hey.. i'm 23 and i've been where you are now..
actually i am just starting to get better now and trust me i know exactky how you feel.
i used to go to the gym as often as i could, go swimming twice a week, running like mad. i wouldn'thave canceled one of my training for anything on earth. i stopped seeing my friends, made excuses for not going out.
at the same time i was watchin everything i was eating, eating chewing gum all the time.
sometimes i'd be eating the same exact food for months coz it was reassuring, then i would eat out one evening and then pig out for a week, stop exercising, have fun and then find myself too big and start again.
now here is what it brought me...i almost lost my friends, my metabolism is very low and all those on and off diets have left me with water retention problems.
i was thinking of fasting to reset my body, then i panicked, got very confused, on the verge of a break down and i realised that there is no way i an going to do that for my whole life, the pressure i put on me and my body would only make things worse.
My body is maybe not the perfect body i dream of, but it is not that bad, at least i'm alive, i want to enjoy food and i want to have friends.
so i took decisive steps into getting better without overdoing it:
-i didn't go to the gym for a few weeks and decided to focus on the food issue first.
-i noticed that i used to eat my food really fast, not always sitting down, always doing something else like watching tv..i also noticed that i hated eating around people- so what i do now, i make sure that i set the table for me for everymeal in my kitchen, even if i don't use it all.
Then i put in front of me what constututes a healthy meal but i don't put it in my plate, rather in a few dishes of different items.
then i sit down, and help myself from the different stuff, i eat slowly and concentrate on the food. i don't count calories, but i do look at portions trying not to overdo it but also not not to eat enough.
i have reintroduced chicken turkey and fish in my diet as i think they are vital in keeping energy leveks ok plus musles..( i lost my boobs on a veggie diet by the way.. they're better now)
-when i'm done i leave the room.. do not clean the dishes right afterwars, it is a way of getting rid 'of the evidence' and eating should not be an issue, i usually do the dishes when i am cooking the next meal.
-as far as the gym is concerned, i am back there, but i limited my training considerably..toning up..ok but not at the expense of ypour health..what happens when you overexercise and/or undereat is that your muscles start to eat themselves up and trust me you don't want that...
i found a great exercise plan which i think is great because it really helped me into both going back to a healthy diet and being fit.. it is called the abs diet
basically..20 min of cardio three times a week
and 20/30 min of weight training three times a week on the days you don't do the cardio
Trust me they're is nothing worth sacryfing yourself that much..try that..be reular, be moderate, you won't get fat unless you eat out every night, binge drink at the weekend and sit on your ass 24/7.. but there is a fine line between being healthy, and happy..and obsessed and unhappy.
contact me if you want.
good luck to you, i know it is tough and try and get to me more balanced..you'll thank me and yourself for the years to come