Bulimia and other eating disorders?

[Gymgurl]

I have 3 daughters.....we don't talk about weight nor do I keep a scale in the house. All they know is that it is normal to exercise to be healthy....not to be thin

 

[Sassy69]

I believe I have an eating disorder. I am a bodybuilder, I sacrifice many friendships just to be one. I don't go out, because I may not get food, I don't go out, because I'm too sore and I need sleep. If I go to long without food I freak out.

Dude, that's not an eating disorder - its a fitness lifestyle. We all do it. BTW - "I don't go out because I may not get food" -- do you have any idea how many jugs of water and protein mix I would keep in my trunk when I went out to the clubs until 4 am? Just run out & chug one. I pack a complete day's worth of food + 2 emergency meals EVERY DAY. I'm ready for anything!

You're just 'normal' here

 

[youngguns]

Dude, that's not an eating disorder - its a fitness lifestyle. We all do it. BTW - "I don't go out because I may not get food" -- do you have any idea how many jugs of water and protein mix I would keep in my trunk when I went out to the clubs until 4 am? Just run out & chug one. I pack a complete day's worth of food + 2 emergency meals EVERY DAY. I'm ready for anything!

You're just 'normal' here

haha that's awesome, I'm just a slacker

 

[Sassy69]

Sorry ladies for jumping in on this one, and if you want to delete or move my post becuase I dont belong in this section, I understand. However, I work with these types of disorders but in a much younger population. It is a real a gut wrenching, heart rending experince to have 6-9 yr old girls purging. In as much as there is an element of trying to find something that the girl can control independent of what ever else may have happened to them or what was done to them or taken from them, we see Encopresis (deficating in inappropriate places) and Enuresis (urinating in innapropriate places) with these children as well.

We see these young children (boys and girls) come from such horendous home lives, and quite often they have histories of sex abuse, severe physical abuse, PTSD, obsessive compulsive type behaviours, and sometimes even reactive attachment disorder behaviors as well.

While eating disorders are not my forte, they are of interest to me in the formation of the dynamics involved and at the age in which these these dynamics begin to form and to become active.

I admire any woman or man who has the courage, the honesty, and the discipline to face their eating disorder issues head on and to deal with all the underlying trauma, pain and loss.

It scares me to see the latency age girls talk about all the unhealthy and abnormaly thin and fraile female bodies that they see in the popular media. I never thought I would see the day when six and seven year olds talk about making themselves vomit in order to stay thin.

I wish all the mothers on the EF board, all the best in helping to correct the distorted and destructive messages that society and most particularly the pop culture is trying to spoon feed the children (mostly girls) of today.

Ok soap box stand over

As an FYI

DSM-IV Criteria for Anorexia Nervosa

Criterion

Description

A Refusal to maintain body weight at or above a minimally normal weight for age and height (e.g., weight loss leading to maintenance of body weight less than 85% of that expected or failure to make expected weight gain during period of growth, leading to body weight less than 85% of that expected).

B Intense fear of gaining weight or becoming fat, even though underweight.

C Disturbance in the way in which one's body weight or shape is experienced, undue influence of body weight or shape on self-evaluation, or denial of the seriousness of the current low body weight.

D In postmenarcheal females, amenorrhea, i.e., the absence of at least three consecutive menstrual cycles. (A woman is considered to have amenorrhea if her periods occur only following hormone, e.g., estrogen, administration.)

Specify type:

Restricting type During the current episode of anorexia nervosa, the person has not regularly engaged in binge-eating or purging behavior (i.e., self-induced vomiting or the misuse of laxatives, diuretics or enemas).

Binge-eating/purging type During the current episode of anorexia nervosa, the person has regularly engaged in binge-eating or purging behavior (i.e., self-induced vomiting or the misuse of laxatives, diuretics or enemas).


DSM-IV = Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th ed.

Reprinted with permission from American Psychiatric Association. Practice guideline for the treatment of patients with eating disorders (revision). Am J Psychiatry 2000;157(suppl):4.


TABLE 2

DSM-IV Criteria for Bulimia Nervosa

Criterion


Description

A Recurrent episodes of binge eating. An episode of binge eating is characterized by both of the following:

Eating, in a discrete period of time (e.g., within any two-hour period), an amount of food that is definitely larger than most people would eat during a similar period of time and under similar circumstances.

A sense of lack of control over eating during the episode (e.g., a feeling that one cannot stop eating or control what or how much one is eating).

B Recurrent inappropriate compensatory behavior in order to prevent weight gain, such as self-induced vomiting; misuse of laxatives, diuretics, enemas or other medications; fasting; or excessive exercise.

C The binge eating and inappropriate compensatory behaviors both occur, on average, at least twice a week for three months.

D Self-evaluation is unduly influenced by body shape and weight.

E The disturbance does not occur exclusively during episodes of anorexia nervosa.

Specify type:

Purging type During the current episode of bulimia nervosa, the person has regularly engaged in self-induced vomiting or the misuse of laxatives, diuretics or enemas.

Nonpurging type During the current episode of bulimia nervosa, the person has used other inappropriate compensatory behaviors, such as fasting or excessive exercise, but has not regularly engaged in self-induced vomiting or the misuse of laxatives, diuretics or enemas.


Just a word of caution and of humorous relief--I had a professor once tell me to take the DSM with a grain of salt. As you read it you will see a bit of yourself in most every disorder in the book. However, a couple similarites does not a disorder make. Or in otherwords reading the DSM can bring about a type of "psychological hypochondria"

I am very much hoping this website is NOT being browsed by 6-9 yr olds, but there are lots of parents and lots of people who have experienced stuff like this so it is very much a part of every cross-section of life. Your input is absolutely a part of this discussion so please, welcome to the chick's board

Its a tragedy that these abuses are more common than you'd imagine, but there's nothing stronger than awareness of its roots as well as the results of it. And for our part, we continue to learn about and focus on the important of diet & training for health, but also for sense of accomplish, self-esteem, personal respect and discipline and all the good things that come of it all.

 

[Will2BLean]

I've had experience with EDs in the past as well. It started with aenorexia and turned into bulimia. I consider myself "over it" for now, but I still have issues with binging. I'm not too comfortable with getting into the details of it, but I commend you all for being so strong and coming forward about it. Hopefully some people will read this and find help for themselves.

 

[T-Cake]

I've had experience with EDs in the past as well. It started with aenorexia and turned into bulimia. I consider myself "over it" for now, but I still have issues with binging. I'm not too comfortable with getting into the details of it, but I commend you all for being so strong and coming forward about it. Hopefully some people will read this and find help for themselves.

When I started lifting/training big time last year, I had my first cheat day -- and that's exactly what I did. I cheated... but looking back now, I know it was an all-out binge. It took me MONTHS to figure out how to have a proper cheat day and that overeating didn't have to mean sneaking food or eating until I felt horribly sick.

Heck, most of those foods I would binge on aren't even in my diet anymore because it was "diet" food or low calorie! Now at least I eat real food again!

 

[Sassy69]

Back to lack of education on basic nutrition - unfortunately I'm not talking about the govt-sponsored food pyramid - but rather how the body works & how you fuel it. The media & the "diet" industry skew it even more.

 

[T-Cake]

Back to lack of education on basic nutrition - unfortunately I'm not talking about the govt-sponsored food pyramid - but rather how the body works & how you fuel it. The media & the "diet" industry skew it even more.

We had annoncements on the TVs at school this week where a student reporter gave infornmation on the food pyramid and proper nutrition.

I guess it drives me crazy because kids are still thinking they are to eat 10 servings of bread a day...

Oh and there wasn't any mention of protein. I know they're just teenagers and they need their energy... but there's no balance! And I think what made me even more annoyed was that I know there's a teacher behind that report thinking that's the way to teach the kids to eat.

My students complain about copying down one page of notes with their HAND let alone getting out of their seat. They're so stationary it's frightening -- and some of them are easily 50# overweight already and only 13... not that I know what that's like.

Argh! Tangent! Sorry!

 

[Sassy69]

But see that's part of the problem--- we get these blind statements of "this is what you should eat" -- which then leaves it wide open to interpretation and then the media / marketing implies that all this processed "non-fat food" is good for you. How nice if there was a basic description of how the body works, how nutrition works. That's why I keep bringing up the BODY FOR LIFE book -- it lays it all out in such basic terms.

Anyway -- there are lots of things that roll up into the whole eating disorder discussion - it is truly one of the most tragic statements about this society.

 

[nsashbl01]

Im having this issue right now....with all the running I am doing I can't live off of 1200 cals a day. I keep getting fatter on less cals...

Same situation that nudged Hoteacher into bb. She has some ed in her past and would not believe me regarding eating for your sport. She got up to something like 26 or 28% bf while running more than 50 miles a week. Since then she is eating well over 2k cals and has not been over 10% since. But it's a constant fight to keep the ed tendoncies at bay.

I have seen so many women that are stuck with ed and have such distorted views of themself. I feel for all of them.