Eating Disorder Help

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Author:
S.A. Smith

An eating disorder is a life threatening condition that often requires professional assistance and support to overcome. If you think you have an eating disorder it is critical that you seek out the help and support you need to overcome your condition.

Beating an ea ting disorder can prove very rewarding and open new avenues of opportunity you never dreamed of. You will no longer be tied down by food and your emotional as well as physical health and well being will improve substantially.

HOW DO I KNOW I HAVE AN EATING DISORDER?

There are many signs and symptoms that are indicative of an eating disorder.

Consider asking yourself the following questions:

- Do you obsess about food and eating? - Do you deny yourself food at times even when you feel hungry? - Do you often withdraw from social activities involving eating? - Do you often feel fat even if you are not fat or overweight? - Do you exercise excessively after meals or to the point of pain or injury? - Do you purge (vomit) after eating? - Do you regularly use laxatives or diuretics to control your weight? - Do you often eat large volumes of food uncontrollably?

If you answered yes to one or more of these questions, you may have an eating disorder.

ANOREXIA AND BULIMIA

Anorexia is a type of eating disorder that is often characterized by starving oneself thin. People who are anorexic often do not allow themselves to eat more than 500 or less calories per day.

Bulimics tend to eat large quantities of food and then purge them, through vomiting or laxative use.

Both anorexics and bulimics may exercise excessively. There are other types of eating disorders as well including binge eating disorder where you consume large quantities of food over and over again but don't necessarily purge.

WHERE TO GO FOR HELP

If you feel you may have an eating disorder it is vital that you seek help. Recognizing that you may have a problem is actually the first step toward recovery.

The good news is you can eat a healthy and well balanced diet that doesn't require that you follow a strict or rigid routine. A flexible diet will help you remain fit and a normal weight. A nutritionist or dietician can help you develop a healthy and well balanced meal plan that is easy to follow and will help boost your spirits.

Eating disorders often result from distorted thinking about yourself, your body image and the way others perceive you. Part of recovering from an eating disorder requires that you recognize that your body isn't related to your identity and that the two are actually separate. You may need professional help distinguishing between the two and identifying the triggers that are causing you to engage in distorted eating patterns.

Many eating disorders are simply a way to mask your emotional pain. If you have an eating disorder, don't keep it a secret. Talk to friends or family members or seek assistance from your healthcare provider or an online support community. There are numerous groups online that can help you work through your emotional pain and start your journey toward healing.

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About the author:

S.A. Smith is a freelance writer, correspondent, and contributing editor of the Anorexia Bulimia Help resource site.

A Quick Note From The Publisher... If you like the article above, you may be interested in the following article which is also related to Eating Disorders... The Harmful Emergence of Pro-Bulimia Attitudes - Though bulimia is classified as an eating disorder, not everyone with bulimia feels like they have a disorder. Some view bulimia and anorexia as lifestyles—chosen lifestyles. People with bulimia and anorexia are terrified or shamed by the thought of getting fat or even eating. They have an unhealthy body image and feel that, no matter how they actually look, they are overweight. People with bulimia may binge on food, but then they either vomit after meals, abuse laxatives, or exercise excessively. People with anorexia starve themselves. Ninety percent of eating disorders are in women, many in their teens. Pro-bulimia and pro-anorexia groups reside on the Internet. Web sites and message boards run by mostly teenage girls are devoted to “Ana,” short for “anorexia,” and “Mia,” short for “bulimia.” Many of these Web sites use nutritional information to plan diets like, for example, how to eat the needed requirements of vitamins and minerals in the fewest of calories. Other sections teach the reader how to eat the fewest calories in a day, how to hide anorexia or bulimia from other people, and other information to, essentially, make having an eating disorder more efficient. To the people who are pro-bulimia and pro-anorexia, eating disorders are a choice. Many Web sites include pages dedicated to “thinsperation,” quotes, art, and pictures of skinny or obese people to encourage readers to lose weight. The Web sites are support groups to the people who use them. Many people, however, find the pro-bulimia and pro-anorexia pages disturbing. Eating disorder treatment professionals have debated how to best handle the people who view their eating disorder as a lifestyle. Some have argued that these Web sites should be shut down, but others say this will not fix the...