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age
36-40,
anonymous
writes: okay, well this isn't a relationship question, it's on diet and I really need help from any professional or not even a professional! Anyway, basically, our end of year ball is coming up and I have a black silk dress I really want to look good in! My BMI is around 19 (I'm 5'6.5" and 119lbs) and I've lost 5 pounds since I've started trying to slim down for the ball.I still have five days to go so I'm hoping to shed a couple more pounds.But the problem is what I'm doing with food. I don't often eat over 800 calories a day and recently I've started to 'eat'. Yeah, I know this is slightly vague but let me explain;even though I'm not eating a lot I don't actually get hungry, but I do crave certain foods (e.g: pizza . . . mmm) and I know that I can't eat it. But today I had a bit of a moment and I 'ate' a peanut butter and jelly sandwhich. Basically, I would take a bite and then spit it out into the bin. I just wanted to feel the texture and the taste since that was all I missed and I wasn't actually hungry.Anyway, long story short my friend caught me and she said if I didn't try to get help myself then she would tell my parents (although I bet she probably has already) so . . . here I am.Can anyone tell me what adverse side effects can come from what I'm doing?Thanks, xx
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female
reader, fluffypuppy  +, writes (14 June 2010):
 DON'T starve yourself if you wanna lose weight. All that will happen is you'll get sick.Eat healthy foods, I recommend meals like stirfry. All my dad made for dinner for maybe a month or two was stirfry, and I lost 3-5 kg without even trying. The food does get a bit boring after a while but if you wanna lose weight really quickly and healthily, watch carefully what you eat and exercise every day.Starving yourself simply won't work. You lose weight because the body uses up its fat stores but if you don't eat properly, if at all, there won't be any fat to use and your body won't be able to work. Eating healthy foods is good because no EXTRA fat is stored. It's good to have a little bit of fat though, you CAN be too healthy.
A
female
reader, DrPsych  +, writes (13 June 2010):
 You have received some good advice already. I would say that if you have been depriving yourself of food for a while on a highly restrictive diet then your metabolism will be slowing down and you end up terribly dehydrated and malnourished, with appauling memory and concentration. Your hair gets brittle, your gums recede, you get depressed and your skin gets dry and spotty. I write this from personal experience - I had a disgusting eating disorder in my late teen's and early 20's (it was one of the reasons I went on to train as a psychologist). It all started out wanting to diet to lose a few pounds and then the vicious cycle started. I ended up with permanent damage to my thyroid, teeth and fertility from years of restrictive dieting and have to take a battery of tablets everyday for the rest of my life to compensate for the metabolic damage done to my body. You have a great friend in your life who has your interests at heart. Life is too short to deny yourself food in this way (a lesson that I learned later in life). See a doctor and ask for help (cognitive behavioural therapy).
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A
male
reader, Jmtmj +, writes (13 June 2010):
 Well, I know its only in 5 days, but then again, how many eating disorders might very well have started this exact same way? Simply trying to fit into a dress just one time for a special social event... I don't think you need help but I really hope you don't get into the mind set where you see this is an option for losing weight in the future...
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A
female
reader, YouWish  +, writes (13 June 2010):
 When you get too thin, your body starts leeching energy from your muscles, brain, and organs. Your body will eventually shut down on you. Your bones will become brittle, and your metabolism will reduce to nothing.
Your friend is being a good friend. You should do a search on Karen Carpenter and see what the effects of what you're doing will happen to you.
You need a dietician and counselor to find out the source of your eating disorder is. If you had seen someone on the street who weighed 600+ pounds and ate 33,000 calories per day, you'd think that they'd need professional help.
You're doing just as much damage to yourself as the 600 pound person. You need professional help too. I hope you get it!
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A
female
reader, maverick494 +, writes (13 June 2010):
Okay, expert here. Had anorexia from age 16, and it all started because of the same 'innocent' thing you're doing now. You're already exhibiting behaviour that comes with people who have ED's. You have forbidden foods, you pick at them, you have cravings, you eat too little and you count cals. Also, you are at a perfect weight, yet you want to lose more.
800 cals may sound much to you, as it did for me when I was at my worst (I sustained on a "diet" of 150 cals per day) BUT make no mistake: it is actually too little. People in coma's get fed 1000 cals a day and they burn less energy than you do if you'd sleep all day.
You see, your body doesn't work that way. It's not a simple plus minus problem. Your body doesn't get fooled by that. If it did, human kind wouldn't have existed today.
If you continue eating like this your metabolism will slow down. Which means that your body is becoming more efficient in using calories. Which means that if you want to continue to lose weight, you need to eat even less. See where I'm going here? Do you understand how I ended up the way I did?
As a bonus, you will not just lose fat, but muscle as well. Now muscle is what makes your body look streamlined and slim. Also, you will start getting deficient in nutrients. I can go on and on.
The bad news is, is that your metabolism can take a while to recover even if you've only been dieting for a short while.
So my advice is to stop this right now. I'm not telling you to pig out and become fat, but to be wise.
If you want to look good (if you don't already) I'd suggest you increase protein intake (eggs, fish, chicken...) and veggies and fruits. Start training with free weights. Don't worry, you won't become Sylvester Stallone, because women are simply not built that way. You will however look slimmer and leaner without actually losing weight.
Weight is just a number. Cals are just numbers. Do they matter? No.
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A
female
reader, tmisty777 +, writes (13 June 2010):
 I want you to know that not eatin will make you gain more fat- let me explain-
When you don't put energy into your body, which is calories by the way- calories arn't fat, your body will automatically store anything that gets consumed when you finally do eat something. Meanng, instead of absorbing all of the nutrients, it stores everything as fats, because it doesn't know when it will be abl to get energy and fats again. It will mke yo gain more in the long run.
Calories arnt what you need to watch, it's trans fat, which is hard to break down.
Eat for real!! you need to take care of your body, the best diet i to eatsmall meals three times a day with healthy snacks inbetween- keeping your body healthy is very important! If you loose weight a wrong way you will start to look disgusting, have you seen some people who do diets? Have faith in yourself, and if you need to get a different dress. Don't force yourself to loose so much weight in a certain amount of time.
Hope this helped!
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