Some questions about undereating & starvation mode

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  • Hoffmandm
    Hoffmandm Posts: 12
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    People who have the disorder never like to be told that they look too skinny, or unhealthy. They will just stop listening and shut you out and if you are trying to help, you will get nowhere.
    It is better to be a friend.
    I would be concerned about your sister if I were you. It usually starts out by just cutting calories lower and lower until they stop eating. The have what is called body dysmorphic disorder. The mirror doesn't matter. It is what they think they see that they will see.
    http://www.anad.org/
  • x_cylence_x
    x_cylence_x Posts: 87
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    I realize it's a disorder, i stated trend because, just like it's apparently "cool" to be gay when you're younger (more specifically lesbian), it's becoming (or has been) a "trend" of younger people (and even some adults) to completely stop eating in order to lose weight.

    So, I wasn't at all suggesting it's just a fad, but did mean it that way for this specific purpose.


    Does that make sense?

    Not really. Given I'm gay and had a friend 25 years ago (in secondary school) who nearly died from anorexia, I find your word choice quite offensive. You don't seem to be doing it intentionally, though, but if I may recommend something: an an attitude that would involve 15 min on Google or with the search function of this forum instead of expecting others to be at your service and explain would be a little more, let's say, egalitarian.

    Well, be offended, it was not my intention. Nor is it my expectation of others to be at my service. Not everyone is incompetent, I was asking everyone's opinion & thoughts, personal experiences. I thought that was what this board was about, so excuse me for trying to use it as such.


    Thank you for your input anyways.
  • taso42_DELETED
    taso42_DELETED Posts: 3,394 Member
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    Some good (and also some sad) info in this thread. What I am wondering is, how does this thread look from the eyes and mind of a person who is struggling with an eating disorder? Do they think, "oh that's bs.. they're wrong!" or "that may be true for some, but my body is different" (i.e., denial). Or, is it more like, "I know this is bad, i need to change this behavior, but it's so hard" (i.e, something like struggling with an addiction). Or something else altogether? It would help me, to understand the perspective. If anyone who has lived this or is living it can shed some light....
  • x_cylence_x
    x_cylence_x Posts: 87
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    People who have the disorder never like to be told that they look too skinny, or unhealthy. They will just stop listening and shut you out and if you are trying to help, you will get nowhere.
    It is better to be a friend.
    I would be concerned about your sister if I were you. It usually starts out by just cutting calories lower and lower until they stop eating. The have what is called body dysmorphic disorder. The mirror doesn't matter. It is what they think they see that they will see.
    http://www.anad.org/

    Don't get me wrong, I am concerned about her, but I've watched her do this for nearly 15 years. She'll eat (minimally) based on her weight. 500-800 calories if she's over 135 and 800-1200 if she's below, but again... exercising upwards of 4 hours a day.

    There is no talking to her about it, so the best I can do is just be there for her.
  • eellis2000
    eellis2000 Posts: 465 Member
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    I was just thinking when doctors order blood tests for sugar, cholesterol, or surgery they make you fast for 12 hrs before hand, so it can't happen that quick. Just thinkin...
  • Tammysueless
    Tammysueless Posts: 166
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    If they are working out 2-3 hours a day... wouldn't that then rebuild the lost muscle mass? Or at least maintain what they already had?

    Working out creates micro-tears in the muscles and depletes glycogen stores. The body then repairs the the muscles while you sleep. The carbohydrates fuel this process and the protein is the brick & mortar that build up the muscle. If nutrition side of things isn't there, those muscles will be flat as pancakes. When we work out, we're not building muscle; we're breaking it down. The building happens when we sleep using the fuel and protein from what we eat.

    Well said.:happy:
  • x_cylence_x
    x_cylence_x Posts: 87
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    Some good (and also some sad) info in this thread. What I am wondering is, how does this thread look from the eyes and mind of a person who is struggling with an eating disorder? Do they think, "oh that's bs.. they're wrong!" or "that may be true for some, but my body is different" (i.e., denial). Or, is it more like, "I know this is bad, i need to change this behavior, but it's so hard" (i.e, something like struggling with an addiction). Or something else altogether? It would help me, to understand the perspective. If anyone who has lived this or is living it can shed some light....

    so far we've had 2 strugglers post and neither have seemed offended. They both provided some pretty good information about themselves and what they've experienced.
    And I think the "my body is different" could be something else other than denial because, quite frankly, every body is different. *shrugs*
  • ladyhawk00
    ladyhawk00 Posts: 2,457 Member
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    Some good (and also some sad) info in this thread. What I am wondering is, how does this thread look from the eyes and mind of a person who is struggling with an eating disorder? Do they think, "oh that's bs.. they're wrong!" or "that may be true for some, but my body is different" (i.e., denial). Or, is it more like, "I know this is bad, i need to change this behavior, but it's so hard" (i.e, something like struggling with an addiction). Or something else altogether? It would help me, to understand the perspective. If anyone who has lived this or is living it can shed some light....

    It's been a long time since I was in a severe disordered eating state (both anorexic and bulimic, but at different times). So it's almost a little hard to try and go back and look at it through those eyes. But basically, I was not aware of the potential damage. Yes, I knew it was "bad", and not healthy, but had no idea of the extent of damage it could/would do. That said, even if I had known, at that point, I was young, full of immortality, and was easily able to deny that "that could happen to me." And above all, the desire to look a certain way (and the body dysmorphia that ensures you will never look "right", even if you get to your goal) supercedes all of that. In essence, in the mind, it's not worth living in the ugly, unsatisfactory body. The need to control the body, and the inherent lack of ability to do so (in the manner used), trumps everything.
  • jen0619
    jen0619 Posts: 414
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    I was just thinking when doctors order blood tests for sugar, cholesterol, or surgery they make you fast for 12 hrs before hand, so it can't happen that quick. Just thinkin...

    Yeah, it definitely doesn't happen that quick. It is over a prolonged period of time. I myself was on a clear liquid diet (no colors) for over 24 hours doctors orders and I am still fine. Just agreeing with your thinking.
  • littlelionesslove
    littlelionesslove Posts: 80
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    Some good (and also some sad) info in this thread. What I am wondering is, how does this thread look from the eyes and mind of a person who is struggling with an eating disorder? Do they think, "oh that's bs.. they're wrong!" or "that may be true for some, but my body is different" (i.e., denial). Or, is it more like, "I know this is bad, i need to change this behavior, but it's so hard" (i.e, something like struggling with an addiction). Or something else altogether? It would help me, to understand the perspective. If anyone who has lived this or is living it can shed some light....

    It's like both for me. I'll send you a friend request :)
  • ribcagepiano
    ribcagepiano Posts: 1
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    Some good (and also some sad) info in this thread. What I am wondering is, how does this thread look from the eyes and mind of a person who is struggling with an eating disorder? Do they think, "oh that's bs.. they're wrong!" or "that may be true for some, but my body is different" (i.e., denial). Or, is it more like, "I know this is bad, i need to change this behavior, but it's so hard" (i.e, something like struggling with an addiction). Or something else altogether? It would help me, to understand the perspective. If anyone who has lived this or is living it can shed some light....

    It's like both for me. I'll send you a friend request :)

    I've struggled with anorexia since freshman year of high school, and bulimia since my sophomore year of high school. I went to treatment and got out in about a year and a half but never fully recovered and relapsed this year.

    In high school I didn't know anything really about how what I was doing was really affecting my body. So when people did give me the facts, I never believed them and I felt that what every one said was not applicable to me and that I was most definitely the exception to every nutrition/body fact because I'm fat. I am now back in recovery after my recent relapse and I can truly say that I fully understand the effects of how I eat and how terrible it is to my body because of all my doctors and nutritionists. The problem is that it's not really about how I look. Anorexia is all about control. it's about paying attention to all the details and planning and counting and managing my life in a way that ironically has the total opposite effect. Bulimia, for me, developed as I started to eat again the first time I was in recovery because I couldn't cope with the feeling of having food in me.

    And the thing is, after many years of struggling with this, I know all the nutrition facts. I know what it does to me. But in a way, it doesn't deter me from dong what I do. I know it is bad, and I wish so badly that I could just lose weight the healthy weight, or hell, just be happy at a high weight, I wish I didn't have this disorder. I wish I could JUST EAT. When I gained weight in recovery the first time, it shot through the window because I wasn't happy and needed something to control and project my emotions through and went straight back to restricting. It is a serious mental disorder and it sucks. It is so so so so painful to know that what I am doing is so bad for me but I cannot help it.

    Hopefully that helped!
  • closermotion
    closermotion Posts: 65 Member
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    bump
  • xHelloQuincyx
    xHelloQuincyx Posts: 884 Member
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    I realize it's a disorder, i stated trend because, just like it's apparently "cool" to be gay when you're younger (more specifically lesbian), it's becoming (or has been) a "trend" of younger people (and even some adults) to completely stop eating in order to lose weight.

    So, I wasn't at all suggesting it's just a fad, but did mean it that way for this specific purpose.


    Does that make sense?

    you dont just stop eating to lose weight. it sneeks up on you. i didnt decide to have an eating disorder. i didnt even want to be as thin as i was. its self loathing and the need to be wanted/ perfect/ accepted/ loved by friggen anyone.

    i was dieting. oh wow i lost 5 lbs, i can do better then that, who needs 1200 cals. who needs 1100 cals. etc etc.
    i didnt do it because it was cool
    i didnt do it because it was a trend
    i didnt have any friends who "did it"

    i dont even know why i ended up "doing it"
    maybe something to do with my abusive relationships, my (ex) anorexic mother, or just wanting to control something in my life for once.

    it just happened..

    also kids who are openly gay now a days are constantly bashed. i have 2 gay friends. its definitely not the "cool thing to do" its just who they are, maybe even just how they were born.
  • lodro
    lodro Posts: 982 Member
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    The problem with this is that when a person starts eating again (after prolonged extreme low calorie eating) they have little control and will eat and eat thus putting back on any weight they have lost.

    Once every couple of years, for spiritual purposes, I go to a lonely place in nature and stay there and fast for 4 days: no food, only water. I would call that a prolonged fast.

    When I return and start eating again, one thing i'm not suffering from, then, is a "lack of control". Rather the opposite. You start eating very very gradually those first few days, so "eating and eating" is just not part of the picture. I also guide others who do similar wilderness retreats, and they eat in a very controlled way too, when they return. For me, it takes a few weeks for my eating pattern and portions to return to what they were pre-fasting.

    I think there are a lot of people here expressing opinions on fasting who have done very little fasting themselves. For one thing, the stomach shrinks to such an extent that eating large quantities after a prolonged fast is just out of the question.
  • spunkbeer
    spunkbeer Posts: 60
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    [/quote]
    And the thing is, after many years of struggling with this, I know all the nutrition facts. I know what it does to me. But in a way, it doesn't deter me from dong what I do. I know it is bad, and I wish so badly that I could just lose weight the healthy weight, or hell, just be happy at a high weight, I wish I didn't have this disorder. I wish I could JUST EAT. [/quote]

    Basically describes me.
    I have an eating disorder, i never once did it because it was the "cool" thing to do.
    I have had disordered eating my entire life. Starting with sever binge/emotional to anorexia.
    Binging led me to being really obese, and the purging that usually happened with binge eating, became bulimia which eventually became "anorexia" (techniqually EDNOS in my current state). Just because it just happened.

    I know it is killing me, and i know the reason im constantly sick is because of this.
    I tried going into hospital recovery once, but that was the biggest mistake after 2 weeks i basically ran away haha.

    I am seeing a doctor and getting help but do not believe in "recovery"
    One never recovers from this, it haunts them their entire life, especially when its all youve known in life.
    Im basically only seeing a doctor so i can mentally keep going and not hurt the ones i love in the process anymore.

    Because tbh as much as i wish i didnt have this disorder, id also feel so empty without it.
    Anoreixa/bulimia is like an abusive relationship in my case, i love this thing that hurts me so sometimes.
    Because it is the only thing that has ever been mine.

    But usually i do sit there and think "i wish i couldve just been happy with my apperance when i was fat"

    As for the gay thing, I am pansexual. I do not love by ones gender or apperance. I love them for being a person and the connection i have with them. And as for the whole kids doing it, i do witness it sometimes the whole "im 15 and rebelious im going to date a girl" BUT that doesnt count to everyone. My 14 year old sister has been pansexual like me since like young years, shes had both boyfriends and girlfriends. And shows no preference to either gender.
  • spunkbeer
    spunkbeer Posts: 60
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    For some reason i ****ed up the quote bit
    Oh well hahaha

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