stardust22
Active member
Hi! This is my first post...sorry if it is a bit of an essay. I have been following the threads on here as well as Tiffany's videos and I wanted to interject on the food and eating issue. I do think people need to be open to the fact that Tiffany might have an eating disorder. For context, I am not a professional expert. I am however very familiar with the signs and symptoms and how they present themselves because of multiple experiences in my family. I apologise in advance if this post is triggering for some people.
I think it is very likely that eating might cause Tiffany pain and perhaps she is not transparent enough about those symptoms, so maybe this post of mine is unfair or presumptuous. Perhaps I am being really unfair. However, I do feel that her language around food, her size, and her behaviour are all very characteristic of someone with disordered eating, and this is something I have also seen in her earlier videos, from before she was diagnosed. She could well have been affected by cancer then too (albeit unknowingly) which could have affected her weight, but I don't think it would account for her overall relationship with food which I would argue has been unhealthy for years.
- In early videos of Tiffany's she would post videos of herself eating food (Mukbangs, I think you called them!), often mentioning how long she had gone without eating (all day, 8 hours, etc). When this becomes a pattern, I do think one could assume she might be restricting her food intake, only to later "reward" herself with high calorie food seen in her Mukbangs. Most people find time in the day to eat something, and most jobs permit us to take lunch breaks etc. I have had days where I didn't eat because I've been busy or stressed but (even now) Tiffany always talks about how long it has been since she last ate and I do not think this is reflective of someone who is trying to maintain or increase weight gain.
- She generally posts a lot of videos about food: without actually eating much. In one of her earlier videos posted during lockdown (not linked), she boasted about how much she had been eating, then immediately stood up and turned to the side to check out her side profile (flattening her clothes against her stomach etc) which I thought was really off, and something she would have chosen to edit out, but also quite normal behaviour if you have had a difficult relationship with food for much of your life. I also find it hard to believe that someone who was eating non-stop would maintain such a low weight as the maths does just not check out. I appreciate her cancer may well have had a role here, but these people have often gone through much of their lives exaggerating about food and what they eat, but if you were to spend a day with them, you'd soon see they ate very little for meals, if at all.
- Tiffany has been told she needs to put on weight for her surgery. I think it is entirely possible (or probable) to assume that her cancer could be resulting in weight loss. But nevertheless she continues to talk about food all the time without really eating much. Notwithstanding the times when she is forced to fast because of scans, she constantly talks about how hungry she is, but she is almost always in a situation where there is no food e.g. in the car. She talks about what she will eat, but we don't really know if she does it when she gets home. If you had a lifeline thrown to you like this I really do think you would have a constant supply of high calorie food on you at all times.
- Even when presented with food, Tiffany uses extremely restrictive language around food. When offered food by her family, she often emphasises how she just wants a "tiny" piece, or how she "won't finish" something, or even how she "can't/won't/shouldn't" or is worried she will "overeat". The overeating comment was actually taken from one of her most recent videos, and she quickly corrected herself. But then why include it in the video?
I think it is very likely that eating might cause Tiffany pain and perhaps she is not transparent enough about those symptoms, so maybe this post of mine is unfair or presumptuous. Perhaps I am being really unfair. However, I do feel that her language around food, her size, and her behaviour are all very characteristic of someone with disordered eating, and this is something I have also seen in her earlier videos, from before she was diagnosed. She could well have been affected by cancer then too (albeit unknowingly) which could have affected her weight, but I don't think it would account for her overall relationship with food which I would argue has been unhealthy for years.
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