Eating help: How do you know when you have an eating disorder? - Help.com

Try this site: http://www.something-fishy.org/

There’s lots of information about what eating disorders are and it gives you the symptoms, ect.

That sounds like you do have an eating disorder, so I guess the first thing to think about is why you do all this?

It definitely sounds like your eating habits are bad for your health. If you aren’t eating every day, it can actually damage your heart, kidneys, and other organs over time. You could end up with some very serious health problems.

Here’s a website that will help you to figure out what a healthy weight is, for you:

http://www.healthatoz.com/healthatoz/…

An eating disorder simply means that the way you eat is damaging your health in a serious way. So, even though you occasionally eat high-fat foods like chips, the inconsistent way you eat, and the long periods of time you go without eating are definitely hurting you. That’s why it sounds like you have an eating disorder.

By the way, I’m not just making this stuff up. I had an eating disorder when I was younger, and it caused all sorts of problems.

Why do you go for days without eating?

You can lose weight without damaging yourself. Starving yourself can actually make people gain weight. The key ways to losing weight healthily are exercise and eating healthily - that includes regularly.

It’s okay to eat junk food occasionally as that shouldn’t affect you, just don’t go overboard.

I have had an eating disorder as well. “Anorexia” and “chew and spit bulemia”.

Mine was a control thing. When ever I felt my life getting out of control, I would go into that mode. Eating disorders are a mind set. Sometimes you can solve the eating disorder by figuring out why you do it.

For one thing. Not eating now will cause your body to change. When you don’t eat you body tells the brain as much, and then your brain tells your body to save everything that it takes in, causing you to gain more weight.

To hep loose weight do what tabby.toxic just posted. As well, eating less, more times a day helps to keep your body burning calories and keeps your metabolism up.

Try designating one day of the week where you can have a junk food as a snack, but don’t go over board.

I know what that is like.

Sounds like yours is linked with the control of your life as well.
Something that may help is to set out the things you are going to eat that day. When you stick with that then you still have the control.

I understand what you mean about feeling in control of things, but there are other ways you could do this.

What about something like planning your meals for the day/week and sticking to it, weighing yourself at the end of a week or two or something like that so you can see the progress you’ve been making.

The thing is, you can still damage your health by not eating regularly, even if you aren’t underweight, yet. It’s a little complicated, but here’s how it works.

When your body needs energy, it tries to burn off sugars and carbs first. It burns fat and protein for long-term energy, but this takes longer. If there isn’t at least a little bit of sugar or carbs to work on, your body will actually digest your own muscles! I know this sounds gross, but it’s true. Your heart is a muscle, which is why going days without eating can hurt your heart.

I think I understand your need for control - that’s what my own eating disorder was all about control. I didn’t feel like I could control a lot of my life, but I could control what I ate. Not eating was hard, so I felt proud when I’d go days without food. But I got really unhealthy.

Here’s an idea. When you splurge on junk food, try exercising to make yourself feel better. Even if you can’t get to the gym, you can test your limits by seeing how many sit-ups you can do, or something like that. Exercise also gives you time to clear your head, which can make you feel a lot better.

If you’re afraid of eating too much, try stocking up really healthy, low-calorie foods. Every time you want a bag of chips, try eating some carrots, or celery, or rice cakes, or something like that. Along with the exercising, you’ll end up feeling good about yourself, looking good, and being really in shape!

Maybe some money management would come in help too then, set aside an amount for food each week - it is important, you can’t just go without it. I think you’ll find it can be quite cheap to eat healthily.

Wow, that’s really rough. But you know, there are a lot of healthy foods that are cheap. For example, beans and rice (especially if you buy the dried beans and cook them yourself). Carrots and celery are pretty cheap, too. When I was just starting out, I used to eat a lot of gumbo. It can be VERY cheap to make, it’s healthy and low calorie, and you can find recipes on the internet. I’d just make rice, then add a chopped up onion, celery, salt, pepper, and any kind of veggies and meat that were on sale. It saved me a lot of money.

Drinking lots of fluids, and especially the milk and soy milk should help you out, a lot. I’m really glad that you’re doing that!

I guess as long as you aren’t underweight, you’re drinking lots of fluids, and you’re getting some sugars and carbs… maybe you don’t have an eating disorder. Just be really careful, ok?

If people are concerned about you, it probably means that they care about you, which is such a great thing. But if I were you, I’d just read a lot about nutrition and make a plan about how to lose weight, so you can explain it to people who are concerned.

if other people suspect that you have an eating disorder then more than likely you do. The victims of eating disorders (especially Anorexia) do not realize they have a disorder. So if someone tells you they think you have an ED then you should listen to them.

Even if you don’t really have an eating disorder now, that doesn’t go to say that what’s already happening will develop into something more serious. I think you really need to do your best to try eating more regularly.

victims of Anorexia have a fear of gaining weight. They also have a very low self body image. They will always see themselves as overweight… even if they are skin and bones. So did you mention your BMI in this post? I didn’t see it. How tall are you, what do you weigh and how old are you?

It sucks that she gave you a hard time about your weight, is there anyway you could use this as a useful thing, though? Perhaps you could talk to her and let her know that you want to lose some weight and see if she can help you out?

That might be hard or embarrassing for you to do, but it’s an idea.

Your feelings about food and your body image are more anxious than normal, and your difficulty with all-or-nothing control with food sounds like an eating disorder. I think you’re concern about having an eating disorder is right on. Alot of thin people think their fat too. If you seek a consultation from a doctor who specializes in eating disorders, you might find some understanding and strategies.

Can you tell us how much you weigh and how tall you are?

17 pounds in a month is a lot! It sounds like your weight goal is realistic, but it also sounds like your reasons for wanting to lose weight so fast might not be healthy, emotionally. Divorce is really hard, and I can imagine that having a dietician mother criticizing your weight really doesn’t help. But you’re putting so much pressure on yourself! What if you gave yourself two months to lose the weight?

Keep in mind that this is also the hardest time of year to lose weight. I think you should give yourself more credit.

I know this is personal, but are you maybe on antidepressants? I know that they can cause you to gain weight.

I think that tabby toxic had a good idea… maybe you could talk to your mom, if you think she might be helpful. You might feel less alone, and your mom might feel happy that you’re thinking about your weight, since she’s been concerned about it, in the past.

Just try to make this about being healthy, not just thin, ok? You should feel good about yourself because you’re doing something very hard - getting in shape during the holidays. But just don’t take it to excess. Not eating for 3 days is pretty extreme, even if you are drinking fluids. Be careful.

If you don’t want to feel alone, I can give you my email address. No one should feel alone during the holidays.

Thanks! I’m sorry that you’re in such a tough situation but I wish you luck with your diet. Just be careful. I hope you have a happy holidays!