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rawstrength
01-09-2008, 05:57 AM
I'm going to have to tell a bit of my history in order to explain my problem with raw, so please stay with me through this long post. Thanks in advance!

On April 1st, 2004, I decided to diet in order to look better in my eigth-grade prom dress. I was 5'2", 124 pounds, and I wanted to weigh 110 pounds by June 1st.
Well, I reached my weight goal, eating about 1000 calories per day, but never went to the dance. Instead I went on a camping trip with my family. The entire weekend I didn't eat, and then on the last day of camping I had a huge "binge" meal (which was only probably about 800 cals anyway, but it felt huge to me).
At 110 pounds, I felt beautiful, important, in control and worthy for the first time in my life. Even though I have never been medically overweight, my mom has always picked on me and made fun of me because of my weight, saying that I'm fat, or always telling me to stop eating. I now believe it is largely because she is overweight and feels insecure about herself. Anyways, I was TERREFIED of gaining any weight back, so I kept eating low calories, now down to about 600/day. I had also not had my period in three months.
That summer, I went away to camp for three weeks. At the camp, they were repairing the dining hall and the food was HORRIBLE. No one was eating, so it made it very easy for me to not eat, also. When I got back from camp I weighed about 95 pounds.
After camp, I got down to 90 pounds when my family started to get concerned for my health. They took me to a GP. The doc looked at my blood work and noticed that my billiruben (sp?) was really high. He also noted that my blood pressure was extremely low and that my heart rate was only 40 BPM. He sent me to an ED specialist and a cardiovascular specialist. My EKG came back abnormal, and I also was diagnosed with having a liver disease that only effects people in third world countries! At the time, I was blacking out when I stood up, I had huge dark bags under my eyes, my skin was yellow and most of my hair had fallen out. I began to fear for my health.
Afraid of dying, I followed the diet given to my by the ED specialist. She wanted me to gain 20 pounds. I gained up to 110 pounds, got my period back for one month, and then no period after that. I gained five pounds, got really afraid of becoming obese, and then lost the five pounds. In Sept. of 2005, I went on medicine to get my period back. After being on the medicine, I gained ten pounds. I felt horrible about gaining the weight, ashamed and just miserable, but, try as I might, I couldn't lose the weight, and I also couldn't diet like I did before, cutting my calories to extremely low numbers, because I had to concentrate on school work. High school was alot harder, and more important, than middle school, and I had always been a top-notch student.
Fast forward to spring of 2007. I am 130 pounds, mostly over the whole ED thing, and I fall in love for the first time. My DBF says he thinks that I look perfect, neither too fat nor too thin, and I know he is telling the truth. In general, I feel really good about myself.
Fall of 2007, I got really, really sick. I felt dizzy and couldn't leave my bed. I go to the doctor, but they say I just have a bad cold. The "bad cold" lasts over 3 weeks. After coming back from being sick, I knew that I had to do something to get my health back. So I went RAW Nov. 3, 2007.
On raw I feel great, however, I have one little problem. When I am pouring olive oil on my salad, a little voice in the back of my head screams WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!!! YOU CAN'T EAT ALL THAT OLIVE OIL! THAT'S LIKE 2-3 TABLESPOONS, 360 CALORIES! ARE YOU CRAZY? YOU WILL BE SO FAT AND SO UGLY EATING LIKE THAT! Then the voice of reason steps in, justifying how healthy my eating is, but the little anorexic voice really bothers me. Plus, my senior prom is this year, and I want to look good in my dress. I am a size six, but would much rather be a size 2 or a size 4. Some of the same triggers that first set off my anorexia are coming back!
It's so hard for me to eat raw, when eating dried fruit, or avocados, or raw chocolate, or even just a large plate of fruit sets the voice in my head screaming YOU ARE GOING TO BE FAT, FAT, FAT.
I WOULD like to be 110-115 pounds and super healthy. I want to be raw and mentally sound. I want to look beautiful. But I also want to be able to eat when I am hungry and stop when I am full, whatever raw food I am craving. That is what I have been doing for the past two months.
On raw for two months, I lost 10 pounds, down to 120, but just recently, I gained back 5 pounds, which set the little anorexic voice off.
Please help me deal!!!!!

Zaphirah
01-09-2008, 06:10 AM
Hi (((((RS))))). I hear ya sista. I've been battling ED since I was 5 yos. I have been anorexic, a compulsive exerciser, a binge eater, and obese. I have run the full gamut of ED. I have to say that I don't have any spectacular advice. I feel like raw gave me my life back. All I have to do is eat well and exercise. I have found, over many years of ED, that the busier I am, the less I worry about food issues. I have forced myself to step outside of myself. One thing that I have had to tell myself is that "Do I really think I am THAT important that OTHER PEOPLE care about what I look like?" For example, I went to a Christmas gala. I was super stressing over my dress, my weight, etc. Then a could pf days before the party i realized that NO ONE was going to say "She would have looked better if she was 5 lbs lighter." My looks are not that important to other people. :p

Also, anorexics tend to be perfectionist. Stop being a perfectionist and ENJOY your life. Accept your body, your natural body. Work out a little for strength and cardio health, but more importantly just BE RAW STRENGTH. The scale is not your friend. :D

lore-ah
01-09-2008, 07:08 AM
We almost lost my sister to this disease. She ended up being spending a lot of time in the hospital. Thank God she's recovered and has been for many years now. I have never had an ED but damn that disease scares the ever living sh*t out of me. It's nothing to mess with. I would be in contact with your physicians every step of the way. I'm sorry if this post isn't in the spirit of the board. Again, I lived watching this for a long time and saw my sister do a lot of things to be healthy but she really was aiming to lose ungodly amounts of weight. It's terrifying.

On a better note, I'm happy to see you're serious about your health now. It's what's important, not the scale. We only get one body and we need it to last a good, long time! Sounds like you've been able to keep yourself healthier than my poor sister did. Good job being strong!

Also congrats to you Zaphirah for working so hard to overcome this monster. I can't imagine what you've been through

ShelShel
01-09-2008, 08:59 AM
I'm so sorry to hear your struggles with food. I was also anorexic...grew up with an overweight mom who turned out to be bulemic by the time I was 12...yes...it's an issue. Raw helps tremendously! Because when you let go and and just eat raw...100% something happens. Your body heals, your skin clears, the excess weight slides off...the belly bulge (my personal issue) shrinks into almost nothingness. And you know what...you no longer have to measure...worry about fats...or any of that. You eventually just listen to your hunger and you eat. It takes a while to get there....but it's true.

Check out my before and after pics at thesimpleamericankitchen link below...and you can see what raw does for someone. (I have several family members who check out this site too...so, I include a healthy cooked recipe and raw version...be forwarned the site isn't all raw stuff...it also has green ideas for the enviroment! If I can't convince my mom to eat raw...I can encourage her to try a home cooked healthy version! LOL)

I've been able to keep this weight off for over a year and if I stay 100%raw...I don't have to worry at all about what will fit, if I should stop eating...how will I cover the acne???:o I'm so utterly thankful I don't have to live that way anymore. You don't have to either!

Just eat raw every day...100% and watch what will happen as you feel better, look healthier and have more energy to devote to your new bf!!! :) Raw (((HUGS)))

PS...I used to wake up every morning thinking...today...I'm not going to eat a single bite today...it changed to...today...I'm going to eat 100% raw. As it became a habit I went through every morning...it transformed me from the inside out. I chose life over struggle...and ill health...you can too!

NYbutterfly
01-09-2008, 11:24 AM
Hey, I had the same struggles going raw and eating so many calories and so much fat. I battled anorexia for 7 years and this is the first time I've "let go" and allowed myself to eat anything I want (so long as it is raw) without a bunch of numbers floating in my brain. It was very hard at first, but the longer I stayed raw, the easier it became and the voices silenced themselves. It's no secret that raw does amazing things for us mentally as well as the physical stuff. I still have moments ("WHY did I eat so many damn nuts?!") but they are far and few between compared to my 500 calorie a day SAD diet when my mind never stopped bugging me. I would keep up the good work and trust that no one gets fat on this way of living. You only get clean, healthy and strong! Congratulations on the amazing work you have done so far... recognizing the ED voices and behavior is the first step in breaking the cycle.

subbacultcha
01-09-2008, 11:48 AM
..........

oai
01-09-2008, 12:22 PM
hey. omg. you are one tough girl! ;) i've also been battling w/ an ED for years... perhaps since middle school. :eek: so i'm basically in the same boat as you. *hugs* the feeling HUGE thing is still there. *sigh*

resisting that ED for us would be like strength training, if that makes any sense. the more you work your muscles, the more stronger you get. so i'm feeling for us, the more w/ resist that ED in our heads, the more we'll be stronger against it. there's hope. :o

RawDancer
01-09-2008, 03:03 PM
I know exactly how. I'm going to be 16 tomorrow and have been dealing with an eating disorder for almost 3 years. I'm a ballet dancer so its important for me to be thin. I don't really know how my ED started, I have no recollection of conciously choosing to not eat but I went down to 72lbs and I am 5'1. My parents took me out of dance (dance is like my life and I hope to be a professional dancer) and a year later out of school. I was homeschooled and had to eat what ever was put infront of me. This was really hard because I was trying to eat as much raw as possible and had been a vegetarian for several years and was being forced to eat meat. I just started back to dance this past summer after gaining 10lbs. I still get weighed every week and as of yesterday I'm not allowed to dance because I lost 2 lbs. Right now I'm really upset and frusterated because I feel like my life is being taken away from me. Every once and a while I get that little voice in my head telling me I'm going to get fat if I eat this or that but for the most as long as its raw food that I'm eating I am fine. But I think that the longer I am raw/high raw the less I hear that little voice.
Sorry for rambling on...don't know if this will help at all but good luck with everything. Just stay strong and keep reminding yourself your perfect (thats what I do)

rawstrength
01-09-2008, 03:57 PM
Thank you all so much for your advice and support! I feel much better now and I will keep going with raw.
I have realized that I feel so much better with raw that it's completely worth it, even if I never lose another pound again! Having suffered with ill health for so long, it feels so good to be healthy. That won't quiet all of my worries, of course, but it gives me an ability to fight back, so to speak.
Zaphirah - I will definitely try that technique! It can be good to put things in perspective some times.
ShelShel - your pics are amazing! What a beautiful and inspiring transformation!
RawDancer - I'm so sorry to hear about your situation. Know that, while at times you may feel trapped or hopeless, there is a way out of this! If you need support or anything, feel free to email me at ezo@comcast.net .
:hugs: everyone!

RaWonderWoman5
01-09-2008, 05:04 PM
Just wanted to send some {{{hugs}}} your way.

Dr. White
01-09-2008, 08:10 PM
I have battled ED for the last 19 years. I now counsel people with ED and most of them turn to raw because it works for them. I cannot reccomend the book Life Without ED highly enough. This book will give you the tools along with raw to silence the voice. Also, if possible, find an EDA group near you.

rawererin
01-17-2008, 01:37 AM
The voices that scream too much fat! too many calories! Tell them: ha ha, these fats burn fat, and these calories get turned into energy before my good fats can eat them!