My brother's eating habit make me panic/meltdown
So I have a 16 year old brother and to make it even worse he magically decided to go gluten free without good reason and without consulting a physician. He eat everything in sight and it is causing me serious psychological damage. Last night I watch him eat a whole box of food that'd last me 2-3 meals. What's worse is my parents are on his side even though a eats so fast we can't store enough food in the freezer, but try keep telling me to but more when I'm buying food too out freezers capacity.
Last night when I watched him eat I ran away to my room and locked myself in with days worth of boxed goods like mochi and bottled water before breaking down crying because I couldn't protect it.
My girlfried said I'm just overcompensating because I can't produce sperm(ftm) so I see a man as someone who must procure and protect food. I don't know if that's right? Or maybe because it ruins my routines and schedule?
If your brother has changed his eating habits and your parents support it, unless you're supporting the household I think you should try to respect the situation as it is. If you are buying your own food with your own money and that's getting eaten without your consent, that is another story.
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We are not so different from potted plants in that, if given everything we need to be properly nourished, the outcome can be incredibly contrary to when we are not. A flower won't grow in flour, and neither can we.
Is he eating your food in particular (that you specifically got for yourself whether you actually paid for it or not) or general household food? If he's eating your food, you could try asking him not to and write your name on your stuff so he knows not to mess with it (this works with my dad, who is really bad about eating everyone's food). If he's eating household food, then you probably can't really do anything about it, except maybe ask your parents if you can get some food that would be just for you and then write your name on it. If he's eating that much (that your parents can't keep food in the freezer), maybe he should see a doctor to make sure he doesn't have some kind of health problem that's making him super hungry all of a sudden.
I think that if you buy your own food you should be able to protect it. You might even get a mini fridge for your room. As far as what your girlfriend says about you protecting your food because you can't produce sperm, I think that's a bunch of bull poop. If you weren't protecting your food before your brother changed his eating habits and you are now that has nothing to do with your sperm count otherwise you would have been doing that for a long time before.
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"I'm bad and that's good. I'll never be good and that's not bad. There's no one I'd rather be than me."
Wreck It Ralph
Watching someone eat a large amount of food quickly can be very disturbing for many people. For me, if I see someone eating like you've described causes me to lose my appetite, and sometime I even stop liking the particular food they were eating. Maybe your are just reacting to this?
Wtf does sperm have to do with your anxiety over him eating too much?
Anyways, I think I understand you. It doesn't bother me, but I could see how it would bother you.
"What's worse is my parents are on his side even though a eats so fast we can't store enough food in the freezer, but try keep telling me to but more when I'm buying food too out freezers capacity."
I'm pretty sure you meant to type "buy". If you did, you are not responsible for buying food for someone else to eat like that. He may have an eating disorder or other medical problem, but your parents are flat out wrong if they are telling you to provide the food for this issue.
You said he suddenly went gluten free. It's possible he is getting obsessed with his health and starving himself and then is binging. If he went vegan or is not eating enough protein or carbs, he will be hungry all of the time. Is he eating junk? Nutritious meals?
If possible, buy your own food (if you aren't) and keep some to yourself. The response you are having happened to me whenever I felt like I was going to starve because of lack of food in the house.
If he is eating up all the food where something is gone within a day instead of in three days, I can understand why it would be frustrating. He eats it all up before you get the chance to have it. My mom also did not tolerate it either. If she bought ice cream, she would yell about it being gone in two days. Food costs money and can get expensive and it's expensive now so I can see where she came from so my brothers and their friends would buy their own food to munch on and that solved the problem. Their money, not her issue, their choice.
If it is your food he is eating, how about buying a mini fridge to put your food in and put a lock on it. My brother did that when his brother's friends kept taking his pop he would buy with his money. It was our parents mini fridge but he bought himself a lock and put it on there where he always kept his pop.
I also remember the days I used to hide food in my room so I could get the chance to eat it before it's all gone because my brothers ate a lot and they didn't really think about someone else not having it yet so they should save it for that person and wait until everyone in the household has had one first before having more.
When I first met my husband and lived together, he was bad at keeping track of how much he has had so far like how many pop tarts from a box he has had or how many fruit snacks. We used to split our foods we would buy and if there was six in a pack, we each got three and he was not able to keep track of how many he has had so he would end up eating my food and I would be screaming at him about it so to solve the problem, I started to just open them and split it and make my pile and his. I did that with my ex boyfriend too when I was supporting him to help him out. he also did the same mistake too my husband made, ate up all my Tap Ramen noodles when one side of the pack was his and he ended up eating all of mine and I was upset over it. So after that incident, I just made a section for him in the kitchen and would open up new boxes of foods and packages and put them there for him and put the rest away that was mine and told him everything in that cupboard there was his food and that is all he could touch.
Now when there is foods I want, I tend to hide it at the back of the fridge since no one bends down to see if there is anything tucked in the back on the bottom shelf so I know it's safe there. Then I have it for breakfast the next day. There are other people living in my house so food will get eaten even though no one eats like a pig.
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Son: Diagnosed w/anxiety and ADHD. Also academic delayed and ASD lv 1.
Daughter: NT, no diagnoses. Possibly OCD. Is very private about herself.
op.... teenagers are supposed to eat everything in sight. You pretty much just have to get over it. Maybe get your parents to get you a mini-fridge with a lock? they are relatively cheep
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AQ: 31
Your Aspie score: 135 of 200
Your neurotypical (non-autistic) score: 63 of 200
You are very likely an Aspie
Sweetleaf
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Joined: 6 Jan 2011
Age: 36
Gender: Female
Posts: 35,278
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I am a little confused, you say he is on a gluten free diet but eats everything in sight....even food you buy yourself. I suppose I am a little bit confused how that correlates with a gluten free diet since a large majority of food has gluten so people on that diet have to buy specific foods and avoid ones with certain ingredients.
Also though being that you have to avoid certiain foods and ingredients on a gluten free diet it might take more food to get to the same point of being full...but I mean even my 20 year old brother can eat a ton has for a very long time but he needs to, he doesn't do it just to use up all the food just actually needs to eat that much.
I mean if you buy your own food specifically for you, then yeah either keep it in your room.....tell him to stay out of the food you buy for yourself or maybe label it as yours so he knows whats yours and doesn't take it. But he is 16 if he eats food your parents buy then well he is still a minor and still in the position to have parents somewhat provide for them....he could possibly consider a part time job at that age to help buy some of his own food but sometimes school is plenty for people that age. Aside from that it is something you might just have to address about yourself and work on why it upsets you and if there are any better ways to react or handle it.
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Tis the time to melt the Ice.
I never ate all food I saw in sight nor ate a shedload of it but I had an eating disorder and was obsessed about my weight and also I am female so I am sure female teens don't eat as much as teen guys. They don't need as many calories as teen guys do.
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Son: Diagnosed w/anxiety and ADHD. Also academic delayed and ASD lv 1.
Daughter: NT, no diagnoses. Possibly OCD. Is very private about herself.
Sweetleaf
Veteran
Joined: 6 Jan 2011
Age: 36
Gender: Female
Posts: 35,278
Location: Somewhere in Colorado
Watching someone eat a large amount of food quickly can be very disturbing for many people. For me, if I see someone eating like you've described causes me to lose my appetite, and sometime I even stop liking the particular food they were eating. Maybe your are just reacting to this?
That is weird and I have never heard of that....only problem I have with other people eating is if they chew with their mouth wide open and make a lot of gross noises chewing up their food. But I guess I just cannot in my mind see how watching someone eat a large amount of food provided they aren't doing it in a gross way could possibly be disturbing but I am sure there are things that disturb me that people would have no understanding of to.
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Tis the time to melt the Ice.
off-topic:
I just want to point out that that's not biologically true at all, it's just a meme of american culture that girls need/eat less. This results in them under-eating which results in them being smaller then men which then results in women seeming like they need less, when in fact they are just chronically undernourished. If it weren't for gender-stereotypes men and women would have similar average height/weight etc.
end off-topic:
I think OP's main issue is probably not being able to secure snacks for himself when he is hungry because his brother already ate them. This is why lockable food-storage is optimal. If your brother is competent enough to understand he is on a gluten free diet then just buy non-gluten free snacks he cant eat. if he will eat them anyways and make himself sick then you are kinda s**t out of luck (unless you can lock them up)
_________________
AQ: 31
Your Aspie score: 135 of 200
Your neurotypical (non-autistic) score: 63 of 200
You are very likely an Aspie
Ok, let me clear some things up. I am gluten-free. If I eat gluten I get heart burn and diarrhea, left too long eating gluten and I'll develope stomach ulcers. He started eating gluten free because my mom pressured him into it after I saw success in my improved health. He hasn't made any progress as of yet and all they're trying to do is cute his constipation which I'm almost certain he has because he doesn't drink enough fluids.
The food he is eating is kept in the freezer. Sometime I do buy snacks with my own money and it's very hard to protect them. Still the issue is I'm the one being told the food is expensive and my mom scolds me for what I eat... When my brother eats 90% of it. So in the face of being scolded I eat even less.
I am underweight. At 5 foot 7 inche tall I only weight about 102 pounds now. I have very little energy too. The guilt of the money spent is too much for me to handle. My brother eats probably over $20 a day when I eat $5-10 unless my dad takes me out. Last night in order to being myself to eat food I had to get drunk first because it was the onl way to swallow my guilt. My family does not seem to care how underweight I am getting. My weight doesn't go up and still sees drops at times. I'm scared I'm going to kill myself.
