u/Distinct_Star9990

(21F) I'm diagnosed with autism, ADHD and AN (restrictive ED). Before my ED, I would say I did eat relatively intuitively in the sense that I ate what I liked when I was hungry and stopped/didn't eat if I was full/not hungry etc (yes thats a simplification). But, at the same time, because of the autism ADHD combo, I would also frequently forget to eat (especially as a younger kid), and then as I got older my appetite just grew more than I was comfortable with until I then eventually developed the ED.

I'm now nearly a year and a half into post-discharge recovery, and eventually wanting to at least try to intuitively eat more than I current do/am able to. But I'm just unsure if its something actually possible for me. The autism means I tend to eat the same things a lot (I've had the same lunch for 2 and a half years, for example), while the ADHD means I either forget to eat or I dopamine eat which triggers restriction cycles.

Sorry if thats a lot haha! Just curious if anyone has anything helpful

With the help of my boyfriend, I've managed to both admit that what I was in was in fact a relapse, and start making actual changes (rather than cop outs lol) to fix things again. So for example, we've re-committed to a new meal plan (usual 3+3) which also includes challenge stuff like eg. aim for 3x weekly where I pick the harder option at a given meal or snack.

This is great, and my god do i want to get out of this. But I'm really struggling because my blood sugar and hunger levels seem worse than when I was eating less? Is it just my body/metabolism responding to the increases?? I should know this because I've done this before lol (about 18-24 months ago) but anyway. Also just struggling with the guilt and also I guess like low-lying but continuous stress because of it all the time is just making it hard to enjoy things :/

I’m doing politics governance and public policy and I’m keen to get out and make more friends than I did at undergrad hahah

They've popped up over the last couple days out of nowhere hahaha, they roam around the ground next to the stall and squeak/beep lmaooo

5'3" and around 53kg, according to online calculators my TDEE should be around 1900 (walking/swimming/strength training). I've been in a cut so have averaged more like 1300-1400 for about 2 months. I'm aware the only real way to know your maintenance is to see whether you actually maintain at that particular intake, but how long would I need to test this for to make sure its not obscured by other things like water weight/menstrual cycle etc?

I've never really had this before in the nearly 3 years I've had AN, but the past 2-3 weeks I've found myself flip flopping between being negatively impacted as you'd expect by eg. low blood sugar or just simply being hungry and tired etc, and then almost revelling in it? almost like chasing a high :/ its really worrying me, has anyone else had this?

I've now received every other grade for my final year assignments, and I'm working at around a 71. Given that my second year finished with a 70, a first-class degree is actually in sight somehow?!!! Very proud of myself, good luck to everyone else waiting!! Desperate to get the diss feedback hahaha

I had chocolate for breakfast!! and it was awesome obviously!!

Not really sure how to progress tbh. Diagnosed AN in feb 2024, dishcharged in march 2025. did well for a bit and then all of this year so far ive barely stuck to my meal plan and ive definitely not been eating enough. ik that sounds like an obvious 'not recovered' case but its making me realising that even when i was doing well post-discharge i was still like instintually almost going for the lighter options for example. the best thing i had was cutting down on movement but thats all gone too :/ i have an appointment next week with the doctor i had previously but im just not rly sure how to progress, esp because ive managed to keep a healthy weight since discharge so im struggling to give myself permission to break food rules, eat more etc

hi im wanting to maybe try and go lane swimming at ponds forge after realising that the lane swimming pool at hillsborough is only 20m. however im unclear on whether the regular lane swimming at ponds forge (ie. not the sessions named as being 50m lengths) are 25m with the main pool split into two, or whether its all 50m. Could someone clear this up for me?

21F, diagnosed 2 and a half years ago. Have overall been doing well since I was discharged March 2025, but over the last say 2 months I've gained a little weight. Some of this I was okay with because it was just a normal flcutuation that I've come to accept because I'd been on holiday for 2 weeks. But the more recent bit that has made the gain more visible (to me) was because I just kept overeating while home at my parents?? For like no reason?? And I wasn't either out of control like a binge nor really wanting to (whether physically or mentally) like in EH, I just feel like I've self-sabotaged myself. Like i knew i gained a little in a normal way after a holiday and I had genuienly accepted it and knew it was temporary etc, so now I'm just like why have i done this???? I'm really spiralling about it and feeling really uncomfortable in my body, things are fitting a little tighter and thats about it so maybe no one else can even tell but i just dont know how to accept this without relapsing :(

Hi, I'm 21 5'3" and currently around 53kg. I walk 4 miles daily, swim 1000m 3x per week (pace 3.5-4 minutes/100m), and strength train 1hr 4x per week. For the lightly active and moderately active levels the TDEE calculator puts me at either 1750 or 1950 respectively (sedentary being closer to 1500, and BMR around 1300). Given that most people say not to 'eat your calories back' (??), I'm a bit unsure how to approach those numbers - and I know that tracking and experimenting with different intakes to see how my body responds is the best way but I'm not even sure where to start. My apple watch estimates my total expenditure to be 1750 on low active (just walking) days, but 1950-2050 on days with walking and any of the exercise I mentioned (which is the majority of days). I'm just really confused lmaooo I've never attempted to recomp, and I've only been swimming + strength training for about 7 weeks so I'm a complete newbie lol

Hi all! After not swimming since lessons as a child, I (now 21, I’m 5’3”) returned to casual swimming about 6 weeks ago. In that time, I’ve gone from being able to do 30x 25m lengths (75m) in around or under 50 minutes😮 - I had to stop midway through a length occasionally too right in the beginning - to now being able to swim that same distance in 28 minutes!! I’ve even managed to do 40 lengths or 1000m in under 40 minutes!! I’m not objectively fast by any means but this is purely for enjoyable exercise and I’m super happy with how much I’ve improved since going back!! I go 3x per week, while also upper body strength training (1 hr) 3-4x per week and walking 3-4 miles daily :)

EDIT: went swimming this morning and managed 50 lengths, or 1,250m, in under 50 minutes!! super proud for maintaining my pace at a longer distance

Hi I’m looking to get a bus that will get me between Broomhall area (or near the Uni of SU/Glossop Rd) and Hillsborough for the leisure centre there. Am I right in thinking I need to get the 52 bus, or is there a different one? Also I’d ideally be going quite early in the morning (wanting to be at the leisure centre for like 7:30), or sometime mid morning, does this or another bus come frequently enough?

I started weight training arms about a month ago and I'm really happy with my progress! I'm starting to see a little muscle definition in my upper arms which I've never had before. I've also stuck to a good structure of 4x per week for about 1 hour, and I've worked my way up from using my old COVID-era 2kg dumbbells to some newer 3kg dumbbells and now I'm using 5kg for 80% of the session!! Feeling stronger in myself which feels awesome. I've also been swimming 3x per week in that time and I've gone from doing 30 25m lengths (so 750m) in about 50 minutes to today doing the same distance in 28!! Really happy to be sticking with it I'm absolutely loving it.

What I'm unsure about is the pace at which to progress from here? I'm definitely not quite ready to increase beyond 5kg yet, but at some point I will - would I move to 6kg dumbbells? Or maybe stick with 5kg for even longer to then graduate to 7kg instead (to avoid the cost of buying every single next interval in weights)? Also with swimming, should I increase the number of lengths I do in an average session? I'm weary of not overdoing it but equally I'm feeling strong and I've improved a lot since I started.

Last thing, can I assume that I'm relatively active with this? I also walk 3-5 miles daily. Thanks all!

Backstory: diagnosed AN Feb 2024, discharged March 2025, did well until end of 2025 then beginning of 2026 until essentially now have basically ended up back in a dieting mindset.

Its this mindset I'm deeply struggling with because it ties so much to my (terrible) body image. Its weird because I don't feel deep down dissatisfied with my body size/shape, and yet I can't seem to bring myself to stop eating essentially with the aim of losing weight (albeit not crazy restrictive, just not enough for sure). Its driving me crazy, I don't want this but I'm really struggling to stop - and then all I end up doing is having a handful of days a month where I finally listen to my body and eat more except that turns into eating quite a significant amount.

My next strategy is one I've evidently put off for way too long - just eat enough in the first place lol. I'm getting really nervous about embarking on this, it almost feels like when I first had to increase my intake in early recovery (except I'm struggling now with feeling like I don't 'need' to because I'm further along). I also enjoy being active - I've loved swimming since I was a kid etc - and its something I really want to protect my capacity to do well.

Any tips in keeping going through this last push? Its really hard but I want to let go of the ED so badly