Extreme diets and eating disorders: What did you do?
After my last 'group' peice, Stop Fit-Shaming became a campaign on twitter I thought a lot about how important big group articles are to send out the message and I found a lot of positive comments and compliments on my article tackling the issues of 'fitshaming'.It really brought to light that sometimes it's not all rainbows and sunshine when you're fit or on the way to becoming a better you.
Sometimes, we lose track of why we're getting fit in the first place, sometimes others knock us down.. the thing is, we get up and work harder than ever before and when we do.. boy, there'll be hell to pay. So, the lovely UK Blogger women I have spoken to have all been on diets/extreme weight loss plans and they've all paid the price for health, but why?
Mostly because we want to conform or fit in, but there's also the other side of it, where we just want to be healthier, so why do we go to such lengths to achieve it?
- Because we don't know how to lose weight efficiently
- Because we want quick fixes
- Because society wants us thinner, taller, more 'beautiful'
I spoke to some 'serial' UK dieters and asked them..
What's the most extreme thing you've done on the road to becoming a healthier you?
I was on a slimming tea type drink, none of the famous ones, this was about 2 years ago when they weren't really known. I was doing the usual morning drink every day and night time every other day. I also have a strange eating regime, I either eat tonnes or nothing. This particular day I was going to the beauty UK show in Birmingham, so I'm stood on the train then bam, I wake up on the floor. I was pouring with sweat, shaking and had to run to the toilet in an attempt to not throw up over the crowd of people staring at me.
I've done a teatox since and I loved it, however I learnt the hard way that if you don't eat a normal amount while on them, you may pass out in public and it wont be nice www.youtube.com/Bexrenshaw
-I purchased diet pills off the internet - ephedrine (bad move.) I also hit the gym pretty hard because of the extra energy bursts they gave me and while I did lose a lot of weight, they made me feel really rough and like I'd had far too much caffeine most of the time. It certainly wasn't healthy and definitely not worth it as the weight came back when I stopped taking them scissorspaperrock.co.uk
Oh gosh I've done all sorts! 500 calorie diets, shakes, vegetarianism, skipping meals, crazy amounts of exercise you name it! I prefer to try and eat a balanced diet with regular exercise and me happy with myself now! My blog is cookieandcreams.com
Everything! Literally. No carbs, all carbs, caveman diet, paleo-diet, fat burners. Most extreme would have been eating uncooked chicken in the hope I could give myself food poisoning as a last minute ditch attempt. It's crazy the disgusting things we can do to our body in order to lose weight. (And no, I did not lose any weight in my quest for salmonella, I simply had an upset stomach which I felt the need to repair with ice cream
www.trackingwenty.co.uk x
-I actually started dieting quite healthily, cutting portion sizes and exercising but then got too obsessed with it, and it ended up decending into an eating disorder where I abused laxitives (YAKKK) and didnt even want to drink too much because I felt bloated by it! it's crazy looking back on it and now i'm healthy and probably about half a stone heavier than i'd like to be, but it doesnt stress me out now, if I want to eat something I will... If I dont feel like exercising I wont (maybe a little too often I choose couch over gym now!) but I wouldnt change my life now for the world, and I know I wouldnt have this life if I was still where I was back then.... #ibloodyhatediets
xxalittleblogforme.co.uk
-My mum did the Cambridge diet... She lost weight so quickly that she had saggy skin around her neck..... Not good and was way to extreme for her. After her whole life trying every diet under the sun .. (even the cabbage soup diet.... Which stunk the house out) in her 60's she's given up now, but is diabetic instead, so, sweets and treats are a no no for her.D: I started to diet as a teenager (about year 10/11) because I was 'overweight'. It quickly spiralled out of control, I would read lots of tips online and put them into practice. I used to drink a mouth full of water for every bite of my meal to help 'fill me up'. I would only eat 1000 calories a day, then reduce it a lot. During my holidays from school only eat when my mum got home from work so I felt somebody else could help control. Eventually I was diagnosed with an eating disorder. It's very easily addictive!! The water one was bad, I would bloat a lot and have to wee all the time! I'd drink almost a litre with each meal!
It's such a shame that we feel under pressure to look a certain way.
www.thebritishbelle.com
I starved myself for years and then puked my guts up for a few more years. My weight has yoyo'ed from a size 6 to 14 and back again. Over and over. It's all temporary with unhealthy eating. The only thing that really works is regular exercise and a healthy diet - that has to include allowing yourself to eat 'bad' on occasion when celebrating or during holidays.
People want an easy life, a quick fix. You have to make an effort and commitment to your health and look after yourself.
Quick fixes will ruin you.
http://www.skinnedcartree.com/People want an easy life, a quick fix. You have to make an effort and commitment to your health and look after yourself.Quick fixes will ruin you.
-My friend drank vodka, every evening before bed which gave her a terrible tummy upset and made her feel so sick she couldnt eat she lost loads but I imagine rotted inside.My flatmate at uni used to brush her tongue until she was sick. At that point I also took aquaban tablets every night but far more than you are meant to! It just made me feel ill.
Having spent my entire life over weight I can quite understand why people do drastic things. Its exhausting mentally and physically and it is so hard to understand unless you have faced that desperation. I've never been too extreme (i love food too much) but I get it, the turnaround for me was weight watchers which I know a lot of people think is rubbish. for me the idea of poointing food is rubbish - you just point for bad stuff and learn nothing but the new 'filling and healthy' plan teaches you about a lifestyle change, drinking water, eating wholesome filling grains and vegetables, protein etc - much more of a long term thing.
wafflemama
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Most of you who have read my weight loss posts will know that I HATE weight watchers, I have removed their ads from my site and will not promote them ( I love their chocolate and orange cookies, but hate their ideas)
That being said.. Laura (waffle mama) said this..
I know a lot of people think is rubbish. for me the idea of poointing food is rubbish - you just point for bad stuff and learn nothing but the new 'filling and healthy' plan teaches you about a lifestyle change, drinking water, eating wholesome filling grains and vegetables, protein etc - much more of a long term thing.I can't argue it, I really want to.. because I hate that they charge people for the help and guidance to lose weight, they up the prices of food that is on the point system so they're making money BUT...they are teaching people who might not otherwise get the chance to learn about health from any where else.
It's hard for me..because I'm too stubborn to give up on health so I did it by myself, but some people do need that community to push themselves so, if it works..it works.
So, Back to extreme diets...
Did you notice something that they ALL had in common? They felt bad about it.
This idea that we put ourselves through extreme weightloss has become so normalised through fad-dieting and extreme weightloss shows that we do it, in our weightloss haze it makes us do crazy things! Afterwards we punish ourselves and feel guilty for having totrued our bodies in these crazy ways. I wrote a post recently about when or even if we should weigh ourselves, why we shouldn't put ourself in negative habits and what to do about our weight management.
This post isn't meant to make us look foolish for doing these insane things..it's meant to make us human.
We've done these things and many after us will too, because we feel we have to, to look better or feel better..but by us standing up and talking about our mistakes, we'll learn from them, we'll realise that the only way to look better is be healthier in ourselves, whether that means changing how we eat with a few new recipes or how activce we are, down to how we live..
To feel better about our bodies we just need to accept them.
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#STOPFitshaming.
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