When a fat phobia turns harmful
Issue date: 1/28/10 Section: Features
Luckily, Jane's situation didn't get to that point.
As time went on Jane was able to control everything she ate and even sometimes forced herself not to eat at all. "Five carrot sticks and a granola bar, usually I wouldn't even eat all of that either; I wouldn't let myself… I never ate breakfast… I was 5'8 and 99 pounds and my life revolved around my appearance, and I was never happy. The mirror was my worst enemy."
Even though she was at a dangerously low weight she couldn't see what was really going on with her body. "I refused to eat because I saw myself as 'fat,'" she said. "The pounds started to melt away after the first month of my diet from hell... but I was never satisfied. If I ever went above 100 pounds, I wouldn't eat for two days."
Finally, there came a turning point. "When I stepped on the scale it read 97. I felt so proud of myself. My trainer looked at the scale, looked at me, and asked me to lift up my shirt to my bra so she could check out my ribs."
What Jane saw was horrifying, she said. "I looked the stereotypical Holocaust survivor picture you get shown in high school; every single one of my ribs was visible and my stomach was massively bloated from lack of food. Then I started to notice other things I hadn't before; my fingernails were so brittle, my eyes were sunken into my skull... I seriously looked close to death."
After she was forced to look at herself, she started her recovery with a trip to the hospital. It was not easy, actually it was everything but easy. But to this day she is happy and at a healthy weight and has learned ways to love her body just the way it is.
Those who have bulimia feel that they are too overweight, too fat, or not skinny enough. This is as well a psychological condition but instead of eating less, food binges will occur that are then followed by vomiting.
"Anorexia and bulimia are not lifestyle choices people want to make," said Crystal Junker, R.N., SMWC's campus nurse. "It is more of a way they can choose to cope with what they are going through. If they could choose, they would choose not to have it."
As time went on Jane was able to control everything she ate and even sometimes forced herself not to eat at all. "Five carrot sticks and a granola bar, usually I wouldn't even eat all of that either; I wouldn't let myself… I never ate breakfast… I was 5'8 and 99 pounds and my life revolved around my appearance, and I was never happy. The mirror was my worst enemy."
Even though she was at a dangerously low weight she couldn't see what was really going on with her body. "I refused to eat because I saw myself as 'fat,'" she said. "The pounds started to melt away after the first month of my diet from hell... but I was never satisfied. If I ever went above 100 pounds, I wouldn't eat for two days."
Finally, there came a turning point. "When I stepped on the scale it read 97. I felt so proud of myself. My trainer looked at the scale, looked at me, and asked me to lift up my shirt to my bra so she could check out my ribs."
What Jane saw was horrifying, she said. "I looked the stereotypical Holocaust survivor picture you get shown in high school; every single one of my ribs was visible and my stomach was massively bloated from lack of food. Then I started to notice other things I hadn't before; my fingernails were so brittle, my eyes were sunken into my skull... I seriously looked close to death."
After she was forced to look at herself, she started her recovery with a trip to the hospital. It was not easy, actually it was everything but easy. But to this day she is happy and at a healthy weight and has learned ways to love her body just the way it is.
Those who have bulimia feel that they are too overweight, too fat, or not skinny enough. This is as well a psychological condition but instead of eating less, food binges will occur that are then followed by vomiting.
"Anorexia and bulimia are not lifestyle choices people want to make," said Crystal Junker, R.N., SMWC's campus nurse. "It is more of a way they can choose to cope with what they are going through. If they could choose, they would choose not to have it."
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