Where do you draw the line?

[magikarpy]

Where do you draw the line between an eating disorder and just simply watching what you eat? My friends keep telling me I have an eating disorder but I don't really think I'm all that bad. Honestly looking at my picture does it look like I'm wasting away? No. It looks quite the opposite. I still eat. I'm just not a total fatty when I eat. My friend Melodee told me it was a matter of perspective.

So, my question is in your perspective. What is watching what you eat and what is anorexia?

[Aspiringanonymous]

One is healthy, the other is definitely not.

One filters out unhealthy foods and makes sure that the body gets its daily essential nutrients from healthier alternatives, while the other desires to rejects food altogether, whether it is useful to the body or not.

[magikarpy]

So, preferring to eat only a salad, a granola bar, and a cup of coffee most days doesn't constitute anorexia?

[Obscene Eyedeas]

That is unhealthy Hun. you need so many nutrients and calories a day. lacking in these nutrients, vitamins and more can result in illnesses one of the most common being anaemia. a varied balanced diet of 2000 calories is what i and many others would recommend

[Aspiringanonymous]

So, preferring to eat only a salad, a granola bar, and a cup of coffee most days doesn't constitute anorexia?

That does not sound like a health-conscious and balanced diet, indeed. Salads and granola bars alone do not contain nearly all the nutrients the body requires. I'm not in a position to say whether or not that is anorexia, but you should be concerned regardless.

[magikarpy]

That does not sound like a health-conscious and balanced diet, indeed. Salads and granola bars alone do not contain nearly all the nutrients the body requires. I'm not in a position to say whether or not that is anorexia, but you should be concerned regardless.

It's a protein bar and my parents make me eat a huge meal every sunday....

[BuryYourFlame]

By the DSM-IV-TR (a professional guide to diagnosing mental illnesses), the criteria for the eating disorder to be classed as Anorexia is:
Intense fear of gaining weight. Refusal to maintain a body weight over 85% of the average weight for the individual's age and height.
Three consecutive missed periods (menstrual cycles).

Any eating disorder that does not fit this is classified, although with some dispute, as an 'eating disorder not otherwise specified'.

That is the difference between Anorexia and watching what you eat. The difference between an eating disorder not otherwise specified (EDNOS) and watching what you eat, however, is more blurred. The characteristics of an EDNOS would include a fear of gaining weight, not just a want to not gain weight. A fear would mean that it inhibits upon day to day activities. Watching what you eat also comes with a level of control that is most often not present in cases of an EDNOS. This does not go to say though that 'watching what you eat' can not be dangerous as well.

Keep in mind that an eating disorder of any kind can only really be diagnosed by a professional doctor/psychiatrist etc. and it can be dangerous to self-diagnose.

[magikarpy]

I have not missed a single period. Guess I'm fine.

[BuryYourFlame]

Just because you haven't missed a period doesn't mean you're fine, that's why they introduced the EDNOS diagnosis. Even without meeting all of the criteria of Anorexia, an EDNOS can still be very harmful.

Have you got anyone you can talk to about this?