Friday, November 17, 2006
Crazed fan bites man
Lamest title ever.
My parents are in town this weekend. They spent the night with us last night and will again on Sun. Other than that they will be busy with church stuff. And if they don't want the cold hard truth, I would recommend they don't do any snooping.
J and I watched Thin the other night on the HBO. Maybe Brazilian model Ana Carolina Reston should've watched it too. She was a model who died from anorexia.
Yikes. But this is the dark truth behind eating disorders. (Oh, and the Renfrew Center does have a center in Florida, so I'm not crazy.) These girls and guys are willing to die all in the name of vanity and being thin.
I have never known anyone who had an eating disorder (not that I'm aware of anyway), so this was an excellent eye opening experience for me. For some reason these girls have it in their heads that even though they weigh less than 100 lbs., that they are fat and gross. The documentary didn't delve into how these girls developed the condition too much, but it seemed like they mostly started at a very young age, from 8-15 years of age. Maybe they were overweight to begin with, or were just told that they were, but they felt such intense pressure from their parents/friends/society, whether the pressure was real or imagine, that they are now slowly killing themselves.
People who don't have eating disorders generally exercise and watch what they eat to lose weight. And once they reach that "ideal" weight, they might cut back a bit and just maintain that weight. Or if they are rich or lazy, they let plastic surgeons take the weight off, either by lipo or gastric bypass surgery. Both effective but both expensive and cheating in the grand scheme of things.
I don't really have a good solution. And I'm not sure how this went from anorexic/bulimics to encompass all people not within a healthy weight, but it did. I think what would really help these people is to have a Warning weight. An upper and lower threshold that, once their weight hits, they know they have a problem. My upper limit was 220, then got pushed back to 230 once I hit 225 last year sometime. That is definitely overweight for my 5'9" frame and probably nearing obese. I'm at 206 now (thanks wedding) and would like to drop below 200 for the first time in roughly 6-7 years. If not for vanity, or battling the Fat American stereotype, then just for my health what with my family history of high blood pressure, heart disease and diabetes.
I don't really have a lower limit, but let's just say 130 lbs. If I ever hit 130 lbs. I know that I have a problem and might need some professional help. I really want everyone to think about this. The girls in Thin didn't have a goal. They just wanted "to be thin and skinny", but in their minds I honestly don't think they would ever reach that goal. Maybe if they were able to get rid of all body fat and made most of their muscles travel inside their rib cage and their skin stuck right to their bones, then maybe that would make them feel skinny.
Actually it might be a good idea for someone to develop a computer simulation that could simulate what their bodies would look like at different weights. Rubella, you now weigh 87 lbs. What would you like to weigh? 60 lbs. Whoa, that's messed up but okay. Here is what you Rubella would look like at 60 lbs. Happy? No? Still too fat? Maybe 40 lbs.? No? Oooh, I know, how about 20 lbs.? Nice and slim at 20 lbs.
Oh yeah, that's hot.
I think that is a good idea. And let's say it doesn't go that far. So she thinks 60 lbs. This is what you would look like? Nice? Lovely protruding cheek bones. Clavicle that could poke out an eye. Oh, damn. It looks like you would've died around 75 lbs. Oops.
Or maybe that's too harsh.
The moral of the story is that if you don't eat, eat and then puke it up, or eat constantly and don't exercise (over-eat), you need professional help right now. If you think you might have an eating disorder or a friend does, or you just want some information, please contact the National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders, ANAD.org.
My parents are in town this weekend. They spent the night with us last night and will again on Sun. Other than that they will be busy with church stuff. And if they don't want the cold hard truth, I would recommend they don't do any snooping.
J and I watched Thin the other night on the HBO. Maybe Brazilian model Ana Carolina Reston should've watched it too. She was a model who died from anorexia.
Reston's BMI was just 13.5 while the World Health Organization considers anyone with a BMI below 18.5 underweight. A BMI below 17.5 being one of the criteria for the diagnosis of anorexia nervosa and a BMI nearing 15 is usually used as an indicator for starvation.
Yikes. But this is the dark truth behind eating disorders. (Oh, and the Renfrew Center does have a center in Florida, so I'm not crazy.) These girls and guys are willing to die all in the name of vanity and being thin.
I have never known anyone who had an eating disorder (not that I'm aware of anyway), so this was an excellent eye opening experience for me. For some reason these girls have it in their heads that even though they weigh less than 100 lbs., that they are fat and gross. The documentary didn't delve into how these girls developed the condition too much, but it seemed like they mostly started at a very young age, from 8-15 years of age. Maybe they were overweight to begin with, or were just told that they were, but they felt such intense pressure from their parents/friends/society, whether the pressure was real or imagine, that they are now slowly killing themselves.
People who don't have eating disorders generally exercise and watch what they eat to lose weight. And once they reach that "ideal" weight, they might cut back a bit and just maintain that weight. Or if they are rich or lazy, they let plastic surgeons take the weight off, either by lipo or gastric bypass surgery. Both effective but both expensive and cheating in the grand scheme of things.
I don't really have a good solution. And I'm not sure how this went from anorexic/bulimics to encompass all people not within a healthy weight, but it did. I think what would really help these people is to have a Warning weight. An upper and lower threshold that, once their weight hits, they know they have a problem. My upper limit was 220, then got pushed back to 230 once I hit 225 last year sometime. That is definitely overweight for my 5'9" frame and probably nearing obese. I'm at 206 now (thanks wedding) and would like to drop below 200 for the first time in roughly 6-7 years. If not for vanity, or battling the Fat American stereotype, then just for my health what with my family history of high blood pressure, heart disease and diabetes.
I don't really have a lower limit, but let's just say 130 lbs. If I ever hit 130 lbs. I know that I have a problem and might need some professional help. I really want everyone to think about this. The girls in Thin didn't have a goal. They just wanted "to be thin and skinny", but in their minds I honestly don't think they would ever reach that goal. Maybe if they were able to get rid of all body fat and made most of their muscles travel inside their rib cage and their skin stuck right to their bones, then maybe that would make them feel skinny.
Actually it might be a good idea for someone to develop a computer simulation that could simulate what their bodies would look like at different weights. Rubella, you now weigh 87 lbs. What would you like to weigh? 60 lbs. Whoa, that's messed up but okay. Here is what you Rubella would look like at 60 lbs. Happy? No? Still too fat? Maybe 40 lbs.? No? Oooh, I know, how about 20 lbs.? Nice and slim at 20 lbs.
Oh yeah, that's hot.
I think that is a good idea. And let's say it doesn't go that far. So she thinks 60 lbs. This is what you would look like? Nice? Lovely protruding cheek bones. Clavicle that could poke out an eye. Oh, damn. It looks like you would've died around 75 lbs. Oops.
Or maybe that's too harsh.
The moral of the story is that if you don't eat, eat and then puke it up, or eat constantly and don't exercise (over-eat), you need professional help right now. If you think you might have an eating disorder or a friend does, or you just want some information, please contact the National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders, ANAD.org.
# posted by Seth @ 7:28 AM 
Who Links Here
