Get your heads round this and use it to spur you on

Hi guys,

Yes, I have been MIA for many maaaany months, but am well, and hope you all are too.  So I don't know if you remember, but when I left I was, and still am, writing my dissertation on experiences of civilian resistance in occupied territories in the second world war.  Anyway, this is what I discovered, and it made me think, and I thought it just might give some others pause for thought.

When I was 'fully' anorexic, i.e. in my worst phase, I was eating around 800 calories daily.  Furthermore, I was going to the gym, and working off 900-1000 calories.  I was also waitressing, which was probably burning about the same again.  In the summer of 2008 I hit my lowest weight, which gave me a bmi below the hospitalisation line (not going to mention it for triggers, etc).

I have been reading reports of resistance within prison camps.  In Japan british and American prisoners of war for a slow torture were fed 1200 calories a day.  When they were on this punishment, they were not allowed to do exercise and were only put on it for five weeks before being given 1500 again.  In Russian gulags prisoners were fed 1200 calories a day, and those expected to do the heavy work were given at least 1500.  In Auschwitz, at it zenith, the lowest the Nazis even considered going with a woman's diet was 1200, and that was considered perilously low.  If a prisoner's weight dropped to what we would call a bmi of 16, they were sent to the hospital ward.  In the Dutch starvation camps in the early 50s women were fed 1300 calories a day and these were camps set up to starve people to death.  If you look at photos what is striking is how preternaturally modern they look.

These figures really put things in perspective for me.  I hope they do for you, too.  Do we really want to remain in prison camps of our own making?

THEO! 

Very glad to hear from you, and to hear that you're well.  Welcome back.  ;-)

That is really interesting about the POWs.  Society's quick to condemn starvation in concentration camps as a violation of basic human rights, and cruel, yet often just as quick to support the same level of starvation when it comes to women's looks. 

Again, good to hear from you.

Mel. xox

Really good to hear from you, Theo, and I hope you're doing well. Give me a bell on Facebook some time!

That's actually quite fascinating. I'm not going into numbers in terms of my personal battles with anorexia and when I was at my worst, but still, that's... quite shocking. And then to think, there are women who subject themselves to that little who aren't anorexic - they just think it's the only way to diet. So whether you've got an ED, are restricting or are just eating to little for what you really need even if you're overweight per BMI and otherwise: work out what you need, eat more, and if you are suffering with an eating disorder get help. D:

where did you get your Auschwitz data?

sorry to bump this 1/2 year topic back up, but I'm really curious as to where that data is from?

I mean, I don't think the Auschwitz data is correct. My grandpa was there (among other concentration camps) and I'm pretty sure he was fed a few potato peel a day, some coffee maybe, soup made of left over...stuff. Maybe a small chunk of bread? Or whatever he could get his hands on. I know the data was for women but even then, I find it hard to believ anyone got more than 500 calories worth of food from the authorities. IF that. Maybe if they stole it or found it. Also...everyone there did a LOT of hard labour. Well over the amount of exercise an average person does. Terrible :(

You know that whole "starvation mode" thing? My grandpa (and obviously others) couldn't eat very much after being freed because thir bodies would go into shock. They would die from refeeding. And my grandpa was emaciated when he was freed, but during my dad's childhood he was a bit on the overweight side. I remember he showed me once food logs he kept. /end hijack

Sorry, my curiousity has been sparked haha.

Some women only do need 1200 - 1300 calorie, but they are usually very short and petite. So 1200 is not starvation for some women.

Also, slightly taller women needing to lose weight can safely eat 1200 calories. It I not right for every one, but it is by no means starvation for others.

To me, 1200 calories is a starvation level! I am about 5 ‘ 5 and 115 lbs with BMI 19 so 1200 would probably cause me to lose weight! Not that I could ever handle eating that little!

Some women feel perfectly full on that amount - I definitely would not though!

However, all the prisoners were probably fed the same 1200 calories, even very tall people who need 200 or more calories. And they were doing hard labor. So a 5 ‘ 8 person living on 1200 - 1300 calories a day, that is highly active doing hard labor, could easily starve to death.

A very short women, doing less labor on 1200 calories a day, and who happens to salvage and find more food then a taller person would have had a much higher chance of survival.