Eating Disorders Support Group
Eating disorders are marked by an obsessive need to control the intake and/or purging of food. This community is dedicated to those struggling on the road to recovery. Join to discuss your experience with others and find support. Get advice, ask questions, and meet others who are going through similar struggles.
i havent posted in a very long time and now im back and needing advice and support. i am 54 and have had anorexia for about 6 yrs. now and its grip isnt lessening, even with the warnings of "if you go to far" etc.. i just went to the doctor today and she wasnt happy, i need to add a certain amt. of calories to my diet immediately and i just looked at her. even though i am seeing signs of ed physically, nails, hair, the lack of nutrients, what really bothered me was when my height was taken. in 3 months i lost an inch in height. this is bothering me more then anything. has anyone any suggestions to get and keep me motivated? thanks
Thank-you for writing. It sounds like you need more nutrition. Do you take a multi vitamin? Do you have cereal and milk for breakfast? Try for whole grains, fruits and veg, and since you are underweight, try to eat something every couple of hours. Also pick foods high in protein.
I am 61 yrs old, and about 30 lbs overweight. I am eating 3 meals and a snack every 2 hrs, and hope to lose a pound a week.
Continue eating healthy, so your bones will stay strong. take care
It brings me to tears knowing that there is someone else out there that is 54 and has this disease. I am also 54. i really thought that once 53, the Year of Hell, ended, and I turned 54, things would magically get better, but nope I guess you know as well as I do that there is no magic to birthdays...though I'm beginning to wonder if there might actually be a Santa Claus...I feel that magic like that does still exist. One day, I was sitting here, in this very place that I'm sitting now, and I hadn't eaten for I don't know how long. I was feeling hopeless, lonely, and pretty much like I had nothing to live for. There was a knock on my door. I was wicked annoyed that someone had bothered me, and the dog was barking like mad, but I opened it. Nobody was there. Well then I was super pissed. It was the cable guy. He had come to the wrong apartment, and knocked on my door by mistake, then quickly realized his error and moved on. But hearing my dog bark, he came back, quickly handed me his business card, saying, "If you want three months free, call me!" and dashed off.
Well, darn it, I don't even own a TV...but there was something about the experience that transcended TV. I hadn't yet turned 54 and it seemed that at the rate I was going, I was not going to live long enough to leave 53. Of course, this was a random act, simply a mistake on his part, as he just as well could have knocked on anyone else's door on my floor, and there was no message or anything, no special meaning, except what I gave to it.
I grew up Jewish in a suburban neighborhood of mostly non-Jews, and had taken it upon myself to educate the other kids on the street that Santa didn't exist. I don't think I'm responsible for breaking anyone's heart, except perhaps my own, because I wanted a Christmas tree so much. While I stood at the door after the cable guy had left, I realized that Santa had indeed come.
I closed the door. It wasn't long before I went over to the refrigerator, and poured myself some juice. Granted, I did look at the label and read the calorie count. This is a given. But...you know as well as I do what it feels like to get some calories into you after not eating for a long time.
Ann, I wish you some magic today, and every day.
It is absolutely not your fault that you have this disease. It isn't my fault that I have this disease. We didn't save up our nickles and dimes so that we could order anorexia nervosa on Amazon, did we? We didn't ask for it just like people with cancer don't ask for cancer. People go have their mammograms done with rosary beads in their hands, that's how badly they don't want cancer. Same with our disease. Yes, we want to be thin but that's not the same thing. We are not doing this to ourselves.
I believe in God, too. When I first got this disease in 1980, I prayed to God that I would lose weight. I was very, very embarrassed about this and kept these wishes secret. But you know, a lot of "normals" pray for weight loss as well. I hadn't even heard of anorexia. I never knew there was such thing as eating disorders.
I don't know if I will ever turn it around either. I haven't lost any of my height but I broke a bone quite some time ago and also a tooth cracked in half. It's from malnutrition, cuz I don't have a vomiting problem. I had a bunch of them pulled last year.
The problem is when people who love us, or say they love and care about us, tell us it's our "choice." They tell us to "just stop it." They should go get an education!
All I ever wanted was to be loved and wanted and cared for. It's really all anyone ever needs.
Julie
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H2Ec2uWZXIY&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BEHqxWW_fPM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w3zcypsjO8o&ob=av2e
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A8zJqP092DE (favorite!)
Julie