I stop eating usually when I’m busy which happens to make me stressed. To alleviate that, I always carry a granola bar or some yogurt-covered raisins in case I don’t have time to eat/don’t want to eat, but should anyway.
I also eat when I’m bored/happy/need comfort.
It’s a wonder my body doesn’t quit on me more often.
When I’m unhappy, I eat. When I’m stressed or anxious I don’t eat. It’s a fine distinction, but one that should be made.
Thus, in the run-up to exams I’ll fast, but I’ll usually eat loads between the exam and getting the results, because I’ll have convinced myself I’m going to fail.
I lost 6 lbs in the fortnight before my wedding, luckily for me, my dressmaker had figured this was going to happen and my dress fitted perfectly on the day.
I lost 18lbs in the month before my A-levels -12lbs because I had a bad reaction to some medication and couldn’t eat solids for a week, 6lbs because when I recovered I had no appetite.
None of this sounds particularly drastic until you realise that my “normal” weight is in the 98-102lb range.
I’m a stress *faster…*and the longer you go without food, the easier it is to not eat. At my lowest ebb (pyschologically) I weighed in at just 49kg (and I’m 5’8" tall).
Nowadays though I’m hitting 69kg with a big ball of blub around my tummy that needs to go. I keep wishing for some serious stress, but it just doesn’t happen!!
If I don’t get stressed, I’m gonna have to go to the gym, and THAT will be stress enough in itself.
I have this problem too; instead of getting butterflies in my stomach when I’m nervous or excited, I get sick enough to puke. (Naturally, I’m a stress-faster.) I wonder how many people have this problem? It’s a real pain in the ass when I’m traveling or have to speak in front of a crowd, but sucking on hard candy (especially ginger or spearmint Altoids) usually helps.
I’m a stress-faster, for sure. When the going gets tough, the tough. . .stop eating, so it seems.
Actually, I think it is a sub-concious excuse to get out of something, at least in my case. I usually get sick when I’m nervous about doing something, like a class presentation, writing an exam, etc. But when I’m at the point where I can’t turn back, then the urge to puke goes away, even though the nervousness doesn’t. Not that that’s stopped me from throwing up before I reach that point.
Complete and utter stress-faster. I recall I didn’t eat for about three days after my mother died. Drank lots and lots of coffee, though. That never changes; I’m a perpetual coffee hound.
I always seem to forego food before important events and during stressful times.
Shagnasty, I know exactly what you mean. There were times I wouldn’t eat for a few days just because I didn’t feel like it.
I remember gaining 10 lbs when I broke up with my ex. Then I chased after him and moved out of state and I lost 15 lbs. Could the writing on the wall have been any bigger? I was a slow learner.
I guess I gave the right answer the first time through, but I completely spaced on the thread title. I’m a boredom-eater and a stress-faster.
Neither. I very rarely overeat or eat for no particular reason. On the other hand, I need to eat regularly, even if it’s just tiny snacks, because I get hypoglycemic pretty easily; part of the curse of a fast metabolism. I can get shaky and nauseous after as little as 12 hours without food. The longest I’ve fasted is about three days and it was not particularly pleasant.