When Does an Eating Disorder Become a Problem? Posted: 11-13-07 22:42pm
Hello,
I'm a 23 year old male, currently 214 lbs
and 5'10". Earlier this year, maybe 5
months ago, I decided I wanted to join a
branch of the national guard. The problem
was that at the time I weighed 283 lbs and
they want me at 190 before i can join.
Things went great for the first few
months, I stopped eating fast food, soda,
and between meal snacks and my weight
rapidly plummeted to around 220-230. But
about a month and a half ago, I hit a
plateau and could not lose any weight. I
joined a gym and started working with a
personal trainer, but the weight still
barely came off, maybe 2 pounds per week,
and it seemed like every time I wanted to
enjoy real food, a few tacos or beer or
things of that nature, the weight would
come back instantly.
Currently I'm being offered a VERY large
signing bonus to join the guard, but i've
been told that as of the first of the
year, it will be replaced by a much lesser
incentive. So I have a very strong need
to get down to that weight before that
time.
For the last 2 weeks I've been pushing
myself harder than ever at the gym,
burning about 2000 calories per day
according to the machines, and my diet has
become VERY strict. This is where im
concerned.
I've only been eating 2 small lean chicken
breasts and about a cup of veggies each
day, along with a small protein bar (120
calories 5g fat low carbs) before i work
out. I know this diet is horribly bad for
me, and i've even cut out one of the
pieces of chicken the last few days.
about 3 times in 3 weeks, i've had actual
large meals, but decided to purge them,
not because i felt i didnt deserve food or
that i didnt need it, but because i
realized it was out of my diet and
contrary to my goals.
The question is, when do the ridiculously
low calories diet and occasional purging
become a serious condition? I wasnt
unhappy with myself at 283 pounds, I
rather enjoyed being a big guy. I'm also
very confidant that I could lose the
weight regularly if given a few more
months. So if I'm not doing any of this
to improve my self image, but simply to
get a paper signed on time, do i still
have a problem? Should I be concerned
about this becoming a greater threat to me
or can i continue safely until I reach my
target? Keep in mind that once I hit 190
I can eat normally regardless of some
weight gain, as I will still be in the
guard and have more time (and basic
training) to get the weight back off the
right way.
Thank you for reading my gigantic post and
please let me know what you think.
also, if I've put anything here that would
come across as advocating purging or
anorexia, please help me edit it out as I
wouldnt want that.
In my opninion, what you are doing at the
present time isnt healthy at all, and the
thing is with doing that it can become
addictive and take over and u will have
trouble eating normally again. Im not sure
how much harm its doing right now but im
sure it is doing some sort of harm. If you
feel yourself losing control of your
eating habits iwould seek the help of a
nutritionist to get you bcak on track, im
not sure if u get any type of medical
insurance being in the guard, but
hopefully u have some sort of medical
insurance just in case. That is more of a
starvation diet then any normal diet, i
would suggest getting some books on
nutrition and recipes of nutritous dishes
. Cutting out soda and alcohol helps
greatly. Also make sure to drink alot of
water as well. Make sure you eat breakfast
also, that helps get your metabolism
going, The way your doing it as soon as
you start eating your normal way again the
weight is all gonna come back super fast
because you are slowing your metabolism
down alot. So i would just say you need to
be careful and look at healthier ways then
starving basically.
