OMG just found the most horrific weight loss website:(
Sapphire_Elf
Posts: 76 Member
Was searching for reasons as to why I feel a bit nauseous doing fasted exercise and found the most horrific pro-anorexia website. Now I've never had an eating disorder like that and so no, I can't truly appreciate how those suffering from it feel and think but to see it promoted as a "healthy lifestyle" and a "good choice" really shocked me. Some of the listed "rules" for the "Ana religion and lifestyle" are just awful:
Being healthy doesn't matter, only being thin matters
If you're not thin you're not attractive
If you're not thin you're worthless
If you're not thin you're ugly and disgusting to everyone
There are forums where people are attempting to fast purely on water for weeks at a time or eat less than 200 cals while exercising for hours on end. It makes me feel sad that people put their bodies and minds under such strain when there are so many good ways to lose weight and be healthy and strong at the same time
Being healthy doesn't matter, only being thin matters
If you're not thin you're not attractive
If you're not thin you're worthless
If you're not thin you're ugly and disgusting to everyone
There are forums where people are attempting to fast purely on water for weeks at a time or eat less than 200 cals while exercising for hours on end. It makes me feel sad that people put their bodies and minds under such strain when there are so many good ways to lose weight and be healthy and strong at the same time
-1
Replies
-
It is sad and I am afraid that things like this do exist.. BUT we do not promote VLCD here in the community. So you will never see anything like this here as it against the rules to suggest anything like this is normal and healthy. I am glad that you did not put the link to the site in your OP..
7 -
The rules are absurd.
The second rule is subjective. Someone has to be attracted to you for you to be attractive, and even then it is only one person's opinion.
I think these rules are symptomatic of mental health issues. If anyone feels this way I would urge them to see a doctor immediately.0 -
Those people are sick.
They have a mental illness.
To you and me we see the hot mess of their dangerous attemps to be thin at all cost.
They however cannot see rationally.
Stay away from there, no good shall come from even lurking that place.9 -
This content has been removed.
-
-
Anorexia isn't a diet, it's mental illness. It's not about losing weight as much as it a form of self harm.
It's weird that OP would bring it up unsolicited.3 -
Eating disorders kill and sadly those sick encourage others to stay sick with them. As a recovering bulimic I had to cut people out of my life who tried to push me back into my disease when i started focussing on health.0
-
True, but sites that promote proana are frequented by many who DON'T have mental illness because these girls want to be thin.JenniDaisy wrote: »Anorexia isn't a diet, it's mental illness. It's not about losing weight as much as it a form of self harm.
It's weird that OP would bring it up unsolicited.
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
1 -
JenniDaisy wrote: »Anorexia isn't a diet, it's mental illness. It's not about losing weight as much as it a form of self harm.
It's weird that OP would bring it up unsolicited.
I don't think it's weird really... maybe OP has never seen a pro Ana site before?0 -
Wow, very sad.0
-
I don't see anything wrong with her post, heck she is even disturbed why there would be sites like that.
Anyway, to the OP, I have found that I cannot do fasted workouts. For example this would typically be in the morning. I have to eat something about a half hour before or I feel nauseous, lightheaded and just am not able to give it my all. Now if I workout not having eaten anything in the past several hours after I have already started my day, I am good to go. For me it seems to be early morning only.0 -
Some of those sites have some good low cal snack recipes. I used to visit one frequently for the recipes until I realized it was a proana site. I had googled a recipe and clicked he link going directly to the recipe and then surfed around looking at others...it wasn't until I was bored one day that I looked at other areas of the site to see what it was (I primarily access the net either my phone, mobile views obscure w lot of content). I thought the recipes were fun and creative (only 250 calories) until I realized that was all someone would eat for the day. It's a sad site but I still go there for the recipes, they make great appetizers. If some of these people can get their mental health issues resolved they would be amazing chefs.3
-
It's sad that websites like that exist. Although I completely understand that it is something beyond the control of most of the people, you would think that at some point promoting unhealthy behavior would just be shut down.
Maybe sites like that would benefit from people getting involved in finding the members help with their disorders....1 -
JenniDaisy wrote: »Anorexia isn't a diet, it's mental illness. It's not about losing weight as much as it a form of self harm.
It's weird that OP would bring it up unsolicited.
She saw something horrible. For the first time. She wants to talk about it. With people she thinks will understand her horror.
NOTHING odd about that, or her post.
Who said it was a diet? Or are you referring to the category she chose? Where would have been better? Perhaps it can be moved there.
I would have chosen this one as well.9 -
I only learned about the existence of such sites in recent months myself. Though I guess I shouldn't really have been shocked that such things exist, I was. I don't think there was anything wrong with posting about it. As stated above, she didn't post the link in the OP, so its more about expressing a reaction to it.
They have a dangerous illness, which is a sad thing when you know you can't help them.5 -
Once that was me, I had restrictive bulimia, my longest fast was 40 days. I was very sick. People who are healthy wouldn't do this. What they need is help, love and support.2
-
True, but sites that promote proana are frequented by many who DON'T have mental illness because these girls want to be thin.JenniDaisy wrote: »Anorexia isn't a diet, it's mental illness. It's not about losing weight as much as it a form of self harm.
It's weird that OP would bring it up unsolicited.
But for girls to go there they must already have some issues to begin with. They are looking for something, and hoping this could be what they are looking for?1 -
Never managed to multi quote on this site...
For some of the points made - no, I have never ever seen a pro Ana site before. I had no clue at all that such sites existed
I absolutely 100% would NEVER promote something like that, I was just so shocked to see it. The only reason I clicked on the link was because it seemed to be a forum and someone had posted a similar question to myself about fasted exercise - then I realised the topic and the stuff on the rest of the site and closed it.
I feel desperately sorry for anyone suffering with such disorders that can have such devastating consequences.
The_Original_Beauty - I hope my post didn't upset you and I hope you are either recovered now or well on your way.
I apologise to anyone who has found my post offensive, or unsolicited, but I can't see anything I wrote that would look like I was promoting this in any way - that certainly was not my intention
Sorry.6 -
I don't see anything wrong with her post, heck she is even disturbed why there would be sites like that.
Anyway, to the OP, I have found that I cannot do fasted workouts. For example this would typically be in the morning. I have to eat something about a half hour before or I feel nauseous, lightheaded and just am not able to give it my all. Now if I workout not having eaten anything in the past several hours after I have already started my day, I am good to go. For me it seems to be early morning only.
Thank you, that's useful to know. I used to run at 6.30am fasted with no problem, but not anymore. I'll just have to get up earlier I guess and have a banana or something!2 -
Sapphire_Elf wrote: »Never managed to multi quote on this site...
For some of the points made - no, I have never ever seen a pro Ana site before. I had no clue at all that such sites existed
I absolutely 100% would NEVER promote something like that, I was just so shocked to see it. The only reason I clicked on the link was because it seemed to be a forum and someone had posted a similar question to myself about fasted exercise - then I realised the topic and the stuff on the rest of the site and closed it.
I feel desperately sorry for anyone suffering with such disorders that can have such devastating consequences.
The_Original_Beauty - I hope my post didn't upset you and I hope you are either recovered now or well on your way.
I apologise to anyone who has found my post offensive, or unsolicited, but I can't see anything I wrote that would look like I was promoting this in any way - that certainly was not my intention
Sorry.
I spent years trapped in them, it's hard to explain why but I'll try my best. I was sick, I went there sick. Yes I did become sicker. They were my friends, people who related to how I felt, they understood me. I didn't feel isolated, I didn't feel like a freak. I felt like I belonged. I know it sounds messed up, it was but when your sick it made perfect sense.
Don't worry you didn't upset me, I wanted to post from a different POV.
Don't aplogise, you said nothing wrong!!! The girls on there are sick, desperate and lonely. They feel this is their only control.
The more education we can get about these websites, the more we can help stop them and help these girls.
3 -
Anorexia nervosa is a mental illness. I have seen the utter despair and terrible effects it can have, first hand. It breaks my heart.
However, a lot of people now glamorise it and aspire to it. There seems to be this big split between people who actually suffer the illness, and people who want to and work towards it. They think it's cool.
They're the ones I want to slap upside the ear. These little twerps aspiring to a deadly disease and actually encouraging others to do likewise. Those sites really piss me off.1 -
The_Original_Beauty wrote: »Sapphire_Elf wrote: »Never managed to multi quote on this site...
For some of the points made - no, I have never ever seen a pro Ana site before. I had no clue at all that such sites existed
I absolutely 100% would NEVER promote something like that, I was just so shocked to see it. The only reason I clicked on the link was because it seemed to be a forum and someone had posted a similar question to myself about fasted exercise - then I realised the topic and the stuff on the rest of the site and closed it.
I feel desperately sorry for anyone suffering with such disorders that can have such devastating consequences.
The_Original_Beauty - I hope my post didn't upset you and I hope you are either recovered now or well on your way.
I apologise to anyone who has found my post offensive, or unsolicited, but I can't see anything I wrote that would look like I was promoting this in any way - that certainly was not my intention
Sorry.
I spent years trapped in them, it's hard to explain why but I'll try my best. I was sick, I went there sick. Yes I did become sicker. They were my friends, people who related to how I felt, they understood me. I didn't feel isolated, I didn't feel like a freak. I felt like I belonged. I know it sounds messed up, it was but when your sick it made perfect sense.
Don't worry you didn't upset me, I wanted to post from a different POV.
Don't aplogise, you said nothing wrong!!! The girls on there are sick, desperate and lonely. They feel this is their only control.
The more education we can get about these websites, the more we can help stop them and help these girls.
I appreciated seeing your input from the other view. People like yourself that have been there and done that might have a better understanding to help find a way to help these people out of the cycle they are in.1 -
Sapphire_Elf wrote: »Never managed to multi quote on this site...
For some of the points made - no, I have never ever seen a pro Ana site before. I had no clue at all that such sites existed
I absolutely 100% would NEVER promote something like that, I was just so shocked to see it. The only reason I clicked on the link was because it seemed to be a forum and someone had posted a similar question to myself about fasted exercise - then I realised the topic and the stuff on the rest of the site and closed it.
I feel desperately sorry for anyone suffering with such disorders that can have such devastating consequences.
The_Original_Beauty - I hope my post didn't upset you and I hope you are either recovered now or well on your way.
I apologise to anyone who has found my post offensive, or unsolicited, but I can't see anything I wrote that would look like I was promoting this in any way - that certainly was not my intention
Sorry.
There was nothing in your post that could be misconstrued as promoting anorexia! I too have had a look at those sites/forums, it's a whole other world, an upsetting world.
I for one, would like to learn more about the mind set of pro ana people, because i just can't comprehend their thought process.0 -
It is a shock when you see such a site for the first time, like you I found one when researching coke zero which was the main source of 'food' for many on the site I came across. I too stumbled in by coming across a post which seemed to answer my search question and then after reading the rest of the responses in the forum realized what type of site I was on. I had heard of them but never seen one before nor had I actively searched for one but I did read through a few posts before closing it down because it was a bit like seeing a car accident. I hadnt really thought about it since till I saw your post.1
-
It's called the ana creed or something. Literally it's a *kitten* joke in the online anorexia community, I mean some of us may feel that way -eg if you aren't thin you aren't attractive.
Trust me most people aren't doing it to be thin, a lot of people suffered abuse or ocd or feel in general that their life is utter chaos so need something to control0
Categories
- All Categories
- 1.4M Health, Wellness and Goals
- 393.4K Introduce Yourself
- 43.8K Getting Started
- 260.2K Health and Weight Loss
- 175.9K Food and Nutrition
- 47.4K Recipes
- 232.5K Fitness and Exercise
- 426 Sleep, Mindfulness and Overall Wellness
- 6.5K Goal: Maintaining Weight
- 8.5K Goal: Gaining Weight and Body Building
- 153K Motivation and Support
- 8K Challenges
- 1.3K Debate Club
- 96.3K Chit-Chat
- 2.5K Fun and Games
- 3.7K MyFitnessPal Information
- 24 News and Announcements
- 1.1K Feature Suggestions and Ideas
- 2.6K MyFitnessPal Tech Support Questions