I have anorexia and am new to recovery. I am confused about the fullness factor. It's scary to be eating more as it is...but then I have to deal with that 'full' feeling (which makes me feel like a blob!) Do 'normal' people feel that feeling after every meal? Should I eat till I get that full feeling after EVERY meal? This question sounds stupid, I know, but I am just confused! Help!

Also...while I am typing this I might as well bring up another problem. I can't get over my need for exercise!!! I exercise everyday between 75-90 minutes...I feel like I need to even more now since I am eating more. The exercise dictates what I will eat! If for some reason I couldn't exercise, I'd probably restrict my diet way low. I am underweight and trying to get healthy again...and this is really hindering the process!! I hate it. If I couldn't go to the gym, I think I would freak. I hate this mindset. How can I change this???

I'm stuck in a very similar place myself, applecheek...I try to break up the food plan into small meals, it's a lot more comfortable for me. Fullness freaks me out too.

The exercise thing...I don't think I could ever give up exercise. I just love it too much. I realize I have to eat more to support it, but it is a very hard lesson to actually incorporate. *hugs* I know how it is...I don't think the mindset has to be that you won't exercise, but you need to start looking at BOTH food and exercise as things you do for your body, not against it.

Thanks for replying! I'm glad I'm not alone- i've come to find many others going through the same thing.

With the exercise thing...I LOVE to exercise. It's just the fact that it controls what I eat or what I don't eat. I know that if I truly want to get healthy and back to normal that I can't let exercise control my life. I just need to learn to get to that "nuetral" place where eating and exercising are balanced....and it doesn't consume my mind all the frikin time! ahh! The craziness of eating disorders... it's such a pain in the butt.

I know exactly what you mean. I exercise to feel good and because I enjoy it, YES, but if I didn't exercise...I would restrict to make up for it. So it's half-healthy, half-disordered. I am also bad about accepting that my exercise is going to mean that I need more calories than most people my height/weight. I go on a 'plan' structured for them and continue to lose quickly, which is NOT what I want. I want to gain muscle - but I feel guilty eating more than the 'standard.' It's really difficult to get over the mindset that saving a calorie = insurance. I try so hard to think that I am not feeding my emotions, I am feeding my body and muscles so I can exercise better, but the link just won't completely break.

It is a pain in the butt!

I know exactly what your going through applecheek, I hate the feeling of being full. In fact Im going through it as I type this and its the most uncomfortable feeling. Like you said I feel huge and fat when I eat more then usual and get that "full" feeling. I dont know if its ED talking but sometimes I even think its noticeable - my stomach seems rounder and my skin more plump looking. It really freaks me out, does anyone else notice this?

IM SO GLAD THIS FORUM IS HERE, cause I thought I was alone in feeling that if I dont excersize, I can't eat as much as I could if I did. It runs me life too! If I don't get my morning bike/walk in, I don't get my full supply of calories, because I feel I don't deserve it.

SAme with the full thing. You'd think that you have t be hungry to eat a meal, but this feeling satisfied all the time, even right before haveing dinner confuses me cause I feel like If I'm not hungry, why should I even eat?

UGH, I can so relate!

If I Don't Stick To My Normal Fruit And Veg Diet And Eat Normal Stuff Yes My Stomach And Skin Kooks Like Plumped Out It Is Hard To Explain And When I Said To Doc She Explain It Is Plumper But It Is Water Retention As Your Body Diverts Fluid To The Bowel And If I Am Just Used To Basically Living On Nothing Or Water Based Foods Body Doesn't Know Whats Happening I Mean When You Think About It Look At Heavier People On Diets In The First Couple Of Weeks They Can Loose About 10lb But It Is Just Water It Is Impossible To Loose That Much Weigh So I Suppose The Opposite Happens To Us. Apparently This Happens To Everyone In Every Day Live But We Notice It More Because We Are So Thin Or We Are Looking For A Change Happening .if I Binge A Day And Don't Purge My Water Retention Is Horendus Then Evens Out Again After A Few Days . And That Full Feeling What Is That It Feels Totally Uncomfortable And Unreal But Before The Eating Disorder I Bet I Didn't Even Notice That Feeling Because Again It Is Some Thing Different To Us. I Wish I Wasn't Like This And Hope To Get Past It But Do Yous Sometimes Think How Will I Ever Not Notice These This Happening Cos I Am So Tuned In On Everything My Body Is Doing

You'd think that you have t be hungry to eat a meal, but this feeling satisfied all the time, even right before haveing dinner confuses me cause I feel like If I'm not hungry, why should I even eat?

UGH, I can so relate!

Wow, I do this all the time. I thought I was the only one who had this problem. I guess Im so use to starving all the time that I grown use to the idea that I SHOULD be hungry at every meal. I still get confused and not sure what to do either. Its like do I skip it and just eat a little when I am hungry or eat any way? Although I prob. would skip but since my family has been really cracking down on me to eat at least 2 small meals aday I cant. Im not sure what to do either. Just wanted you to know your not alone.

Thank you so much! I love this place. I actually feel better about myself because I know I'm not alone. Thank you so much for helping me realize that.

I hate being full!! I love the flying feeling of not eatting for awhile but then I eat and it tastes good, but feels yuck inside. I also still use excersise to calculate what percent of my meals I worked off its not even that fun. How can I get excited again about excersise. Is it possible to maintain healthy weight and just excersise when you want and not so vigoursly. I feel incomplete if I didn't work out that day. I feel guilt. GUILT. I want it to end.