My best girlfriend has gotten skinny lately. And when I say skinny, I mean she is about 5’7", never was even chunky to begin with at her originating weight of 148, and suddenly she is down to less than 130 lbs in just a couple months. Without significantly increasing her activity, and without seeming to be dieting much.
Here’s the story, tell me if I am off base to worry about an eating disorder, specifically “binging and purging”:
She and I have dieted together over the last couple years, successfully. She is about 4 inches taller than I am, and built a bit differently, and never was even chubby in my eyes, wearing a size small or medium top and size 10 slacks or skirts even at, as I said before, around 145-148 lbs. Then suddenly in October, she decided to try and step up her weight loss goal to lose around another 10 lbs or so, just to see “if she could do it” (she is age 35, so no worries about the slowdown of weight loss that occurs after 40 for many women who are trying to diet). I am around her a lot, and she isn’t increasing her physical activity much at all (maybe 2 30-minute walks a week, but usually just ONE, beyond being the active mother of 2 young girls, ages 3 and 7). She doesn’t belong to a gym, and she doesn’t accompany me on my hour-long brisk jogs in the evenings, either.
I thought maybe she was starving herself, skipping breakfast and lunch, and this still could be true, but I see what she eats for dinner, and it ain’t just a few crumbs, my friends (three hefty portions of homemade sausage/pepperoni pizza the other night, plus she had nibbled on the ingredients as she cooked–and had had several glasses of wine)! Plus she tells me via email nearly every day what she has had for lunch, and while I cannot verify that she is actually eating her lunches, she often goes to lunch with her hubby who works in the downtown building next to her, and I KNOW he’d say something (both to her, and to me, as I work for him one afternoon a week) if she were in fact declining lunch altogether.
Nevertheless, she has now got to be below the 130-lb mark, her clothing is just hanging off her, and I know she recently bought size 6 slacks. She thinks she looks grand, and for now she still looks good enough not to set off any serious alarms with her husband, altho he has told her within the last couple weeks that she’s lost enough now, and should just try and maintain without losing any more.
What alarmed me is this: I had an episode of throwing up, myself, a few nights ago from sheer stress at an event in my life, and I was telling her about it. Her first and ONLY comment was: look at all the calories you lost by throwing up, that otherwise might have gone to your hips! She felt I was “lucky” to have emptied my stomach in such a way that it would keep any extra weight off me, and said as much. A field of red flags went up before my eyes.
What would YOU think under these circumstances? I intend to keep a close eye on her and see if I can detect any more behaviors that might indicate a serious eating disorder. She does seem to talk about weight loss chronically, but then since we have both encouraged one another for the last two years, that hasn’t bothered me up to now.
And did I mention she is taking anti-depressants as well, & has been for a few years? Many of those can slow down weight loss or even prohibit it, in some cases. She’s not using Wellbutrin, which I know from personal experience CAN reduce appetite, but is using Prozac. I can’t speak for her dosage, however. She could be on reduced dosages, which might not interfere with her metabolism in any way.
Without alarming her, what other things should I be watching for to ensure that she isn’t bulemic? Or am I off base to even consider that at this point?
WWDD? (What would Dopers do?)
–Beck
