Some days thoughts about weight take up the whole day. They arrive when you wake, at a meal, in front of a mirror or at the scale. These seven practices are for those days. They are optional, they do not give any weight or diet advice, and they do not replace a clinician or a meal plan that someone has set for you.
1. Name it
You can say to yourself, “Weight worry is loud today.” Naming it is a small pause. It does not say the worry is true or false.
2. Feel your feet
Press your feet into the floor and notice where you are held. Grounding gives your attention a steady place that is not a number or an image. It takes a few seconds and nobody needs to see it.
3. Look at the room
Let your eyes move round the room and rest on ordinary things. Orienting brings your attention to the space around you. Name a few things quietly: “window, mug, door.”
4. Keep to your regular care
If you have a meal plan, medicine, monitoring or a care plan from a clinician, keep to it. Nothing here replaces it, and these practices should not be used to cut food, skip meals or change what a clinician has advised. If you are not sure what to do, ask the clinician who set the plan. Do not change medicines to fit a practice.
5. Move attention to something else
A gentle walk, with your eyes open and your attention on your surroundings, is optional, and only if your clinical or eating-disorder movement plan allows it. If a clinician has set limits on your activity, follow those and choose a seated alternative instead. Do not use a walk to delay eating or to make up for a meal, and follow your meal and exercise plans. Call a friend, wash up, tidy a drawer or do a job that needs your hands. You are not trying to get rid of the thought. You are giving your attention somewhere else to be.
6. Limit the triggers
If scales, tracking apps, mirrors or social media accounts about bodies make things louder, you can put them out of sight or mute them for a while. Choose what you can manage. If you have been told to monitor your weight for a medical reason, follow that advice, and ask the clinician how to do it in a way that works for you.
7. Ask for support early
You can tell a friend or family member, “My weight worries are loud today. Can you sit with me?” You can ask your doctor or a therapist for help at any point. You do not have to wait to feel that it is bad enough.
The NHS on eating disorders
The NHS eating disorders overview (https://www.nhs.uk/mental-health/feelings-symptoms-behaviours/behaviours/eating-disorders/overview/) says that unhealthy eating behaviours may include eating too much or too little or worrying about your weight or body shape. Symptoms it lists include spending a lot of time worrying about your weight and body shape, avoiding socialising when you think food will be involved, eating very little food, making yourself sick or taking laxatives after you eat, exercising too much, and having very strict habits or routines around food. It also lists physical signs, including feeling cold, tired or dizzy, feeling your heart racing, fainting or feeling faint. It says that if you think you may have an eating disorder, see a GP, meaning your doctor, as soon as you can, and that it may help to bring a friend or loved one with you. If you recognise any of this, you can ask for help now.
Breath
You do not need to do anything with your breath. If you like, let one exhale out slowly, uncounted. Skip it if you are anxious, and stop if you feel dizzy. Ordinary breathing is the alternative.
If you are worried about someone else
If you are worried about a friend or relative, you can tell them what you have noticed in a gentle, private way and say you are there. Do not argue about food or weight. Encourage them to see a doctor, and look at the NHS page above for the warning signs.
If you feel faint or unwell
If you feel faint or dizzy, have chest pain, or your heart is racing, do not wait. Sit or lie down somewhere safe and get medical help. Call your local emergency number if you currently have palpitations that do not go away, or palpitations with chest pain, shortness of breath, or feeling faint or fainting (NHS heart palpitations page: https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/heart-palpitations/). Do not drive yourself: ask someone to drive you or call your local emergency number and ask for an ambulance, and bring any medicines you take. If you have had those symptoms and they have stopped, ask your doctor’s surgery for an urgent appointment or get urgent medical advice. Use your local emergency number for sudden chest pain or discomfort that does not go away, for pain that spreads to your arm, neck, jaw, stomach or back, or for chest pain with sweating, feeling sick, light-headedness or shortness of breath. Nothing here is a reason to delay care.
If you feel unsafe
If you have thoughts of harming yourself, contact a crisis line or your local emergency number now, and stay with someone you trust.
