My body feels huge.

What is that called?

It's like the wrong size, weight, shape....

I've tried dieting, exercising....but the weight stays the same (200 lb)

I would at least like to get to 190 or even less.

It doesn't help that the littles gorge themselves on pb&j.

I make us salad for lunch, veggie dinner, no red meats, no sweets, no senseless snacking....

The body feels like an overstuffed boat anchor.

I see my ideal shape in mind....but getting there is not so easy.

Do any of you go through this...and how do you deal with it? Success?

[cubagabriel30]

You learn to accept yourself and if your body will not change that you wanted work on making it stronger

[amandalouise]

Originally Posted by AlwaysChanging2

My body feels huge.

What is that called?

It's like the wrong size, weight, shape....

I've tried dieting, exercising....but the weight stays the same (200 lb)

I would at least like to get to 190 or even less.

It doesn't help that the littles gorge themselves on pb&j.

I make us salad for lunch, veggie dinner, no red meats, no sweets, no senseless snacking....

The body feels like an overstuffed boat anchor.

I see my ideal shape in mind....but getting there is not so easy.

Do any of you go through this...and how do you deal with it? Success?

something i have learned in treatment for eating disorders....

Even after integration of my alters I still do not have the body image that I wish I had. wrong shape this part of my body too small that part too big that part too long you name it. been there done that. it was really bad to the point of eating disorders and hospitalization..

what it finally came down to was not worrying about my physical body and comparing it to the image I want to be. but to instead follow what my treatment providers say is healthy for me.

Rather than fad dieting, fad starving, skipping meals and such things I threw away all the stuff in my life that wasnt working and consulted with my doctors. they helped me to find that happy medium of my treatment providers version of a healthy diet complete with a plan that included all food groups (something I learned in an eating disorder facility was that most human stomachs and digestive systems are not meant to be eating just this or that, the human body has evolved to where everything works together and when deprived the body goes into starvation mode of saving this or that for later in the form of fat cells) eating a full range and more but smaller meals fools the brain and body into getting rid of whats not needed instead of storing it for later.

rather than binge exercising then give up I am also on a carefully selected by my treatment providers exercise routine. this also enables my body to get rid of the excess calories without my having to restrict my diet making the brain and body slip into storing for later mode...

my suggestion would be contact your or a treatment provider. they can help you to achieve the body image you want without causing your body more harm then good.

as for my alters having a different body image then I had I discovered something interesting. the body images of my alters were the same body images that I had at those ages. I discovered this by looking at photographs of me at those ages and comparing them to what my alters were sharing with my treatment providers and me. once I discovered that I did not have a problem with their body image being different than mine.. I was an adult they were children/ teens so of course their body image was going to be different than mine and also their body image ultimately was mine when i was their ages. they came from me through dissociation, therefore their body images were mine at one time or other anyway. the difference was I was looking at their body images from my present age and point of view and they were looking at their / what used to be my body image from the point of view of their own sense of agency (who and what they were, their memories, trauma's, emotions, control ... all that stuff that can be found in my links at the bottom of my post)

It feels like wearing that over sized, furry, full length winter coat.

[L.P.]

Kinda maybe? I feel smaller than I ought to be. I know part of it is a weight problem. I have been underweight for much of my life and it is one of those things I need to be hyper vigilant about. Then the other part of it for me is that body mind disconnect I have. I do not connect to my body like it's my own, it's smaller framed than I am, it's shorter than I am, it's just not me. It's off. It's not what I am supposed to look like. I've been doing host type stuff for a few years now and still get weirded out when I see myself and understand that woah, this is my body. How did that happen? Bizarre. Sometimes I catch myself staring in a mirror actually poking my face. I don't look like me, but clearly I do or I would not be in this body. Some part of my body issues I have zero control over until I settle into this skin... if I ever do, that is.

As for weight and stuff I can control, for me, it's hard to be consistent. Just because I want to eat right and exercise, it doesn't mean everyone else in here with me wants to. Some don't even understand that it is important and necessary to eat. Most of us struggle to feel/understand hunger cues. A lot of us just do not eat. Ever. It's a problem. I end up undoing my own progress a lot as a result. I try to just pick up the pieces and bounce back. It can be difficult to do when your progress gets undone over and over.

Best advice I have on this is to try to get as many on board as you can and make a united front with the same goals in mind. I do much better when I have others around with the same goals as my own. Amsterdam and Gwen are champs for this kinda thing and when they are more active, food and exercise are way easier for me to stick with consistently... I get help, you know?

I also seem to do better when I am excited about food and exercise. That vibe seems to be contagious and others pick up on it.

I try to keep healthy snacks around with notes saying they are to be eaten so littles have something to go for if and when they show up and others know what they can and cannot eat (if they care about that kinda thing). As a bonus, I have less things like milk spilled all over the floor if there is just something to grab and eat as is, so that's a bonus.

I also try to keep a list of what has been eaten that day and what cardio/strength/flexibility stuff has been done that day so stuff can not only be attended to but not overdone.

I actually put a ridiculous amount of time into stuff like this, but it has kept me largely above an anorexic weight for three years now, so it seems worth it to me. Food and exercise is a large part of my existence. If you ever wanna talk recipes or cardio or whatever, I'm all about it. Not sure about you, but having other people to talk to about this kinda thing help keep me motivated and on track.

-V