Expert: Meg - 1/26/2005

Question
Okay at the moment I weigh 147 I am on a huge diet to get to 110. I am trying to eat under 500 cal a day and exercise. Which I have done for 2 weeks now. On my xanga, (www.xanga.com/Lost_N_Not_So _Perfect) I am in blog rings with girls who are doing the same thing as I am, but they call themselves Ana or mia (anorexic/blumia)and they total their cal which is usually anywhere between 18 to 800. I eat less than 500 cal a day and I exercise. Does that make me anorexic, I mean, still eat

Answer
Hi Missy,

Thanks for writing and I hope I can help at least a little bit.  

I'm not able to get into your Xanga page, but can tell you from your calorie intake that your behaviors are in the realm of anorexia.  If you are restricting your calories and exercising to burn the calories that you do consume then this is cause for concern.  

Its impossible to diagnose anyone over the internet, but from what you've said it sounds like you are heading in the direction of developing an eating disorder.  I also commend you for being worried and asking your question and hope that you can find a way to stop the dangerous part of your wanting to lose weight sooner rather than later.  I know that there is a lot of pressure out there (and often from ourselves as well) to be a certain weight and have a very thin body type but taking this route to get there can be really dangerous.  Honestly, I'm not trying to sound preechy but more let you know that anorexia and other eating disorders can be really serious...even deadly.  Not to mention that they really kill your social life as very quickly, its easy for a goal to develop into an all consuming obsession.  

I'm going to copy a test from another website http://www.caringonline.com/eatdis/topics/tests.htm
You may want to look at this and answer as honestly (for yourself)
This one is on the ANRED (www.anred.com) site and you may find some more helpful infomation there as well
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Are you at risk? Take a self-test
The following questionnaire can help you decide if you have an eating disorder, or if you are at risk of developing one. The easiest way to take the test is to print it out and then check the items that describe you. Then read the explanatory paragraph at the end.

The test and your visit to this Web site are anonymous.

Even though people tell me I'm thin, I feel fat.

I get anxious if I can't exercise.

[Female] My menstrual periods are irregular or absent.
[Male] My sex drive is not as strong as it used to be.

I worry about what I will eat.

If I gain weight, I get anxious and depressed.

I would rather eat by myself than with family or friends.

Other people talk about the way I eat.

I get anxious when people urge me to eat.

I don't talk much about my fear of being fat because no one understands how I feel.

I enjoy cooking for others, but I usually don't eat what I've cooked.

I have a secret stash of food.

When I eat, I'm afraid I won't be able to stop.

I lie about what I eat.

I don't like to be bothered or interrupted when I'm eating.

If I were thinner, I would like myself better.

I like to read recipes, cookbooks, calorie charts, and books about dieting and exercise.

I have missed work or school because of my weight or eating habits.

I tend to be depressed and irritable.

I feel guilty when I eat.

I avoid some people because they bug me about the way I eat.

When I eat, I feel bloated and fat.

My eating habits and fear of food interfere with friendships or romantic relationships.

I binge eat.

I do strange things with my food (cut it into tiny pieces, eat it in special ways, eat it on special dishes with special utensils, make patterns on my plate with it, secretly throw it away, give it to the dog, hide it, spit it out before I swallow, etc.)

I get anxious when people watch me eat.

I am hardly ever satisfied with myself.

I vomit or take laxatives to control my weight.

I want to be thinner than my friends.

I have said or thought, "I would rather die than be fat."

I have stolen food, laxatives, or diet pills from stores or from other people.

I have fasted to lose weight.  

In romantic moments, I cannot let myself go because I am worried about my fat and flab.

I have noticed one or more of the following: cold hands and feet, dry skin, thinning hair, fragile nails, swollen glands in my neck, dental cavities, dizziness, weakness, fainting, rapid or irregular heartbeat.

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Even if you are only in the beginning stages of this, I hope that you will try to make some healthy choices now. You deserve it-and its not worth getting really sick.  

Also, there is a false misconception that anorexics do not eat.  Every person I've ever met who has struggled with this problem eats...but often in restricted quantities (as you are describing) and only specific foods.  Its a shame that often people think that anorexics don't eat at all...but I promise you that 500 calories is not a healthy amount and definitely could put your body under a lot of stress and into danger.

Please feel free to write back if any of this wasn't clear or if there is anything else I can do for you.

Take care, okay?

Meg

www.something-fishy.org
www.caringonline.com
(2 other helpful sites on eating disorders)