My flatmate's eating habits might be affecting my own...

I'm physically hungry but not emotionally hungry (as in nothing "sounds" good to me even though I'll be lightheaded from hunger), so that mismatch contributes to this feeling of visceral discomfort that leads me to regurgitation. I've often felt like I'm physically hungry even though nothing "sounds good" to me — and I've never thrown up as a result. What you're doing is not normal. It raises a clear red flag, and you need to go to a doctor instead of settling for a diagnosis from random internet commenters. I find it pretty disturbing and inexplicable how you spend a whole paragraph on your roommate's choice of bread and eggs and sweeteners and exercise regime — before telling us that you seem to be almost-but-not-quite bulimic. I'm not qualified to diagnose you, and anyone who is qualified will have no business diagnosing you here. Go to a doctor. At minimum, being physically healthy requires eating plenty of nutritious food every day, so if you're rejecting a lot of your food then it would seem to be common sense that this is a serious medical problem.

The only thing that seems even conceivably problematic in your roommate's behavior is what you vaguely describe as "commenting on your food intake" which could be something as innocuous as saying "wow that's a big burger!" So you really don't give us enough to go on. But honestly it seems like you are really in denial about a serious problem you have. Anytime you routinely retire to your room so you can regurgitate your meal in privacy ... I'm sorry, that's a disorder.

I think you need to concentrate on your own eating behaviors and not concern yourself with the thickness of your flatmate's bread. Throwing up food after eating isn't a healthy habit to get into, the acidity of the vomit notwithstanding. Can you seen a therapist? Is there anyway for you to decrease your class load or take other steps to moderate the other stress factors in your life? If you don't like eatin around her, could you arrange to cook and eat with other friends?

Clarification about what I said about changing your thinking: It sounds like your main thoughts and feelings about her behaviour right now are annoyance and disdain. If you can replace those with compassion (which, I know, it's hard), you might find her easier to live with.

The diet your flatmate is eating, up until the recent low carb/Paleo craze started, was considered a healthy diet and was recommended by many doctors (i.e. a low calorie, low fat diet, avoiding eggs due to concerns about cholesterol, artificial sweeteners instead of sugar, "diet" foods). Of course, nowadays, a lot of that thinking has come into question/become controversial/been actually proven scientifically inaccurate. However, many people were raised on the idea that this type of diet is a great healthy diet. Many people also find working towards goals like doing daily exercise or swearing off certain food groups for a month to be motivating and helpful in terms of helping them achieve their health goals. (I say this as a person who finds resolutions about diet like monthlong challenges to really work for me in keeping me on track diet wise… then again I also like to eat the thin bread slices and drink my coffee with Splenda, so… to each their own.) Anyway, my point is, forget about her diet and exercise - she's doing what makes her happy and what she thinks will make her healthy. You've got to do the same for yourself. You're not happy with your current situation, and it sounds like it's getting in the way of you doing the things you need to do/want to do, and that means you need to get help in addressing it. Please do see your doctor about this. And if your flatmate does things that bother you, like putting food into your cabinets, politely ask her not to - try not to get into all your other thoughts about her diet and exercise behavior, just tell her what you'd like her to do. And if she says things that come off as kind of rude (like making sideways comments about food intake of other people), tell her that you don't appreciate those kinds of judgmental comments and would ask that she not comment on those things around you anymore. I don't think that would be an overreaction. Making implications that other people are eating too much or are overweight is pretty inappropriate and she deserves to get called out on it. But I don't think there's any conversation that you can have with your flatmate that will resolve your issue with the regurgitation if that is what you are implying with your question. That's something you'll need to address on your own.

I think that all you can do about your flatmate's behaviours is to enforce boundaries when they impinge directly on you. For example, you can say that she can't keep food in your cupboard anymore. You can stop her when she comments on other's people's (or your!) eating or weight or anything around you, and ask her not to do that as it makes you uncomfortable. You can continue to eat in a separate room from her (and maybe start inviting friends over for dinner semi-regularly so you still get the social aspect?) But I don't think you can do anything about the fact your flatmate cares deeply about diet and has what sounds like some disordered thinking about weight. You can't help the fact she eats foods you think are stupid. You can only model more normal eating behaviours around her (which might be really helpful for her, actually), and try to change the way you think about what she does and eats. Maybe practice thinking about how upsetting it must be to live in her mind, where calories and exercise probably take up a huge amount of her psychological and physical energy, and where she is constantly feeling like she has to police herself. As for the regurgitation, I don't know anything about that, so feel free to ignore me, but I think maybe you should talk to a doctor about it if you haven't already. At the very least, the fact that this is taking up hours of your time sounds like something you might want help with.

Hey there - I'm a longtime sufferer of rumination syndrome. It started when I was about 10 and going through a super stressful period in my family (lots of daily violence, periods of homelessness) and then never went away. There is a simple practice to treat this condition, so skip to the bottom if you want to read about it. It really does sound this period you are in is stressful to the point where it might be inducing the rumination response. Overeating can make it worse, so if it becomes a larger problem you can break your meals into small parts and be aware as you are eating to try to stop early. Then, and most importantly, try to find ways to reduce stress in your life. Can you prioritize? Is there any non-essential activity you can just take a break from? It's great that you are exercising, are you also making time to just read or hang out with friends? And as for medication - no worries, if there was something that worked I'd be on it. There is lots of evidence that http://www.ccdhc.org/handouts/Rumination%20Syndrome%20--%20Teaching%20Breathing.pdf This http://williamgoldenphd.com/overcoming-rumination-syndrome/, I don't know how well-verified that is. You have to do it while eating, and that will get the food to where it needs to be.

I've gone to a doctor. It truly isn't bulimia. It's more like the food doesn't even really get down to my stomach and is physically uncomfortable.

I've gone to a doctor. It truly isn't bulimia. It's more like the food doesn't even really get down to my stomach and is physically uncomfortable. I think the concern is more that this non-bulimia situation, combined with stress and your roommate's "contagious" food-anxiety, may start leading toward your restricting food much more.