<p>I dont know if this is just a personal problem or if it effects other people as well, but I'll present it specific to my case:</p>
<p>First off, I'm a guy. And at home, I eat a LOT.</p>
<p>I've always gone to overnight summer camp as a kid. Homesickness has never been a real issue for me, but the one thing that always took place is that'd I would NEVER be hungry while at this camp. If I did eat, I'd feel sick afterwards and like throwing up. I stopped going to the camp after I was 13, and I figured the not eating thing was just because I was young and away from home.</p>
<p>In the summer after my soph year of high school, I went to Paris for a school trip and sure enough, barely ate the whole time because my appetite vanished and the taste/smell of food made me sick to my stomach. I ate one full meal on the trip and was throwing up ~20 minutes later.</p>
<p>I went to my college orientation about a month ago, and sure enough could not eat any of the free food handed to me because my appetite seemingly went negative. I'm leaving for my freshman year of college in a few weeks and this is the ONLY thing I am nervous about.</p>
<p>I LOVE food so this is naturally very depressing to me. Also, being a guy (and this probably goes for anyone), I don't enjoy looking anorexic when Im not.</p>
<p>So basically, it seems as though every time in which I'm on my own for an extended period of time, I dont get hungry and food becomes my enemy.</p>
<p>I have no idea what's going on here. Has anyone ever experienced something similar, and if you have, what did you do about it?</p>
<p>^(Also a dude) since I was 3 I’ve gotten this progressively worse aversion to certain foods so that I pretty much just eat cr@p all the time now. The healthiest things I probably eat are spoonfuls of peanut butter and pasta. I don’t eat vegetables, or most meats.</p>
<p>My solution (which I’ve yet to do) is to shell out $285 for 3 hypnotist sessions to fix it. But your milage may vary.</p>
<p>This happens to me too. Eventually, I just got so hungry that I had to start eating. Once that happened (early Octoberish) I was fine. But then I went to Costa Rica this summer and the same thing happened. Hunger always wins :/.</p>
<p>You can either see a psychologist or just wait. Eventually your mind will realize it’s ****ing stupid to not eat and you’ll suddenly be REALLY hungry ;)</p>
<p>The thing about college is that after some time goes by, it won’t feel like camp or vacation because it isn’t–it’s another home. Once you have a sense of “home” at school, you’ll probably eat the same way you do now.</p>
<p>In the meantime, you can avoid losing a lot of weight by eating foods with high calorie density. You’ll be able to take in a good number of calories without feeling as though you’ve eaten a lot of food. Peanut butter is good for this. For different reasons, I drink Ensure Plus shakes–you can find them in the nutrition section of Target or a grocery store–which taste like chocolate milk and have plenty of calories and vitamins. Another idea would be eating smaller, more frequent meals–like six large snacks a day instead of three meals–so that you don’t have to ingest so much food at once.</p>
<p>If things don’t improve after a few weeks, you’ve nothing to lose by talking to a counselor at your school’s wellness center. S/he can help you adjust, as well as potentially refer you to a nutritionist who will be able to help you plan your meals so that you get all the nutrients you need.</p>
<p>Sounds like your depress which leads to homesick. If things do not get better, as the person above suggested seek help from the school wellness center. They should direct you to the right person. Good luck.</p>
<p>This happens to me too, but more in cycles than triggered by being at/away from home. I’m just not hungry and the thought of food just does honestly not sound appealing. I’ll eat like one meal a day during those times, and even sometimes that’s too much. Then on the other end, I’m much hungrier, eating 3-4 meals a day.</p>
<p>You will eventually get hungry, but talking to a counselor about possible reasons for this loss (missing the comforts of home, picky eater, whatever) couldn’t hurt at all.</p>
<p>Thanks for the replies. The thing is though is that I DON’T get homesick, and considering that, there’s no reason I should have depression symptoms. And talking to a specialist at the school about it takes awkward to a whole new level and requires balls that I don’t have.</p>
<p>This always happens to me when my eating schedule changes abruptly. Eating each meal earlier or later than usual can make me lose my appetite or make my stomach hurt.</p>
<p>It’s not necessarily homesickness or depression–it could be plain old stress. Even if we don’t realize it, living outside our home environment can cause a lot of stress in our bodies. Lots of people’s digestive systems get messed up when they travel, regardless of the food they’re eating (or not eating). </p>
<p>Wait and see what happens. Chances are that you might not have much of an appetite for the first few weeks or so, but as you become acclimated to the new environment your appetite will return. If a few weeks go by and you’re not seeing any improvement, I’d strongly urge you to talk to a nurse/nutritionist/counselor at your wellness center. If it helps, don’t you think it’s worth the “awkwardness”? There’s no point in waiting until it starts to affect your health–trust me, you really don’t want to have your immune system weakened during your first semester of college–and at any rate, you’ll have better things to worry about.</p>
<p>Can you pinpoint what may be triggering your response? For instance, are you nervous/anxious eating around people? Are you anxious eating in public? Could the problem be an anxiety issue more than an eating issue? Do you eat when you go out to dinner or do you avoid going out to dinner and eat home?</p>
<p>The fact that you’re worried about this above all other things regarding the transition to college signals to me that you should seriously consider a few counseling sessions before you start college. Counseling may help you to figure out what may be the underlying issue. Once you face this and address it, you will be better able to move on and make a smooth transition to college.</p>
<p>You admitted that eating outside your home environment has been an issue for years. It’s very likely that the problem isn’t with the eating, but with an underlying anxiety/phobia associated with it. Isn’t it time to deal with this “head on” so you can move on and rid yourself of the fear? I suggest you meet with a counselor a few times before you go away to school.</p>
<p>I’m girl and I have a similar condition. For some reason, when I’m away from home I am really self-conscious about eating.</p>
<p>At my freshman orientation two weeks ago, my suite mates actually asked me if I was anorexic! Every time we went to the cafeteria I would make a plate of things that I thought I wanted to eat, but when I sat down, I couldn’t eat any of it. Everything either tasted terrible and made me feel sick or made me lose my appetite completely. It doesn’t help that I’m a vegetarian, so I’m already picky with food. At the end of the three days, all I’d manage to eat was an apple, one bite of a veggie burger, and a tiny portion of a salad plus tons of water. </p>
<p>Anyway, at home, I eat like a perfectly normal person. So I’m hoping that once I get settled in at school, I’ll be able to eat healthily.</p>
<p>As some other people mentioned, it might be anxiety related. It seems like you don’t really have a social anxiety problem or are aware of being anxious about something else. It could have all started out when you went away for the first time and couldn’t eat. You have come to expect that when you’re away from home you will not be able to eat. You may not be completely aware of this, but it could be in the back of your mind. So you could be anxious about eating away from home. When you get near food you become anxious about having to eat. Loss of appetite is a very common symptom of anxiety, especially when food is the specific source of anxiety.</p>
<p>Hopefully as you get adjusted at college, it will become more like your new home and you will be more relaxed. I recommend eating more small meals/healthy snacks instead of 3 large meals. I’ve found that fruit and salad are good to eat when anxious, versus fatty, processed foods. Maybe you should try and see a psychologist before you start school. He/she can teach you methods of coping with this since it could be anxiety related.</p>