Eating Disorders: The Ugly Truth of the Skinny Fixation

HiRes

I know.

This topic is a bit more serious than a lot of other things I share on this blog, but I feel very strongly that it needs to be discussed. If you feel like you might be struggling with an eating disorder, please don?t think I am here to shame you. Nope ? I have been there in my own life. For many years I struggled with a combination of eating disorders, and I know this is something I will forever need to keep in mind to help my recovery for the rest of my life.

So, if you are reading this, and you are struggling, please understand I simply don?t want you to hurt like I hurt. I?m here to help you identify if you might need help, or if someone you know does. I?m here to help save you from the painful battle that I endured.

Here are a couple of staggering statistics:

? Up to 24 million people (male and female) of all ages suffer from an eating disorder in the U.S.
? Only 1 in 10 people suffering from an eating disorder receive treatment.

That last statistic is pretty scary, especially since eating disorders can cause major health problems and even death. Maybe you?re one of the millions who needs help, or maybe you know someone who suffers from an eating disorder. Hopefully this discussion will give you some helpful tools in either case.

An eating disorder, to put it plainly, is an illness that stems from unhealthy behaviors associated with food and weight. These unhealthy habits could include overeating, starving, vomiting, and others.

Let?s face it. There?s tremendous pressure in today?s society to be magazine-cover thin. Even though we realize many of these photos are altered and airbrushed, we still see the thin person on the cover, who looks soooo happy, and we want to be that person. And some people are willing to do anything to become that person, including behaviors that lead to eating disorders.

Eating disorders are categorized into three types:

  • Anorexia Nervosa: With this illness, a person has a fear of gaining weight and usually becomes dangerously thin. It mostly affects teen and young adult girls. Those who suffer from anorexia are very critical of themselves, obsess over food, exercise excessively, take diet pills, eat too little, and/or see themselves as fat.
  • Bulimia Nervosa: This disease is characterized by bingeing, followed by purging (through vomiting and/or laxative abuse), and also affects mostly teen and young adult girls. Those suffering from this disorder are often a normal weight or slightly overweight, feel out of control, exercise excessively, are afraid of gaining weight, experience depression and anxiety, are more susceptible to substance abuse, and/or have a somewhat distorted body image.
  • Binge-eating disorder: Unlike anorexia and bulimia, people suffering from this disorder don?t try to exercise or purge to compensate for the excessive amounts of food they eat. Their body weight ranges from normal to obese, and they often eat alone, feel out of control, and/or can experience feelings of guilt, shame, and depression. This disorder affects mostly middle-aged men and women, and can be triggered by stress, anxiety, and/or boredom. Most of the individuals we work with on Extreme Weight Loss struggle with this disorder.

The most common treatment for an eating disorder is therapy ? learning about yourself and how to find balance and control with food. However, other treatments can involve medication, and sometimes even hospitalization.

If you or someone you know is affected by an eating disorder, here are some important things to remember:

  • Never compare yourself to others. We all have different bone structures, genes, and cultures. What is a healthy weight for one person is not necessarily a healthy weight for another. I?m quite petite, so a healthy weight for me is not a healthy weight for a person who?s much taller with a not-quite-so-petite bone structure. But I must admit, this was very difficult for me in my teen years, and even into early adulthood. PS ? this is one of the reasons I CrossFit and train for performance. The feeling of ?Skinny? doesn?t hold a candle to the feeling of ?Strong?. I?m hooked ?
  • Don?t let the number on the scale define you. It?s just a number that?s affected by all the things listed above. Instead of working toward a certain number on the scale, make being healthy your main goal. I know. Sometimes that number we see on the scale can either make our day or send us into a mini-meltdown. As women, our weight can fluctuate by a few pounds?overnight?depending on what time of the month it is, and also on the types of foods we ate yesterday. Depend, instead, on how your clothes fit and how you truly feel. Once again, strength training and Crossfit helped me get over this number and focus on health.
  • Find balance in your life between getting healthy and living life. Fixating too much on one thing is not healthy and in no way leads to a balanced and happy life. While Chris and I love to work out, we also know there are many other things in life that are just as, or more, important. We work together to make sure we create room in our jam-packed schedules for those things we feel passionate about. Let?s face it?you never find time. You must create a time for balance. Allowing ourselves to focus on these other more important things allows us to see fulfillment and happiness in areas outside of ourselves.
  • Realize that falling is not failing. Failure happens when we don?t get back up and try again after we fall. Learn from your falls and you?ll become a much stronger person. If you?ve watched our show, you?ve seen our contestants experience this over and over again. How are we supposed to learn how to succeed if we never fall?! Anyone (including myself) that has been down (or is going down) the road to recovery from an eating disorder knows that it isn?t easy. We fall. We mess up. Sometimes we relapse. We are human. For anyone that doesn?t struggle during recovery?all I can say is you must be super-human ?. But remember that falling is okay. It doesn?t mean we fail. Like I said, we only fail when we choose not to get back up.
  • Build a support system. Find those whose opinions matter to you and who love you for the person you are right now. They will bend over backwards to help you through this struggle?I promise! My biggest supporters were my late father and my mom (in addition to therapists). Find your supporters ? maybe a best friend, a co-worker, a sibling?
  • Get help. There is nothing weak about getting help when you need it. In fact, asking for help is a definite sign of strength! This is such a hard step for most people. There are many organizations that specialize in helping those with eating disorders, and one we?ve featured on our show is Shades of Hope in Dallas, Texas. You can also go to the National Eating Disorders Association?s website for more helpful information.

While eating disorders are very serious illnesses, they can be overcome, and those who suffer from them can go on to lead normal, healthy, and happy lives. It?s all about finding and becoming the best?and healthiest?person you can be!

And please check out this other post on my blog for more information on my journey to overcome my own eating disorder.

*Source of basic information about eating disorders: mayoclinic.com

64 Responses

  1. Although this was a nice article to read, most peoe relate eating disorders with people who are anorexic and who are bulimic. I rarley see people focus on overweight as an eating disorder. I myself never concidered that my being overweight was an eating disorder. I always felt that only if i could be bulimic or anorexic then id loose all the weight and be healthy. I know that sounds ridiculous but that just how i felt. I am 160lbs over weight. Ive tried the lap band twice which both times gave me erosions on my stomach which i was told that the second time i could of died if i waited any longer. That was scary. But now im stuck in my mind i know what i should be doing and how i should be eating, but something always happens and my mind gets triggered to think well if i eat this it wont affect me or if i lost some weight ill think oh i can have that and i wont gain it back and then when its too late i feel guilty when i see the numbers on the scale. I can go on and on, but i know i need help but what stops me is the fact that eating healthy cost money and right now i dont work we only have one income so we do what we can. Hopefully ill get help one day!

  2. I have read this page 3 times everytime I get off the page I find myself right back on thepage reading the article. I admitt that I am a binge eater and I am struggling everydayto do better. My weight is steady going up and my determination is going down.

  3. Ever since I can remember I have struggled with my weight. I too would be influenced by ads and marketing to be skinny. I have dieted since my early teens and would gain the little I lost back plus more. The plus more was in defiance to the fact that my genetic makeup would never allow me to be that classy, sleek, sexy, petite person I so desired. I am 63 and still struggle with self image. I am an emotional eater. I eat when I’m happy, sad, bored….you name it. I would reward myself with food when happy, console myself with food when sad, occupy myself with food when bored…and the list goes on. My husband of 43 has been phenomenal -he has loved me through it all.

    When I hit my heaviest at 350 lbs, I felt like gastric by pass would be my salvation. Boy was I wrong. Sure initially I lost weight even completed a half marathon after training with my sister. You would think that would have had a positive impact, it did but only for a short while. It has been about six years since my bypass and I am distressed to tell you I have gained back half of what I lost. Benjamin Franklin said you should eat to live not live to eat. That was my failing … I lived to eat!

    Last August I very unexpectedly lost my younger brother. An amazing man with an equally amazing wife and three loving boys. It hit me then that life was too short and we never know what day might be our last. I needed to make some changes.

    We recently made a big change. I retired from my job and we moved across country. You see I have five children, seven grand kids ..soon to be eight, and all of them were far away. I now have daily reminders of why I need to get healthy and the start of getting healthy is loosing weight. Not to be the ideal image but to be there when my grand kids give me great grand kids…and I am the only one that can do it! Not some drug or surgery.

    I still battle with my love for food but I find myself asking the question.. Will that food you desire today keep you around to see those great grand children? If the answer is no I make every attempt to walk away. I am not always success but the successes are beginning to win. I have lost about 30 lbs. I have ups and downs but keep reminding myself it took me 63 years to gain it; why should I expect to loose it all in a few months?

    I have diabetes, have had two pulmonary embolisms, high blood pressure, and now due to by pass stomach problems. For me it has to be a permanent lifestyle change. I found my focus. I began a sensible way to loose weight with health in mind. Just since loosing 30 lbs, I am off my cholesterol meds, am in healthy blood pressure range, and off my insulin shots. We never know when it is our time to join the Lord but I want to make the time remaining here with my husband and family the best and longest I can. The beginning to longer life is good health…that is my goal. Keep me in your prayers as I know it will no be easy. I however am going to chose not to be self destructive. I know it can be done and if I lead from the front, my family, some of whom have the same struggles with there weight, my follow.

  4. I like this article and I would like to add something that is not being mentioned: While several eating disorders affect “mostly young/teenage girls” women over 35 tend to go undiagnosed. Women over 35 have to deal with body image issues when re-entering the work place, by choice or difficulties, plus the media and magazines don’t help. Just because we’re older doesn’t mean we’re not at risk.

  5. I just wanted to post to Lori, I was a single mom of a one year old when I decided to get help for my bulimia, most hospitals have a financial help program, I used it when I was pregnant and it pays for the copays and visits! At my hospital it as called medical financial assistance… You just fill out an application in the billing dept normally and once you qualify you’re able to get the help and medical attention you need at little or no cost to you! I hope this helps you start to get the help you deserve! Just know that you’re the only one that can help yourself and you deserve to be happy! There’s plenty of people with eating disorder (including myself) that are there to support you along the way 🙂

  6. This article really opened my eyes. Before reading the comments, I thought anorexia and bulimia only affected teens and young adults. I’m a sophomore in high school and I’ve been struggling with anorexia for the past two or three years. My biggest fear is that when I grow up I’ll still be like this.

  7. Thank you so much for giving me hope that one day I’ll have a normal, happy life without ED. I hope I’ll be able to have children and stop worrying about my weight. The road to recovery is a long, hard one, but I know I deserve to recover. To all people suffering, keep strong and believe you can recover <3 xxxx

  8. I still to this day suffer with Bulimia Nervosa. It actually started in my late 20’s as I am in the US Army and the pressure to stay fit is overwhelming. Being told you can get kicked out or be told your not a good leader because one is 1-3% over their BMI allowed is tough and I developed anxiety and I know it’s not healthy and I try to stop but I just don’t know how. I’ve always struggled with weight. I’m short and hispanic and I’ve never been real thin. Thinnest being 134 and heaviest 198 over the last 12 years. It’s something I badly want to get control of.

  9. Thanks for the informative article…..I’ve dealt with all but Anorexia for the past 40 years. I have a great support group but only a few know of my eating disorders. I’ve never even told my sister. Still feel like a failure at age 57. 🙁

  10. Thanks Holly. I’ve always thought I was way overweight. Even at 5’3″ and 105. I have been a part of a study group at University of Alabama in Birmingham. The study is to see if accountability helps maintain weightloss. I have successfully lost 12 lbs. I tend to sabbatoge myself. When I lose a few pounds I tend to eat a little more. I won’t give up though. I haven’t been successful at losing weight in a year until now. I have been working on lifestyle changes and feel like I’m making progress toward getting in the most healthy place. I love you and Chris!

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