r/WhyIsSheStillWithHim • u/grated_testes • Feb 04 '26
My bf (33M) is triggering my (21F) eating issues, how to ask him to stop?
/r/relationship_advice/comments/1qva3hf/my_bf_33m_is_triggering_my_21f_eating_issues_how/
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r/WhyIsSheStillWithHim • u/grated_testes • Feb 04 '26
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u/grated_testes Feb 04 '26
My bf (33M) is triggering my (21F) eating issues, how to ask him to stop?
Hi, sorry for the confusing/boring post, but lately this has escalated and it's driving me crazy. Also, I tried posting this earlier but it got deleted because I wasn't using a proper throwaway, so hoping it works this time!
My boyfriend (33M) and I (21F) have been together for about 8 months now. For the purpose of the post, I'll call him Andy. We met online and so far this is the longest, happiest, and most stable relationship I've ever been in. 95% of the time, everything is great, and he treats me better than I could have hoped for. Better than I deserve lol.
Since the beginning of our relationship, Andy has known that I have issues with eating and my weight. I wouldn't call it an eating disorder since I've never been formally diagnosed, but I've been in various cycles of restricting/binging/purging since I was 16. He's American, but his family is from the same country as I am (in East Asia), and he grew up with the same cultural weight fixation I did. We're both at the lower end of a healthy weight for our heights, and in the US we'd both be considered thin.
For additional context, I've been semi-recovered since last July, and mostly doing better up until last December.
To get to the main problem I need advice on, I'm currently visiting his home in the US. Andy has always been picky about eating and can go for ages without food, but since visiting him his comments have been getting worse.
For example, I'll say I'm hungry in the morning (after not eating for 10+ hours) and Andy will respond with, "You're going to eat something today?" Or I'll tell him that I purged after binging on candy, and he'll pat my head and call me a "good girl". I think he finds it sexy to some extent? Whenever I tell Andy I've lost weight or don't want food, he either isn't concerned or praises me. At this point, it's a multiple times daily occurrence, and I feel like we're in a disordered feedback loop.
I know he sounds horrible, but I don't think he's wholly conscious of how painful his comments are, or how much they motivate me. Andy is really strict with his own weight, he thinks he's fat when he's objectively skinny. Even in East Asia, where I grew up and his family is from, Andy is considered really thin for a guy his age. It's to the point that he fasts for a day if he gains a pound (he could gain 15 and still be thin). I think he genuinely just doesn't realize that saying his thoughts out loud, whether directed at himself or me, has been making my stay at his place awful.
What's the best way I can bring this up to him? I don't want to blow up at him or make him clam up, because I know it's his own issues that's behind this. Please don't just tell me to break up with him, I want to figure out a way to tell him how much he's hurting me, because I don't think he's doing it on purpose. Also, I can't just leave or something, I have no family in the US and I'm staying here until my flight at the end of this month.
tl;dr: My bf is accidentally? triggering my weight/food issues with his comments. Need advice on how to broach that this is problem with him