. I don’t find myself eating these things right now. This tells me that I’m in an emotional and mentally healthy place and my body truly wants to lose weight. Your body talks to you if you listen to it. As for my body, when it’s ready to do something, it will do it.
Edit: and I would say this to anybody regardless of the kind of eating disorder they have. Where applicable, apply what I say to your situation.
If you gained weight while keeping the same food and activity habits, have you seen your doctor about the unexplained weight gain? It can be a sign of other health issues and it might be worth getting checked out if you can.
Is 16:8 working for you? Is it necessary to increase because the weight isn’t coming off, or is it not coming off “fast enough” (this is a difficult question with an ED history)? Or are you just “curious” what increasing would do? I catch myself doing that and it makes me nervous.
I worry about this too. 16:8 is my general plan and I don’t fast longer than 18 hours per day, since I can still eat lunch and dinner during a 6 hour window. I don’t feel triggered by this (I don’t feel like I am exhibiting anorexic tendencies) nor do I binge during my eating window.
I absolutely think long fasts could trigger a binge/purge cycle in some people if they aren’t eating normally during their eating window. Especially when I hear people describe doing extended fasts to compensate for overeating.
But then there are people who find relief from binge eating issues by fasting, and obese people aren’t literally starving themselves with longer fasting windows but thin people might be. I prefer a daily schedule that feels very normal to me (delaying eating, not starving). I’m also not overweight and exercise a lot. I want and arguably need to eat every day, just not all day.