If you go to the gym are there always some people there who are obviously anorexic / very unwell?

[FrannyandZooey]

There were 2 in my gym today - there's nearly always at least one

it is very hard to see them there, kind of like watching a drug addict doing their thing

everyone pretends not to notice that there is a very ill person making themselves thinner and iller in this place that is meant to make your healthier

it is odd and depressing

Franny, surely if you do talk to the manager/staff, they will know who you mean. I can't beleive they would ask you to point the undividuals out - they must be aware. It might make them face the issue though if they have another customer broaching the subject. You could always write - might thi smake it more difficult for the gym to ignore?

The gym have a moral duty don't they? People get addicted to exercise, I wonder how they would deal with that.

i know what you mean, it's a bit like you don't look at them? there is a girl at my work who does a class then gym and is all furry.

and i see a girl on the tube regularly who is painfully painfully thin and she marches on the spot the whole time. it makes me oddly cross, and I really don't know why.

ok, I will think about it and try to be brave

truly I will

I have seen it too! There are at least 2 young women at my Gym that are painfully thin and they really do push themselves to the limit.

There is one young women (guessing early 20's) that was about a size 14 when she started at the Gym - she 's now about a size 6-8 and there everday apparantly. I heard the Gym instructor saying to her in a joking manner "you don't need to go any thinner do you"?, she is definitely addicted.

I think the Gym instructors need to have a quiet word with them.

Have seen various anorexics at the gyms I've attended over the years. Always wonder at how the gym staff can permit it.

Franny.

This thread is good 2 c, anorexics upset me hugely, but I'd never say anything.
There's an anorexic I frequently see at swimming, she's a middle aged lady with early onset osteoporosis. Another Anny works at Sainsbury's -- she gleefully told me all the things she gave up for Lent last year.
"You should resolve to give up something else", I thought.

lljkk, it;s not really nice to use the word 'Anny' to describe an Anorexic person. My dear friend has battled this condition since she was 13, she is now 36, she went down to 4 and a half stone and stayed a while in a Psychiatric hospital.

I know I said in my post earlier that the Gym instructors should say something, but I suppose it's not really their place is it? I don't know what the answer is really, it's sad .

agree with shaniece re "anny" how is your friend now?

liisie - she is fine now, as in, she doesn't obsess SO much about food and making herself sick. She does still obsess about her weight though, she is a size 8, but she thinks she is fat . She has a lovely figure but she is not happy with it.

I can relate to her problems though, although I have never suffered Anorexia, I used to make myself sick when I was 13 because I didn't want to get fat .

its tough. as i said earlier, its like being an alcoholic. you never really get over it

Yeah, I know it's tough lissie. Hope you are ok now .

im as ok as i will ever be. the problem is, i have an anorexics brain. i now starve myself without even realising and the "good" bits happen much sooner (but then so do the bad ones) its just like an addict falling off the wagon. that first rush that you get when youve been good for a while is so intense...

"i have an anorexics brain" - that's precisely what I used to say to try and explain things to friends and family. It's not my eating that is the problem now (I know I'm v.v. lucky in that regard) but all the residual thought patterns. I'm not anorexic any more but I am anorexic in nature I guess, and to some extent always will be. I'm a bugger for perfectionism, routines, obsessive behaviours etc. (Sorry for hijack - just having a "I'm not the only one" moment)

Agree that using the term Anny isn't particularly pleasant.

How you doing with it Franny? You feeling up to saying anything to the staff?

I am not sure i would say anything really. Mt friends sister is anorexic and exercises obsessivly. She has to be able to run to the gym etc and does it a lot. Her parents cannot move house (and they would like to) as they cannot take her away from her routines as they fear for a relapse. As it is she is desperately thin but her weight is stable. She is under drs and i think she is as good as she will even be (she is in her late 30's)

I worry for my friend as it has skewed her vision of things, she is sooooo slim and cannot see it!!! thinks she has bingo arms, thunder thighs and wants to lose weight, tone up etc! i saw her on saturday and asked her outright " can you not see how slim you are" and her answer was no!

she does eat though and i am not saying she is anorexic but I do worry for her and i would say she is at risk of it.

No I will be honest and own up that I was at the gym today and did not think of a way that I felt comfortable with bringing this up
I don't know who the manager is or if there is a manager
there are usually 2 or 3 youngish members of staff at the desk chatting together
I always feel a bit of a dork waddling in with my gym gear on anyway (am rotundly pg)
and I just don't know how to raise the subject or what I would say

am still thinking about it

How about putting your concerns in writing if you don't feel able to speak to them?