win the battle with food
Eating disorders
Is this you?
• Food is all you think about
• You want to stop — but you can't.
• You eat in secret or lie about what you've eaten.
• You eat beyond the point of fullness.
• You are compelled to eat when you're not hungry or are feeling low.
• Do you find yourself feeling depressed, hopeless, sad, or ashamed about your eating or your weight?
• Do you eat when upset or reward yourself with food when you do something good?
• Have you ever noticed that you become more irritable after eating sugar, flour, or wheat?
• Do you find yourself looking in the mirror often?
• Do you often criticize yourself?
Eating disorders are defined by abnormal dietary habits, such as eating excessively small or large amounts of food, that have the potential to cause major physical and mental problems. The most common eating disorders are anorexia, bulimia, binge eating disorder, and eating compulsively.
A distorted and unhealthy body image often accompanies these conditions. For instance, those who suffer from anorexia nervosa entertain an irrational fear of obesity to the point of becoming underweight. People living with Bulimia compensate for episodes of binge eating with purging or excessive exercise because of the same fear of gaining weight. Overeating is also an eating disorder. If good controls you instead of you controlling food, you may have an eating disorder.
An obsession with food often characterizes eating disorders. Preoccupation with body image –
Body dysmorphic disorder, commonly known as BDD, is a mental illness characterized by a fixation on one or more self-perceived body flaws, leading to severe mental distress and the inability to function socially properly. Sometimes the defect in the individual’s appearance is actual but utterly exaggerated; other times, it is imagined. For example, they may be preoccupied with a facial flaw, such as a long nose, asymmetric features, acne, scars or wrinkles, a perceived defect in any other part of the body, or their overall appearance and size. They obsessively try to hide their real or imaginary flaws, and while they understand others do not perceive them as “ugly,” their “ugliness” is painfully honest in their eyes.
Sufferers notice that their emotions become more severe, intense, or unreasonable. For many, their emotional life may deteriorate into despair, depression, or thoughts of suicide
