For many people, eating and exercising sensibly comes naturally. Other people can accept their bodies as good enough whatever their shape and size. However, for many others, the whole area can become fraught with anxiety and distress. Even people who don't usually give a thought to their eating habits can find themselves binging on chocolate, or find that they can't face eating at all during stressful times. Some people start off by controlling their food intake in order to lose a bit of weight. If they are successful at this, they may continue to 'diet' for a time before returning to their usual eating habits. This can become a roller coaster of dieting and giving up on diets, always feeling troubled and guilty about food and figures. Other people pursue this apparent initial success: they start to eat less and less, and feel that eating is a disgusting and unnecessary business. As they lose weight they also lose the ability to think rationally. They may look in the mirror and see fat where in reality no fat exists, and perhaps they have become dangerously thin. This is 'anorexia' which means, literally, 'an absence of appetite'. Yet other people may start off in the same way, on a weight-reducing diet, but find that they feel really miserable, punished and deprived by not being 'allowed' to eat what they want. They find that they break the diet and eat whatever they fancy, and in larger quantities than they would usually have done even if they were not on a diet. Then they feel sick from the binge and sick with themselves for losing control, and so they make ourselves vomit. This is called 'bulimia' and is physically damaging and emotionally distressing. Then there are people who eat compulsively. They eat too much and don't vomit, even though they might wish they could. They eat secretly and/or publicly. They eat frozen food which has not thawed out properly. They eat standing up in the kitchen, straight from the packet, and finish every last crumb. They eat to make themselves feel better, although it makes them feel worse, so they eat some more: a vicious circle. Many people who eat in this way feel humiliation about being obviously and visibly overweight. If eating has become a problem, what can you do? 1. Contact the Eating Disorders Association, Sackville Place, 44-48 Magdalen Street, Norwich, Norfolk, NR3 1JU. Telephone: 01603 621414 2. Your GP may be able to offer you help, or refer you to specialist services within the NHS 3. Talking about your experiences can help; contact me on: tel 01291 630192 or mob 07826 524222, or if you prefer you can email me at: akitafowler@gmail.com. Come and talk, in confidence, about your concerns. |