When I started backing away from obsessive thoughts about diet and exercise, "Who am I without it?" was too big to ponder. I had nothing. If you've neglected other interests for years, it's not obvious. You can't tick off a list of other things you're excited about or invested in. A place to start is, "What am I curious about?" So, things you might like to learn more about or pursue. If that is still crickets, "What was I excited about as a child?" Reading a book about a new interest, taking a class, or volunteering can help to expand your horizons and give you something else to focus on and feel good about. Then you start to get a greater sense of who you are and what is important to you.
Eating as little as possible was a lame hobby, it turns out. Plenty of other pursuits are more fun and make us feel excited and connected instead of isolated and anxious.
It's so interesting reading everyone else's responses because it makes me realize that I'm not a total loss :-D
I read a lot of books and love listening to audio books as well as podcasts. I'm in an Isabel Foxen Duke kick lately so I'm searching for as many podcast interviews with her as possible. I also enjoy Fitness & Sushi as they focus a lot on healing your relationship with food, body image, and exercise. I love walking the dog and we tend to go for multiple shorter walks a day than one or two longer. That's usually when I listen to podcasts but other times I enjoy listening to the sounds of birds or my feet on the pavement.
IMy guilty pleasure of late has been the Netflix series, "Cheer." I don't really agree with how hard the girls are pushed but it's been interesting watching so many of them come from underprivileged backgrounds and find a niche that's given them a community, family, and a way to feel confident and positive about themselves. Still, it's mostly just guilty pleasure watching and because there was always a part of me that wished I could do a decent cartwheel.
I still have a puzzle I'd like to get started on and once I get the motivation to turn up all the pieces it'll rage on.
I guess a lot of my free time is spent reading or listening to recovery podcasts. My main goal right now is learning to love my body and treat it with kindness. That's not really a hobby, but I'm doing some work sheets and journaling that's helping me heal and those take up time.