Can you be overweight and anorexic?

NakedLunchTime

Anorexia means "Loss of appetite"... I don't see why you have to be underweight to be diagnosed with it. It's a mental illness. Although if you were anorexic and overweight, you would soon become underweight because you would be severely restricting.

Anorexia is not a "loss of appetite". Most people that suffer from anorexia feel starving all of the time. It takes along time of starving yourself before you stop really feeling the hunger. Anorexia is when you restrict your food intake dramatically, You would still feel hungary though.

BuffyEat2Live

Are you asking because you are thinking of becoming Anorexic?

I just was thinking the same exact thing.

When I was in the depths of my ED, I was really upset that they wouldn't diagnose me as anorexic. I almost waited to get help until I was underweight, just to get that label. Now it seems insane that I felt that way, but I can understand it. It's tragic that anyone would want that label, but many do.

OP, if you were talking about yourself, please get help for your ED as soon as possible. You are not alone in these feelings!

Unknown

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fteale

In think they are clkassified under bulemia because you can definitely be overweight and bulemic. Soeaking from experience.

Bulimia is when you force yourself to vomit up the food you eat.

You can be bulimic and never vomit. Some just overexercise or abuse laxatives.

Pretty sure bulimia refers only to the throwing up bit. Over exercising is a sign of anorexia, not bulimia.

Elf_Princess1210

Anorexia means "Loss of appetite"... I don't see why you have to be underweight to be diagnosed with it. It's a mental illness. Although if you were anorexic and overweight, you would soon become underweight because you would be severely restricting.

Anorexia is not a "loss of appetite". Most people that suffer from anorexia feel starving all of the time. It takes along time of starving yourself before you stop really feeling the hunger. Anorexia is when you restrict your food intake dramatically, You would still feel hungary though.

Anorexia is the medical term for loss of appetite. It is caused by a lot of things. It is NOT the same thing as Anorexia Nervosa.

Anorexia Nervosa is the mental illness that causes the person to starve themselves ect....ect.

They are two different medical conditions.

summalovaable

I wonder if someone who was formerlly underweight enough to be diagnosed anorexic, but has sinced gained the weight (possibly maintaining unhealthy eating beliefs), is still considered anorexic? For example, most addicts/alcoholics say they are still those titles even 10+ years into recovery.

"recovery" in terms of eating disorders is usually a lifetime battle. You don't simply "stop being anorexic", some people just deal with it better than others. As someone who struggled with an ED, I can tell you that no matter how much you fight it there's always that urge to fall back into old habits, or that genuine fear of "becoming fat". So yes, I would say even if you gain weight you can still being battling anorexia. Of course, that's a personal opinion.. no scientific fact here :embarassed:

Yakisoba

Are you asking because you are thinking of becoming Anorexic?

._. You cannot decide to become anorexic. It doesn't work like that.

ninerbuff

Yeah, the question above kinda says it all
Your help is greatly appreciated!!

Well no. To be overweight you have to be eating more calories than you expend. Even if you just sat on your couch and ate less than your BMR, you would lose weight.

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Kslice39

Bulimia nervosa differs from anorexia nervosa in that individuals with this eating disorder are not usually significantly underweight, and may actually be of normal weight, or may be even slightly overweight. Like anorexia, bulimia nervosa is a disorder relatively specific to girls of late adolescence to early adulthood, and is rarely found in men. Because of the overlapping symptoms between anorexia and bulimia, there have been challenges to the distinction between the two. The fact that many individuals may move from one diagnosis to the other depending upon fluctuations in body weight and the presence or absence of menses, suggests to some experts that both disorders may be more accurately defined as a subtype of a more inclusively defined eating disorder. While binging and purging may be present in both, some individuals have pure cases of anorexia (without binging in purging) and pure cases of bulimia nervosa, in which their body weight never falls below the normal level Anorexia nervosa is a life-threatening eating disorder that is characterized by self-starvation and excessive weight loss. Most of the time anorexia is not "caught" or diagnosed until the person is 15% under their range for healthy body weight. It may be hard to notice signs and symptoms of anorexia because people with anorexia often go to great lengths to disguise their thinness, eating habits or physical problems. It's not known specifically what causes some people to develop anorexia. As with many diseases, it's likely a combination of biological, psychological and sociocultural factors.

some symptoms of anorexia:
Rapid weight loss over several weeks or months
Continuing to diet even when thin or when weight is very low
Having an unusual interest in food, calories, nutrition or cooking
Intense fear of gaining weight
Strange eating habits or routines, such as eating in secret
Feeling fat, even if underweight
Inability to realistically assess one’s own body weight
Striving for perfection and being very self-critical
Undue influence of body weight or shape on self-esteem
Depression, anxiety, or irritability
Infrequent or irregular menstrual periods in females
Laxative, diuretic, or diet pill use
Frequent illness
Wearing loose clothing to hide weight loss
Compulsive exercising
Feeling worthless or hopeless
Social withdrawal