# Eating disorders and me **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 7, 2008, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-disorders-and-me/462507 "2008-09-07T17:57:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Antinor01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecae2f/32.png) [@Antinor01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antinor01)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2008, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-disorders-and-me/462507/1 "2008-09-07T17:57:50Z")
So as not to hijack the MPSIMS thread, I’m starting this one to answer a question and any others that might come up. > [@I haven't eaten in 3 days... oops](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-havent-eaten-in-3-days-oops/462436/9): > > How did it happen, if you don’t mind answering, **Antinor01**? Did you go from forgetting to eat to not wanting to eat, or did you purposely miss meals when you were starting out? I had some fairly serious body image problems anyway and often would only eat once a day anyway. Also being a computer geek I would spend my time at home on the computer and food would slip my mind for a couple days. From there my body got conditioned to go without food. I honestly don’t recall the exact point where it went from “Hmm, I haven’t eaten in two days, how did that happen?” to “I just ate 48 hours ago, I really don’t need anything or I’ll get fat.”. For a little perspective, I was 5’7" and maybe 120 pounds with a 26" waist at the age of 26. I regularly shopped in the boys department or womens for things like shorts because I couldn’t find mens clothes that fit. (in pants usually a boys size 10-12 or womens shorts in a 2-3) ---
**Author:** ![TroubleAgain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e480ec/32.png) [@TroubleAgain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroubleAgain)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2008, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-disorders-and-me/462507/2 "2008-09-08T15:03:03Z")
Yowch. That was majorly unhealthy. How did you get out of this thought pattern? ---
**Author:** ![iampunha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/74df32/32.png) [@iampunha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iampunha)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2008, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-disorders-and-me/462507/3 "2008-09-08T16:28:47Z")
Glad to have you here safe (or relatively safe)🙂 Have you done any work with advocacy/counseling or similar things, or is that not right for you/not where you are right now (or something else)? ---
**Author:** ![Omega\_Glory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/7c8e57/32.png) [@Omega\_Glory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omega_Glory)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2008, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-disorders-and-me/462507/4 "2008-09-08T16:35:54Z")
Thanks. As I mentioned in the other thread, I do the forgetting thing, without the body issues, so I was wondering. I’m glad you got through it. Is it something you still struggle with? ---
**Author:** ![Antinor01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecae2f/32.png) [@Antinor01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antinor01)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2008, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-disorders-and-me/462507/5 "2008-09-08T16:49:03Z")
> [@TroubleAgain](#): > > Yowch. That was majorly unhealthy. How did you get out of this thought pattern? I can’t honestly say I’m out of it now. Though I have had a healthier weight for quite a while. I could even stand to (legitimately) lose a few pounds! Part of my weight struggles now go back to that time, because I think I screwed up my system by putting it through all that. I don’t think I will ever be comfortable in my own body. One of my fears is that I’ll start to lose to get into a truly healthy weight and not be able to stop. I don’t want to go back to that place again. It’s a constant fight to keep the thoughts of hating my own body away and reminding myself that food is not the enemy. I’m sorry if this was a little incoherant, it’s difficult to get things like this clearly into words. ---
**Author:** ![Antinor01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecae2f/32.png) [@Antinor01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antinor01)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2008, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-disorders-and-me/462507/6 "2008-09-08T16:50:06Z")
> [@iampunha](#): > > Glad to have you here safe (or relatively safe)🙂 > > Have you done any work with advocacy/counseling or similar things, or is that not right for you/not where you are right now (or something else)? No I haven’t. I’ve thought about it because since males make up such a small percentage of people that have dealt with this condition there is very little out there for us. ---
**Author:** ![Antinor01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecae2f/32.png) [@Antinor01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antinor01)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2008, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-disorders-and-me/462507/7 "2008-09-08T16:51:15Z")
> [@Omega\_Glory](#): > > Thanks. As I mentioned in the other thread, I do the forgetting thing, without the body issues, so I was wondering. I’m glad you got through it. Is it something you still struggle with? Mentally yes. As I mentioned upthread, it’s always there in the back of my mind. ---
**Author:** ![TroubleAgain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e480ec/32.png) [@TroubleAgain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroubleAgain)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2008, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-disorders-and-me/462507/8 "2008-09-08T17:28:39Z")
> [@Antinor01](#): > > I can’t honestly say I’m out of it now. Though I have had a healthier weight for quite a while. I could even stand to (legitimately) lose a few pounds! Part of my weight struggles now go back to that time, because I think I screwed up my system by putting it through all that. > > I don’t think I will ever be comfortable in my own body. One of my fears is that I’ll start to lose to get into a truly healthy weight and not be able to stop. I don’t want to go back to that place again. It’s a constant fight to keep the thoughts of hating my own body away and reminding myself that food is not the enemy. > > I’m sorry if this was a little incoherant, it’s difficult to get things like this clearly into words. No, perfectly coherent. It’s very interesting to someone who has no more than the normal amount of “body image” problems. I mean, I know quite realistically that my weight is 15-20 lbs. above what it needs to be. And I also know that I may never get there again, because I’m not willing to put in the work. So how someone can starve themselves to get to such an unhealthy weight while thinking it’s all normal is beyond my understanding. Thanks for posting this. ---
**Author:** ![Illuminatiprimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/illuminatiprimus/32/11520_2.png) [@Illuminatiprimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Illuminatiprimus)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2008, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-disorders-and-me/462507/9 "2008-09-08T17:31:33Z")
Can someone link to the original thread? I’d like to know what context all this was in. ---
**Author:** ![Antinor01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecae2f/32.png) [@Antinor01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antinor01)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2008, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-disorders-and-me/462507/10 "2008-09-08T17:34:02Z")
> [@Illuminatiprimus](#): > > Can someone link to the original thread? I’d like to know what context all this was in. > **[I haven't eaten in 3 days... oops](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=482138)** > > I’m not kidding, I haven’t eaten anything in 3 days, it’s kind of weird. I never even noticed until now :smack: (I’m eating right now since I realized that, don’t worry, people on the internet that don’t know me, I’m not going anorexic or anything).... That thread was more of a “oops, I just forgot to eat!” thing and I didn’t want to hijack it too badly. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2008, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-disorders-and-me/462507/11 "2008-09-08T17:50:41Z")
Do you find that it’s harder to get support for an eating disorder as a guy? Like, are people less likely to take it seriously/be supportive of it? ---
**Author:** ![Antinor01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecae2f/32.png) [@Antinor01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antinor01)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2008, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-disorders-and-me/462507/12 "2008-09-08T19:26:21Z")
> [@Freudian\_Slit](#): > > Do you find that it’s harder to get support for an eating disorder as a guy? Like, are people less likely to take it seriously/be supportive of it? Somewhat, yes. The fact is that the vast majority of people dealing with such issues are female. It’s about a 90/10 split female to male and about 40% are females between age 15 and 19. I think that makes it harder for guys to even realize they have a problem, as in “that’s something that happens to girls.” and even if they do realize it there just isn’t much help out there. An additional complication can come in for gay guys. The young, very thin look is very much prized in general and considered a good thing. It’s easy to get stuck in that rut where you think that the only way to be considered attractive is to be small and take it to an extreme. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2008, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-disorders-and-me/462507/13 "2008-09-08T19:29:11Z")
> [@Antinor01](#): > > An additional complication can come in for gay guys. The young, very thin look is very much prized in general and considered a good thing. It’s easy to get stuck in that rut where you think that the only way to be considered attractive is to be small and take it to an extreme. Right, yeah. Are you also gay? (Sorry, don’t mean to be getting so personal…) And did you feel like your issues came from similar places as other anorexics–need for perfectionism/control, or from things like body image issues? Or was it something else entirely? ---
**Author:** ![Antinor01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecae2f/32.png) [@Antinor01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antinor01)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2008, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-disorders-and-me/462507/14 "2008-09-08T19:35:48Z")
> [@Freudian\_Slit](#): > > Right, yeah. Are you also gay? (Sorry, don’t mean to be getting so personal…) And did you feel like your issues came from similar places as other anorexics–need for perfectionism/control, or from things like body image issues? Or was it something else entirely? Yep, I am. (It’s ok, I think I’ve mentioned once or twice in my 6000+ posts 😉 ) It was partially control, it was partially low self esteem and feeling like I needed to be that young, thin ideal to get any action. That became a little self fullfilling because I did get plenty of action which probably fed into the feeling that it was because I was small. I’m not honestly sure which came first, the above mentioned or the body image issues. I would look at myself in the mirror, at the 26 inch waist and visible ribs and think to myself, “Ugh, look at that gut.” Like I said, I don’t think it’ll ever go away. It’s just a matter these days of rising above those thoughts and trying to maintain some sembalence of being healthy. ---
**Author:** ![Contrary](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/db5fbb/32.png) [@Contrary](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Contrary)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2008, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-disorders-and-me/462507/15 "2008-09-08T22:02:48Z")
> [@Antinor01](#): > > \ Like I said, I don’t think it’ll ever go away. It’s just a matter these days of rising above those thoughts and trying to maintain some sembalence of being healthy. I completely agree and relate. I would never say I’m cured or over it. I will classify myself as being in remission but staying there takes vigilance and awareness of both my triggers and the thought patterns that can lead me down that path. Sorry, hope I’m not hijacking. ---
**Author:** ![Antinor01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecae2f/32.png) [@Antinor01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antinor01)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2008, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-disorders-and-me/462507/16 "2008-09-08T22:22:07Z")
> [@Contrary](#): > > I completely agree and relate. I would never say I’m cured or over it. I will classify myself as being in remission but staying there takes vigilance and awareness of both my triggers and the thought patterns that can lead me down that path. > > Sorry, hope I’m not hijacking. No problem at all! Feel free to share anything you like.