Losing weight... afraid of an eating disorder

Hey everyone. I've been losing a lot of weight lately - I don't know how much because I don't have a scale...

It all started because I was stressed out.. It was hard to eat, and all I knew was that in a year I had lost 20 pounds... see i was never really too fat either so i felt good after that. I still want to lose more weight - because now I am looking better, but i wanna be thin - not average - but thin.

Ok, so the problem is, that I've basically quit eating. It started when I was broke - i had no money so i started walking to work everyday and i couldn't afford to buy food so I only ate what was in the house, but half the time that didn't appeal to me so i didn't eat it anyways, so i got used to that for a week until i got some cash and then when i did get money - i still didn't wanna eat a whole lot, and now - i'm like great if i keep going the way i'm going it'll be easy to lose weight.

I know, this is bad. I know i should eat and I know all the health issues of not eating, i know that if u don't eat your body breaks down your muscle and stores fat and all that.

But, I'm afraid of having an eating disorder - i try to eat when i get hungry but most of the time i am at work and by the time i am off the hunger pains have gone away so i'm good.

I'm also scared now that i've gone so long without eating healthy that I am afriad once I start eating my body is going to gain all that weight back. Even though I am still getting plenty of exercise.

I suggest that you start eating slow...

and eat food that doesn't have much fat in it...

start by eating veggies, carrots, letuce, etc..(very cheap too)

then start eating more food like cereal, pancakes, etc.

Then you should be fine, also do some exirsice to help you body from gaining weight....

to tell you the truth, you body won't even gain much weight...even if you lost 20 pounds, your bosy will probably get 2-3 pounds back...

but if you do excersice, you will keep all of the weight off, and maybey loose more...do about 20 mins of excersice a day, and you will be more than fine...

also as for you being thing, me being a guy, I prefer woman with some meat on them, not too much.

It does sound like you're bordering on the condition of anorexia, if not already there. I don't know how this disorder is treated, so can't give you any advice there. You may have to see a professional. From what I understand, many people fall susceptible to this disease because it's a form of "control" - they are controlling what goes in their bodies, etc. And somehow, they get a satisfaction of having this power of rigid control. I guess you need to explore what could be behind this need, why you have this need.

I would like to say a few things about the issue of thinness. In the nineties, the "waif" look was really in, a stupid trend that resulted in a lot of teen girls becoming anorexic. And the celebrity magazines plastered with pictures of rail-thin starlets try to continue this trend. But the fact is, it's a very unattractive and unwomanly look. Ask yourself, who is sexier: Britney Spears or Mary Kate Olsen??

I think Britney Spears is the ideal for a woman's figure: healthy, plenty of curves, and nicely toned from exercise. And I honestly feel her figure is attainable. The girl eats what she wants, and makes sure she gets plenty of exercise. I notice people are saying she's getting "fat" and I find this incredulous. We are becoming a very sick society indeed if we label Britney Spears' body as "fat"!! I mean, it's absolutely ludicrous.

A healthy appetitite and fun, thoughtfully planned exercise routine go hand in hand to create a nice figure. Please - don't punish yourself by starving yourself to death. Be good to yourself, and treat your body like the temple it is. Find out how to get control of the things that really matter in life, instead of this "quick fix".

It sounds a bit like the beginnings of anorexia.

I battled anorexia for years from elementary school until high school. At one point I weighed in at 58lbs at 5'1" height. I was skeletal. I was afraid to eat because I was in national level competitive gymnastics and extra weight was a BIG no-no. I learned the hard way that I needed to eat and I needed to eat healthy.

So my message to you is:

"YOU NEED TO EAT, AND YOU NEED TO EAT HEALTHY!"

I was losing 15-20 lbs every two months because I wasn't eating and I was exercising 8 hours a day seven days a week. If you start losing like I did THEN YOU HAVE A MAJOR PROBLEM and will probably wind up in the hospital being force fed and have feeding tubes down into your stomach like I did. It isn't fun. You can die from severe anorexia.

It's much better to be lean AND ALSO MUSCULAR and the only way to get that way is to eat a healthy diet with lots of protein, fruits and vegetables and exercise wisely-- not excessively- 4 days a week MAX.

When you stop eating your metabolism slows down to the point where you can be tired all the time. I've known anorexics on ventilators because they no longer have the muscle capacity to breath on their own- their body's ate all their muscles because they hadn't eaten in so long.

Please take it from a survivor of anorexia and please start taking better care of your body. Find someone to drive you to work at least twice a week and always have at least one big meal a day if you can't afford three.

Thanks for the advice - it helps to hear stories of people who went through it.

Since I am going through a time where I don't want to eat anything, I kinda figured, now is the time when I should start eating healthy foods, since I don't have cravings for any of the bad foods, why not start a healthy diet.

I still feel like I have to force myself to eat somtimes, but I reckon it would be better than going through anorexia - I'm afraid of that - I said I wanted to be thin - but not THAT thin.

I think right now, exercise is #1 on my list - i walk 2 hours a day and I swim 3 times a week... I hate things like running or going to the gym. I dunno - hopefully this will help me lose some fat. Well, thanks

K

That's a great regiment!

Swimming's great for the whole body! Works almost every muscle group. Good choice!

I would have to agree with you, that now that you don't have the cravings for bad food, to reintroduce good nutritious foods.

The funny thing about nutritious foods with high content of fiber is that if you drink a lot of water with it you feel very full on less amount of food- the fiber soaks up the water and expands.

Some of the foods I eat that make me feel fuller longer during the day that are high in fiber are carrots, broccoli and whole grain breads... but there's a lot more out there. Fiber plays an important role in cleansing your system so it's got many pluses. Vegetables and fruits in general have a satisfying crunch and can be very low in calories... sometimes I just feel like I need something crunchy so then i eat carrot sticks. I get the crunch and no excess calories.

Hope this helps and good luck!

Can't help with info, much, just 2 say I understand completely what u r going thru and isn't it just effed right the hell up when u get constant compliments on how nice/good/great/incredible u look ever since for any reason, self-inflicted or just 2 poor 2 eat, u stopped putting sooo much food into your mouth?

I know shopping is a heck of alot easier and plus sized clothes are hideous!! I am also the type that thrives on male attention so that has helped alot, I just miss my butt and boobs, oh, well, I'm ALOT more flexible and active, now. Been plus sized my whoooole entire life and although I was never w/o a boyfriend, I do not miss it!!!

I am not, by all means advocating E.D.'s, it's just sometimes they creep up on u and u have 2 work with it..

This hot bit*h (no offense, meant in a good way) has very good advice, I have done this, also.

I also agree with this, given the traumatic event that has happened I find myself eating more than usual but I go straight 2 exercising afterwards so as not to gain any back. So far, so good, let's hope it stays that way..and a bit of muscle is kinda sexy, I've gotten many compliments for my arms, I can actually do quite a few boy-style push ups and some with my 2 year old 55 lb. son on my back (he's tall).

YAY!!! 4 exercising, it also makes u feel veeery good!! I actually attained the "Exercise High" when I really pushed it, it was awesome!! I never in my life thought I could achieve that!!

Good luck, sexxxy!!!