Anyone can face psychological struggles with food and weight. This list shows signs that reflect a psychological issue with your eating pattern. It is significant to keep alert to any of the signs below:
- Preoccupation with food, Thinking about food all the time (Calories, Macros, eating time, always planning meals).
- Concerns about body weight, measurements, and clothes sizes. (weighing yourself all the time, keeping and trying old clothes, buying smaller sizes of clothes wishing to fit into them after a certain time).
- Wearing baggy, wide or dark-colored clothes trying to hide into them
- Discomfort eating around people
- Discomfort and anxiety around food on eating out (Due to the unplanned food, feeling the need to see menus pre going out )
- Choosing different food than your desire because it’s less in calories
- Having a hard time deciding what food to eat or buy
- Restricting certain food types or whole groups of food
- Skipping meals and Fasting for prolonged hours
- Putting off gatherings and going out only not to eat out
- Trying every diet trend
- Weight changes (YOYO diets)
- Isolation
- Having fluctuated body image
- Over-exercising, guilt on skipping exercise
- Having a hard time focusing on your tasks
- Extreme mood swings
- Frequent illness due to lowered immunity
- Females, irregular periods
- Food obsession (Hoarding food, having food rituals such as cutting food or chewing food for certain times, spending time organizing food).
- Using laxatives and diuretics to get rid of eaten food.
- Spending long times in the toilet, especially after meals trying (trying to get rid of food).
- Guilt and shame upon feeling hungry or eating
- Labeling food
- Huge body weight drop in a short time, baby hair on the body (common with Anorexia, Bulimia, and Diabulimia)
- losing control around food, episodes of eating food you can’t remember, noticeable weight gain (common with Binge eating disorder)
- tooth erosions, mouth ulceration, larynx inflammations (common with Bulimia)
- obsessing about if food is clean, labeling food as healthy and unhealthy, and only eating food they prepared (common with Orthorexia)
- Diabetes complications, avoiding testing and injecting insulin, changes in appetite, skipping follow-ups (common with Diabulimia).