Written By: N. Lothungbeni Humtsoe | Updated : February 28, 2026 12:40 PM IST
Medically Verified By: Dr. Darshan Yallapa Jotibannad
Brianna Chickenfry, 26, a well-known influencer and podcast host, recently opened up about her mental health and personal challenges of an anxiety-induced eating disorder, which left her feeling constantly nauseous and trapped in a cycle of self-doubt. The internet personality shared a heartfelt social media post about the cycle she went through to deal with this disorder and how she managed her anxiety.
While making an appearance on the 'Real Pod' podcast, LaPaglia said, "I had an anxiety-induced eating disorder, where I was always nauseous. Anytime I ate something, I would throw up. I would just avoid food at all costs because I knew that it would make me sick, or I was just so nauseous all the time [because of] my anxiety that I couldn't eat."
According to Brianna, people were horrified by her physical appearance. She revealed that every time Brianna went home, her family was like, 'Oh, my gosh'. The Barstool Sports personality recalled, "I was anemic from it, I had bruises all over me, and it was really, really hard when you're in it for so long. Your body just gets used to it, and when I finally came out of all that anxiety or I was able to look at myself in the mirror and saw the way I looked, [it] was just so unhealthy."
In the podcast, the 26-year-old internet personality revealed that she was really working hard to develop a healthy relationship with food and not to correlate eating time with being sick or being anxious. However, she said that she had little energy and 'wanted to sleep all day'. In her words, "It really did, without me even knowing, create an eating disorder that I didn't know how to navigate [or] what to do with it."
The good news is that Brianna Chickenfry 'slowly but surely' gained 25 pounds back. The internet personality revealed that it took her four to five months to get back to a healthy weight, as well as get back in a healthy mindset. Wondering how LaPaglia managed to do so? The 26-year-old revealed that she found support in other individuals who battled similar eating disorders.
Amidst her weight gain journey and breaking relationship with eating disorder, LaPaglia made sure to eat multiple meals each day. In her words, "When I was struggling with eating, I think I would only rarely [eat and] sometimes I wouldn't eat all day, but I would do one meal a day."
Brianna Chickenfry further revealed, "I tried to, whenever I felt hungry, that little, 'Oh, I could eat something right now,' because I used to suppress that. [I] would immediately eat whenever I was hungry. I wouldn't care about what was going into my body, I literally just cared about getting something into my body."
According to Dr. Darshan Yallapa, Jotibannad, Consultant Psychiatrist, SPARSH Hospital, Infantry Road, Bangalore, anxiety-induced eating disorders often develop when food becomes a coping mechanism for emotional distress rather than physical hunger. Managing this condition requires addressing both mental health and eating patterns. Here are some mindful tips you can follow to cope with anxiety-induced eating disorders, as per Dr. Yallapa:
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