Hunger anxiety

[dulaney0330]

I have thought about this topic for a while and I would like some feedback.

i think about food many, many times a day. I think about what I should eat, when I should it, the amount that will give my body nourishment and if it's not healthy.

I try to eat every 3 hours and I try my best to balance all the food groups.

Background:

I grew up in a home where my mother was a single parent who had to support 3 girls. Sometimes, we didn't have a whole lot to eat. Many times, my mother didn't feel like making us food and we had to defend for ourselves. And we were often told she "didn't have enough money for food."

I remember one time our family of four splitting a can of ravolis...needless to say, I was hungry that night.

My youngest sister and I are extremely comforted by food. Any spending money we have, we buy food. We think about food a lot and I have been a little uncomfortable by how anxious I feel when the thought of an empty stomach looms over me.


This rings true for me:

"Orthorexics commonly have rigid rules around eating. Refusing to touch sugar, salt, caffeine, alcohol, wheat, gluten, yeast, soya, corn and dairy foods is just the start of their diet restrictions. Any foods that have come into contact with pesticides, herbicides or contain artificial additives are also out.

The obsession about which foods are "good" and which are "bad" means orthorexics can end up malnourished. Their dietary restrictions commonly cause sufferers to feel proud of their "virtuous" behaviour even if it means that eating becomes so stressful their personal relationships can come under pressure and they become socially isolated."

Pure food obsession is latest eating disorder | Society | The Observer

Am I over analyzing the situation?
Any tips to overcome my hunger anxiety?

Perhaps I need to experience the sense of fear to overcome it?

[rawxstasy]

I experienced similar feelings. I used to be obssessed about food and planning what I was going to eat etc. I also had a fear of being hungry. However, there was always alot of food in my home growing up. I think I just got used to not being hungry. My fear was I would get sick if I let myself get hungry.

What cured it? I'm not really sure. I did try to let myself get hungry and then eat slowly not cram everything down so fast. I did make some progress but not as much as I wanted. Then I went through a very stressful situation last January where I didn't eat for three days. I found that I didn't "die" or get sick from not eating. After that, I was free from it. Now I get hungry and I can let it be without freaking out about it. I think during my 3 day "fast" I went through a lot of emotional healing and I also found that it wasn't that painful to be hungry.

[dulaney0330]

Originally Posted by rawxstasy

I experienced similar feelings. I used to be obssessed about food and planning what I was going to eat etc. I also had a fear of being hungry. However, there was always alot of food in my home growing up. I think I just got used to not being hungry. My fear was I would get sick if I let myself get hungry.

What cured it? I'm not really sure. I did try to let myself get hungry and then eat slowly not cram everything down so fast. I did make some progress but not as much as I wanted. Then I went through a very stressful situation last January where I didn't eat for three days. I found that I didn't "die" or get sick from not eating. After that, I was free from it. Now I get hungry and I can let it be without freaking out about it. I think during my 3 day "fast" I went through a lot of emotional healing and I also found that it wasn't that painful to be hungry.

Thanks for your post. Funny how you had lots of food and still felt that way. Glad to hear you overcame it!

I have allowed myself to feel hungry and I will verbally say, " You are ok. You can get food whenever you want."

I have gone through times of not eating and I felt fine. During an illness or depression, I wasn't concerned so much about food.

The tricky part of any fasting is that I will get terrible migraines. i feel weak and shaky.

Perhaps this can ultimately be a healing process?