Expert: Meg - 6/10/2006

Question
thank you for your help. but am I underweight? do you know?
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Followup To

Question -
Hi. I think I have an eating problem. I was looking on the internet one day about eating disorders & there was this thing that gave you your height & weight & tells you if you are underweight or overweight & it siad for me I was a little under weight.but I dont see it. I am 5'8'' or 5'9'' & i weigh round 130. I have days were I wont eat a thing (when Im not around my mom) then I have days were I eat everything in sight & i feel horrible like I have done something bad so I excersise & do 200 crunches a day! When I dont eat my head kills me, i get dizzy, my eyes turn bloodshot & yellow & i feel horrible. When i eat I feel huge & look huge. Poeple tell me I am skinny & have a problem but I dont believe them. I want to be anorexic skinny but i dont know how. how do i lose weight without my mom noticing? My mom doesnt want me to lose weight & is worried about me. But now i always feel huge & want to be super skinny! My hair falls out alot too & i am like always cold. please help me!

Answer -
Hi there,

Thanks for your note.  It sounds like you have done some good research and are a very well educated young woman-which is great.  I agree that it seems to me like you are dealing with an eating problem and hopefully you can put a stop to this sooner rather than later (as the longer these things go on, the more difficult they are to get under control).

You mentioned that you found that you are underweight online and I wanted to give you a few links to some questionaires that help you figure out if you are indeed suffering from an eating disorder.  My guess is that you will find that you are (and I think you agree) but they might help you a bit in defining what is going on and perhaps you can print them out and show your Mom or someone else who you trust and might be able to help.

http://www.something-fishy.org/isf/questionnaire.php

http://www.poppink.com/quiz/index.html

You also mention a lot of the symptoms that come along with an eating disorder, including eating too little, feeling out of control with eating, exercising to make up for any calories eaten, hair loss and coldness, dizziness, feeling huge.  All of these are pretty clear indications that what is going on might either be or else develop into a serious problem.  

I am sorry, but I certainly am not going to encourage you to lose weight when you're already underweight and experiencing the physical ramifications of an eating disorder.   What I can encourage you to do is talk with someone about this as soon as you can, read about eating disorders and their dangers and try to take some steps to stop this before you get any further.  

Anorexic skinny might seem like a good goal, but besides all the horrible things that happen to your body (including death), the sicker a girl gets the fatter she generally feels.  So, not only  does this disease put your body through hell but it also is like chasing a brass ring that will always remain just out of reach.

Please try to talk with someone about this soon so that you don't waste any more of what should be fun, carefree times on something that ultimately has no payoff.  You  deserve better and you sound very driven and intelligent so I know that you can achieve so much if this doesn't hold you back.

Please feel free to write again if there is anything that is not clear in my answer or anything else that I can help with.

Take care,
Meg


Answer
Hello again,

Sorry for taking a little to get back to you.  I am on vacation and just got this message so I hope that you didn't have to wait too long.

In any case, yes...you are definitely already underweight and do not need to lose any more weight.  

Take care,
Meg