at what stage does a 'diet' become an eating disorder?

[belcantavinissima]

are there obvious signs or is it v gradual and you probably wouldnt notice?

I think if you need to ask the question, then there is a chance it is veering towards being a disorder.

I went on a diet when I was 17. I weighed about 8 and a half stone and was going on holiday with my cousin and her family so started it a few weeks before we went. I didn't initially do very well, but then whilst on holiday me and my cousin were out such alot that we hardley ate a thing, and the weight dropped off me.

When I got back, I told myself that I could survive on eating only a very small amount as i'd done it on holiday, and so it carried on.

A few people commented that i'd lost perhaps a bit too much weight, but I couldn't see it.

I only realised when I tried to have a shower one morning and felt too weak to stand up in it. I knew I'd gone to far, and tried to make myself eat again, but failed to even have a bite of toast.

I'd gone down to just under 7 stone in a matter of weeks.

Luckily, I told someone and they helped me get back to eating properly and it's not really ever been an issue since. I think i managed to scare myself into not ever going that far again.

thank you girls for all your help and advice. i have tried to eat more today and added in a couple of items i had 'banned'!though aam feeling fat and heavy this evening.

i think perhaps if i am aware of it then i should be able to control it.

Please remember that you can look like a stick insect and still feel fat! I have binged on a biscuit before now!

i will remeber that thank you. look more like a tree than a stick insect at the moment (and no not deluded!).

thats another reason i am worried about developing an eating disorder as i want to know and appreciate when i reach my goal weight not still see myself as fat!

I think that is the most difficult thing to achieve...that change of Bodyimage....right now I feel fat and I am bigger then I am normally (size 14 at 5'6...so...not huge, I suppose...just to big for me)...and I know that I do feel better when I am a proper slim 12...however, even then I often still feel big...and I then find it hard to keep going, cos I feel like" What is the point...."

like a bunch of others on here, i started a diet at age 16, though i was thin as a pin, and 13 years later i still have issues, have been in recovery for about 7 years. its not worth it.

the only good way to loose weight is to exercise and eat sensibly and loose it over time. thats what people who dont end up with a disorder do. don't weigh yourself obsesively, don't make rigid rules for yourself.

nottttttttt wwwwwwwwoooooorrrrrrrrttttthhhh it

Can I just point out, that there is a huge different of an already slim person starting to diet and a person that does need to loose some pounds....
I would suggest that, an already slim person already has a warped self image to start of with, and of course wiht them it's going to be a quick problem if they loose a lot of weight...

Not saying that OP shouldn't watch her own behaviour...just that, I think, it is really quite normal to get a bit obsessve about anything new that one starts...just thinking to completely starting to worry at this point mihgt not be a good thing, neither...iykwim...

Oh, and OP, maybe the 10/10 thread would be good for you (always found in the health section and started, generally, anew every monday...it's about including 10 portions of f&v in your daily diet and possibly adding 10 (or more) minutes of exercise a day...

i haven;t read all the thread properly but as soon as it becomes an issue of control thats when it becomes something more than a diet.

I don't think guilt comes into it in all cases, it certainly didn't with me on the times i wanted to go to down the ana road. (long story-well stories)

If you are worried NOW then fantastic, you can see someone supportive (not always a GP i know) and can try and get things more normal before its too late.

Please also remember that a diet is something you eat day-to-day and not something you go on to loose weight. Diets are a total waste of time if you are trying to get thinner.

Try and start with what is making you unhappy. Weight should be of as little concern as shoe size.

I hope you can see your doc soon, and start getting better!

3andnomore- i should add that sadly i am overweight. i need to lose about a stone and a half, but i want to lose 3.

hellobellosback- so if dieting isnt the way to lose weight- what is????

its making healthy eating a way of life. So (as if we didn't already know all this) plenty of vegetables, fruit and wholemeal things. Not much fat (and make it good fat), not much meat, plenty of pulses and nuts and no processed food/sugar or only a tiddly bit as a treat (a little of what you fancy)
If your diet is mainly processed food and sugar filled things then thats the problem.
So, maybe porridge or wholemeal toast/eggs for brekkie. Soup and bread/salad or sandwhiches for lucnh with some fruit. Dinner can be rice/pots/pasta with vegetables.
If thats your basic diet and you make it from scartch then you lose weight and stabilise.

I think what hello meant was that Diet is everything we eat...but of course in our society diet often is the term when people talk about weight loss programmes...if that amkes sense...

And Belcantavinissima....I realise that you said that...but some people here came on talking how they got onto the wrong track of eating disorder when they started dieting despite being slim...and I just wanted to point out that there is a difference...
There is, imo nothing wrong with realising that you hvae to loose some weight and taking actions ontowards, and ime it really is completely normal, that at first, one might go a bit over the top, because, it's a new thing, etc...I just wanted to say, that, at this point I really don't think you hvae anything to worry about, but that it is good to have an awareness that you may get into it to much long term...not sure if I am making sense....

yes it does, i understand.

Anyway, how is it all going?

ok i think . i have second ww meeting tonight so will let you know. hope they dont ask to see my tracker

tbh i have found the healthy eating thing v v easy. always been a bit lentil weaverish with regard to the 3 meals a day - but had real problems with quantity and also snacking on rubbish in between. feeling a bit lardy today despite not eating many points (but loads of food eg no point soup with a gazillion veg in it!) and went to gym this morning. i joined this specific one because its jsut for ladies, no mirrors and specificaally designed for weight loss. but now already am finding i want to do more, much more and feel the pain lol!

needmorecoffee- whereabouts in the 'south west' do you live if you dont mind me asking???

That gym sounds good

Have you considered doing the core plan...it will make you less aware of calory value (well points, but you know what I mean)and, ime, it makes you think less of food, lol...
you will eat your 3 meals a day out of a range of "free" foods and any snacks inbetween meals have to be counted...

Like I mentioned earlier, I didn't like the point system, it put me off eating some healthy foods...like macarel, things like that, as the point value is ridiculously high, despite it being a "free" food on the core plan....

I think that when you have reached your target weight and don't stop. When everyone stops saying 'wow, you've lost weight and you look really good' and starts saying 'you're not still on that diet are you?' and when instead of listening to thm you get irritated. When your hip bones start to look like shelf corners but you still feel fat.

Losing weight and being in control is so seductive. It's one of the biggest buzzes I've ever had if I'm honest. But I am sufficiently tempted by food to let things go every now and again. Exercise is more my obsession atm. I can't bear it if I don't manage to go running when I've planned to. Makes me quite antsy.

Just try to keep an eye on yourself. Eat healthily and exercise. And drink water.

3andnomore- it is good- Gymophobics its called- they seem to have them all over the country.

weigh in tonight and i have lost 5 lbs which is ok but would have liked more.
i think i need the counting of the points tbh i looked at the core plan but not sure if its for me though perhaps when my weight loss drops off a bit (ie not so much a week ) i might switch for a week and see how i get on with it.

5Ibs is excellent!