Can this become anorexia?

EricMurano · January 2012

I've been watching a lot of the show "Supersize Vs. Superskinny".

In each episode they have an overweight and under weight person swap diets for a week to teach each of them that they're intake is wrong.

Of course the super skinny people usually have been diagnosed with anorexia. They talk about their obsession with food and every time I think "holy crap I feel the same way right now!". The need to count everything, the need to 'earn' food through exercise and being worried about the calorie count in every little thing that goes in their mouth.

In fact a fair few of them used to be overweight and their started taking their weight seriously by dieting. They never stopped dieting, though.

Am I just jumping the gun here by being worried that I might turn into one of those people? I mean, yeah right Eric, you? Being anorexic? I love my food! Then again I am currently training myself to not eat so much.

Angelita83 · January 2012

i never have experience in that... but i hope u will not turn to that side...i pray for u...

carlypreiss · January 2012

I worry about that too. I think we should just remember a healthy goal and not let our food control our lives. Forgive ourselves if we go over our caloric intake, and push ourselves to stay at least at our minimum.

ljbhill · January 2012

I think that we can get a little obsessed with food but that is the nature of society! I'm trying to focus more on the TYPES of food that I eat. I want to eat delicious healthy food that makes my body happy. Not unhealthy food that makes me feel sick!

missfluffyuk · January 2012

I first started trying to lose weight around 6 months ago, I had to stop because I felt like it was taking over my life in the way you mentioned.

As long as you keep in mind WHY you're doing what you do and HOW you want to feel, and remember to treat yourself on occasional without feeling guilty, you'll be fine.

aWashCloth · January 2012

I have a lot of people in my life that are concerned that that is the road I am heading down. I have had to turn my goal around, and rather think about "losing weight" Im trying to instill the idea of "gaining a new lifestyle" with that will come lots of races, doing active sports etc. And to be able to do things like that I realize very well I have to fuel my body, and in some cases it will mean lots of food. I am trying to relearn food, which means seeing it not as calories, but rather as fuel in order to do what I love to do. I can't run my 10kms if I don't eat enough. But the runs don't get any easier if I eat too much. So that in itself has given me a reason to not go into the direction of Anorexia, I hope my family sees it that way too.

kimgodfrey001 · January 2012

If you have an addictive personality, or you lose sight of your main goal there is a higher risk of developing an illness like anorexia- but the risk of getting sick because you have an unhealthy lifestyle is much higher.

I see a few girls at the gym that spent an hour on each piece of cv equipment, and clearly do not eat enough to sustain the cals they are burning off judging by the fact I can count the bones of their spine as they sit on the rower in front of me. The goal for me though is not just about losing weight- I want to look and feel healthy and strong and live longer. By starving myself I won't acheive that. So I have a cheat day once a week where I eat whatever I like and drink whatever I like. I work out at least 3 times- but I also use the leisure facilities at the gym, and go horse riding which I love so it doesn't feel like hard work.

So if you keep the bigger picture in mind- bones aren't beautiful but radiant skin, good muscle tone and a healthy attitude to food are- you are not putting yourself at risk by looking after yourself.

charlotte66 · January 2012

I've been watching a lot of the show "Supersize Vs. Superskinny".

In each episode they have an overweight and under weight person swap diets for a week to teach each of them that they're intake is wrong.

Of course the super skinny people usually have been diagnosed with anorexia. They talk about their obsession with food and every time I think "holy crap I feel the same way right now!". The need to count everything, the need to 'earn' food through exercise and being worried about the calorie count in every little thing that goes in their mouth.

In fact a fair few of them used to be overweight and their started taking their weight seriously by dieting. They never stopped dieting, though.

Am I just jumping the gun here by being worried that I might turn into one of those people? I mean, yeah right Eric, you? Being anorexic? I love my food! Then again I am currently training myself to not eat so much.

i totally get what you mean! (i do love that show) yesterday i went over my calories by 75 because i didnt plan ahead first thing i thought was omg i need to go do some exercise i cant be over it was terrible. i also love my food but feel soooo guilty if i eat one bad thing and do an hour of zumba just to burn 500+ calories to have a 200 calorie treat

LilMissFoodie · January 2012

I'm not sure I would call it anorexia but it can certainly become disordered eating or disordered habits. I actually think that the more you convince yourself that what you are doing is healthy, the easier it is for it to become a disorder.

For example - the first time I lost weight I was eating about 200 calories a day and exercising 4-5 hours (I wasn't counting or anything and had no nutrition knowledge, this is in hindsight) and lost about 40kg in 3-4 months, which I think everyone would agree is very unhealthy. Then I went away to uni and just ate normally. I gained about 5kg in my first year of uni.

Then I started going to the gym and I had learned a bit about calories and was eating 1500 calories each day but I was working out 4-8 hours. I lost a further 20kg then plateaued for 5 years. To me, this was healthy. I was maintaining my weight doing this (but I was trying to lose 10kg even though I clearly didn't have more weight to lose). Lots of people were very encouraging and very few recognised that doing this much exercise is dangerous.

For me (again in hindsight) the thing that makes this disordered isn't really the amount I was eating or the exercise I was doing. It is my attitude to what I was doing and to myself. The first time around I was overly restricting calories but I still had a normal view toward food, myself and my social life.

It isn't normal to think you need to lose weight when you are really thin (and at the lower end of the healthy weight range), or to excuse yourself from best friends' birthday celebrations because it cuts into your gym time, or to keep working out even when you have a severe injury and it hurts to workout. It has taken me such a long time to just get myself back to normal eating and exercise patterns. Now the next challenge is to try to be patient and lose weight slowly without losing sight of my life in general.

EricMurano · January 2012

Thanks for all of your replies

I have a very addictive personality and I can use that for the good as well as evil

I guess I can take comfort in that I have very specific goals. Once I get down to between 80 and 90kg I'll get my body fat percentage clinically tested and go from there. Once I'm as lean as I should be I'll focus on my strength training and try to lift big numbers on Squats, deadlifts and bench. You can't lift heavy without eating a lot and putting on a lot of muscle.

luvlyjanny · February 2012

that is me right now!!! i managed to loose a lot of weight before i joined this community! and now i live every moment petrified that anything i eat will put all the weight back one. As soon as i eat i weigh myself to make sure i am not heavier and i have to go and exercise or i feel heavier. The thought of actual fullness absolutely disgusts me

. Everyone is worried but i think i am just being cautious) i just don't want to be back where i was before .

amonkey794 · February 2012

There are some days where i am at greater risk.

my goal is to get healthier, but I still do go overboard. I also have an addictive personality, so that can be a problem at times lol

amonkey794 · February 2012

that is me right now!!! i managed to loose a lot of weight before i joined this community! and now i live every moment petrified that anything i eat will put all the weight back one. As soon as i eat i weigh myself to make sure i am not heavier and i have to go and exercise or i feel heavier. The thought of actual fullness absolutely disgusts me . Everyone is worried but i think i am just being cautious) i just don't want to be back where i was before .

YAY!!! I"M NOT ALONE WITH THIS!! :happy:

samantha115 · February 2012

I have these exact thoughts. I also have a very addictive personality and Ive done good dieting the right way. Lately I've have thoughts that I'm not proud of like skipping meals, in the same day not a whole day. Ive also had badthoughts like, if I eat this cookie I know how to get rid of it before it causes any damage to all the hard work Ive done all day. Sad to say ive acted on thought that a several of times. Its hard for me to find a happy medium.

robinogue · February 2012

I worry about that a lot! I'm so obsessed with logging I will even log a stick of gum. I mean come on 5 calories won't kill me right!?!?!? I'm trying to make sure it doesn't control and take over my life but sadly I think it is.. I'm so scared of gaining the weight back, being told "I told you so" that I under eat lots of days..

cowlover22 · February 2012

Well coming from someone who is anorexic I guess the best thing you have going for you is awareness. It is fine to want to lose weight (if that weight is a realistic goal) A BMI of 15 is not and the other thing is how you lose the weight. I think we all no matter if we need to or not get obsessed with counting calories, watching what we eat and exercising because isnt that the whole point of dieting. You have to do mindful eating so yes it is on your mind. But I hope it doesnt come to this as I just lost another friend to anorexia..It is a horrible disease.
There is a difference between being worried about gaining weight back and doing anything whether it be good or bad for you to lose weight. In my case prior to now taking 3 boxes of laxatives a day was not worth the colostomy I ended up with and almost died, but I still do other stupid things. It is a disease where the chemicals in your brain change from lack of nutrition so make sure you are getting enough calories and if other people say they are worried about you take that as a cue that your thinking might not be right. Personally I am 50 lbs underweight and I see my self as fat so I have to try to trust others and listen to them. They wouldnt tell me things to harm me..not if they are my friends so I have to trust them. Hope this helps. If you do notice that you are going down this slippery slop please go get help right away before it gets out of hand. Trust me you are no happier being underweight than you were being over weight as I have been in both spots. My eating disorder didnt stem from a diet though I had it prior to the weight gain.Just wanted to clear that up.

Dexy_ · February 2012

In this day and age we have such ease of access to food that we NEED to be obsessed with it and watch everything we eat, or we get overweight. It can be a fine line as to counting calories & not eating any.

dancin2011 · February 2012

Please be careful, all of you. I have suffered from this horrible disease for much of my life and just really hope that none of you are headed down that road. I don't know what else to say other than to be very careful and proactive if you feel that this is all becoming a problem for you.

committomittxoxo · February 2012

O No.. I'm not sure that I can help here other than tell you I know how you feel.

My sister is a Registered Dietician and she doesn't like that I have "rules" about food.. For example, I often give up what I call the "5 C's".. Cookies, Candy, Chocolate, Cake, and Ice Cream. Or I'll give up a certain item of food for a month just because I think it's fun to challenge myself. She says that although I'm healthy, having "rules" about food is a form of a disorder. It kind of scares me when she says stuff like this but I realize that being aware of the danger is better than not. And I know I have enough brutally honest people around me to b*tch me out if I start looking too thin and haggard. Good luck with everything! but I would imagine the fact that you're self-aware enough to stop and ask yourself these kinds of questions, in itself might mean you're probably going to catch yourself before you're in any danger of harming your health.

Mainly, I just wanted to respond to this post to tell you I think you're attractive. :flowerforyou:

Cheers!!

swellen · February 2012

Anorexia is not the only eating disorder. There's a spectrum, and life-threatening anorexia is kind of at the far end, but you can still develop disordered eating behaviours. I have struggled for a long time with an ED-NOS (Eating Disorder Not Otherwise Specified - which basically means I have some behaviours from anorexia and binge eating disorder, but not ALL of them). I'm getting good help from a therapist and a dietitian, but it's still hard work. These are some of the questions I ask myself to assess where I'm at and if I need to worry about my current behaviour:

* Have my 'preferences' become 'rules'?
* What would happen if I broke my rules? (ie, would it cause me anxiety? would I feel the need to punish myself?)
* Do my rules/behaviours significantly impact my day to day life? (eg, do I avoid social situations if I can't control what food will be there? Do I refuse invitations to things because I "need" to work out to make up for what I ate that day?)
* Am I able to take a day off logging calories without it causing me anxiety or "make up" behaviours the next day? (eg, temporary calorie restriction, excessive exercise etc to make up for perceived 'slacking off' the previous day?)
* What would I do if I couldn't count calories at all? (eg, eat considerably less, in order to make sure I don't eat "too much" and gain weight)
* How many times a day do I weigh myself? Does my weight influence my food choices that day? Do I punish myself for day to day gains?

Not sure if that's helpful... everyone is different, and some people do really well with rules while others obsess about them. Only you can assess if you need to be concerned, but the fact that you're questioning it is great. I got to a really bad/obsessive place before I started questioning whether I had a problem... I wish I'd thought about it BEFORE it became a problem!

Jayneoh · February 2012

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-1383049/Malissa-Jones-Britains-fattest-teenager-battling-anorexia.html

HiKaren · February 2012

I have had to turn my goal around, and rather think about "losing weight" Im trying to instill the idea of "gaining a new lifestyle" with that will come lots of races, doing active sports etc. And to be able to do things like that I realize very well I have to fuel my body, and in some cases it will mean lots of food. I am trying to relearn food, which means seeing it not as calories, but rather as fuel in order to do what I love to do.

I really, really, really loved what you said here.

Can this become anorexia?

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