haven't read everything but like the comments about exercise above....if I don't move, my pain increases...all that energy just gets trapped in my muscles. It's hell. I try not to fidget and pace all the time though, but exercise some in a more organized way and try to balance with some version of stillness at times.
I have been diagnosed with anorexia, and for shorter periods in my past was obsessive about food. But for the majority of my adult life it would really be more like an atypical form of anorexia in that I couldn't maintain a healthy weight....without thinking about calories or worrying about my weight or anything (so few to none of the psychological associations to standard eating disorders, and not the body image distortion stuff). I have had very poor appetite cues for years, also could not eat when anxious, angry, or semi-dissociative (non existent), so that was just too often. I sort of ate to just survive, and was also hooked on the feeling of just barely surviving (that feels "okay" to me).
I am good at running on fumes. I have worked really consciously to eat better (and have gone through treatment since my stuff was diagnosed as anorexia, but I moved on to trauma therapy after that because I fundamentally couldn't take care of myself or get any connection to my body.
You have to make eating easy and also eat or have snacks when feeling pretty good. When feeling horrible, it has to be easy...easy to prepare, easy to eat. I don't even want to chew on bad days. Or swallow. I still do a little eating-to-survive, but have worked hard to just make decent meals and snacks a sort of habit that works even on bad days, for the most part. Now my new med is making me fat, so... that's easy... :meh:
