середа, 3 листопада 2010 р.

Recovering Anorexic Meal Plans

Anorexia can wreak havoc on the body, making the systems and organs weak and severely undernourished. It is important to create a meal plan for a recovering anorexic that will be both nutritious and healthy, and will help the body while not overwhelming the minds with the thought of eating heavy foods. 
 
Fresh Produce
 
  • Fresh produce, such as fruits and vegetables, are both low in calories and high in vitamins and nutrients. Eating fresh produce can help an anorexic feel as though she can eat without worrying about getting fat. The fiber in fresh produce can help correct a dysfunctional digestive system that can result from anorexia. Try to vary the produce, so that the anorexic individual will be receiving a variety of nutrients. Try to avoid produce like potatoes that may make a recovering anorexic feel overly full, which can cause them to feel anxious about eating.

  • Lean Proteins

  • Eating lean proteins will help the body rebuild lost muscle tissue and can give a recovering anorexic person more energy. Choosing a lean protein, like chicken breasts or tenderloin, instead of a fatty one, like beef or bacon, will help the recovering anorexic feel less nervous about ingesting it. Try to make it known that the meat is lean and low fat, and prepare the meat in a way that will not affect its overall fat content, such as broiling or grilling it.

  • Whole Grains

  • Grains may be a particular problem for anorexics who have been conditioned to think that carbohydrates will make them fat. This can be remedied by serving only whole grains, instead of processed flours and packaged foods. Chose grains that are minimally altered, including rice and stone ground oats. These grains will nourish the body and aid in the recovery of the digestive system.



  • вівторок, 2 листопада 2010 р.

    Interview With An Anorexic

    I have very little sympathy for someone whose disease involves poor self-image. The idea that perfect control over your body is possible is so WASPy, as is the idea that other people actually spend their time caring whether you reach it or not. Much more attractive to me are people whose problems come from seeking out all that is invisibleŠ like that fad I read about in Vogue where young people cut themselves every day. The silent suffering and self-containedness of anorexia, in the grand scheme of life, is really worthless. Internalized drama is everything pathetic about drama with none of the majesty. Anorexics never kick out the jams. At least "diseases" like gambling or alcoholism, or even spousal abuse, involve interaction--a tipping-back-and-forth balance of guilt and fury and love and hatred, a shouting match with your girlfriend when you arrive home sans grandma's earrings. At least alcoholics have camaraderie--anorexics are eternally alone, single piranhas circling. (An anorexic sees another anorexic, she thinks, "Damn! Another skinny bitch on my turf!") And in the end, those anorexics will force you to take care of them while looking like they never wanted help, like they never hated you or wanted you miserable: "Oh no, it was all inward-directed violence." My foot! I fucking hate passive-aggressive behavior.
    While my sympathy is small, my jealousy is big. Anorexics always seem to have more thoughts than I do. All those intricacies and picayune habits. My body is just something that walks me to the store—it's no battlefield. Where do they come up with these ideas?I just want to write, have sex, fight with my boyfriend, hire someone to clean my house, figure out how to be funny, and go to Japan someday. Keeping my consumption of peas to 7 per day, while not letting the fork touch my lips, just doesn't enter in the picture. And I just know the swanky homosexuals who disapprove of everything under the sun think those spotty-haired scrawny girls are more worth talking to than I am.
    Maybe it's just the word "anorexia" I love—spread out like a fishing net over the stars, filaments so thin they're barely visible. The girl herself is a constellation of fine, blow-dried hair, shiny clothes, peeling nails, and jutting bones—you have to connect the dots because there's nothing in between. My best friend for the last 13 years has been anorexic to varying degrees: She is driven by egotism, perfectionism, and what people I never want to meet would call "issues of control." She ate only chips, iced tea, and jalapeño peppers for her main meal every day for a solid year. She'd go to three different stores to buy these items, as if some poor clerk might be keeping track, thinking "If she eats chips, she needn't eat jalapeño peppers as well." If she ever bought anything else, say a cup of soup, she'd talk about it with the person at the cash register (and anyone else around), pretending it was for someone else: "I guess this is the kind he wanted, I don't know..." Eventually, she stopped talking to clerks altogether. She'd pass them a note that said, "I am a deaf-mute. I am picking up some turkey soup for my friend. How much, please?" She was always getting in car accidents, and every single month she thought she was pregnant.
    The cool people are always selfish and dramatic. Unlike, say, depressives, who sink down into the same old patterns of self-destructive behavior and never get out of them, anorexics have a constantly expanding galaxy of ways to have problems. They lie. They black out. They hemorrhage. All the anorexics I've known steal boyfriends. Things always "happen" to them: People molest them when they sleep, ex-boyfriends steal their gas cards, or things go wrong when they try to kill themselves and they end up stuck in the loony bin for the weekend. They have mortal enemies. People put curses on them! It's an extravagant, silent life, the life of the anorexic. A guy recently told me his sister had been having a telepathic relationship with Martin Gore of Depeche Mode for the last 8 months—and had even gotten pregnant from it! "Wait!" I said, "Does your sister have an eating disorder?" "Yes," he said, "She's a fruitopian. She hasn't eaten anything but fruit for years."
    I got anorexic/bulimics all over my life. One of them is my son's baby-sitter, Chance Provencal—so I interviewed her. Throughout the interview, Chance peeled and ripped up an onion that was sitting on my table. You can hear the low crackle of the mutilation throughout the entire tape.
    Lisa: When did it start?
    Chance Provencal: When I was 18. I never thought about how much I ate or how much I weighed until I had this one boyfriend. I was 120 pounds and he was like, "Oh, I like my girls to be skinny."
    Lisa: "My girls." Sounds like a pimp.
    Chance: The thing is, he was fat! He was! "I like my girls to be 100, 105 pounds." No matter how much I tried to cut down on my eating or exercise more, I couldn't lose any weight. So I just kind of like ate what I wanted and then got rid of it.
    Lisa: You puked.
    Chance: Oh yeah, I puked and I starved, alternately. I did a lot more puking than I did starving. It was easier to just puke it out.
    Lisa: How often did you throw up?
    Chance: Sometimes just a couple times a week, sometimes a couple times a day. It depends on how much I ate that day. Because there are days where I won't eat at all. I found that if you wake up in the morning and you don't eat, you can go longer without eating. But once I eat, I just have to eat and eat and eat.
    Lisa: How come after you dumped that boyfriend you still had the eating problems?
    Chance: Because after that it was an obsession to be skinny. All my friends down in Maryland are really skinny—between 90 and 105 pounds—and I felt fat.
    Lisa: What if you got a bunch of fat friends, would that help?
    Chance: Probably not, because then I'd be mean and want to be even skinnier. I have fat friends now and I continue to be skinny because they all say, "Look how skinny you are, look how tiny you are," and I like it.
    Lisa: What's the lowest weight you ever got to?
    Chance: 85 pounds. I didn't get lower because I was taken to the hospital pretty early—[starvation] was harder on me than most people because of my diabetes. I got down to 85 with painkillers. I think painkillers are the best diet drug. You really don't get hungry! You just lay in bed all the time and lose the weight. But when you're not tired, they make you just jump up and run around and not think about anything—just keep going.
    Lisa: Were you able to hold down a job at this time?
    Chance: Not then, because I had an ovarian cyst, so I was out of work because of that. I never wanted to count calories. I'd just eat a piece of lettuce, drink water. I didn't want to do this whole thing of eat one M&M, exercise for three hours. I was never that meticulous about it. I'm too lazy.
    Lisa: Did you go to the hospital by choice?
    Chance: No. I couldn't really fight it by that point because I was just too out of it. I was too weak and half in and out. My boyfriend at the time took me because I was bordering on unconsciousness. My roommates called him up and said, "Her heartbeat's really low, she's not responding to much, she's dehydrated." So he came and picked me up and took me to the emergency room.
    Lisa: Is this the one who likes his girls skinny?
    Chance: No, a different one. This boyfriend never said I was too skinny.
    Lisa: How did people treat you while you were recovering in the hospital?
    Chance: Some were really nice and sympathetic, some were mean and heartless. They'd say, "Well you got yourself into this and you ought to know better and I don't feel sorry for you!" Other people would say, "Oh, you poor little thing." The counselors were nice, but a lot of the nurses were mean—the fat nurses. But you get that no matter what you're in the hospital for—some nice nurses, some mean.
    Lisa: How much weight did they make you gain before you could leave?
    Chance:: 10 or 15 pounds.
    Lisa: How did you gain the weight? Did you get an I.V. drip?
    Chance: Yeah. They gave me the saline solution, then glucose. They were talking about putting that tube in my nose.
    Lisa: Why? Were you afraid to eat?
    Chance: No, they just felt it was so necessary at that time, but I was like, "No, no, no, I'll eat!" And then I had to get monitored every time I had to go to the bathroom. I had to call a nurse and leave the door open part-way so they could make sure I was going to the bathroom and not doing other stuff.
    Lisa: How long did it take you to gain 10 pounds?
    Chance: It took a couple months, because your stomach shrinks, so what was a normal meal to me would be like a snack to someone else. Even now, when I don't eat for a while, my stomach shrinks, and then I'll eat just a couple bites and I'm full. I can't eat another bite, and that's fine for me! After that I went to my boyfriend's house and he was fat and his whole family was fat, and they took care of me. They made sure I got fed. And he worked at Taco Bell so I got to eat tacos all the time. They were trying to force me to eat, and then when I'd feel sick they'd tell me, "Oh you're fine," and like force-feed me, and then I'd really be sick, and throw up.
    Lisa: How do you feel when you see a fat person?
    Chance: I don't know, I think a lot of fat people are beautiful. Sometimes I want to be fat, have a little extra meat on me. But I can't bring myself to actually do it. But sometimes I get mad at fat people because I think they're gross and disgusting, other times I think they're fine, I think they're beautiful. My good friend Cindy, she's overweight, and sometimes I think, "Fat pig!" and then other times I think, "Oh, she's fine."
    Lisa: How do you feel when you see a skinny person?
    Chance: When I see someone skinnier than me, I get mad. This one lady, she was so skinny, I kept looking at her and thinking, "There must be something really wrong with her. She must have cancer. She is impossibly skinny."
    Lisa: Was she elegant or grotesque?
    Chance: She was grotesque. It was really nasty.
    Lisa: Did you realize you looked disgusting when you were that skinny?
    Chance: No. Because you have your own image of what you look like. There's this mirror over at Rick's house that I call the Skinny Mirror because I looked in it one day and I looked really thin. Everybody said, "You're just saying that." But then this guy's girlfriend looked in it and she said the same thing, so we call it the Skinny Mirror now. So whenever I feel fat I go look in the Skinny Mirror. There's days when I look at myself and I think, "Wow, I look great, I can live with this." And there's other days when I look at myself in the mirror and start scrutinizing every inch of my body: "My butt's fat. My legs are fat. My gut is fat." But I don't ever want to go through hospitalization again, I'll never let myself get to that point again. I have a messed-up esophagus now from making myself throw up so much. Sometimes I'll just chew on a pen cap now, and I'll gag. Because I used to stick my toothbrush down there, my fingers, anything. And now when I throw up it really hurts and burns, it feels like my whole chest is gonna cave in.
    Lisa: When you were so skinny, what did your skin and hair look like?
    Chance: I did get that light layer of hair that you grow. It's baby-blonde color. That extra layer that keeps you warm, because you get so skinny your body can't keep itself warm.
    Lisa: Was it all over your body and face?
    Chance: Not on my face so much. It was mostly on my midsection, on my back and front.
    Lisa: How did your boyfriend feel about you having chest hair?
    Chance: He was kind of disgusted by it, but he really cared for me, so he didn't let it really show. There was no physical relationship at that point, because I was too weak and he was too afraid he would break me. He was really delicate with me all the time. If he held my hand, his hand would completely wrap around mine.
    Lisa: Do you still get urges to not eat and to throw up?
    Chance: I still do. There are days where I won't eat at all. Just because I'm afraid I'll get to the point where I'm too fat again and then it will start all over. Other days I'll eat like a pig and then I'll feel awful for weeks after. And I'll be like, "Well, I can't eat for a couple days because I ate a lot yesterday." I haven't thrown up lately. I was doing it a couple months ago, because I'd eat so much I'd have to. And then you know, when you throw up you get dehydrated, so I'd drink like a whole gallon of water and then I'd have to throw that up. I used to throw up every night still last year.
    Lisa: Do you take painkillers now?
    Chance: I did the other day. But a lot of doctors are cracking down on what they give you. I had a kidney infection two weeks ago and they wouldn't even give me painkillers for that. Which is good, because I was addicted to them really bad. When I stopped taking them, I went through withdrawal, the shakes. If I even take one or two now, I'll get addicted almost automatically, so it's good they don't give them out as easily anymore. You don't think about a lot when you have painkillers. Painkillers are deadly, not just for the obvious reasons, but because of the way they make you think and act. I'm proud that I stopped, the painkillers and the eating disorder. I still have my days. They say it's never really cured, you always have it in the back of your mind. It's just a matter of controlling it. I don't make myself throw up anymore. When I look back at what I used to do, it really kind of disgusts me.

    понеділок, 1 листопада 2010 р.

    The Woman’s Day Slimdown with Joy Bauer:

    Here are four sample menus. All breakfasts, lunches, dinners and snacks are interchangeable. (But you can’t eat a dinner for breakfast, or vice versa.) You can swap the protein at a meal with another protein on the approved list (Foods Allowed at Meals); just keep serving sizes the same. You can also swap any of the nonstarchy vegetables in the menus for others on the list (and those are unlimited!).
    Day 1
    BREAKFAST
    • Omelet made from 3 large egg whites (cooked with nonstick cooking spray), unlimited diced veggies of your choice (from approved list), your choice of approved seasonings, and 1/4 cup shredded reduced-fat or nonfat cheese
    • WHOLE serving of approved fruit
    LUNCH
    • California-style turkey sandwich: 1 slice whole-grain bread or 2 slices reduced-calorie whole-wheat bread (any brand, 45 calories or less per slice); 4 oz turkey breast; 2 thin slices avocado; unlimited tomato slices, lettuce, arugula, and/or spinach; mustard
    • Baby carrots, unlimited
    SNACK
    • 1/2 cup nonfat or 1% lowfat cottage cheese with unlimited sliced green, red and/or yellow bell pepper strips

    DINNER
    • Skinny Dinner Salad OR 2 cups Skinny Veggie Soup
    • Grilled fish with salsa: 6 oz baked or grilled white fish (halibut, cod or tilapia); 1/4 cup mild or spicy salsa
    • Green vegetable: Unlimited steamed asparagus spears, broccoli, sugar snap peas or green beans
    • HALF serving of approved fruit

    Day 2
    BREAKFAST
    • 1 cup whole-grain cereal (any brand, 150 calories or less per 1-cup serving and 3+ grams fiber) with 1 cup skim milk or lowfat soy milk
    • HALF serving of any approved fruit
    LUNCH
    • Chicken Caesar salad: Unlimited Romaine lettuce (chopped); 4 oz grilled skinless chicken
    breast; 3 Tbsp grated Parmesan; 4 Tbsp light Caesar dressing (any brand, 80 calories or less per 2 Tbsp)
    SNACK
    • 1 oz reduced-fat or nonfat cheese
    • 1 rice cake

    DINNER
    • Skinny Dinner Salad OR 2 cups Skinny Veggie Soup
    • Grilled sirloin or flank steak: 5 oz lean sirloin or flank steak, seasoned as desired with allowed marinades/
    herbs/seasonings.
    • Fresh spinach leaves (start with about 4-6 cups) sautéed with 1 tsp olive oil and 1 clove garlic and seasoned with your choice of approved seasonings
    Day 3
    BREAKFAST
    • 1 /2 cup dry traditional oatmeal (or 1/4 cup steel-cut oats) prepared with water and topped with a HALF serving of any fruit of your choice
    • 2 large hardboiled egg whites (discard yolks) or 2 scrambled egg whites or egg substitute
    LUNCH
    • 5-oz turkey burger served on a bed of mixed greens or spinach (unlimited amounts) with lettuce, tomato, onion and/or pickle
    • 2 Tbsp ketchup or salsa (optional)
    • Raw or steamed vegetables (unlimited approved veggies)

    SNACK
    • 1 small apple and 10 raw almonds or 15 pistachios
    DINNER
    • Skinny Dinner Salad OR 2 cups Skinny Veggie Soup
    • Teriyaki of beef, salmon, chicken or tofu (5 oz protein pan-grilled with 2 Tbsp low-sodium teriyaki sauce, 1 tsp finely minced ginger and black pepper to taste)
    • 1 cup steamed snow peas
    Day 4
    BREAKFAST
    • 2 slices reduced-calorie whole-wheat toast with 2 level tsp peanut, almond or soy nut butter spread (1 tsp each slice) topped with one HALF serving of any approved fruit of your choice
    LUNCH
    • Omelet made with nonstick cooking spray, 4 egg whites, 1 cup broccoli, any seasonings on food list, and 1/4 cup reduced-fat or nonfat cheese
    • Unlimited lettuce and/or spinach leaves with 2 Tbsp light dressing (40 calories or less per 2 Tbsp)
    SNACK
    • 1 cup fresh or frozen edamame (green soybeans), boiled in the pod
    DINNER
    • Skinny Dinner Salad OR 2 cups Skinny Veggie Soup
    • 5 oz grilled, roasted or broiled lean pork tenderloin, seasoned as desired, with unlimited steamed asparagus spears, snow peas or green beans
    • HALF serving of any fruit of your choice

    http://www.womansday.com/Articles/Health/Diet-Nutrition/The-Woman-s-Day-Slimdown-with-Joy-Bauer-Step-1-Meal-Plan.html

    1200 Calorie Diabetic Meal Plan

    Overview

    The 1,200-calorie diabetic meal plan is a reduced-calorie meal plan that is often prescribed to individuals who are attempting to lose weight. The meal plan involves three meals and two snacks and includes portion-controlled snacks.

    Meal Planning

    According to the American Diabetes Association, individuals with diabetes should avoid skipping meals and snacks because doing so can cause a sudden drop in blood sugar, or hypoglycemia. As a result, diabetics need to make sure that they eat a well-balanced meal or snack every four to five waking hours. When the daily caloric limit is only 1,200 calories, the meals and snacks will need to consist primarily of low-calorie foods.

    Carbohydrates

    Carbohydrates are the main nutrient that will raise blood sugar, so diabetic individuals need to moderate the amount of carbohydrate that they consume at one meal or snack. The American Dietetic Association explains that carbohydrates can be found in foods such as fruits, starchy vegetables, grains, milk, yogurt and desserts or sweets. Controlling the intake of these foods is important because eating a high amount of carbohydrate in one sitting can cause high blood sugar. Over time, uncontrolled hyperglycemia will severely damage the body.

    Fats

    Diabetics are at higher risk of developing heart disease than their non-diabetic peers. As a result, the American Heart Association encourages diabetics to consume a diet that is low in saturated and trans fat. These two fats are found in animal products, like butter and lard, and processed foods, like fast food and pastries. The healthy fats, unsaturated fats, are ones that are found like plant-based products. Olive oil, avocado and walnuts are examples of healthy fats. However, since the 1,200-calorie diabetic meal plan is low in calories, even the healthy fats should be limited to small portions.

    Diabetic Serving Sizes

    A food's diabetic serving size, or diabetic exchange, is determined by the food's nutritional content. For example, a carbohydrate-containing food would have a diabetic serving size that is equal to approximately 15g of carbohydrate. A few examples of diabetic serving sizes of carbohydrate-containing foods are one slice of whole grain bread, one corn tortilla, 1/3 cup brown rice, 3/4 cup blueberries, 1/2 grapefruit, 8 oz. low-fat milk, and 6 to 8 oz. light yogurt.

    Sample Menu

    The following meal plan provides roughly 1,200 calories and follows the recommendations for a low-fat, carbohydrate-controlled meal plan.

    Breakfast: 1 cup cooked old-fashioned oatmeal with artificial sweetener; 1-1/4 cup strawberries; six almonds; 1/2 cup scrambled egg substitute

    Lunch: Two slices of light wheat bread; 2 oz. lean turkey meat; 1 oz. fat-free cheese; lettuce, tomato, and 1 tsp. light mayonnaise for sandwich; one small apple; 6 to 8 oz. light yogurt

    Snack: 1 cup celery and carrots sticks with 2 tbsp. hummus

    Dinner: 3 oz. skinless baked chicken; 1 cup steamed broccoli; one small sweet potato with spray butter; 1 cup blackberries

    Snack: 6 to 8 oz. light yogurt, or 3 cups popped light popcorn

    http://www.livestrong.com/article/139406-1200-calorie-diabetic-meal-plan/

    Healthy Meal Plan: Bountiful Baskets Food Co-Op

    I am so pleased with the selection of healthy fruits and vegetables in today’s Bountiful Baskets Food Co-Op share and looking forward to healthy high fiber dinners this week.  Today, we’re eating leftovers to make room in the fridge.  My father-in-law is in town this weekend, so I’m making a big dinner tomorrow night along with Blueberry Pie!
    Sunday:  Grilled Lemon Chicken, Grilled Corn on the Cob, Salad, Lemony Quinoa, Blueberry Pie for Dessert (I will be substituting granulated fructose for the sugar and serving with Greek yogurt, instead of vanilla ice cream to lower the GI).
    Monday:  Chicken Parmesan, Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Bacon, Parmesan Roasted Asparagus
    Tuesday:  Roast with Carrots, Celery, and Salad
    Wednesday:  Ginger and Lime Chicken with Sweet Potato Mash, Grilled Cauliflower with Lime Cream
    Thursday:  Cream of Mushroom Pork Chops, Salad, Roasted Yellow squash (I’ll thinly slice the yellow squash along with red onion and put it in a 9 X 13 baking dish, drizzle with olive oil, and sprinkle a bit of salt and pepper and bake at 400 for 25 minutes).  When I have zucchini, I add it to this dish.  It’s my favorite healthy vegetable side dish and I’m lucky to have a mom with a huge garden and I get to eat this dish often.
    Friday:  Leftovers
    We will use all the bananas, nectarines, bananas, and grapes for breakfast and snacks.  I’m looking forward to trying bananas and nectarines in my steel-cut oats.

    Meal Plan

    Regardless of what anyone says about you and your weight, you should follow this basic principle. Eat 3 meals a day (breakfast, lunch, and dinner) EVERY day as a minimum.

    Breakfast:
    Cereal with milk (try sliced bananas IN your milk); lactose intolerant? Try Soya milk instead of milk.
    1 or 2 eggs (any style - to make it easy, try buying those microwaveable egg poachers; makes one egg in 32 seconds).
    Apple or fruit of some type
    Orange juice or apple juice

    Lunch:
    Pasta - carbs are good for energy when you most need it. You can try canned pasta like chef boyardee Mini ravioli (yum!) or lasagna or pizza (Dr. Oetker pizzas are small but are ready 15 minutes! my fav!)
    Bagel or piece of bread (or pizza instead)
    Fruit (apple, or fruit cup)

    Dinner:
    Meat protein: preferrably chicken breast or fish but steak does me good!
    Salad: green spinach with mushrooms, tomatoes, radishes, or garnish with whatever you like; try some tofu cubes with some balsamic vinegar
    Soup: try canned soup like italian wedding soup from Campbells (yum!)
    Rice: a small amount of carbs is good for dinner time
    Fruit: apple or orange
    Dessert: yogurt or slice of apple pie
    Drink: Juice or even a glass of red wine

    If you follow this simple principle (3 meals a day), you should be fine. Any other snacks in between would be bonus. Snacks like granola bars or peanut butter sandwich contain good fats that will help you maintain and gain weight. But don't skip breakfast! At least have that one egg a day in the morning.

    пʼятниця, 29 жовтня 2010 р.

    A Day in the Life of an Anorexic: An Aide to Those Who Can't Identify

    Anorexia is a very hard for people to understand. Many see it as a harmful lifestyle choice. The truth is, it is a mental disorder and not any more a choice than depression or schizophrenia is. Some wonder, what is it like to go through a day in the life of an anorexic? The answer may be a bit tough for some to take.

    But let's imagine...You wake up in the morning and your stomach growls. You take a shower and when you get out you catch a glimpse of yourself in the mirror. You wind up wasting 10 to 20 minutes staring, pinching fat here and there, sucking in your stomach, imagining what you'll look like 5, 10, 20 pounds less.

    Before getting dressed, you weigh yourself. You must weigh yourself naked because you are afraid that anything, even your socks, will add weight to the scale. You step on and off about 3 times until you are satisfied you are given an accurate number. If the number is higher than yesterday by even a tenth of a pound, you will feel like you want to die. If it is lower, you are momentarily happy but you remind yourself you have a lot further to go.

    You get dressed and go down to the kitchen, take a look at everything there is available to you, but you stop yourself from having a bite of anything. You tell yourself that the feeling of a hunger is a good one, that you need to keep strong because giving in would be giving up on yourself.

    You go through the day thinking about food. You go to work or school, you socialize and smile, but in your head you are thinking only about food. How much you want it, the reasons you can't have it, how you are going to avoid this meal and cut the calories on that meal.

    You've given yourself a maximum daily allowance of calories, a number that is probably 5 to 10 times below what your normal intake should be. If you manage to stay under, it is a good day. If you go over, even by 10 or 20 calories, you are disgusted with yourself. So disgusted that you feel you could scream.

    You spend your time online looking at pictures of models and researching every tip in the book. How to dress to look thinner, what foods will fill you up quicker, what exercises will tone which muscles.

    You over exercise on very little energy because of the lack of nutrients in your system. You feel like you are going to faint, but you push yourself anyway. That voice in your head is telling you than being thin is worth it.

    You start to have a mental list of your "safe" foods. You fear certain foods to a point that if you are faced with them, you feel like you might cry. In fact, you probably will. You can't eat out with friends anymore because you can't stand not knowing all the calories in your food and they can't stand watching you suffer.

    It will hurt to sit because you will feel your bones grinding against the chair. You will find your hair falling out more than usual. You will risk early onset of osteoporosis and possibly a heart attack.

    You spend your night lying in bed, planning what you are going to let yourself eat the next day and you can't sleep until you have figured it out.

    You have your moments throughout the day where you fight with yourself. Where you want to just force yourself to eat. The times when you realize what you are doing to yourself and you are nothing but scared.

     But the anorexia becomes a voice so strong and powerful that you feel like the real you has been forced into some back corner of your mind, struggling to be heard. You don't know what to do or who to turn to because you feel like no one understands.

     You finally get yourself to sleep, not knowing whether you will wake up in the morning. The next day, you go through it all over again. So please, before you pass any judgments on someone dealing with this terrible disease, understand the suffering they go through on a daily basis.

    And if you know someone who is suffering from any eating disorder, get help as soon as possible.





    http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/242904/a_day_in_the_life_of_an_anorexic_an_pg2.html?cat=5