no appetite after break up, should i force myself to eat?

[snow white]

ever since my boyfriend of three years and i broke up a couple of weeks ago, i've had very little to absolutely no appetite. when i DO feel a bit hungry, i spring on the moment and fix something to eat. i will only have a few bites and then i feel immediately full, and very often nauseous.

 

even drinking a smoothie/green machine naked juice (which i LOVE) is difficult to do.

 

i've never had any issues with food before, so this is all really foreign to me. i know that it's due to anxiety over the break up and perhaps a bit of depression. aside from being a little mopey and sad now and again, i can feel myself starting to feel more like myself, except for my appetite. i assume my stomach has withered down in size, for the first week i literally ate maybe a half a meal's worth of food a day.

 

do i "force" myself to eat? i really don't want to. i've always been one to listen to my body, and my body weight is not low, i'm healthy, so honestly it wouldn't be hurting me to lose a pound or two. i just don't want to have my immune system compromised or anything...

[gumiinexi]

I was pretty much the same way when I was going through a break up. I didn't have an appetite AT ALL, so I basically forced myself to eat a couple of bites everyday. I usually ate foods with liquid with them because they're easier to swallow... so I ate a lot of congee, and that kept me going throughout the day. Just take a couple of bites throughout the day, and even if you don't feel hungry at all, it's best to force yourself to eat because it's not doing your body any good! Keep healthy!

[ferna3069]

force yourself to eat a few bites. i know how you feel. when my ex first broke up with me i wasnt able to east for three days no appetite. then i would get hungry and after one bite i would feel bad agian. try to eat a few bites . let time pass and do everything u can to heal. trust me your apetite will return

[snow white]

thanks! eating a few bites here and there is what I've been doing. it's so crazy what stresses can do to your body, and it's pretty sad that I can barely finish an apple, heh.

[ferna3069]

yeah , but trust me it will get better. atleast your trying to eat . one thing did you dele your ex number?take everything that reminds you of him and put it in a box. and put it away some where u wont see it. and also delete him of facebook. this will work wonders.thats how i got my apetite back because i was ever to heal faster that way

[Crazyaboutdogs]

Remember that you don't want to ruin your health over this one person. It is enough that you are going through an emotional ringer, why should he determine your physical well-being as well. So force yourself to eat..and make sure to eat protein. Keep your strength up.

[sadchick83]

This bit of depression is caused by you not eating. It's like a vicious circle: not eating causes depression--depression reduces your appetite. The only way to break it to eat. Just force yourself to eat some snacks. You will feel better emotionally almost immediately.

[Success]

Force yourself to eat. First time my ex dumped me I lost almost 20 lbs in a month!!! Not only did I not look good, I did not feel good as well. Getting maybe 2-3 hours of sleep every night didn't help either. You need to take care of your physical body or else everything will fall apart. Little snacks regularly does wonders.

[Purrzzzzzz]

I am down to 113 pounds.. the only way I have found to eat is to get the food, then get your mind totally engaged in something else.. maybe someone else's sad story..

[DailyDreamer]

Yeah, I go through a "break-up diet" myself. Eating just turns me off, but I try and make myself drink a Slim-Fast or something like that. It's easier to drink a meal than having to chew on something. I read that smoothies weren't doing it for you, so I'm not sure what to recommend. Maybe one of those drinkable soups? You just throw one in the microwave and drink from the container. Maybe something warm and soothing will help a little?

 

I hope all of you having trouble with this heal and start eating healthy again. I just started getting a little back on track and getting in one meal a day that isn't liquid.

[ericssonfan]

Ahh man... I know exactly how everybody feels. I had little to no appetite at ALL during the first 2 weeks. I would say I lost about 10-12 pounds just from not eating. I'm in shape already and by the end of 2 weeks because of the weight loss, I was looking even more lean and ripped but I knew this was definitely not a healthy means to lose weight...

 

To look at it as a positive, you can use this as a rolling start to help you lose weight/get into shape as long as you start EATING. Plus working out will leave you exhausted and starving = more sleep and food.. plus the chemicals released during workouts will elevate your mood too!

[dramallama]

Your body needs support and nutrition during this tough time so make sure to take care of yourself, even if you don't feel like it.

[replytome]

I was the same. I lost about 5 kg in a week...which is a lot. And the problem is that I lose weight quite easily. What I did was not to force myself, and instead just drank a lot of orange juice. The appetite came back after a while.

 

I also smoked waaaay too much.

[nattpanter]

At least make shure you get enough liquids and get some vitamine-pills...

 

What I have done is talk to friends, then I`ve felt better and I`ve used this time of relief to really dig in as much as I can...

[snow white]

i don't have a scale, so i don't know how much weight i've lost but i can tell by the way my jeans & bra fit. funny though, i physically don't FEEL crappy, unless i go horse riding for a long time and burn too much energy. it's easier to force myself to drink juice even though it doesn't seem appetizing at all right now, and i'm pretty much just eating a couple of snacks throughout the day. at first sleeping was impossible, but now i've got that down fine. i'm sure my appetite will come back, it's just strange for right now.

 

interestingly enough, my ex has said that he hasn't been able to eat, or sleep, and has been having trouble, um, pooping. heh. and he's the one who made the decision for the break. at least i know he's going through some bad times too, ha!

[snow white]

and i've been taking vitamins.

 

but also smoking cigarettes too much.

 

 

 

*sigh* stress

[Love1336]

I lost over 5 pounds during the first couple weeks of my break up. I know five pounds might seem like nothing, but i am 4'11 and weighted 90 pounds. So you can do the math. ;] I wouldn't say FORCE yourself. Because I try to force myself, and i just become very nausea. I never did vomit, but i felt close to it.

 

Just drink plenty of water, and take the few bites you can!

However, after the whole "shock" of my break up. I was back to eating normal again.

Time, time, time is the KEY!

[Formula]

Im in the same situation aswell. Breakup was a month ago and i had just started to eat proper again last weekend then on Monday found out she is seeing someone else and im back to day one of the healing process and having almost zero appetite. As has been said eat small amounts of your fav food,this along with time will bring you back to some normality.

[musiclover]

I have always had problems eating when I've been upset about something. My best recommendation? Start working out. Push yourself hard on the cardio. Trust me, an hour at the gym will make the hunger come back REALLY quick! If that doesn't work, don't make meals for small bites, stock up on healthy snacks. I always keep a small bag of trail mix and a small bag of grapes with me at all times.

[RadicalDreamer]

I went through this too. Mine was a combination of guillt and the "addiction-withdrawal" effect. Don't force yourself to eat more than you can stomach, but make sure that whatever you eat has quality nutrition. Otherwise, you'll face lower energy levels, which will only make the bleak feelings even worse.

 

Also, make sure to supplement, so that you can get the vitamins and minerals you're not getting through eating. I recommend a good multi-vitamin, and a vitamin B-complex. The B-vitamins will make the "downturns" just a little bit more bearable.

 

It will get better. Appetite is affected by your emotional state, but it's still a physical impulse. It will come back. Hope that helps

 

P.S. - Also, as musiclover said, exercise will help tons too. especially good, vigorous cardio. The endorphines will help tremendously, too.

[Gerda]

I am down to 113 pounds.. the only way I have found to eat is to get the food, then get your mind totally engaged in something else.. maybe someone else's sad story..

This is a really good suggestion. Watching a really interesting television show or movie might help also.

 

I know exactly how this feels, dealing with it right now but I can stand to lose a lot of weight so for me it's a plus. I have half a turkey sandwich from yesterday I'm still nibbling on today. I'm exactly like you, trying to seize the moment when that awful post-loss nauseousness subsides for a moment to try to eat something, but I only get through a few bites, so I do a lot of putting food back in the fridge and going back to it throughout the day. I do force myself to eat because I feel the hunger pains and they are unpleasant, but I don't force myself to eat very much, just a little bit here or there. I think I'm going to go watch some 24 on Netflix (very engrossing!) and try to finish that sandwich.

 

If you are not hungry your mouth will not produce saliva, which begins the digestion process, so like other people have suggested, go for moister stuff. Good luck.

[Nholt]

I found this thread when doing a google search. I am going though this very thing right now. I feel hungry but have lost my appetite. I know I have to eat so I do and sometimes I really do feel better after eating but then the pain of breaking up hits again.