Food funeral grief — need advice

Adding the clinical framing, because it changes how the question reads.

Therapy insights from my mental health journey: my therapist introduced me to the concept of "identity updating" — the psychological work of becoming a new version of yourself.

Key realizations: I used food to manage emotions, I had internalized fatphobia that I'm still unpacking, my social identity was partly built around being "the big guy/girl," and learning to accept compliments is surprisingly hard when you've been invisible for years.

Physical transformation without emotional processing is unstable. Do both.

DoseLogDan said:

MariaRD said: ...mental health should only be used alongside therapy...

Recovering from an eating disorder and using mental health: this is a complex situation and I want to be transparent about it.

I have a history of binge eating disorder. My psychiatrist, therapist, and prescribing doctor all collaborate on my care. The GLP-1 agonist has actually been therapeutic — it removes the biological urgency of binge impulses without relying on restriction.

This is NOT appropriate for all ED patients. Anorexia, bulimia, and restrictive EDs require different approaches. But for BED specifically, the evidence and my personal experience are positive. Always involve your mental health team.

The figures, for anyone assembling their own picture. Keep the original post as written when you update it, and add the correction underneath. An edited-away mistake is invisible to the next person who makes it.

Following on from DoseLogDan — and this may be the naive question:

What would you measure differently if you were starting again?

Moderator note: good thread. Keeping it here rather than moving it, because the question is general enough to be useful. Thread quality here is what the rules are for. Keep it up.