Orthorexia Nervosa: the new eating disorder
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The level of ignorance (by some) in this thread astounds me.
Take Anorexia Nervosa. It is, to put it very simply, an extreme fear of gaining weight. I'm sure none of you here who are trying to lose weight want to see the number on the scale go up, right? That doesn't mean you're suffering from AN though.
Like AN, orthorexia is a complex, psychological condition, and just like anorexia nervosa, it had absolutely NOTHING to do with food: that's just the symptom of the problem.
/end rant.0 -
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I just wanted to get your opinion on this. Since all this 'fitspo' stuff started on instagram I couldn't help but think it was actually unhealthy. Some of the pictures/comments are promoting eating NOTHING but whole/healthy foods and exercising excessively.
I started to follow fitness accounts on instagram and was shocked how many people''s lives were taken over by eating healthy and exercising. Don't get me wrong, I'm a self confessed gym bunny and consider it my hobby, but I have no problem eating a chocolate bar every day with my lunch or going out for food/getting takeaway at the weekend.
I was thinking to myself this is an eating disorder... yeah it isn't anorexia or bulimia but it's an obsession that rules peoples lives, i was reading one blog where the writer was SO fitness obsessed she would turn down drinks with her friends/meals, even though she had her 'perfect body'.
I found this post on the blog Chocolate Covered Katie:
http://chocolatecoveredkatie.com/2010/03/01/orthorexia-nervosa-the-new-eating-disorder/
I completely agree that this is a from of eating disorder. I don't want you to think that I'm saying eating healthy and being dedicated is a bad thing, as I am totally into that way of life myself; but when it BECOMES your life even after you've reached your goal weight and you can't enjoy the little things in life then what's the point?
Would love to know your opinions
Its stupid and just another money maker for them to say people that are very conscience about what they put in their mouth and body is an eating disorder.
Most Dr's want their patients to be mindful of what goes in their mouth and is digested through their bodies.
My husband and I eat out within the guidelines of our eating plan, we cook most of our meals, buy the highest quality foods that we can afford and search out healthy ways of living.
If that is a disorder, I am happy to have it.
Agreed!! We must all have some kind of issue because apparently 'everything' is somehow some kind of disorder!!
Of course we don't all have to have some kind of issue.
If you eat healthily and exercise and your life is under control, you do not have this disorder.
Whether it is an eating disorder or a form of OCD, probably partly each.
That's as silly and ignorant as saying 'My house is messy, I wish I had OCD' or 'I like to keep my house clean, if this is OCD I'm happy to have it'
Some posters seem to have no understanding of mental illness.0 -
How can they sell you pills if they can't convince you that you are disordered?Agreed!! We must all have some kind of issue because apparently 'everything' is somehow some kind of disorder!!0 -
It's crazy how people are saying they want this disorder! YOU DO NOT HAVE A DISORDER IF YOU EAT HEALTHY!! Read the link in the 1st post.0
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Yeah, I agree that the difference is the mindset and whether or not what you're doing makes sense. Mental disorders often make people more likely to do things that don't make actual sense out of fear. For instance, let's say you were on vacation for 2 weeks in a country that does not have very much organic produce available and all you could find was non-organic. Obviously, it's best to eat organic, but someone with this disorder would chose to eat nothing for 2 weeks rather than compromise and have some non-organic produce because they have become so obsessed that the fear of "unclean" foods terrifies them to the point of irrational behavior.0
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I think my boss must have this, He has lost over 100lbs and now tells everyone how much he exercises and what he eats, he even brings stuff to restaurants like dressing for his salad and such, he won't ever eat anything that anyone brings into the office, even if its fruit or somewhat healthy, I know he is afraid of gaining all that weight back, so I understand, but it sure gets irritating that he is always talking about it!
I dont eat anything brought into the office
damn straight I bring my own MEASURED salad dressing to the restaurant
and yes I tell (and post pictures of) everyone what I eat.
And yes I woud bring a food scale to the restaurant, but my BF wont let me.
I dont have control over many things in life that I would like to. i DO have control of my health and well being and part of that comes from knowing and deciding what goes into my mouth.
DO i eat out? Rarely
Do I have a drink? On occasion if I can make it fit
Do I feel I am going over board with it? Maybe sometimes
There are worse neurosis for me to have. Happy to have this one.
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Yeah, I don't agree that taking food scales to a restaurant is an indication of this disease but that doesn't mean it doesn't exist. It's when people actually HARM themselves. It's when the person's food scale breaks and they are waiting in the mail for a new one so they don't eat for 3 weeks because they can't measure their food.0 -
Why would any one be embarrassed to refuse or be around anyone who refused cake? I would be more impressed at their will power. This is why peer pressure gets people to do stupid things. If refusing cake embarrasses someone I hate to see what else they might do just to avoid being embarrassed. LOLIts stupid and just another money maker for them to say people that are very conscience about what they put in their mouth and body is an eating disorder.
Most Dr's want their patients to be mindful of what goes in their mouth and is digested through their bodies.
My husband and I eat out within the guidelines of our eating plan, we cook most of our meals, buy the highest quality foods that we can afford and search out healthy ways of living.
If that is a disorder, I am happy to have it.
I'm with you on this one! I have the right to refuse birthday cake - and it shouldn't embarrass my kid because we've taught him that forced social eating is not a good habit. If you don't want it, politely say "no thank you" and move along.0 -
Actual "eating disorder"? I don't think it really qualifies.
Making someone unf*ckably annoying? Indeed.0 -
I would say anytime you have to embarass your kid to refuse a piece of birthday cake that you are medicaly cleared to consume or have a food scale with you at a restaurant...you might have orthorexia nervosa.
If you've ever trimmed the fat on a boneless chicken breast...you might have orthorexia nervosa.
If you'll eat a cake from whole foods but won't eat a salad at mcdonalds...you might have orthorexia nervosa.
Sounds just about right to me0 -
I don't know how this conversation keeps coming back to "it's not a disorder, this is modern society being crazy and vilifying healthy people."
Criteria for psychological disorders involve extreme disruption to life and inability to function normally in everyday life -- e.g. stories mentioned in this thread about people unable to maintain a healthy body weight and suffering from malnutrition because they believe that foods vital to their survival are "impure." If you are healthy and happy, it's not a disorder.
On the contrary, eating disorders are underdiagnosed because of the "it needs to be coming pretty close to killing you" criteria -- I've seen several overweight individuals on this forum admit to debilitating anxiety and OCD style behavior relating to food, but such individuals are rarely diagnosed, because generally to get an eating disorder diagnosis you need to be underweight or vomiting enough to cause serious health issues.
This eating disorder would probably be under "eating disorder nonspecific" rather than actually being in the DSM. There are also ridiculously specific terms for phobias -- did you know Xanthophobia is a fear of the colour yellow? -- but these terms do not specifically appear in the DSM and are instead covered by just a general diagnosis of phobias.
Finally, as many have said, this disorder is not about food. Just like phobias are not about colours and OCD is not about germs. These disorders are deeply rooted in needing to find control and security in life, and ultimately expressing that need by being controlling and secure to a self-injurious extent when it comes to mundane activities of everyday life.
TL;DR: Does your healthy eating cause you debilitating fear, anxiety, self-loathing, and consume all of your thoughts all day every day? Does it make you a social recluse, cause you to hide your food consumption habits from even your friends and family, and make you cry yourself to sleep when you eat the wrong thing? No? You don't have a disorder. Can we all agree that would be hell to go through, and make living a regular life nearly impossible? That's why it's a disorder.0 -
This is a good description, except it's not an on or off thing. It can affect someone severely, mildly, not at all, or anywhere else between the extremes. You can find a lot of people on this site (especially in topics involving 'clean eating') who are at least mildly affected. You will find them telling people they are going to get cancer because they drink diet coke or eat at mcdonalds or eat something with added sugar, etc.I don't know how this conversation keeps coming back to "it's not a disorder, this is modern society being crazy and vilifying healthy people."
Criteria for psychological disorders involve extreme disruption to life and inability to function normally in everyday life -- e.g. stories mentioned in this thread about people unable to maintain a healthy body weight and suffering from malnutrition because they believe that foods vital to their survival are "impure." If you are healthy and happy, it's not a disorder.
On the contrary, eating disorders are underdiagnosed because of the "it needs to be coming pretty close to killing you" criteria -- I've seen several overweight individuals on this forum admit to debilitating anxiety and OCD style behavior relating to food, but such individuals are rarely diagnosed, because generally to get an eating disorder diagnosis you need to be underweight or vomiting enough to cause serious health issues.
This eating disorder would probably be under "eating disorder nonspecific" rather than actually being in the DSM. There are also ridiculously specific terms for phobias -- did you know Xanthophobia is a fear of the colour yellow? -- but these terms do not specifically appear in the DSM and are instead covered by just a general diagnosis of phobias.
Finally, as many have said, this disorder is not about food. Just like phobias are not about colours and OCD is not about germs. These disorders are deeply rooted in needing to find control and security in life, and ultimately expressing that need by being controlling and secure to a self-injurious extent when it comes to mundane activities of everyday life.
TL;DR: Does your healthy eating cause you debilitating fear, anxiety, self-loathing, and consume all of your thoughts all day every day? Does it make you a social recluse, cause you to hide your food consumption habits from even your friends and family, and make you cry yourself to sleep when you eat the wrong thing? No? You don't have a disorder. Can we all agree that would be hell to go through, and make living a regular life nearly impossible? That's why it's a disorder.0 -
Perhaps it depends on their reason for refusing cake. If someone refused cake because they already had enough for lunch, that is not the same as someone refusing cake because they think the added sugars and fats and imaginary toxins are going to shorten their lifespan.Why would any one be embarrassed to refuse or be around anyone who refused cake? I would be more impressed at their will power. This is why peer pressure gets people to do stupid things. If refusing cake embarrasses someone I hate to see what else they might do just to avoid being embarrassed. LOLIts stupid and just another money maker for them to say people that are very conscience about what they put in their mouth and body is an eating disorder.
Most Dr's want their patients to be mindful of what goes in their mouth and is digested through their bodies.
My husband and I eat out within the guidelines of our eating plan, we cook most of our meals, buy the highest quality foods that we can afford and search out healthy ways of living.
If that is a disorder, I am happy to have it.
I'm with you on this one! I have the right to refuse birthday cake - and it shouldn't embarrass my kid because we've taught him that forced social eating is not a good habit. If you don't want it, politely say "no thank you" and move along.0 -
I don't think that is true..if you start denying yourself any 'treats' or 'cheat days' (no matter how rare) it starts to become an obsession.
I am Jewish, I keep kosher, I don't eat pork.. its not an obsession.. its a life style that is chosen.0 -
Balance is key. my food lifestyle is pretty hardcore vegetarian. even though I wont eat any meat ill still let myself have birthday cake/ occasional farmers market baked yumminess. and I love to run. I also think about what I eat. I have a brain- I don't just mindlessly eat everything. For me, im successful when I plan most things out, then I follow that plan and it seems to work for me. I don't deny that this problem exists out there but I think with mindfulness on balance for many people it can be avoided. still the disorder is probably better than CHF or some kind of obesity derived disease.0
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This is a good description, except it's not an on or off thing. It can affect someone severely, mildly, not at all, or anywhere else between the extremes. You can find a lot of people on this site (especially in topics involving 'clean eating') who are at least mildly affected. You will find them telling people they are going to get cancer because they drink diet coke or eat at mcdonalds or eat something with added sugar, etc.
For the symptomology of a disorder, it is true that people can experience it anywhere from mildy to severely, with of course the sliding scale you would expect to be found in human diversity. We all can be a bit OCD sometimes.
To actually be diagnosed by a mental health practitioner, though, you would have to reach a robust level of severity. The line of where you cross between just having some of the symptoms to being diagnosed with the disorder is something that mental health practitioners, and increasingly insurance companies, are always contentiously discussing.
I'm guessing it would fall under this one here from the DSM-5:Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder (ARFID)
According to the DSM-5 criteria, to be diagnosed as having ARFID a person must display:
An Eating or Feeding disturbance as manifested by persistent failure to meet appropriate nutritional and/or energy needs associated with one (or more) of the following:
Significant loss of weight (or failure to achieve expected weight gain or faltering growth in children).
Significant nutritional deficiency
Dependence on enteral feeding or oral nutritional supplements
Marked interference with psychosocial functioning
The behavior is not better explained by lack of available food or by an associated culturally sanctioned practice.
The behavior does not occur exclusively during the course of anorexia nervosa or bulimia nervosa, and there is no evidence of a disturbance in the way one’s body weight or shape is experienced.
The eating disturbance is not attributed to a medical condition, or better explained by another mental health disorder. When is does occur in the presence of another condition/disorder, the behavior exceeds what is usually associated, and warrants additional clinical attention.0 -
Love this and TOTALLY AGREE!!!0
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My point is that there are people who are affected by it whether or not it is recognized or diagnosed, and their lives (and in many cases the lives of those around them) would be improved if they were less affected or unaffected.This is a good description, except it's not an on or off thing. It can affect someone severely, mildly, not at all, or anywhere else between the extremes. You can find a lot of people on this site (especially in topics involving 'clean eating') who are at least mildly affected. You will find them telling people they are going to get cancer because they drink diet coke or eat at mcdonalds or eat something with added sugar, etc.
For the symptomology of a disorder, it is true that people can experience it anywhere from mildy to severely, with of course the sliding scale you would expect to be found in human diversity. We all can be a bit OCD sometimes.
To actually be diagnosed by a mental health practitioner, though, you would have to reach a robust level of severity. The line of where you cross between just having some of the symptoms to being diagnosed with the disorder is something that mental health practitioners, and increasingly insurance companies, are always contentiously discussing.
I'm guessing it would fall under this one here from the DSM-5:Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder (ARFID)
According to the DSM-5 criteria, to be diagnosed as having ARFID a person must display:
An Eating or Feeding disturbance as manifested by persistent failure to meet appropriate nutritional and/or energy needs associated with one (or more) of the following:
Significant loss of weight (or failure to achieve expected weight gain or faltering growth in children).
Significant nutritional deficiency
Dependence on enteral feeding or oral nutritional supplements
Marked interference with psychosocial functioning
The behavior is not better explained by lack of available food or by an associated culturally sanctioned practice.
The behavior does not occur exclusively during the course of anorexia nervosa or bulimia nervosa, and there is no evidence of a disturbance in the way one’s body weight or shape is experienced.
The eating disturbance is not attributed to a medical condition, or better explained by another mental health disorder. When is does occur in the presence of another condition/disorder, the behavior exceeds what is usually associated, and warrants additional clinical attention.0 -
Too much of anything can be a bad thing, for instance too much eating is just as bad as too much exercise. Yeah, sure being healthy is awesome and definitely good for you. But obsession is not. Watching your weight does not mean you check it every single day after every single time you eat or go to the bathroom. Living a healthy lifestyle is not the same as becoming obsessed with it. My aunt is very much like what you described. Its all she can talk about, its all she cares about, if she even imagines she is gaining weight she works herself out to near exhaustion. On the other hand My boyfriend is very health conscious. He checks the labels of all the foods we eat, makes alot of fresh produce meals, and has even gone on a lactose/gluten free diet. But he doesn't check the scale constantly, and he definitely doesn't freak out about how much fat is on his lean chicken. So seeing these two perspectives I would say that its the obsession that makes it a bad thing. So yes, I agree that this is a very real condition probably brought on by the social media. I mean really you can't even pick up a magazine, walk down the street and not see a billboard, or even turn on your tv, and NOT see something about healthy eating tips, or how to lose weight quicker. Its fear mongering.0
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Perhaps it depends on their reason for refusing cake. If someone refused cake because they already had enough for lunch, that is not the same as someone refusing cake because they think the added sugars and fats and imaginary toxins are going to shorten their lifespan.Why would any one be embarrassed to refuse or be around anyone who refused cake? I would be more impressed at their will power. This is why peer pressure gets people to do stupid things. If refusing cake embarrasses someone I hate to see what else they might do just to avoid being embarrassed. LOLIts stupid and just another money maker for them to say people that are very conscience about what they put in their mouth and body is an eating disorder.
Most Dr's want their patients to be mindful of what goes in their mouth and is digested through their bodies.
My husband and I eat out within the guidelines of our eating plan, we cook most of our meals, buy the highest quality foods that we can afford and search out healthy ways of living.
If that is a disorder, I am happy to have it.
I'm with you on this one! I have the right to refuse birthday cake - and it shouldn't embarrass my kid because we've taught him that forced social eating is not a good habit. If you don't want it, politely say "no thank you" and move along.
What if I don't want to eat cake because it's garbage and I'd rather not eat it. Cake's not healthy and I'd most often rather eat nothing than eat cake - even if I was hungry. Does this mean I have a disorder?
Just because someone offers me something to eat, it doesn't mean I have the social responsibility to eat it. It's this mindset that drives me nuts. Why is there such a stigma attached to refusing junk food? Why do people get so judgy if I turn down a muffin or take a club soda instead of a beer? Or take a burger with no bun and substitute my fries for a salad at the restaurant? Why do people care what I eat?
I don't have orthorexia. I eat junk food occasionally but I eat it when I want to eat it. It's not worth it to me to eat some crappy chocolate cake my colleague bought at the Loblaws this morning. If my mother-in-law makes her triple chocolate brownies or pumpkin ice cream cake, I'll generally have a piece.0 -
My point is that there are people who are affected by it whether or not it is recognized or diagnosed, and their lives (and in many cases the lives of those around them) would be improved if they were less affected or unaffected.
You have my agreement there! Particularly since people don't wake up one day with full-blown eating disorders -- they develop over time and, when treated earlier in an outpatient setting, have much better success rates. Once individuals are inpatient and on IV drips, it's so much harder for everyone involved -- the patient, the patient's friends and family, the clinicians -- to reach a positive outcome. Eating disorders have the highest mortality rate of any psychological disorder. With more awareness of these issues, and acknowledgement that these are in fact not normal thought patterns and that there is therapy available, a lot more people could be helped
Edit: Sadly, from the continued "it's just a new term to shame healthy people" rhetoric, there's a lot of awareness work left to go. Sigh.0 -
Wow! And I thought weighing my food was obsessive.
And in to read later.0 -
I don't know if I would classify it as an eating disorder, or just a form of OCD that focuses in of fitness and food rather than alphabetizing your spice cabinet. There is no doubt that some people let fitness and health concerns so consume their lives that they neglect other areas, and to me this is not healthy, no matter what label you give to the unbalance (OCD, Orthorexia Nervosa, or something else).
However, I think it might be difficult to determine who is really "disordered" and who is simply concerned for their health, where is the line drawn??? What if staying fit is part of a person's "job", such as for a professional athlete, or a Personal Trainer, or a weight loss consultant, or a health coach? If you don't make it somewhat of a focus you might risk losing clients. I'm not saying that people in those professions have to never have a candy bar, but they do probably have to be more cautious about their food and exercise than say, an information technologies specialist necessarily does. Some people might also have health issues that aren't evident to others, but that limit their dietary choices (allergies, celiac disease, diabetes, ADHD, etc.) There are also people who may choose not to have a candy bar, not because they really think one is that harmful, but because they know that they personally have trouble stopping at one, and its easier for them to avoid it all together.
So I agree that the "disorder" probably exists, but it is best to leave that diagnosis to a professional, and refrain from judging someone else as suffering from it or not, because you may not know all the facts.
I absolutely agree with you and would like to add that the " American way " of eating is just one way a group of the more than 7 billion inhabitants of this planet eats. I realize most members of MFP are Americans, but what I do not understand is the extreme lack towards openness of food choices in general.
There are many cultures who eat very differently . For example; pizza and fast food ( as an example ) does not figure in my food, based mostly on the fact that when I grew up I did not even know the words, much less the food. I don't ever think of them, much less desire them. The same is true for birthday cake. I don't eat it. Not because I think it is bad, but because I do not like anything that is so sweet......yet, I am put down for my choices. Why does anyone care if I eat birthday cake or not ? And why would anyone feel embarrasssed if I don't eat cake at a party; it's not as if I don't allow others to eat as much as they like.
I am not sure how I feel about people who assume that just because some people don't eat the way they do and their way is by no means pathological, that they have an eating disorder. I agree that anyone , no matter what they eat, can develop disordered eating patterns and develop a full fledged eating disorder when this pattern is carried to an extreme. It really irks me when the word " eating disorder " is thrown around just because someone eats differently . So yes, I agree that we need to leave the diagnosis of an eating disorder to qualified professionals.0 -
It's extremely important to continuously make up new disorders and other things that people need to buy products and medications to fix. The book, supplement, drug, and fitness industries depend on it, just as they depend on Dr. Oz to parrot their talking points and sell their snake oil.
If everyone simply lived a semi-healthy lifestyle and ignored junk science and fake disorders, a very large portion of our economy would collapse.
You can do your part by figuring out all the fake things that are wrong with you, and purchasing items to rectify those things.
Thank you, good citizen.0 -
if you start denying yourself any 'treats' or 'cheat days' (no matter how rare) it starts to become an obsession.
I just don't understand the whole idea behind cheat meals and days. Many people in MFP are very vocal about not being on a " diet ", but are engaged in a lifestyle change. Yet, many, each week need a cheat meal or a whole day to survive that new " lifestyle ". Wouldn't that practice be a hallmark of a " diet " ( meaning that when ever possible people go back to their " old way " of living ).
I am two weeks short of a year here and never had a cheat meal or day, because I eat every day exactly what I want, just in lesser amounts than before. I am neither obsessed, not uptight, but feel really good about myself, because I am able to make the necessary changes ( in my case mostly portion control ) to feel healthier and fitter with a 50 pounds loss in the process.
It really scorches my tortillas when someone makes such a pointless statement that when people don't cheat as far as food is concerned they become obsessed. But I also realize that this is often the kind of nutritional intelligence ( or the lack thereof ) that prevails......0 -
Wow - an eating disorder where eating healthy food is bad.
I'm not sure the diets are at fault, I think that people of a certain type will gravitate towards them.
I'm sure there are millions of people with mild forms of OCD which will end up with these symptoms. However they are the same people that would be measuring to the gram the food they are eating and logging. They will obsess about going over there macro's.
Some people are just like that. Others and I will group myself in with them will not worry about following the exact letter of the law just as long as the results are there (it's just human nature).
There is absolutely nothing wrong with eating a diet which restricts food groups, or controls macro's quantities, or counts calories or doesn't eat meat - as long as they are healthy and suit the person doing the diet.
A person who will obsess over the healthy food diet will be the same with the other ones.
Why is it such an issue?0 -
So you are saying that it doesn't apply to you, but you are going to be defensive anyway?
Perhaps it depends on their reason for refusing cake. If someone refused cake because they already had enough for lunch, that is not the same as someone refusing cake because they think the added sugars and fats and imaginary toxins are going to shorten their lifespan.Why would any one be embarrassed to refuse or be around anyone who refused cake? I would be more impressed at their will power. This is why peer pressure gets people to do stupid things. If refusing cake embarrasses someone I hate to see what else they might do just to avoid being embarrassed. LOLIts stupid and just another money maker for them to say people that are very conscience about what they put in their mouth and body is an eating disorder.
Most Dr's want their patients to be mindful of what goes in their mouth and is digested through their bodies.
My husband and I eat out within the guidelines of our eating plan, we cook most of our meals, buy the highest quality foods that we can afford and search out healthy ways of living.
If that is a disorder, I am happy to have it.
I'm with you on this one! I have the right to refuse birthday cake - and it shouldn't embarrass my kid because we've taught him that forced social eating is not a good habit. If you don't want it, politely say "no thank you" and move along.
What if I don't want to eat cake because it's garbage and I'd rather not eat it. Cake's not healthy and I'd most often rather eat nothing than eat cake - even if I was hungry. Does this mean I have a disorder?
Just because someone offers me something to eat, it doesn't mean I have the social responsibility to eat it. It's this mindset that drives me nuts. Why is there such a stigma attached to refusing junk food? Why do people get so judgy if I turn down a muffin or take a club soda instead of a beer? Or take a burger with no bun and substitute my fries for a salad at the restaurant? Why do people care what I eat?
I don't have orthorexia. I eat junk food occasionally but I eat it when I want to eat it. It's not worth it to me to eat some crappy chocolate cake my colleague bought at the Loblaws this morning. If my mother-in-law makes her triple chocolate brownies or pumpkin ice cream cake, I'll generally have a piece.
I wanna party with you, cowboy.0 -
As a disclaimer, I have not yet read all 5 pages of comments so some of what I write may be repetition or in conflict with the comments of others.
I do wholeheartedly agree that ON is a thing. I have seen multiple posts on the message boards both here and on other sites that display an unhealthy obsession with healthy behavior. There are people who are deathly afraid of holiday meals, dinner parties with friends, eating at restaurants, travel, etc b/c they will be taken out of their comfort zone and will not have the security of their food scale and the control over what they eat and how it is prepared. These people will opt out of spending time with people they love in favor of maintaining that obsessive control. Some take it down a notch and attend the events, but bring their own food...personally, unless the person suffers from a medical disorder and cannot eat the food I prepared, I would be a bit offended. There are so many people that have lost all enjoyment from food b/c they have one or two meals that they eat every day...the same thing over and over b/c they have no idea how to translate the formula for a healthy meal to include other foods either in their own kitchen or at a restaurant or in the homes of family/friends.
Others force themselves to exercise daily at high intensity for long periods of time despite being sick or injured. Granted, I heed the advice of exercising if sick from the neck up and resting if sick below the neck, but I listen to my body 1st and foremost and rest at least one day a week and as required otherwise. Some people will exercise late into the night b/c they were too busy during the day cutting into their sleep, log multiple workouts to burn enough calories for the day, add workouts b/c they ate this or that and have to burn off the calories (often the calories they feel the need to burn are disproportionate to what they consumed in the 1st place) And again, many people will make exercise a higher priority than family, friends, work, sleep and general health and well-being.
I've also seen people spend an incredible amount of money on supplements that they just don't need for their goals. They spend huge amounts of time and effort on researching various products. In their quest to be healthy, they are sacrificing the basics of eating well and exercising regularly for ingesting a pantry full of shakes, powders and pills with questionable chemicals and minimal results.0 -
Part of the problem is the belief that there is such a thing as a healthy food.Wow - an eating disorder where eating healthy food is bad.
And then people continue this mindset by placing other foods in an "unhealthy" category. As if health is a scalar quantity, and eating one type of food increases this number and eating 'bad' foods decreases it. And then they seek to become 'healthy' by avoiding all of the foods they've categorized as 'unhealthy.' As if these foods actively destroy your body.
No food is healthy in a vacuum.
It's about context.
If you eat nothing but broccoli, you will die of malnutrition. Broccoli is no better than cake. The difference is that very few people actually WANT to eat nothing but broccoli. So it's easy to blame overeating of cake and correlate it with being unhealthy, and mistakenly conclude that cake actively destroys your health.
But someone who includes reasonable amounts of both broccoli and cake in their regular intake will be just as healthy as they would if they had only included one or the other.0
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