Eating Disorders

Do you have a healthy relationship to food? If you were seriously overweight in the past, chances are good that at some point your answer to that question was "no." Having an unhealthy relationship to food is how many of us became overweight in the first place. I ate to feed my emotions rather than my body. I ate for comfort and for pleasure.

There's nothing wrong with enjoying food, of course. Most "naturally" thin people will tell you that they love to eat. But if you (like me) weren't blessed with a speedy metabolism, the food world is full of difficult choices. Counting calories, practicing portion control, making healthy choices: most Thin Club members do some or all of these things all day, every day. Thankfully, sooner or later, it becomes a routine, part of your daily life you don't have to think so much about anymore.

But let me make something VERY clear: we at the Thin Club do not EVER advocate using unhealthy methods, like purging or starvation (or even extreme self-deprivation) to get thin or to stay thin. This is not about trading one unhealthy obsession with food for another just to get into a certain jeans size.

What does a serious eating disorder look like? Here's what the National Eating Disorder Association has to say about anorexia and bulimia, two of the most common eating disorders:

ANOREXIA NERVOSA is characterized by self-starvation and excessive weight loss.

Symptoms include:

• Refusal to maintain body weight at or above a minimally normal weight for  height, body type, age, and activity level
• Intense fear of weight gain or being “fat”
• Feeling “fat” or overweight despite dramatic weight loss
• Loss of menstrual periods
• Extreme concern with body weight and shape

BULIMIA NERVOSA is characterized by a secretive cycle of binge eating followed by purging. Bulimia includes eating large amounts of food--more than most people would eat in one meal--in short periods of time, then getting rid of the food and calories through vomiting, laxative abuse, or over-exercising.

Symptoms include:

• Repeated episodes of bingeing and purging
• Feeling out of control during a binge and eating beyond the point of comfortable fullness
• Purging after a binge, (typically by self-induced vomiting, abuse of laxatives, diet pills and/or diuretics, excessive exercise, or fasting)
• Frequent dieting  
• Extreme concern with body weight and shape

(Source: National Eating Disorders Association webpage)


If you see yourself, or someone you care about, in either of these descriptions, it's extremely important to get help. Talk to your family doctor, see a therapist, or seek out an eating disorders specialist for guidance.

You lost the weight because you wanted to make your body healthy; don't you owe the same to your mind?