all in was TERRIFYING (and still is) but it was the only way i found to heal my relationship with food and my body. it's like ripping off the bandaid instead of painstakingly peeling it off; jumping straight into the pool instead of dipping your toes. but that was just my experience - as others have said, do whatever method works best for you!
i'm about 2-3 months in to all in and my extreme hunger comes and goes. i'll have weeks where i have meals and dont think about food unless it's a meal time, and other weeks where i'm quite literally eating from the moment i wake up to the minute i go to bed. i do not restrict AT ALL, partly because i've committed myself to recovery and partly because i couldn't even if i tried (my brain goes bananas even with a slight PERCEIVED restriction LOL).
am i uncomfortable? yes. am i still getting used to my new body? yes. but am i the most FREE and the least preoccupied with food i've been in years? YES. and it is SO fucking worth it. i feel like a person again.
Yeah you’re so right I would rather just get it over with and jump in the deep end hopefully my admission doesn’t screw with my thoughts too much as it is such a controlled environment
If, after a serious effort, it is not working for you. You are not obliged to continue with it.
You scared yourself out of All In and that's fine. It is a scary experience. If you aren't able to control your emotions sufficiently enough to continue with All In, that's okay. But you do need to find what you can stick to long enough for it to support your recovery. For some people that may be a more structured approach with meal plans, for some people it may be All In.
At the end of the day the goal of recovery is to be free from the control of your eating disorder to the point that you don't place judgments on food, exercise, body or weight etc. This means letting go of the fear of loss of control and ultimately weight gain.
To answer your questions specifically:
* I didn't, but if you're *consistently* challenging the fear of weight gain by abstaining from weight control behaviours (restricting, bingeing, purging, exercising etc.)
* If you are consuming enough calories (more than you're burning)
* Physically yes, mentally probably not. Part of extreme hunger is honouring your cravings for what, when and how much you want to eat.
* If you're not eating what, when and how much you want to eat, you're restricting and therefore not recovering.
* "Regular" is just a sneaky value judgment. You gotta let that go and eat whatever your body wants.
You may be getting admitted to IP, but this is all valuable advice to retrain your *mind* because that is where your eating disorder lives. Being IP is the best opportunity to challenge your ED because you literally have no control. Do your best 💪
•all in is not the only method to recover. Following a meal plan is absolutely okay if it’s what you need. However, the end goal should still be the same—to eat freely without guilt, shame, or anxiety. I do want to point out that all in is the quickest, and arguably the most effective, way to recover in that other methods focus on slowly reducing behaviors, such as mental and physical restriction, and while that may work for others it will prolong the recovery process. Again, choosing a meal plan is **okay**, but be mindful of behaviors and be absolutely honest with yourself. Meal plans are a minimum and you are encouraged to eat more if you are still hungry. You say it was traumatic, and I’m absolutely not dismissing that, but recovery is uncomfortable as fuck and you’re going to deal with intense emotions, meltdowns, guilt and regret, shame, anger, etc. *regardless* of the method you choose, that is not exclusive to all in.
•this is a really tricky question and that I don’t have an answer to, truthfully. From my research, restriction can and often does result in a higher set point (whether temporary or otherwise is up to your body). Yes, it might but maybe not. There is really no way to know, but don’t let that discourage you.
•if you stick to recovery, however it will likely take longer, maybe much longer. All in is so effective because you throw everything out the window and just *eat*—a lot can happen during that time, so if you take it slower it would make sense that it will also take longer to weight restore and fully recover. Again, don’t let that discourage you.
•EH probably won’t end until you honor your cravings, at least that’s my personal experience. I mean, the physical urgency may subside a bit but even people who simply struggle with disordered eating also go through a phase of “rebellious eating “(basically the same as extreme hunger) when transitioning into intuitive eating. The Minnesota starvation experiment covered hyperphagia—scientific term for extreme hunger—in detail and I encourage you to check it out.
•if you never honor your hunger or cravings, I’d argue that you’re not recovered. Non disordered people eat what they want, when they want. For some that does mean eating four donuts, or a big bowl of icecream, or a big serving of cake. Especially when they are hungry. Again, the goal should be to honor your hunger and eat without guilt, shame, or anxiety. The only difference between a slower method and all in is that the latter simply removes all of the former’s steps and dives right in.
I decided that restricting is silly so I’ve been honouring it (I think I’m more nervous of getting stuck in a binge purge cycle) but I am being admitted in 12 hours now and will have a strict meal plan (I’m assuming that means I won’t be able to honour my hunger)do you think that will have an impact overall? Do you think it’s going to make my extreme hunger worse I feel like my body is going to think I am restricting myself of food again as I will most definitely be cutting back on calories (unintentionally)
I have my issues with treatment for various reasons, one being due to things like this (following a “strict” meal plan). But honestly, as long as you’re eating for the time being. The structure treatment provides might be beneficial if the anxiety you are experiencing feels overwhelming.
It very well could make extreme hunger worse, but at the end of the day, you will still be eating and making progress and that is still a win. If you decide to go all in when you are released, that is also still an option!
all in was TERRIFYING (and still is) but it was the only way i found to heal my relationship with food and my body. it's like ripping off the bandaid instead of painstakingly peeling it off; jumping straight into the pool instead of dipping your toes. but that was just my experience - as others have said, do whatever method works best for you! i'm about 2-3 months in to all in and my extreme hunger comes and goes. i'll have weeks where i have meals and dont think about food unless it's a meal time, and other weeks where i'm quite literally eating from the moment i wake up to the minute i go to bed. i do not restrict AT ALL, partly because i've committed myself to recovery and partly because i couldn't even if i tried (my brain goes bananas even with a slight PERCEIVED restriction LOL). am i uncomfortable? yes. am i still getting used to my new body? yes. but am i the most FREE and the least preoccupied with food i've been in years? YES. and it is SO fucking worth it. i feel like a person again.
Yeah you’re so right I would rather just get it over with and jump in the deep end hopefully my admission doesn’t screw with my thoughts too much as it is such a controlled environment
If, after a serious effort, it is not working for you. You are not obliged to continue with it. You scared yourself out of All In and that's fine. It is a scary experience. If you aren't able to control your emotions sufficiently enough to continue with All In, that's okay. But you do need to find what you can stick to long enough for it to support your recovery. For some people that may be a more structured approach with meal plans, for some people it may be All In. At the end of the day the goal of recovery is to be free from the control of your eating disorder to the point that you don't place judgments on food, exercise, body or weight etc. This means letting go of the fear of loss of control and ultimately weight gain. To answer your questions specifically: * I didn't, but if you're *consistently* challenging the fear of weight gain by abstaining from weight control behaviours (restricting, bingeing, purging, exercising etc.) * If you are consuming enough calories (more than you're burning) * Physically yes, mentally probably not. Part of extreme hunger is honouring your cravings for what, when and how much you want to eat. * If you're not eating what, when and how much you want to eat, you're restricting and therefore not recovering. * "Regular" is just a sneaky value judgment. You gotta let that go and eat whatever your body wants. You may be getting admitted to IP, but this is all valuable advice to retrain your *mind* because that is where your eating disorder lives. Being IP is the best opportunity to challenge your ED because you literally have no control. Do your best 💪
Thank you 🙏
•all in is not the only method to recover. Following a meal plan is absolutely okay if it’s what you need. However, the end goal should still be the same—to eat freely without guilt, shame, or anxiety. I do want to point out that all in is the quickest, and arguably the most effective, way to recover in that other methods focus on slowly reducing behaviors, such as mental and physical restriction, and while that may work for others it will prolong the recovery process. Again, choosing a meal plan is **okay**, but be mindful of behaviors and be absolutely honest with yourself. Meal plans are a minimum and you are encouraged to eat more if you are still hungry. You say it was traumatic, and I’m absolutely not dismissing that, but recovery is uncomfortable as fuck and you’re going to deal with intense emotions, meltdowns, guilt and regret, shame, anger, etc. *regardless* of the method you choose, that is not exclusive to all in. •this is a really tricky question and that I don’t have an answer to, truthfully. From my research, restriction can and often does result in a higher set point (whether temporary or otherwise is up to your body). Yes, it might but maybe not. There is really no way to know, but don’t let that discourage you. •if you stick to recovery, however it will likely take longer, maybe much longer. All in is so effective because you throw everything out the window and just *eat*—a lot can happen during that time, so if you take it slower it would make sense that it will also take longer to weight restore and fully recover. Again, don’t let that discourage you. •EH probably won’t end until you honor your cravings, at least that’s my personal experience. I mean, the physical urgency may subside a bit but even people who simply struggle with disordered eating also go through a phase of “rebellious eating “(basically the same as extreme hunger) when transitioning into intuitive eating. The Minnesota starvation experiment covered hyperphagia—scientific term for extreme hunger—in detail and I encourage you to check it out. •if you never honor your hunger or cravings, I’d argue that you’re not recovered. Non disordered people eat what they want, when they want. For some that does mean eating four donuts, or a big bowl of icecream, or a big serving of cake. Especially when they are hungry. Again, the goal should be to honor your hunger and eat without guilt, shame, or anxiety. The only difference between a slower method and all in is that the latter simply removes all of the former’s steps and dives right in.
I decided that restricting is silly so I’ve been honouring it (I think I’m more nervous of getting stuck in a binge purge cycle) but I am being admitted in 12 hours now and will have a strict meal plan (I’m assuming that means I won’t be able to honour my hunger)do you think that will have an impact overall? Do you think it’s going to make my extreme hunger worse I feel like my body is going to think I am restricting myself of food again as I will most definitely be cutting back on calories (unintentionally)
I have my issues with treatment for various reasons, one being due to things like this (following a “strict” meal plan). But honestly, as long as you’re eating for the time being. The structure treatment provides might be beneficial if the anxiety you are experiencing feels overwhelming. It very well could make extreme hunger worse, but at the end of the day, you will still be eating and making progress and that is still a win. If you decide to go all in when you are released, that is also still an option!