Am I alone in my strangeness?

This may sound very weird, but I'm fifteen and I have an imaginary friend. Obviously not in the same way a five-year-old might, but it still strikes me as odd. A little while ago, I invented her and she coaches me through being healthy. When I'm exercising, I imagine she is running along right next to me and encouraging me. When I'm in the kitchen, especially, she's standing there and judging my choices. If I'm about to do (or eat) something I'll later regret, she screams and me to stop and assess the situation. Almost always, I'll realize that I don't really want that food, after all. She's like my best friend. And I sound like such a loser right now, lol. But I was just wondering, does anyone else in this entire website have the same... oddity? Or should I just write myself off as insane?

Oh, and I was thinking... maybe my friend would appreciate some names to choose from. ?

;D

I'm with you on this, though, I hate to say my imaginary 'friend' is anything but. They're the horrible person who tells me I'm fat and horrible, looks at what I'm eating and tells me just WHERE that food will go in graphic detail, ot how high the number on the scale will jump. They remind me that I'm not as thin as some of my friends, What foods are 'safe' and unsafe, that I need to run harder, faster, longer, to do that extra set of military presses or crunches to burn off what I did eat.

Needless to say, my friend isn't a friend. :( I'm working on kicking them to the curb though.

Maybe you should adopt my friend's twin sister ;D And kick that other friend out! CHYEAH! 

But on a serious note; your friend is not a good person. ='[ I know those thoughts, though, and they're not comforting at all =/ One foot in front of the other- and soon you'll be walking out the door.

Ha, well it's actually more like "door-or-or" because that's how they sing it in my favorite Christmas movie ;D And I'm not Christian...

im sorry to disappoint you but that isn't imaginary friend it your conscience  , i guess we all have it in us to warn us what to eat and to do sport  and other stuff , but we all hear it as an inside voice when you see it as a person , i dont know about that , but i think it will desepper while you grow up .

Lol I know ;] But I tend to take it a little far... for example, I'll talk to my "conscience" out loud and imagine that she responds back. And I always walk on the left side of the sidewalk so that she has room on the right side to walk next to me O_o I know she's not real (of course) but I realized it's a little strange to make enough food for two people when I'm home alone... wow, I can't believe I just admitted that. Lol =P Thank you =]

i bet everyone has some weird thingy of some kind:)

I think you'd really only have a serious problem if you; a) never admitted that you had this imaginary friend; b) didn't truly understand this friend was imaginary; and c) if you use your friend as an excuse to hurt yourself and/or others.

Right now it seems as though you just need someone to help you make the right choices -- you clearly know what they are, you are just looking for validation.  She seems like a good friend.  But, it might be more beneficial if you could develop this relationship with a real person.

As far as the eating/exercising goes -- eventually you will take responsibility for your decisions.

my $.02

Original Post by bigdude:

Is she hot?

 lmao...

Original Post by bigdude:

Is she hot?

wouldn't matter -- she's probably 15 like the OP.  And you are how old?

i do something almost exactly like that, except my 'friend' is an imaginary bettie page hahahhaha. bettie is part of my motivation, i want a body like hers so she's always there telling me to do ALL of my exercising/inspires me to try more diverse or 'strange' health foods.

& it's not weird at all. everyone has their own little twists to help them achieve their goals! some are just more creative than others. you're just exercising your imagination along with your body

I have one of those too! Except mine's a hot Korean guy named Tae-woong. I tend to have mental conversations with him whenever I'm exercising, or when I'm by myself for too long. I basically bounce stuff off of him in order to reinforce what I already know [like stuff for class], and he keeps me on task [like reminding me that I should do homework or exercise instead of playing on the internet].

Don't worry about it too much--you know this person isn't real, and she's serving a useful function. And I don't have any name suggestions, but you could always browse baby name sites for ideas!

nope not at all! I'm glad you have a nice friend though... I've been to ED support groups and a lot of people's ED's have shifted into the form of an imaginary friend. I know with my ED I don't have an actual person per-se but I do have a voice telling me what to eat what not to eat and when to exercise... and sometimes I'll find myself saying these things out loud or having to talk myself out of whatever the voice is telling me to do (since it's usually negative or unhealthy).

See now I see that as strange... I'm weird.

i used to do something kinda like this. i would pretend to have a conversation in my head with someone real like they were there. just like working out how a conversation would go. i used to do it a lot because well, i had a lot of time on my hands and i would often be daydreaming. but one day i was doing this and i was in the kitchen and i was getting a glass of water and took out two glasses. that's when i really realized how weird it had become. so i made myself stop doing this.

i don't think it's exactly harmful at the moment but it's something i'd rather not spend my time doing any longer. and i'd rather not play tricks on my mind like that because if you pretend something for long enough it can become real to you.

I have something kind of similar....everytime I can't be bothered exercising, or am considering giving into a craving, I imagine THE guy that I am completely in love with (very unrequited) and how if I don't eat the unhealthy thing or if I DO go and exercise heaps maybe he will like me more...

It's a little unhealthy and sad for me I know but it tends to work!!