Anas- like an exhibit at the zoo!
So I'm totally fascinated by anorexia. I'm not anorexic- but I've had body image issues in the past that led me to find the idea of anorexia attractive, and I certainly have suffered from disordered eating (but not anorexia or bulimia). I'm happy to say that I believe that healthy weight loss and a healthy lifestyle are really what I'm interested in, and that anorexia is just a fascinating subject, and not something that I wish to acquire.
Anyhow, there are several communities on LJ dealing with "ana" and "mia" and the pro-eating disorder community. I find this stuff just incredibly interesting. I really am curious about these girls. Do they just hate body fat? Adipose tissue? Are they projecting personal insecurities onto their bodies? Are they interested in being healthy, or just thin?
I'm really tempted to join one of these communities just so I could ask, but I feel like that would be an invasion of their privacy. I think that "pro-ana" is definitley a problem, but to these girls it is a constant obsession and a lifeline, and I don't want to belittle that with my casual curiosity, prodding them like specimens under a microscope.
I'm really interested in food- I love nutrition and how the body works to magically transform materials found around us in the world into body structure and energy. It's an amazing process that I'd love to study, and I think a lot about the nutritional content of food and how to best feed my body. I've lost quite a bit of weight over the last two years (nearly twenty pounds) and I'm happy about that, but I'm also very happy that it is because I've begun to eat in a smarter, healthier, more nutrition-conscious way. I don't hate body fat or food. I love my BODY and I love food! So I want to feed myself right and eat good food.
One of the things that I find interesting is that many of these girls are restricting their kcals down to 200-500 or so per day, and they are horrified that they ate APPLES. Even in my darkest times (and obviously I wasn't at the same place these girls are, as I've never suffered from anorexia) I've never found myself ashamed of eating such healthy and awesome foods as fruits and vegetables, especially in a reasonable amount.
It is fairly common knowledge that you damage your body by restricting your kcals so much- your body learns to make fat from less and less food to store in case of further "famine" and your BMR will decrease. It is a bad long-term weight loss plan. And I won't even go into how badly their bodies can be damaged from too little protien and vitamins and minerals. They might lose weight, and a lot of it, by not eating, but they'll also damage their bodies in ways that they might not be able to recover from. All for the sake of losing fat- health is not the issue. I guess that's the reason that anorexia is a disorder and "dieting" is not. People on diets wish to look different, but most dieters are trying to achieve health, and a body that reflects their health. Anorexics are trying to lose fat, their bodies be damned.
I guess I can see restricting your calories to the absolute lowest that you can while still meeting your basic nutrititive requirements, but these girls don't care. I guess that's why I'm so fascinated.
Anyhow, there are several communities on LJ dealing with "ana" and "mia" and the pro-eating disorder community. I find this stuff just incredibly interesting. I really am curious about these girls. Do they just hate body fat? Adipose tissue? Are they projecting personal insecurities onto their bodies? Are they interested in being healthy, or just thin?
I'm really tempted to join one of these communities just so I could ask, but I feel like that would be an invasion of their privacy. I think that "pro-ana" is definitley a problem, but to these girls it is a constant obsession and a lifeline, and I don't want to belittle that with my casual curiosity, prodding them like specimens under a microscope.
I'm really interested in food- I love nutrition and how the body works to magically transform materials found around us in the world into body structure and energy. It's an amazing process that I'd love to study, and I think a lot about the nutritional content of food and how to best feed my body. I've lost quite a bit of weight over the last two years (nearly twenty pounds) and I'm happy about that, but I'm also very happy that it is because I've begun to eat in a smarter, healthier, more nutrition-conscious way. I don't hate body fat or food. I love my BODY and I love food! So I want to feed myself right and eat good food.
One of the things that I find interesting is that many of these girls are restricting their kcals down to 200-500 or so per day, and they are horrified that they ate APPLES. Even in my darkest times (and obviously I wasn't at the same place these girls are, as I've never suffered from anorexia) I've never found myself ashamed of eating such healthy and awesome foods as fruits and vegetables, especially in a reasonable amount.
It is fairly common knowledge that you damage your body by restricting your kcals so much- your body learns to make fat from less and less food to store in case of further "famine" and your BMR will decrease. It is a bad long-term weight loss plan. And I won't even go into how badly their bodies can be damaged from too little protien and vitamins and minerals. They might lose weight, and a lot of it, by not eating, but they'll also damage their bodies in ways that they might not be able to recover from. All for the sake of losing fat- health is not the issue. I guess that's the reason that anorexia is a disorder and "dieting" is not. People on diets wish to look different, but most dieters are trying to achieve health, and a body that reflects their health. Anorexics are trying to lose fat, their bodies be damned.
I guess I can see restricting your calories to the absolute lowest that you can while still meeting your basic nutrititive requirements, but these girls don't care. I guess that's why I'm so fascinated.