Bulimia and
Anorexia Explained
by Sky At Dawn
| So
many people have a misconception that only overweight individuals
have eating disorders. Not true! In fact, a person can be
a 'perfect' weight, eat extremely healthy, be on a strict
exercise regime, and still have an eating disorder! Even
athletes can have eating disorders. Anyone who continually
has 'mental struggling fears' over their weight has an eating
disorder. Eating disorders affect both males and females.
|
 |
| But
generally, when we think about eating disorders, the words
Bulimia and Anorexia Nervosa spring to mind. You've heard
these words batted around for years now, but in simple terms,
what do they mean? Just how harmful are they to YOU? Begin
with this short quiz…
- Do you have a fear of
being overweight?
- Do you 'not eat' on a
regular basis.
- When you look into a
mirror, do you see an overweight person? If so, do the
numbers on your scale indicate that you are in your normal
weight range, or over your normal weight range?
- Do you binge on a regular
basis, then purge the food?
- Do you feel out of control
where your weight is concerned?
|
| Did you answer
'yes' to any of those questions? (Okay…no cheating here.)
The third question was a bit tricky, and we don't know if
you noticed or not, but part of Question #3 was not a 'no
or yes' answer. This one took a little more effort.
Now for the fun stuff! What
do we do next? Well, if you answered 'yes' to any of the
questions, please read on. However, if you answered 'no'
to any of the questions, please read on. (There's no easy
way out, is there?) |
DEFINING THE DIRTY
WORDS IN SIMPLE TERMS
Bulimia - gross feeding frenzy, then gross purging by self-induced
vomiting to get rid of the food as quickly as possible. Sometimes,
large doses of laxative are used. The person who has Bulimia
almost always keeps their condition secret. |
| Gee…doesn't
this sound lovely?
Calculating
the Damage:
|
- PAIN:
dehydration as well as potassium depletion which in turn
causes weakness and cramps
- STAINS:
stained teeth from the 'purge'
- DARK RAIN:
depression
- DEATH TRAIN:
the 'victim' may become suicidal
|
So what causes
Bulimia? (This was a shocking discovery to us! Hook your seatbelt
for this one…)
- Bulimia is generally caused from Anorexia Nervosa. YIKES!!!
This is the low-down. A person who is Anorexic has eaten very,
very sparsely for years on end, and may develop a constant
craving for food and begin to binge. Then the fear of becoming
overweight causes them to do a self-purge.
- Occasionally, Bulimia will occur in a person without a history
of Anorexia. |
So, what is Anorexia
Nervosa? Well, let's just find out!
Anorexia Nervosa is an intense fear of being overweight and
is also known as the 'slimming disease'. An individual experiences
severe weight loss and has a distorted body image. Sometimes
sufferers of Anorexia actually see themselves as overweight
when in fact they are normal weight. |
| Calculating
the Damage:
- DEATH CAN OCCUR
(This is serious, guys - we aren't talking Death by Chocolate
here, either. This is the big one - the Big Kahuna with
no turning back.)
- THINNING OF HAIR
- (the Kojak Syndrome)
- WEAKNESS
- Too tired to shop or shoot hoops.
- VANISHING PERIODS
- Yes, we know this sounds like a plus, but this
is merely a deception. Remember that anything too good
generally isn't. (Does that make sense?) Nonetheless,
'under eating' will totally confuse your harmones. This
is 'bad karma' at its worst!
- VITAL ORGAN DAMAGE
- It's what you can't see that can hurt you.
Think of this example: You have a plant, so you put it
into a BEAUTIFUL container. You continually admire this
beautiful container. As time goes by, you are so busy
admiring the beautiful container that you don't water
your plant or give it plant food. Soon, the plant withers.
The roots began to rot. The poor little plant begins to
shrink from lack of nutrients and slowly sinks into the
soil. The plant dies. In this case, it's not a biggie.
You can just go buy another plant to take its place. However,
in real life, we are the beautiful container and our little
insides cannot be replaced. The bottom line is that root
rot kills.
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| SUMMING
IT UP - What to do.
The first step is to recognize
and admit that you are in trouble and that you need a little
help.
If you are suffering from
Bulimia or Anorexia Nervosa, please, please - pretty please
with sugar and butter and cinnamon on it - get someone to
help you.
If you are afraid to get
help, or if you don't have anyone that you feel will help
you without coming down hard on you, then please leave a
message at Diet Bites. Tom and I promise to contact you.
We PERSONALLY answer ALL comments and questions. Your comments
and questions are always kept confidential when requested.
If you know someone that
you think is suffering from Bulimia or Anorexia Nervosa,
for gosh sakes, DO NOT condemn or criticize this person.
So, what can you do?
- UNDERSTAND BY
LISTENING!!!! One cannot learn with an open mouth.
- LOVE
- ATTENTION
- PATIENCE
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| Help
make a plan for 'recovery'. You'll want to get your physician
included on this one. One note that's 'sad but so': Finding
a good doctor these days is a HUGE challenge. Most tend
to run people in and out of their offices like cattle, giving
a total new meaning to 'Rawhide'. You may have to search
a while, but when you finally locate a good doctor, you've
got a GEM!!!
Visit
Sky's site, Diet
Bites, for more of her work. |
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