Expert: Melissa - 4/24/2008

Question
Hi Melissa, I'm 21 years old and I think I have an eating disorder I don't think is any serious but I needed an advice.

When I was in High School I felt awful because I thought that I was really fat, and when I started college I loosed a lot of weight and all was better. My friends and family where worried about it because they said It was to much but I don’t believe it I never felt anything different.

After That I’ll be feeling so afraid of gaining weight that I start laying about what I eat during the day, and I change all my meals to fruit or anything that I think is fat free.. (When I discovered that the bananas have sugar I stop eating them.)

I get really angry when somebody tells me that I never eat or stuff like that and I try to prove them that it isn’t true.

My problem now is that I’m feeling disorientated I’m starting to gain weight and is to hard to lose it again, I start eating more regular for this metabolism thing (that gets slow when you doesn’t eat) but I feel guilty all the time I’m feeling ugly and Sad.
Sometimes I vomit using my toothbrush because I can handle it (I start doing that about 3 years ago) but it is not for getting worried it happens in counted occasions but it is more often some weeks.
I don’t know if I should talk to someone, I haven’t done it because I’m ashamed of it… What do you think????

Pd: Even in High School I’ve been under 21  BMI, my friends use that to tell me that I’m just fine But I think that is not a good standard for adjusting your weight isn’t it???

Thank you for reading this,  

Answer
Hi Andrea,
In my opinion, the BMI chart doesn't factor in our different body frames and cannot discriminate between fat and lean mass. Therefore, I usually do not get hung up on the BMI chart since it's not an accurate tell of our health.
It makes me sad to read how miserable food is making you. I can relate to where you are at and it's a scary place to be. You mentioned you are having trouble losing weight and I hope that helps you to realize you cannot control this forever. You are a smart girl!  Now is the best time to seek help for this. You have to surrender your weight concerns and what you eat to a professional who can help you get this under control in a more healthy matter. What you are doing is not making you happy, is it? It is not giving you the results you desire (however unhealthy those desires may be), so don't you think the reasonable, rational thing to do now is to try something else? Do something good for yourself and talk to someone and get the help you need. If you need help getting started, ask a follow-up question and I would be happy to give you some names and numbers. Keep me posted.