Are you a disordered eater?

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I might be, in that I am somewhat obsessive in logging my calories and I did change my eating habits recently by becoming a pescatarian (for health reasons, not the scale). But I definitely am not an overexerciser, nor do I "punish" myself for eating a big meal.

A friend passed on this link to a recent Runner's World article, and I found it interesting but flawed. Wanted to share with everyone, but here's one main point from it:

"Disordered eating differs from an eating disorder in that food intake isn't manipulated to deal with underlying issues of depression, anxiety, self-esteem, and control. The most common forms of eating disorders–anorexia (self-starvation) and bulimia (binging and purging)–are serious psychiatric illnesses, with significant physical consequences, and can be fatal. Disordered eating, on the other hand, refers to less-severe abnormal behaviors: eliminating food groups from your diet; regularly replacing meals with energy bars or coffee drinks; excessive weighing and calorie-counting; and tacking on extra miles as punishment for, say a cheeseburger the night before. Often, the regimen includes compulsive exercising like hitting the bike after an 18-miler."

Interested to know everyone's thoughts. The article can be found in full here:

http://www.runnersworld.com/article/0,7120,s6-241-285--14203-0,00.html?cm_mmc=NL-Nutrition82444202232012-_-Disordered Eating

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  • nicolefooch
    nicolefooch Posts: 5 Member
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    I read that article too. I think there can be a fine line between being dedicated to a diet for the right reasons and going overboard with it and harming yourself. That's the problem with self-monitored diet plans like MFP... people should probably check with a doctor or dietician to make sure what they're doing is correct.