Having an eating disorder can be one of the most painful things to deal with and can have large scale consequences on your life. Usually when people develop an eating disorder they are self-conscious about their weight, and will thus pick up unhealthy practices in order to lose weight. Some of those with eating disorders may even have body dysmorphia, in which they will physically see their body as being different from what it actually is. The two main types of eating disorders are anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa. Anorexia is characterized by going on extreme diets to limit the amount of calories being eaten and working out excessively. Bulimia is characterized by “binge eating” in which someone may eat a lot at one time and then go a long period of time without eating out of guilt. Or, following a meal they may induce vomiting to remove the food from their system, out of fear that they will put on weight. Both of these can have short term effects in which you may start to feel sick and/or fatigued often, but they can also have long term health consequences and have even proven to be fatal in some instances. I thoroughly believe that every single one of you reading this right now have beautiful bodies, but if you wish to lose weight to be healthier, I support you. Note that being skinny does not automatically mean you are healthy, which is why I would not encourage extreme dieting. There is no easy fix to weight loss, but the best thing you can do is to eat healthier and work out, and if you stick to that, you will see results. Also, realize that at the end of the day everyone has different genes, so even if you do lose weight or tone your muscles, you will never look exactly the same as someone else. Instead of viewing other people with beautiful bodies and wishing you looked like them, learn to love yourself and be the happiest, healthiest version of yourself.
Eating disorders explained
