To think obesity is an eating disorder? *POSSIBLE TRIGGER WARNING*

[pinkliquorice]

I don't want this to be triggering or offensive in anyway. If you are stuggleing with your weight or an eating disorder and are likely to be triggered by these discussions please dont read on.

Do you consider obesity to be an eating disorder in the same way as anorexia for example? AIBU to suggest this? Me and my partner have been discussing it all evening

Extra info:
(Being out of the healthy BMI range on either sides is obviously really dangerous and can have numerous negative effects on health and can even result in death.
But why as a society do we view being dangerously overweight any different to being dangerously underweight?
I have struggled with anorexia and bulimia on and off since I was 13 and when I have been severly underweight I have been given support and sympathy not judgement and that is the only reason why I am now better.
When my weight has fallen below a certain mark I have been hospitalised and given treatment to help me return to a healthy BMI, but for someone over the healthy BMI range they are not given the same treatment.
Body positivity is extremely important to me, and everyone no matter their weight deserves to be happy and respected but is there not an opposite to the Pro-Ana movement?
If someone commented on me being underweight and told me I needed to eat, I would go into panic and restict even more as controlling and reducing my weight and food consumption was my comfort, I was addicted to not eating and that took my pain away.
Surely obesity is the exact opposite of this, is it not the case that often when someone is overweight, they eat for comfort and if someone tells them they are overweight and they need to eat less that they eat more to take the pain away.)

Again, I know this is a really sensitive subject and I dont want to upset or cause offence to anyone.

The same may happen when people are overweight, they say all they need to do is eat a little less and exercise a little more but that they are fine but I think it is a lot more complicated than that.

For me, it really wasn’t more complicated. I lost the weight when I ate less and started moving more, but I agree for some people who have disordered eating that’s led to weight gain that’s much more difficult.

I guess with anorexia the consequences are seen quickly. Whereas if you overeat then the consequences usually happen later on in life.

I was obese at one point and it's because I ate whatever the hell I wanted. I've lost over 3 stone now and the difference it's made to my life is astounding.

The same may happen when people are overweight, they say all they need to do is eat a little less and exercise a little more but that they are fine but I think it is a lot more complicated than that.

It is a little more complicated that that. If it was that easy the diet industry wouldn't have been able to make millions/billions off the back of it. It's like when people say poverty isn't affected by food choices. It is. Think about it.

So person A has £20 for the weekend and so does person B.
Person A isn't on prepayment metres for gas and electric. Has a car/bus fare to ferry DCs around and themselves to work. Person B has the same, but their gss and electric are on emergency. They don't get paid until Wednesday and they've got to put as much as they can on each to bring it above emergency, save bus fare for DCs school, then they've got a fiver left to get stuff for the next few days. Who's in a better position from the start?

OP, with respect, you don’t know what you’re talking about. Have a watch of the Louis Theroux documentary on iPlayer now, it’s on anorexia. Eating disorders are mental illnesses, being over or under weight are symptoms of those. I hazard a guess that many, if not most, people who have a weight problem do not have an eating disorder, they are separate things.

Jon im 44 teetotal and ive never been drunk Ever. But when drinking comes up in conversation and i mention this i get gobsmacked looks and on a couple of occasions ppl didnt believe me, Thats how normalized our drinking culture has become.

I grew up in a house where there was no drink except on Christmas Day
So no drinking is my normal Its what i knew growing up. And i dont like the taste of alcohol anyway. If you dont like the taste of Chrismas pudding or mince pies (i cant stand these either) you wouldnt eat them so why drink something you dont like the taste of.

The same may happen when people are overweight, they say all they need to do is eat a little less and exercise a little more but that they are fine but I think it is a lot more complicated than that.

It's not complicated at all. It's obvious. Eat less and eat healthier, and exercise more, and you will lose weight. Keep it up and it will stay off.

The second bit is what many people have a problem with. (Keeping up the exercise and healthier eating,) because many people have little willpower, and they drop back into the old habits that made them fat in the first place.

But no - there is nothing 'complicated' about losing weight and keeping it off. It's very simple. It's just that most people are not very good at it, because of their lack of willpower, and how easily they fall back into old habits.

I have just eaten a handful of salted almonds. I chose to do so.

Everything you have eaten, you have chosen to eat. And if you consume more calories than you burn, you will gain weight. That is a law of physics (conservation of energy, if it matters).

If you gain weight, you have chosen to do so, just as a junkie has chosen to be a junkie.

Two things that are massively normalised on Mumsnet

1. Drinking copious amounts of alcohol

1. Eating copious amounts of food

For some reason on this forum, more than any other I've been on, binge drinking and binge eating is hilarious in equal measures.

I dont like Christmas pudding either! Booze was always on boxing day here. (Dad from large family - maternal grandad from large family). Always went round to my Great Aunts' for a buffet. Complete with a trifle swimming in 'a drop of' sherry.

I used to work in a nightclub so seen it from the sober side. I will have the odd glass at Christmas and birthdays but that's it. I also get looked at odd.

YY Jon Weird thing is DB likes his booze and he grew up in the same house

Three mates who are overweight

All of them will quite happily admit they are overweight as: they eat when bored, they don’t like exercise, food is really nice, weight comes off too slowly so it’s too much effort and no husband or partner to impress so what does it matter

They would laugh at the suggestion they have an ED.

@Ofthread

Of course, I was not diagnosed as having anorexia solely because I was underweight but because I was underweight I was assessed for an eating disorder as my health was suffering, that diagnosis required a number or symptoms one of which was that I was underweight.
As well as being a symptom, to other it is often the main sign that someone may have an eating disorder.
Obviously my title is misleading, obesity on its own is of course not enough to require an eating disorder diagnosis however i do think if you are clinically obese you should be assessed for an eating disorder once other health problems such as thyroid conditions have been ruled out I think some form it eating disorder is most likely.

I agree fully. Starving, purging and binging are all symptoms of an eating disorder. Binge eating disorder is a recognised illness but being fat now is seen as beautiful and women are told to love and embrace their curves while skinny people are slated for promoting eating disorders. IMO if you have a BMI above (or below) the healthy range - you need help because a healthy lifestyle is not what got you there. This country is so obsessed with normalising fat people that the illnesses associated with obesity aren’t spoken about-(enough). Skinny people are constantly called too thin and anorexic, whereas fat people cant be called fat because its body shaming. Also while I’m at it, where the fuck are the plus size catwalks for men? And why are fat women only beautiful when they have massive boobs and a massive bum with a tiny waist? If you are too fat or too skinny you are unhealthy and need help to gain or loose weight in a healthy way to prolong your life and reduce the chances of getting ill. It’s a simple as that. - oh and people who overfeed their children are abusive parents. If you have a fat child it is all your fault just the same as if would be if you didn’t feed your child enough and they were emaciated. I won’t sugar coat it, cause you’d just fucking eat it anyway. Fat is not a swanky new trend, it’s dangerous and shouldn’t be glamourised.

And I know there will be someone who them self has-or their precious child has- a rare life threatening disorder that makes them put on weight and they can’t help it how can you be so mean blah blah blah. Obviously people with real medical conditions that make them gain weight, of who are taking medication that make them gain weight, are not included as they simply can’t help it.

@FriedaAndDot

Which is the issue, initially I laughed if the suggestion of having an eating disorder too.
I had the exact opposite excuses: too busy too eat, not hungry, enjoy exercise, don’t like the taste of food, just loose weight quickly, have people to impress.

Definitely is. I have very little control over my eating. I have a personality disorder, one of the main complaints is I feel empty, so what do I do? I try to fill that space with food. I don't always over eat, if my mental health is on a fairly even keel, I will have days where I under eat, others where I eat about right, and then there are days where I feel empty, and very anxious and I will eat and eat and eat.

Apparently being fat means that I eat adequate amounts for my health, despite the fact that this compulsion that I have to eat and eat and eat, means that's what I do, whilst it's on my mind that I am making some of my conditions worse. I have high blood pressure, I've put on 10 stone in less than 8 years, I am sent for diabetes tests every time something is wrong. I've been getting abscesses on my tummy for the past six months, I have one that just won't go, I'm just finishing my third set of antibiotics, the weight is a reason I now can't get help to have another baby. I am actually deeply ashamed of myself. I've saved the money to have a gastric bypass abroad, but the truth is I can't find a surgeon who will touch me knowing I have compulsions to eat until I'm physically sick, because I will damage myself.
I am fully aware that if I keep going this way I'm not likely to see the age of forty. I am only 26.
But there is no help out there for me.

OP, with respect, you don’t know what you’re talking about. Have a watch of the Louis Theroux documentary on iPlayer now, it’s on anorexia

I did watch this last week, and it suddenly struck me with a clarity I'd not had before how similar food addiction is to food aversion; so I found the documentary very helpful and insightful. Unlike some of the comments on here, all the usual suspects rolling out their charming homespun wisdom that fat people just need to get a grip.

You literally cannot discuss obesity intelligently on MN, real debates and threads that are going somewhere for once have to turn into this eat less move more diatribe. I really want to see this lot try it with someone who has anorexia - here's a grip (or a sandwich) now its all ok you silly girl.

" but being fat now is seen as beautiful and women are told to love and embrace their curves"

CRAP! Do you really want me to start linking the fat shaming threads on here?

I was abused in the street Why are you denying this happens? You wouldnt be denying it if it was sexist or racist abuse but some cunt abusing overweight ppl in the street is ok. Or never happens BULLSHIT

OMG Prosecco The reason there are no plus size catwalks for men is precisely because there is nowhere near as much pressure on men to look a certain way. The womens plus size movement was born on the back of these pressures.

At 21 stone i was a 46G bra size.

Im now a 32HH what the fuck am i suppossed to do with them then?

Incidentally i had the best fucking sex of my life with an overweight bloke.

I think it can be, yes. However so many adults are overweight /obese now that they can't all have eating disorders. Some people are technically obese but "only" look overweight because our perceptions are skewed. It's very very easy to carry too much weight while living what appears to be a reasonably normal life style - too large portion sizes, food that barely makes a dent in your hunger but that is chock full of calories. I was overweight at one point, and it was scary how quickly it came on. I was still active, didn't look massively different when I saw myself in the mirror, but I'd lost the habit of regular exercise and was tired, so used sugar as a quick fix. I think of myself as quite aware and educated about health/diet but really lost my perception of what was normal at that point, until a visit to the GP shocked it out of me.

But certainly, food addiction is a very real thing and should be treated as any other addiction. Obesity isn't always caused by it however. I suppose the issue is tailoring help,on one hand to those who have underlying MH issues, and on the other, to those who could probably do a lot to sort the problem themselves with diet and exercise

I find protein foods like eggs and skinless white meat fill me up and lots of veg.

I won’t sugar coat it, cause you’d just fucking eat it anyway.

How very nouveu 2017.

Do you hold the same opinion of both smokers, alcoholics, drug addicts or just for the fatties?

but being fat is seen as being beautiful

It really isn't and if you haven't seen any or the fat shaming threads on here facebook or twitter then you've been living under a rock the last few years.

I got abducted as a pre teen, it was terrifying. I’ve had issues with over eating ever since. A few years ago I lost all my weight, went out and got lost, was scared shitless and realised that I feel safe being fatter.

There is a lot of support for people with eating disorders, but not for being overweight. I’m well aware its my own doing, but so is becoming alcoholic/ anorexic/ drug addict etc, the only difference is us fatties get no support.

I feel it’s more frowned upon to be addicted to carbs than crack by society these days.

Or smashed out of her mind on Prosecco!!!

YY Boneless Youve only got to listen to the giggles Russell Brand gets when he talks about some of the stuff that happened when he was on drugs.