Eating disorders and gender/sexuality expression

Seriously everyone, don't starve. It's dangerous

 

Seconded.

 

Do it! I could use a calorie-counting partner.

Might help me stay on the straight and narrow, too, lol.

EDIT: Maybe we should start a new thread.

 

Sorry if I seem to be speaking out of turn here and telling you the obvious but having recovered from an eating disorder myself, I would like to give the following advice:

Don't crash diet. 1.) It's dangerous. 2) If you crash diet and return back to your previous eating habits you will put the weight back on again as fat rather than muscle. 3.) If you try to keep up a crash diet, it can easily become an eating disorder. Losing weight, fast, is very addictive. Speaking from my experience, it can also become...I don't know what the word is but basically, losing weight dramatically gave me a sense of accomplishment. Everyone would compliment me on how skinny I was. It felt good and it was something I did to make myself feel better, more worthy. Weird, I know. It was also something I could use to punish myself. All of this emotional stuff got attached to it and it got out of control. All of this which began from a relatively innocent diet.

I'm not saying that this is going to be the case for any of you because this is me I'm talking about but what I'm trying to get across is how extreme dieting can tap into any emotional vulnerabilities you have and can easily escalate into something more.

I've been free from ED for about 3 years now, though admittedly with the occasional relapse and I have found that these to be the healthiest and simplest way to lose weight and keep it off:

Watch out for saturated fat content in food (most UK food labels will tell you the amount and percentage of your Recommended Daily Allowance)

Switch white carbs like white bread and pasta for wholegrain (lower in calories)

Cut down on your intake of sugar. (Less sugary, fizzy drinks, no sugars in coffee etc)

Eat little and often.

This has worked for me and I haven't really done that much exercise at all up until recently.

 

Could make it blog entries, rather than hijack the threads?

Also, I have no idea what mine would be for today, since I bought a kebab wrap from a take away. XD

---------- Post added 4th May 2014 at 05:46 PM ----------

Good advice.

 

Soooo, still losing weight, apparently. I don't own a scale (nor would I). But I can tell because my boyfriend shorts feel somewhat looser than they did when they came in a couple weeks ago.

Yet, when I look in the mirror, I don't see any weight loss. :eusa_eh: What's up with that?

 

Never had an eating disorder as such. But when my depression got bad I wouldn't really eat, my appetite would go. Though I recall a time when 14/15 where I refused to eat for a few weeks. Looking back, maybe it was all linked to puberty? I thought it was because my parents were lost in WoW and I figured it'd be a good method to make them notice me (didn't work xD).

 

I don't think I can say I ever have because I was never diagnosed.

I've have stints where I'd beat myself if I didn't meet a weight loss goal (even if I was off by like .2 pounds) and I'd punish myself by not letting myself eat for a day or so; or if I was really depressed (be it about my weight or a separate issue) I'd got a while without eating (I think I went nearly three days without doing so at one point).

 

^ I do this. Co-workers are always pressuring me to go to lunch with them and I hate it because I don't have the "man-sized" appetite they do. Yet I always feel pressured to clean my plate so they don't look at me like I'm some fruit. (They're all good-ol'-boy types. :rolle So to compensate, I usually skip dinner on those days, and occasionally breakfast the next day.

Doesn't sound as serious as your situation, though.

 

It's been a major on and off again thing, but it hasn't been a physical altercation with myself (physical and emotional self beatings) in a year, so I guess that's something.

 

I've struggled with my weight/food since I was a kid. Used to pass out from low blood sugar in class but was just on the side of getting diagnosed with hypoglycemia. Most of my eating problems now stem from anxiety. I feel too nauseous to eat, and if I force myself to anyway I'll throw up :dry:

I'm not entirely sure what my weight is at the moment, but for the last few months its been around 98lbs (I'm 5'7'') last fall there was about a month where it dropped to 95lbs and I felt absolutely horrible. I've never been within the 'healthy range', but lost about 10lbs during the time I spent coming out to myself and have struggled getting it back up.

 

To briefly recap this past week, I did much, much better on my caloric intake and choice of sustenance. Won't go into detail, but let's just say I'm certain I easily met my 1,400 calorie minimum each and every day and much of what I ate contained immensely more actual nutritional value than it has for quite some time.

Had a somewhat dysphoric moment earlier this afternoon, though, when I decided to treat myself to a small milkshake after my exercise. (I used to be a horrible ice cream addict, but had completely given it up a few months ago.) Afterwards, I looked like I had swallowed a basketball :rolle: and had a sudden urge to corset again, but so far am fending it off. I do know I'm staying on the ice cream wagon permanently from now on, though. Ugh.