Disordered Eating Checklist

Ok, so I read other diet sites, specifically sparkpeople and there was a whole article about normal eating vs. disordered eating - not necessarily full blown anorexia or anything, just slightly disordered eating. I was reading it and was surprised at how many apply to me. Is this normal? What should I do?

 

1. **Eating (or restricting) food provides immediate relief from unpleasant negative feelings.
2. **Your eating behaviors frequently make you very unhappy.
3. You weigh (or are afraid to weigh) yourself very frequently, and become significantly distressed when you don’t see the results you hope for.
4. You frequently avoid eating because you are afraid that you may not be able to stop once you start.
5. **You believe there are “bad” or “forbidden” foods that you shouldn’t eat, and eating them makes you feel guilty or ashamed.
6. **You very strictly count calories and track of everything you eat, and feel that going over your limit means you have failed, at least for that day.
7. **When you eat a "forbidden" food or go over your calorie limit, you often decide to continue overeating, since you have blown it.
8. **You frequently think that people are talking (or thinking) poorly about you because of your weight, even when nothing is said.
9. You are trying to lose weight because you think it will influence how other people think or feel about you and treat you.
10. **Being at your current weight makes it very hard for you to feel good about yourself and you believe that will change when you lose the weight.
11. The main reason you exercise is to burn calories, and/or offset the calories you have eaten or plan to eat.
12. **You feel like you have to avoid certain foods entirely because you can’t control how much you'll eat once you start.
13. **You frequently think about food and eating, much more than necessary.
14. You eat secretly (to avoid embarrassment if others found out about it) or keep hidden food stashes that you eat only when you're alone.
15. You believe that many of the problems in your life (work, relationships, etc) are due to your weight, and will improve once you reach a normal weight.
16. **You frequently eat when you aren’t hungry or feel like you can’t stop yourself, but don't understand why.
17. **Even though your weight is considered healthy or normal, you are not satisfied, and want to keep losing.
18. **You have many rules about what, when, and how much to eat, and breaking these rules causes you to feel anxious, guilty, or negative about yourself.
19. **You tend to follow your eating and exercise plan for days or weeks at a time, but then seem to go on strike, rebelling against your own plans.
20. **The closer you get to an intermediate or long term weight goal, the more you seem to engage in self-sabotage.
21. You sometimes use overeating, food deprivation, or excessive exercise to “punish” yourself.
22. **You spend a great deal of time and energy tracking your nutrition, and feel very uncomfortable eating food when you don’t know what’s in it.
23. You sometimes go to extreme measures like using laxatives, diuretics, diet pills or supplements, enemas, or other measures to achieve weight loss or offset calories you’ve eaten.
24. You find yourself doing things you know aren’t healthy or advisable (skipping meals, over-exercising, eating very few calories) in order to make up for going over your calorie limit, or to speed up your weight loss.
25. You base your food choices primarily on calorie content, rather than nutritional concerns or personal taste.

I got 16 out of 25 :( I starred the ones that apply to me. Should I be concerned? Is this list a good indicator of something wrong. I'm at the high end of my healthy bmi range and I've recently gained about 10 pounds (bmi of about 24.9 depending on whether or not I've used the toilet :-P) that I'm trying to lose to get back to a weight that I was healthy and comfortable at (bmi of 23 - not even that low!)

 

so if you're of a healthy weight you don't have an eating disorder...i mean like severe anorexia or bulimia. potentially BED but i doubt anythign else.

I have to disagree.  Eating disorders are much more about how you are mentally as opposed to physically.  Being at a healthy weight does not necessarily mean someone does not have an eating disorder.

If you feel concerned that you have issues with food and eating, I would suggest speaking to someone.

All the best.

Mel.

Original Post by cowcow44:

so if you're of a healthy weight you don't have an eating disorder...i mean like severe anorexia or bulimia. potentially BED but i doubt anythign else.

 woa dont throw that around! do you realise that many poeple with bulimia are actually have healthy or slightly high bmi!

i think i you believe there is a reason to be worried they maybe talk to someone?? a counsellor of someone with knowledge of such questionnaires would be able to tell you if there is a problem :) 

hey, sorry about what I said! I returned drunk and had a binge yesterday night, and went around bitching at everyone on here. I am sincerely sorry, and yes, I actually do think that if you have worries about your eating, there is definitely something to worry about. please ignore what i said before!

it makes absolutely no sense to ignore it until it gets worse.  diagnostic criteria for EDs are really rigid, and most people are sick long before they meet the criteria.  it's good that you're aware.  the next step is to challenge your behaviours and try to get them in check now, rather than allowing them to get worse.

also, getting involved in your community, finding interests that have nothing to do with food, expanding your world, getting a hobby, spending time with friends, making sure you have balance (physical, intellectual, social, spiritual) - all these will help to make food and eating less of a focus in your life.

any disordered thoughts can lead to ED's. i know i have had problems in the past with disordered thoughts and sometimes they can be just as bad as the thoughts that the severly ill ppl with ED's have...yet i was at a healthy weight then and no one knew how i felt. remember, looks arent everything! even in the case of ED's!

I don't think you have any reason to have a lot of concern, but you may have a problem. You can cause serious damage to your body.

I was actually bulimic for 3 years and restricted calories to starvation levels for another 2. I was in a healthy weight ranges and still had periods, but I damaged my insides. I have ulcers, I tore my esophagus at one point, I have acid reflux, and to this day I still have guilt when I eat. That said, I "did not have an eating disorder" according to every doctor I saw because I was not severely emaciated and I still had my monthly cycle.

At the moment, I'm "recovered" but I have 22 out of the 25 things in your list. If you are concerned, you need to talk to someone. Whether it is a friend or a professional it helps. You need to learn to separate food and self worth before you can conquer this. Diagnosed disorder or not, you are still hurting your body.

I really think it depends on how seriously you take each of these statements. There's a difference between being health and food conscious and having an eating disorder. I'm definitely no expert, but I'm going to go through each of the ones you starred and give you my thoughts on them.

1. **Eating (or restricting) food provides immediate relief from unpleasant negative feelings.

How intense is this? I love eating chocolate, and as soon as I eat it, I feel much better. I don't think this is a problem unless this happens multiple times everyday. 

1. **Your eating behaviors frequently make you very unhappy.

I think this holds true for the majority of the people on this website. People on CC are either trying to lose weight or trying to gain, so a good chunk of them are probably dissatisfied with their current eating behaviors. 

1. **You believe there are “bad” or “forbidden” foods that you shouldn’t eat, and eating them makes you feel guilty or ashamed.

I actually think it is good that you starred this one. I, for one, highly value organic foods, and when I eat something that is highly processed, I feel very guilty. I consider highly processed food to be "bad," but I don't think it's bad to categorize them as bad. It all depends on how far you take this statement. If you think eating 2 oranges instead of 1 is bad, then you might have a problem. 

1. **You very strictly count calories and track of everything you eat, and feel that going over your limit means you have failed, at least for that day.

I could see this one presenting problems. Try to be more relaxed in your calorie counting. 

1. **When you eat a "forbidden" food or go over your calorie limit, you often decide to continue overeating, since you have blown it.

I think this is often true when one eats junk food. Eating junk food doesn't fill you up, and often times it makes you crave even more. Like Pringles says, "once you pop, you can't stop!" I think that's definitely true! I don't think you should worry about this one too much. 

1. **You frequently think that people are talking (or thinking) poorly about you because of your weight, even when nothing is said.

Another problem one. This shows a lack of self esteem. 

1. **Being at your current weight makes it very hard for you to feel good about yourself and you believe that will change when you lose the weight.

Again, how serious do you take this statement? Are you depressed everyday? If so, you probably have a problem. Do you look in the mirror and occasionally feel disgusted? If so, then that's completely normal. 

1. **You feel like you have to avoid certain foods entirely because you can’t control how much you'll eat once you start.

I think it's also good that you starred this one. You know what foods set you off the most, so it's smart to avoid the ones that you simply can't resist. (Milanos for me, haha!)

1. **You frequently think about food and eating, much more than necessary.

Too general. How much (give me an estimate of hours/day) do you actually think about food?

1. **You frequently eat when you aren’t hungry or feel like you can’t stop yourself, but don't understand why.

Ahh, this is the American mentality. Eat what is in front of you, regardless of if you're hungry or not. I know it's hard to break, but you just have to learn to control yourself and listen to your body. 

1. **Even though your weight is considered healthy or normal, you are not satisfied, and want to keep losing.

This is too general. My BMI is at 22, I think, but I'm still looking to lose about 10lbs. I want to lose weight because I have unnecessary fat on me. I'm not trying to get "thin", I'm simply trying to look and feel healthier. This statement could indicate a problem, though, if your BMI is say 20, and you're looking to get down to 19. 

1. **You have many rules about what, when, and how much to eat, and breaking these rules causes you to feel anxious, guilty, or negative about yourself.

Not necessarily a bad thing, if your rules are reasonable (for example, only eating dessert one day a week). Having rules and goals helps to keep you on track. 

1. **You tend to follow your eating and exercise plan for days or weeks at a time, but then seem to go on strike, rebelling against your own plans.

By using the word "rebelling," I'm assuming that means that you consciously decide you don't want to exercise/follow an eating plan anymore. I guess that indicates a problem. I know for me, I often start an exercise regime and then lose focus. But I'm not "rebelling," I just get lazy. 

1. **The closer you get to an intermediate or long term weight goal, the more you seem to engage in self-sabotage.

What do you mean "self-sabotage"? Not sure what this one means, but it doesn't sound good!

1. **You spend a great deal of time and energy tracking your nutrition, and feel very uncomfortable eating food when you don’t know what’s in it.

I feel VERY uncomfortable and worried when I eat something loaded with things I'm unaware about. It's crazy how unhealthy some restaurants are. Good for you for being aware. 

So basically, you can't really tell much from taking this survey. You need to think about the ones you starred and decide if they're problems or not. I bolded the ones that I think are definitely not healthy thinking. 

Thank you so much for doing that for me Jcl. I think my thing is this: Before I started college I lost a bunch of weight (the idea was I wanted to look hot for college, and it worked, I looked good/strong, I felt good, I ate well, I was happy and healthy. I even got my belly button pierced to reward myself). Then right before school started everyone was warning me of the freshman 15. I was so sure of myself that I wasn't going to gain it. I would tell everyone it wasn't going to happen to me because I had really good healthy/habits and I loved exercise and I wasn't going to let it happen to me. I was obsessed with it. And then, it happened. I gained 10 pounds, but it's really like even more than that because I was 115 LEAN pounds (18% body fat) and now I'm 125 CHUBBY pounds (like 26 or 27%). And now none of my clothes fit. When I look in the mirror I get disgusted and sometimes when I weigh myself I cry. I know this is not normal. 

When I got home for christmas break my parents commented on my weight gain. It is a fact that I am nowhere near as thin as I was before. I got it in my head that all my friends were thinking about when they saw me was "Wow she gained weight in college" - because I knew when I saw my friends who had gained weight I noticed. Clearly I didn't say anthing but I noticed, and I knew they'd notice me. I started trying to lose weight for real at home and it was easy because I love healthy food but at school it's so **** hard. I think sometimes I take it too far, I beat myself up over my food choices and put WAY too much thought into planning my meals. I think of what I can eat at the dining hall and what I will eat and how much and I can't measure my meals and it's so overwhelming but I'm not happy at this size. I'm not comfortable like this. I might have disordered thoughts but I probably don't have an eating disorder, I think I'm just struggling with something that's genuinely hard and I'm more upset at my own failure than anything else.