An eating disorder is an unhealthy relationship with food. An eating disorder is a psychological illness that leads people to eating either too much or too little, or it leads people to view food as the enemy, or as the only solution. Below I have defined four different types with the help of http://www.nationaleatingdisorders.org.
- Anorexia Nervosa: Anorexia is voluntary starvation. It is most likely to strike young and well-to-do women. Signs include:
- weighing less than 85 percent of normal weight
- a fear of gaining weight
- an obsession with one's appearance
- and a belief that one is fat regardless of the true weight
- for young women, the absence of three menstrual cycles due to extreme weight loss is another sign
- Bulimia Nervosa: Bulimia is when people forcibly get rid of the food they eat. People who are bulimic use laxatives to increase defecation, or they use emetics (drugs that induce vomiting), or they simple use their fingers to make themselves throw up.
- Binge Eating Disorder: The criterion for a diagnosis of binge eating disorder is consuming large amounts (a few days worth of calories) of food in one sitting twice a week for up to six months. Some binge eaters become overweight, some stay slim by turing to a bulimic mentality.
- Orthorexia nervosa: This is not a formally recognized eating disorder, but it is fairly common within the fitness community, and is becoming increasingly more present. This disorder is characterized by an obsession with the need to eat only the right foods, or to only eat "clean". People who spend hours planning perfect meals for each day and refuse to eat a smidgen of something that is not organic or "clean" suffer from orthorexia. While the choices made by orthorexics are, in fact, healthful, having a rigid mentality towards food, and a strictly limited diet, is not healthy psychologically.
So how does this effect me? Well while I never turned to regurgitation or starvation, I, as most dieters do at some point, strictly restricted my diet. During late October and November, I decided that the only way I could keep the weight off was to make a list of the foods I would not allow myself to eat, which basically just left me eating salads, veggies, and small portions of meat everyday. It got to the point where I wouldn't even let myself have rice or fruit, because of the carbs, and all I thought about all day, everyday, was what I was going to eat, or what I was going to allow myself. I went to bed starving and felt weak and constantly tired, which made perfect sense, since I would only be averaging 900-1100 calories a day.
Food was a fear of mine, because before I lost weight, food was my stress remedy. But luckily, this phase of my life was short lived, because after doing further research, I discovered that this was hurting me and was in fact an unhealthy lifestyle. So, in a healthy fashion, I went back to eating a very normal diet, consuming about 2100 calories a day, and a good 40% of those coming from carbs (which I'm happy about because sweet potatoes, rice, and cookies are delicious). This increase has allowed me to gain weight, but in a positive way. At my unhealthy low, I got all the way down to 129 pounds, 6 pounds under the beginning of the healthy weight range for my height. But I am happy to say that I have gained 10 pounds since and I am seeing it in positive muscle growth :)
Luckily for me, I caught myself fast before anything became too serious or too overwhelming. At the end of day, don't let food take over your life. It's important to make healthy choices, but when healthy choices effect your life, then it becomes unhealthy. Moderation and balance are always key in living a healthy life.
Eating disorders are very serious and potentially life threatening. If you, or someone close to you, experience signs and symptoms, seek medical advice and treatment.
For more information on www.nationaleatingdisorders.org
