When does it become an ED?

WARNING: This post may be triggering. It's in the intent to help, but please be mindful of what is best for you. Thank you.

A lot of the times, it's hard to differentiate an eating disorder and just simply not being hungry/eating as much as necessary. An eating disorder mindset can vary from; "You're just not hungry." to "Don't eat. It's bad for you." How do you know the difference? Well, I contacted my nutritionist that helped me when I was facing an ED, and I asked her as well as a fellow post bulimic friend what they thought. Here's what we all think about it.

*** I've written it exactly as it was said. No changes were made to these answers. ***

*** I will be making a shorter, summarized post at some point. ***

*Nutritionist.) Question: What do you think triggers someone to begin overeating or starving? Answer: I really think a lot of times people facing immense amounts of stress, people who believe that they are too fat according to society's rules, and people who take to heart the things other people say as judgmental individuals end up using an eating disorder to escape. Worthlessness is also a big thing I see in my patients. They feel worthless. In a way, it's self harm, uh I think that..., when someone grows accustomed to the idea that they must be better, must be skinnier, must be this, must be that, an eating disorder can come about. Question: When does it go from what you've said to an eating disorder? Answer: Mm, good question. There are many things that can be considered stepping stones towards an eating disorder. The main symptoms of that are one: Beginning to become overly self aware., two: Actively and intentionally not doing things because you think you'll look/become fat., and three: Finding excuses to excessively eat or not to eat. Some miss this or confuse this as just not having self esteem. That can also absolutely be the only issue, so to further that... in general the biggest symptoms of having an eating disorder are. Here, I'll just say them quickly for you. First, if you catch yourself not wanting to eat BECAUSE you don't want to gain weight. Second, if you find yourself constantly eating. Third, if you intentionally excercise, throw up, or use pills to lose weight. Fourth, if you have the feeling that you MUST continue eating more and more.

*Post bulimic friend.) Question: Did you ever realize you were becoming bulimic until I asked about it? Answer: Honestly, I did not. Question: Why did you start starving yourself? Answer: I hated how chubby I was. I always received compliments as to my confidence. You know that time I wore a bikini and that super skinny girl came up to me and hugged me? Well, even with all of that, I never truly believed any of it myself. I suppose I wanted that body that everyone dreamed of having. Question: Do you regret putting yourself through that? Answer: Definitely. I feel SO much better now that I've grown to love my body, and accept that bit by bit being skinny isn't always the best thing. I wouldn't have gotten to marry my husband if I had not been where I'm at now. He's always wanted a chubbier girl comfy with being just that. To whoever my friend shows this too, keep fighting! I know it's hard, but I've fought through this. She's fought through this! You've got this! : smiles :

*Me.) /I had my best friend ask me these questions. A big thank you to him for his help!/ Question: So, when you were anorexic, what helped you through that? By that, I mean how'd you get yourself back to average weight? Answer: You know, it was really really really hard. I feel like a lot of things did. I was volunteering at church, I had an accountability partner, you : laughs :, I was in a group therapy... I really think that the feeling of acceptance and complete understanding was such a huge help. After a while of battling it, the hospitalized part really got me to think about things. Question: How did the hospital help? Answer: Oh boy, well I can tell you this, it isn't pleasant. The feeding tube was put through my nose and down my mouth which hurt like h###. They also had to hydrate me, so they had needles in my arm for that. I wasn't able to speak, and my body was shaking constantly so when I'd write what I needed, it took them a while to understand. I never want to go through that again.

Hey! I wish you all the best in your battles/recovery. I know you have it in you. I pray that this post helped, even just a tad bit.