u/Amaranoxx

I've been trying to cut back on sugar and honestly during the day I'm fine. I drink my water, I eat okay, no big deal, but then night comes and my brain just… loses it. like the anxiety kicks in and suddenly I NEED something sweet or I can't relax. it's not even hunger. it's just this weird feeling that only sugar fixes??

I know it probably makes the anxiety worse. I know. but in the moment I genuinely do not care lol. The only thing that's helped me a little is having fruit nearby so at least I'm not going for actual junk but honestly it's not the same and my brain knows it!!!

has anyone actually broken this cycle?? what worked for you because I'm running out of ideas.🙃

I don't even know how to start this.

I have this friend. We've been close since we were teenagers the kind of friend who knows the version of you that existed before life got complicated. She's been with this guy for 8 years. And looking back… I watched her disappear slowly and didn't even realize it was happening. He had this way of making everything feel like it was for her own good. The way she dressed, her hair, her nails nothing was ever quite right unless he approved it. He'd push her into things that genuinely scared her, like heights, and call it "helping her grow." She thought that was love. She actually thought that's what love looked like.

https://preview.redd.it/hpfdyp3t11yg1.jpg?width=736&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=cb593017a4f068f99a7be2601c3266dcca3243a7

A few months ago something shifted in her. She cut her hair the way she wanted. Wore the nail color she liked. Small things. Huge things.

He went cold. Distant. Quiet in that way that feels louder than screaming. And then came the comments. In front of people. Little jokes about her hair, the way she looked. And when she gained a little weight because she'd been sad, genuinely sad he made sure she knew he noticed. Not with kindness. With the kind of comment that stays with you at 2am. The thing is… she looks absolutely beautiful. Everyone sees it. Everyone except him. Or maybe he sees it and that's exactly the problem.

Then he said it "you're not the woman I fell in love with anymore." And she believed him. She called me crying saying the problem is her. That she changed. That she ruined it. I didn't know what to say. Because how do you explain to someone that he spent 8 years erasing her… and is now grieving the person he erased? What scares me most is this every time she lets it slide, every time she stays silent after a cruel comment, every time she shrinks herself to keep the peace… it won't stop. It never stops on its own. What you allow is what will continue.

What do you say to a friend who has completely forgotten who she was before him?