Skinny is overrated...please eat (CONCERNED RANT!)

Is there any nice way to tell people they're not eating enough?! If you open your diary and I am your friend on here am I free to say "hey you need to eat a little more"?I am just very concerned for the people (mostly ladies) that are closing their diaries out and have only eaten 800-1000 calories or less, regularly. I understand the occasional day, like today I'm sick...but day after day of eating 800 calories is not healthy. I couldn't even get a BMR calculator to compute an 800 calorie BMR for a 3'5" 50 pound person and I assume most of us are taller than that and weigh more than that. I'm 5'2" (pretty darn short) 127lbs (fairly lean) and my BMR is 1315. PLEASE EAT LADIES, I BEG YOU! If you want lasting change, eat healthy, don't starve yourself.

*exhale*
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Replies

  • Well said. Besides, consuming too few calories can actually put your body into starvation mode and inhibit your progress if you're trying to lose weight. Thanks for the rant!

    http://www.active.com/nutrition/Articles/Eat-More-to-Lose-Weight
    http://www.livestrong.com/article/536160-can-eating-too-few-calories-prevent-weight-loss/
    http://www.wcgh.org/journey-to-health/how-to-understand-the-risks-of-eating-too-few-calories/
  • rmkramer003
    rmkramer003 Posts: 115 Member
    One of the quotes I see on here drives me up the wall. Something like "Nothing tastes as good as skinny looks." This is a totally pro-ana quote. I'm pretty sure I saw it on the pro-ana websites when I was doing a research paper.
  • thevegankelly
    thevegankelly Posts: 85 Member
    I think some people who are under eating and have open diaries are looking for attention. They might like all the comments and concern that they get about their eating.
  • shanteel612
    shanteel612 Posts: 434 Member
    I am glad you said it we eat to give us energy and nutrients to live. Eating 800 cals is harmful to your body's daily function.

    Don't live to Eat but Eat enough to live healthily.
  • I think some people who are under eating and have open diaries are looking for attention. They might like all the comments and concern that they get about their eating.

    Never thought about that...something to consider. I haven't said anything yet, but I'm just really concerned. I guess you can't want something for someone they don't want for themselves.
  • quirkytizzy
    quirkytizzy Posts: 4,052 Member
    I get very frustrated too, but unless they are actively looking for advice (i.e - they ask about it OR make a public post on the forum), it's likely your concern will be met with being brushed off or (as another poster said) will feed into some kind attention seeking cycle.
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 34,421 Member
    They might not be entering all their food...just a thought.

    You can delete friends. I'm pretty sure if they are undereating by that much, they're doing it on purpose and not much we can really do about it.

    I don't look at peoples' food diary unless they ask a specific question, and I don't comment on food or exercise in my feed.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    I agree OP...sadly, I've had to learn to just try to ignore...just way too many people doing this and nothing seems to change their minds about it...well said though.
  • They might not be entering all their food...just a thought.

    You can delete friends. I'm pretty sure if they are undereating by that much, they're doing it on purpose and not much we can really do about it.

    I don't look at peoples' food diary unless they ask a specific question, and I don't comment on food or exercise in my feed.

    Sometimes I look when the status comes up in the feed "Person x completed their diary and was under their goal." I guess I'll stop looking.
  • Thinknight
    Thinknight Posts: 35 Member
    One of the quotes I see on here drives me up the wall. Something like "Nothing tastes as good as skinny looks." This is a totally pro-ana quote. I'm pretty sure I saw it on the pro-ana websites when I was doing a research paper.

    The quote is 'nothing tastes as good as skinny feels' and it comes from Kate Moss. I used to be an Ana and also a Mia, and if im really honest with myself, Mia up until i started MFP a few months ago. Its been the longest I have gone without in years.
    I can understand the meaning behind it though cant you? I know when I was bigger that i hated how I felt in my skin. Just didnt feel attractive in the slightest. Thin does feel good and after all arent we all trying to get there on this site? Im not saying under eating is good. It isnt. But thin feels nice and thats not Ana, its just a fact.

    Or am I wrong?
  • etoiles_argentees
    etoiles_argentees Posts: 2,827 Member
    They might not be entering all their food...just a thought.

    You can delete friends. I'm pretty sure if they are undereating by that much, they're doing it on purpose and not much we can really do about it.

    I don't look at peoples' food diary unless they ask a specific question, and I don't comment on food or exercise in my feed.

    Sometimes I look when the status comes up in the feed "Person x completed their diary and was under their goal." I guess I'll stop looking.

    I only log here once in a while after logging here 6 months straight. I'm thin already and would rather log elsewhere that tracks my micros. I'm more concerned with health. :)
  • Alatariel75
    Alatariel75 Posts: 18,250 Member
    One of the quotes I see on here drives me up the wall. Something like "Nothing tastes as good as skinny looks." This is a totally pro-ana quote. I'm pretty sure I saw it on the pro-ana websites when I was doing a research paper.

    Agreed, that saying makes me shudder. I also did a research paper which involved looking at those sites and that phrase is very very common, that and the similar "Nothing tastes as good as skinny feels".
  • Mokey41
    Mokey41 Posts: 5,769 Member
    I don't judge someone's diary unless they ask. I don't always log all my food because I have a pretty good grip on what I eat on a regular basis but then again I don't use the button to complete my diary either. There are lots of people on here that pride themselves on how little they eat but I often wonder if they really, honestly eat that little or just like the attention from logging that way.
  • Cognito1025
    Cognito1025 Posts: 323 Member
    I think some people who are under eating and have open diaries are looking for attention. They might like all the comments and concern that they get about their eating.

    Umm, exactly.
  • onyxgirl17
    onyxgirl17 Posts: 1,722 Member
    I do agree... better to go slow and steady then to end up unhealthy.
  • laccy40
    laccy40 Posts: 136
    One of the quotes I see on here drives me up the wall. Something like "Nothing tastes as good as skinny looks." This is a totally pro-ana quote. I'm pretty sure I saw it on the pro-ana websites when I was doing a research paper.

    The quote is 'nothing tastes as good as skinny feels' and it comes from Kate Moss. I used to be an Ana and also a Mia, and if im really honest with myself, Mia up until i started MFP a few months ago. Its been the longest I have gone without in years.
    I can understand the meaning behind it though cant you? I know when I was bigger that i hated how I felt in my skin. Just didnt feel attractive in the slightest. Thin does feel good and after all arent we all trying to get there on this site? Im not saying under eating is good. It isnt. But thin feels nice and thats not Ana, its just a fact.

    Or am I wrong?

    Wrong I'm afraid. Congratulations for working through your issues and I wish you every success. But thin doesn't feel good. Thin feels tired and grey and scrawny and malnourished. Strong and healthy feels good. At least it does to me.
  • skinnydreams19
    skinnydreams19 Posts: 282 Member
    I definitely think there are some EDs here...like the really skinny girls who still consistently eat under their goal, despite exercising for hours and having itty bitty waists!
  • alexbusnello
    alexbusnello Posts: 1,010 Member
    I think some people who are under eating and have open diaries are looking for attention. They might like all the comments and concern that they get about their eating.

    I'm glad you said SOME.
  • Another thing is that people might not be measuring their food and actually eating way more than they think they are! My new kitchen scale was a real wake up call. I was easily eating a few hundred calories or more a day than I realized by not measuring!

    If you eat only 800 calories a day you are going to lose and lose and lose weight. It's not healthy. If these people are not significantly losing weight (and hair, and color to their skin, and periods if female, etc...) then something is not right with their diaries (meaning they are eating more than admitting to or realizing).
  • Gallowmere1984
    Gallowmere1984 Posts: 6,626 Member
    One of the quotes I see on here drives me up the wall. Something like "Nothing tastes as good as skinny looks." This is a totally pro-ana quote. I'm pretty sure I saw it on the pro-ana websites when I was doing a research paper.

    It's a bastardization of the quote "nothing tastes as good as being lean feels". Whoever once read the word 'lean' and interpreted it as 'skinny' deserves a claw hammer to the face.
  • auddii
    auddii Posts: 15,357 Member
    Is there any nice way to tell people they're not eating enough?! If you open your diary and I am your friend on here am I free to say "hey you need to eat a little more"?I am just very concerned for the people (mostly ladies) that are closing their diaries out and have only eaten 800-1000 calories or less, regularly. I understand the occasional day, like today I'm sick...but day after day of eating 800 calories is not healthy. I couldn't even get a BMR calculator to compute an 800 calorie BMR for a 3'5" 50 pound person and I assume most of us are taller than that and weigh more than that. I'm 5'2" (pretty darn short) 127lbs (fairly lean) and my BMR is 1315. PLEASE EAT LADIES, I BEG YOU! If you want lasting change, eat healthy, don't starve yourself.

    *exhale*

    Eh, last time I did that, they just unfriended me. Some people are ready to hear it, some aren't. I give my advice either way, and if you can't take it, fine.
  • WandaWoman41
    WandaWoman41 Posts: 153 Member
    Congrats on your success Renita. I agree with you. I've had deficit days and felt weak. It's hard to imagine why someone would chose to feel weak to be skinny.
  • JamesChargerWolf
    JamesChargerWolf Posts: 83 Member
    Unless they have asked for advice, I wouldn't mention it. Everyone chooses their own path. (Even if you think that path is the most unhealthy thing you've ever seen.)

    You can also Hide someone from your feed without unfriending them. There's a little drop down on the top of each feed item. That way you can add them back in when it doesn't bother you anymore.
  • SnicciFit
    SnicciFit Posts: 967 Member
    One of the quotes I see on here drives me up the wall. Something like "Nothing tastes as good as skinny looks." This is a totally pro-ana quote. I'm pretty sure I saw it on the pro-ana websites when I was doing a research paper.

    Agreed, that saying makes me shudder. I also did a research paper which involved looking at those sites and that phrase is very very common, that and the similar "Nothing tastes as good as skinny feels".

    Who really wants to be "skinny" anyway. Let's change that to "nothing tastes as good as healthy feels". :happy:
  • SnicciFit
    SnicciFit Posts: 967 Member
    One of the quotes I see on here drives me up the wall. Something like "Nothing tastes as good as skinny looks." This is a totally pro-ana quote. I'm pretty sure I saw it on the pro-ana websites when I was doing a research paper.

    Agreed, that saying makes me shudder. I also did a research paper which involved looking at those sites and that phrase is very very common, that and the similar "Nothing tastes as good as skinny feels".

    Who really wants to be "skinny" anyway. Let's change that to "nothing tastes as good as healthy feels". :happy:

    Oh crap. Probably gonna get hated on for hating on skinny. Didn't mean it like that! Just meant that skinny doesn't always equal healthy. But sometimes healthy equals "skinny".
  • SnicciFit
    SnicciFit Posts: 967 Member
    One of the quotes I see on here drives me up the wall. Something like "Nothing tastes as good as skinny looks." This is a totally pro-ana quote. I'm pretty sure I saw it on the pro-ana websites when I was doing a research paper.

    It's a bastardization of the quote "nothing tastes as good as being lean feels". Whoever once read the word 'lean' and interpreted it as 'skinny' deserves a claw hammer to the face.

    ^yes!
  • KenosFeoh
    KenosFeoh Posts: 1,837 Member
    Skinny has a really negative connotation to me. Who would want to be skinny? I picture skin stretched over skeleton when I hear that word.

    The closest word to skinny that I like is slender.
  • SnicciFit
    SnicciFit Posts: 967 Member
    Skinny has a really negative connotation to me. Who would want to be skinny? I picture skin stretched over skeleton when I hear that word.

    The closest word to skinny that I like is slender.

    Yes! or "fit"
  • Shadowknight137
    Shadowknight137 Posts: 1,243 Member
    Mm, yes, as a skinny person trying to gain, I can testify that yes - absolutely - skinny is overrated. In fact, whoever rated it as a "good" thing is a complete bloody moron and needs to be shot. Like, now. Or better yet, before they said it.

    I get ED's add me all the time. It's a tad bit insulting, really, to be added by someone who throws up their delicious food and starves themselves because they think I'm "one of them", to make a massive understatement. I can't even be bothered "helping" now. I just ask "why are you eating so little", and then, odds are, their response leads to me deleting them.

    I honestly don't understand why some people are willing to give up their lives, health and general sanity to look absolutely god-awful and be an inferior, weak human being. Totally perplexing.
  • alexbusnello
    alexbusnello Posts: 1,010 Member
    Another thing is that people might not be measuring their food and actually eating way more than they think they are! My new kitchen scale was a real wake up call. I was easily eating a few hundred calories or more a day than I realized by not measuring!

    If you eat only 800 calories a day you are going to lose and lose and lose weight. It's not healthy. If these people are not significantly losing weight (and hair, and color to their skin, and periods if female, etc...) then something is not right with their diaries (meaning they are eating more than admitting to or realizing).

    I agree with you 100%. My scale was a wake up call, too...