It's Sad

meh girls will be girls..

Hi, I'm one of those people who used to eat about 900 calories (Before I learned better) and I was not hungry all the time, lol. I did lose weight but because I put my body in starvation mode, the minute I ate anything more, all the weight plus some would come back. I started with a trainer last Friday, started eating more calories (its hard at first), been walking for 45 minutes each day and of course, every Friday my trainer will kill me with the work out from hell. LOL. I;d dropped from 320 to 290.6 on my own. Then I started eating right and went back up to 296.6. Bummer right? Guess what, It's been 6 days and I weighed this morning, I'm down to 287.6, Doing it the right way. Whoo-Hoo!!!

I agree.. I mean if you know absolutely nothing about anything and sign up for MFP for a 2lb lose it gives you 1200 cals a day .. they're just following that MFP tells them half the time.

This is verging on an eating disorder and is just not healthy at all.

No an eating disorder is a mental illness, just because some people are ignorant about calories and exercise doesn't mean they are 'verging on an eating disorder'.

I used to eat 1200 calories, despite exercising 5 times a week and running round after my young kids. I lost weight, and I didn't have an eating disorder. However, after I joined MFP and read the forums I realised I could eat more and still lose. Well, I'm not an idiot, I went for that option, and it's worked!

I'd put on weight in both my pregnancies and I realise now that eating 1200 calories before getting pregnant and then being pregnant and eating like a normal person is why I put on weight! I wish I'd discovered MFP before having kids!

I think it's because 1200 calories a day is the number women are given if they want to lose weight. It's not ignorance or an eating disorder, just lack of knowledge.

I don't disagree it is a mental illness at all, don't get me wrong.

But when people say they feel guilty if they eat more than 800/900 calories a day and get totally stressed about eating 1200 calories surely this is not a healthy road to go down? If they are thinking 'O no, I ate 1200 calories and it is awful because I should just eat 800/900 calories' then surely this is in the mind?

You are obviously right when you say it is ignorance but surely they must be feeling some negative effects of eating so little ie being hungry all the time?

I feel guilty when I eat 2400 calories instead of 1900. Do you consider that a mental illness too?

It is not the specific number of calories someone eats that gets them diagnosed with a mental illness.

We need to treat each person and there caloric needs on an individual basis. Some people need more calories and some people need less.

feeling guilt over eating could be considered disordered, whether you are talking about eating too much or too little.

Guilt alone does not mean someone has an eating disorder. Here are the DSM (The diagnostic manual for psychiatrists and psychologists) criteria for diagnosing someone as Anorexic (from the Cleveland Clinic).

Box 1: DSM IV-TR Criteria for Anorexia Nervosa
Criteria
Refusal to maintain body weight at or above a minimally normal weight for age and height: Weight loss leading to maintenance of body weight <85% of that expected or failure to make expected weight gain during period of growth, leading to body weight less than 85% of that expected.
Intense fear of gaining weight or becoming fat, even though under weight.
Disturbance in the way one's body weight or shape are experienced, undue influence of body weight or shape on self evaluation, or denial of the seriousness of the current low body weight.
Amenorrhea (at least three consecutive cycles) in postmenarchal girls and women. Amenorrhea is defined as periods occurring only following hormone (e.g., estrogen) administration.


A little bit of guilt is a normal reaction to have when you do something that isn't good for you. It is what makes you do better the next day. If you wallow and despair in your guilt and beat yourself up to it over and go to extremes, then you have problems that should probably be addressed with a therapist.

I don't disagree it is a mental illness at all, don't get me wrong.

But when people say they feel guilty if they eat more than 800/900 calories a day and get totally stressed about eating 1200 calories surely this is not a healthy road to go down? If they are thinking 'O no, I ate 1200 calories and it is awful because I should just eat 800/900 calories' then surely this is in the mind?

You are obviously right when you say it is ignorance but surely they must be feeling some negative effects of eating so little ie being hungry all the time?

I feel guilty when I eat 2400 calories instead of 1900. Do you consider that a mental illness too?

It is not the specific number of calories someone eats that gets them diagnosed with a mental illness.

We need to treat each person and there caloric needs on an individual basis. Some people need more calories and some people need less.

feeling guilt over eating could be considered disordered, whether you are talking about eating too much or too little.

Guilt alone does not mean someone has an eating disorder. Here are the DSM (The diagnostic manual for psychiatrists and psychologists) criteria for diagnosing someone as Anorexic (from the Cleveland Clinic).

Box 1: DSM IV-TR Criteria for Anorexia Nervosa
Criteria
Refusal to maintain body weight at or above a minimally normal weight for age and height: Weight loss leading to maintenance of body weight <85% of that expected or failure to make expected weight gain during period of growth, leading to body weight less than 85% of that expected.
Intense fear of gaining weight or becoming fat, even though under weight.
Disturbance in the way one's body weight or shape are experienced, undue influence of body weight or shape on self evaluation, or denial of the seriousness of the current low body weight.
Amenorrhea (at least three consecutive cycles) in postmenarchal girls and women. Amenorrhea is defined as periods occurring only following hormone (e.g., estrogen) administration.


A little bit of guilt is a normal reaction to have when you do something that isn't good for you. It is what makes you do better the next day. If you wallow and despair in your guilt and beat yourself up to it over and go to extremes, then you have problems that should probably be addressed with a therapist.

This is outdated information, the 5th version of the DSM was released in May, and what constitues a diagnosis of anorexia has changed. Furthermore, an eating disorder isn't just anorexia/ bulimia, there are many manifestations of disordered eating, which are often diagnosed (previously) as EDNOS (eating disorder not otherwise specified).

But yes I agree with your point about guilt.

I don't disagree it is a mental illness at all, don't get me wrong.

But when people say they feel guilty if they eat more than 800/900 calories a day and get totally stressed about eating 1200 calories surely this is not a healthy road to go down? If they are thinking 'O no, I ate 1200 calories and it is awful because I should just eat 800/900 calories' then surely this is in the mind?

You are obviously right when you say it is ignorance but surely they must be feeling some negative effects of eating so little ie being hungry all the time?

I feel guilty when I eat 2400 calories instead of 1900. Do you consider that a mental illness too?

It is not the specific number of calories someone eats that gets them diagnosed with a mental illness.

We need to treat each person and there caloric needs on an individual basis. Some people need more calories and some people need less.

feeling guilt over eating could be considered disordered, whether you are talking about eating too much or too little.

Guilt alone does not mean someone has an eating disorder. Here are the DSM (The diagnostic manual for psychiatrists and psychologists) criteria for diagnosing someone as Anorexic (from the Cleveland Clinic).

Box 1: DSM IV-TR Criteria for Anorexia Nervosa
Criteria
Refusal to maintain body weight at or above a minimally normal weight for age and height: Weight loss leading to maintenance of body weight <85% of that expected or failure to make expected weight gain during period of growth, leading to body weight less than 85% of that expected.
Intense fear of gaining weight or becoming fat, even though under weight.
Disturbance in the way one's body weight or shape are experienced, undue influence of body weight or shape on self evaluation, or denial of the seriousness of the current low body weight.
Amenorrhea (at least three consecutive cycles) in postmenarchal girls and women. Amenorrhea is defined as periods occurring only following hormone (e.g., estrogen) administration.


A little bit of guilt is a normal reaction to have when you do something that isn't good for you. It is what makes you do better the next day. If you wallow and despair in your guilt and beat yourself up to it over and go to extremes, then you have problems that should probably be addressed with a therapist.

This is outdated information, the 5th version of the DSM was released in May, and what constitues a diagnosis of anorexia has changed. Furthermore, an eating disorder isn't just anorexia/ bulimia, there are many manifestations of disordered eating, which are often diagnosed (previously) as EDNOS (eating disorder not otherwise specified).

But yes I agree with your point about guilt.

Do you know where to access the new criteria or how it has changed? The new DSM is super expensive haha.

No one listen to this!!! The OP is a blue headed alien. Can't be trusted!!!

Ah...

I wondered why I got so many strange looks today, perhaps my head has indeed turned blue. Or perhaps I was attempting a constructive post, which yours clearly is not.

see bold

meh girls will be girls..

I see an astonishing amount of men on here that only eat 1200 calories as well.

this is funny. girls to guy ratio is like 8:1.

I don't disagree it is a mental illness at all, don't get me wrong.

But when people say they feel guilty if they eat more than 800/900 calories a day and get totally stressed about eating 1200 calories surely this is not a healthy road to go down? If they are thinking 'O no, I ate 1200 calories and it is awful because I should just eat 800/900 calories' then surely this is in the mind?

You are obviously right when you say it is ignorance but surely they must be feeling some negative effects of eating so little ie being hungry all the time?

I feel guilty when I eat 2400 calories instead of 1900. Do you consider that a mental illness too?

It is not the specific number of calories someone eats that gets them diagnosed with a mental illness.

We need to treat each person and there caloric needs on an individual basis. Some people need more calories and some people need less.

feeling guilt over eating could be considered disordered, whether you are talking about eating too much or too little.

Guilt alone does not mean someone has an eating disorder. Here are the DSM (The diagnostic manual for psychiatrists and psychologists) criteria for diagnosing someone as Anorexic (from the Cleveland Clinic).

Box 1: DSM IV-TR Criteria for Anorexia Nervosa
Criteria
Refusal to maintain body weight at or above a minimally normal weight for age and height: Weight loss leading to maintenance of body weight <85% of that expected or failure to make expected weight gain during period of growth, leading to body weight less than 85% of that expected.
Intense fear of gaining weight or becoming fat, even though under weight.
Disturbance in the way one's body weight or shape are experienced, undue influence of body weight or shape on self evaluation, or denial of the seriousness of the current low body weight.
Amenorrhea (at least three consecutive cycles) in postmenarchal girls and women. Amenorrhea is defined as periods occurring only following hormone (e.g., estrogen) administration.


A little bit of guilt is a normal reaction to have when you do something that isn't good for you. It is what makes you do better the next day. If you wallow and despair in your guilt and beat yourself up to it over and go to extremes, then you have problems that should probably be addressed with a therapist.

This is outdated information, the 5th version of the DSM was released in May, and what constitues a diagnosis of anorexia has changed. Furthermore, an eating disorder isn't just anorexia/ bulimia, there are many manifestations of disordered eating, which are often diagnosed (previously) as EDNOS (eating disorder not otherwise specified).

But yes I agree with your point about guilt.

Do you know where to access the new criteria or how it has changed? The new DSM is super expensive haha.

One of the major changes pertaining to eating disorders is that you no longer have to have a BMI less than 17.5 to be diagnosed with anorexia. There have been major revisions to the manual and there is a summary of these changes here http://www.ldaofky.org/changes-from-dsm-iv-tr--to-dsm-5[1].pdf
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Great, thanks. I'll take a look.