a stupid question about ED

Okay...this is kind of a stupid question, and I hope it doesn't make people too mad, but it is a real question so I thought I'd post it anyway.

Last week I asked how to lose a final 10 pounds when I'm 5'6" and 120 and the answer I got was, basically, you have an eating disorder. I was kind of glad for this though as now I can just keep going to the gym!!

But my question is - doesn't everyone on here have any eating disorder? I mean if you over-eat isn't that also an eating disorder? Or if you emotionally eat, isn't that an eating disorder? Or if you think you need to "tone" or whatever to be okay - isn't that a body-image disorder? Or is all of this just throwing around "diagnosis" incorrectly?

I don't know the answer, but I'd like to hear what other people have to say about it.

Honestly I would blame most eating disorders on the DRs. They seem to think that these charts are for everyone. They dont actually look at your body structure. Sorry im kinda in a DR hate mode lol...But yes I would think that over eating ect is a psychological eating disorder...

over eating and under eating yes I consider them both eating disorders. As far as toning, I dont know if I would say thats a body image disorder but see what you are saying.  I have lost my weight (23lbs) and now Im focusing on toning.  I lost the weight but Im trying to lose the flab now.  I want a healthy body inside and out.

I was one that said you dont need to lose any more weight. 

I think you're comparing apples to oranges.

Overeating, Emotional Eating, etc.. those things aren't good, but they don't threaten your life the way an eating disorder (Anorexia or Bulimia) can.

EDIT: I define disorders by severity - If you honestly can't stop yourself, it's probably a disorder. If it's within the realm of the normal, it probably isn't.
It's.. the difference between being depressed about life and being Depressed with a capital D, enough that  you need Prozac.

I agree.  Overeating, emotional eating, boredom eating....they are all eating disorders.  The word "disorder" implies something that is not regulated.  And regulated means three meals a day, with healthy snacks.  So eating otherwise does imply that it is a disorder.

You need to do what feels best for you.  If you get to the point where you still want to lose weight, but others are saying you're looking too thin, I don't think most of them are being vicious.  If the people closest to you start commenting, that is your red flag.  Then you probably need to re-evaluate.

I'll answer hoping i won't create a mess on the forum this time :-)

You might be right, to some level most of us eat too much/too little. Or at least we did at somepoint in our life. On the other hand, although I know I need to learn to eat more healthy, most of weight I gained is because of meds that change my metabolism (and now prevent me to lose weight by the way. grrrr!). So that's not a "disorder". We should ask a psych what is the definition of a disorder.

Obs, you have a degree in psych, right? What is your opinion?

Yes. I took a self test online to see if I had an overeating disorder. There were 15 questions, and if you said yes to 3, they recommended to see a doctor. I said yes to 14.

I wanted to join Overeaters Anonymous, but my husband was really against it. So I told him, "Let me try the calorie counting, and if I give up, then I'll go."  That was five months ago, and I'm not anywhere close to stopping!

OBs is probably at the gym :)

I consider them all Disorders like Laurie said.  If you cant control it then there is a problem, call it a disorder or not. 

an eating disorder is any pattern of eating behavior that is not healthy.  over eating, under eating, bingeing, purging.. all of these are extremely unhealthy.  my eating disorder of choice (for myself) was binging.. and, although slower, is still very life threatening as the other types.  heart disease, diabetes, different cancers are all linked to being severly obese and should be addressed..

i think that a body image disorder is non life threatening but should be addressed for a quality of life.  if you spend all of your time worrying about being toned in every area of your body.. what are you avoiding in your real life?  because it's OK to be concerned about what you look like, but when it takes over your life, you stop living your life and become obsessed with one area of life.  it's a fine balance to be concerned with your body image and obsessing over it.  it's up to us as individuals to find a balance that works for us. 

and now i'm off to the gym.. :)

true.  I would say there are people that are obsessed to have as little body fat as possible and to have all muscle....our bodies need a little fat. 

Yeah, cause us guys don't like seein' bones ;)

Muscles are cool, though.

Go Obs!  Sounds like the right answer to me!!  I think that if everyone stays within the limits of their weight to height ratio it's ok - we should ALL be going to our doctors once a year for annual checkups and it is up to him to diagnose and consul us on our weight, blood pressure, cholesterol levels etc.  There has just been a string of young girls lately on here that are way under eating and perhaps in our quest to try to help them, perhaps we have become too quick to jump to conclusions.  None of us are qualified to diagnose anyone (unless we have the education to back it up) - we just want to help and don't want to see anyone use this sight to further hurt themselves.  Information is power and hopefully we help those who need it buy sharing the information.  This was a great post Salina!  I am not 5' 6" so I don't know if 110 is under your parameters - if it is, don't be 110 - if it's within your healty range, then go for it - check in with your Doctor once a year and listen to his advice!! 

Actually, if you look into DSM IV and read about ED's- overeating, anorexia/bulemia (binging, purging) etc. all are eating disorders. Working in the field that I have, I have done alot on eating disorders. And yes, they are all considered an ED and sometimes considered something else. That is called "body dismorphic disorder". This is when a person can obsess over certain features (abs, butt, nose, breasts, gender, etc.) and want nothing else but to change it. Their view of their own body image is so distorted that they feel that everyone can notice it. I also think that everyone needs to remember that just because your ED may not be "life threatening" at this point it does not mean that it is not defined as an ED. There are varying degrees from mild to moderate to severe.

...and to tag in on faerie's post, you can do some HORRIBLE damage to yourself with an ED even while staying in your "healthy range."  Bulimia's the big scare there, usually (exploded stomach anyone? aneurysm?), but other EDs can mess you up pretty good.  Anorectic symptoms can be present i nindividuals who are healthy weight or overweight, and can still give you osteoporosis and all kinds of other fun bonuses...

I am going to vent now. 

It's disturbing to me to see young girls (13 to 16 or 17), who are at a reasonable weight for their height, trying to lose weight.  I can understand wanting to learn about nutrition and exercise, but growing bodies need calories.  I feel I simply can't give advice to pubescent children (and you are still children).  That is a job for your parents. 

Having raised children I know that you can give a teen advice and if it doesn't agree with what they already think then they ignore it.  So that means if we don't say "oh yes, here's how you lose 10 pounds" then they ignore our advice and keep on the terrible path to ruined health by following the advice of other children.

Girls, please don't do this to yourselves!  Just be kids and be happy! (I say it knowing you will ignore my advice)

Claire

Just as an FYI, I'm not a teenager. I'm not sure if that makes a difference to people's responses, but some of the remarks seem pretty geared towards teens.

I'm 35 and have two kids! And a grand-kid (hooray!!)

The only reason I'm trying (or at least was thinking of trying!!) to get to 110, is that was what I was prior to having kids, and I felt great. 110 and 5'6" might be underweight "by the books" - but I've always tried to go by how I feel.

just so you know.....

I THINK THE SAME THING!!!!!!


i think EVERYONE has eds!!!!!!!!!!!

now im going to read wat everyone else put. oops

xx

ok, after reading all te i feel a bit dumb for jumping in at the deep end.


oops, so here is my sensible rantionale coming.....

if you eating / thoguhts are disotrted and chaotic, and do not fit in within the "normal " ways of life , health, diet, and eating then there is a problem.

this problem has many extremes and levels on the spectrum, but dangerous none the less. you can be healthy WEIGHT for height, doesnt mean inside ur healthy.

thats all...

xx

Overeating is an eating disorder as well. And I disagree with hkellick... overeating is just as bad for you as being anorexic/bulimic. Heart disease, etc are all pretty horrible things that come along with being overweight. 

I want to give this a slightly different slant, which has to do with the society that we are in (or, at least, most of us here are in).

There are social conditions in which getting food is not a matter of going down to the supermarket and buying whatever you feel like.  Even if you don't have much money, in the western world, there is still (generally) food available in some form or another.  99% of our evolutionary history did not involve times in which food was easy to find - our ancestors might have had one good day of eating each week, and so the whole system of storing fat efficiently in order to keep us alive (even if not at optimal health) came into being.

Because of this, the way we live today, it is easy to become overweight just by eating large servings of reasonable food every day, with the occasional bad snacks, and not exercising.  I would not consider that an eating disorder at all.  You will still live (on average) longer than those ancient ancestors of ours who probably had quite good body shapes (at least on the outside).  Staying in shape in a society in which only a small percentage of people work in a primarily physical job is *hard work*, and that's why people are getting larger as time goes on.

Eating disorders come from a perversion of the connection between body shape and health/vitality/beauty; and the disconnect between what food should be for (keeping us alive; letting us reach our phsyical potential), and what is has become (social; emotional; our 'enemy' in pursuit of bodily perfection).  While this is very bad, the other cause for obesity (edit: not counting medical reasons) - essentially a combination of ignorance, laziness (or tiredness) and the ease of finding food - is something that society should be focussing on. 

It made me upset the other day to hear a popular radio announcer put down 'yuppies who walk around with their bottle of water', rather than encouraging healthy habits which more people should take up (such as walking and drinking water).  This site is one place where we can come for a refuge from the world in which large people are put down, but where there is no encouragement for people to change their ways.