[BOOTS]

OK MAYBE DOC CAN HELP ME WITH THIS WHEN SHE GETS BACK. WHY IS IT WHEN AN ANOREXIC PERSON STARVES THEMSELF THEY END UP LOSING WEIGHT AND TURN INTO SKIN AND BONES? BUT IF WE DONT EAT ENOUGH OUR BODY GOES INTO STARVATION MODE AND WE HIT A STALL AND DONT LOSE WEIGHT TILL WE UP OUR CALORIES? I HAVE BEEN WONDERING THIS FOR THE LONGEST TIME

[Kenyar]

i might be wrong, but that doesnt happen instantly. thats after YEARS of abuse. and its not like they never eat again. they eat very little some times and nothing at other times. i had a friend who suffered from this. just like how when we give our bodies a boost we let loose of weight, the same was true for her. she would go for periods of not eating, or eating VERY little, AND taking diet pills and working out like a maniac. she hit stalls too. and they drove her insane....just like us...

[BOOTS]

Also How Come We Have So Much Energy With The Little Bit Of Calories We Eat? How Is This Possible? I Know Its Good We Take The Vitamins So Of Course That Must Make A Differnce.

Did She Eat Less Thank Us Kenya?

[Kenyar]

at her worst i think she ate WAY less. i mean i dont count calories so i have no idea in terms of calories but i recall a time where all she ate for dinner was 1 tsp of rice. or one leaf of iceburg lettuce. it was hard to watch at times.

i have no answer on the energy thing. i certainly have WAY MORE than i ever remember having at any point in my life and i cannot explain it. lol.

[MsVickie]

Kenya is right. It takes them a while to lose it to. This comes back to the post of chewing the food and spitting it out. I dont advise that to anyone. I admitted I did a pickle because I bit it without thinking and then thought about what I did.

I know a young girl who now weighs 86 pounds. She will tell you if she gets to 88 pounds she will go back on her diet which is lettuce. If she feels faint she will take in some cottage cheese then. Its scary. The lettuce is every 3 days.

My husband knew another girl that did somthing simular. She would eat all kinds of food.....chew it and spit it. Saying she just swallowed the juices. Her mother wondered why for a family of 3 Mom 17 year old and a 5 year old wondered why they would go throught 250 bucks of grocerys in 3 days.

Its sad.......to see them like this. They live and breathe there weight.

[clancythecamper]

I thought the chew and spit idea was great then I read it was an issue..... I have learned not to swallow if I realize I need to stop but for me it's progress in the battle of the bulge, and a desire not to throw up, not an eating disorder. Isnt gluttony an eating disorder of sorts? there were certainly times I just couldnt (wouldnt) quit eating.

[Kenyar]

yes over eating (compulsive eating) is a disorder too on the other end of the spectrum.

[Trulykath]

I know this surgery is mental on us, but you have to understand, anorexia is almost ENTIRELY MENTAL. It's about control, and there are usually emotional/psychological issues around why they don't eat.

I have a best friend I nearly lost to this. When she got married, she weight 89 pounds...and passed out twice during the wedding (I was her maid of honor). They went to the bahamas and she brings back pics...she's standing on the beach in a bikini...and she says to me "I look so fat." You can imagine what I'm looking at..she literally looked like a skeleton with a couple of pieces of cloth tied around her.

We have a hard time seeing our progress, but these people get so involved in the control factors of anorexia, they NEVER see it. We are eating vitamins, supplements etc....they RARELY eat at all. Most have lost control in other areas of their life, so they control food.

I know Doc will have a lot to add to this...but I truly think anorexia is another world from where we live.

[LittleLisaMarie]

What Happens

Anorexia nervosa almost always begins with a plan to follow a strict weight-loss diet. Limiting foods then leads to malnutrition and unhealthy weight loss. As malnutrition sets in, the brain and metabolism change. This limits the appetite, how the body can use food, and the person's ability to think clearly and make good decisions.
Once anorexia takes root, it is very difficult for the person to return to normal eating without help. When left untreated, anorexia can continue for a lifetime. This leads to long-term malnutrition or starvation, and sometimes death.
If you struggle with anxiety, tend to finish the things you start, and strive for perfection, you may be at risk for crossing the line from dieting to anorexia. 5, 2 For some people, anorexic eating habits can meet a need for personal control and self-esteem. Some teens may fall into this pattern as a way to cope with big changes and challenges.
Early treatment of anorexia offers the best chance of recovery. The more irrational eating habits that a person develops, the harder it is to return to a healthy outlook on nutrition. Because people who have anorexia tend to strongly deny that they have a problem and are secretive about their eating, family members or loved ones usually seek help for them on their behalf.
As the illness advances, irrational behaviors begin. These can include:

• Making rules about food--for example, eliminating dairy products or meat because they are perceived as "high-calorie."
• Creating rituals about how food should be eaten--chewing food a certain number of times.
• Developing a fear of food--fearing weight gain if any food at all is eaten.
• Losing the ability to feel hunger or learning to ignore the feeling of hunger.
• Exercising too much.
• Taking laxatives or water pills (diuretics) or making yourself vomit because of fear of gaining weight ( bulimia).

People who have anorexia can become socially withdrawn and lose interest in the outside world. 6
Starvation and malnourishment from anorexia commonly cause complications, such as osteoporosis or an irregular heartbeat. Often other mental health conditions occur along with anorexia, such as depression. Treating a mood disorder is an important part of treating anorexia.
A person who has anorexia is usually seen by a health professional for other complaints that are related to anorexia. These may include: 1

• Fatigue and lack of energy.
• Abdominal pain and, sometimes, constipation.
• Absence of menstrual periods.
• Frequent vomiting (although the person does not admit that it is self-induced).
• Symptoms of depression.
• Suicide risk.
• Joint pain (from excessive exercise or an electrolyte imbalance).

With weight loss surgery we are in sort of a starvation mode however we are still getting in the nutrients we need to keep our metablism and our blood levels stable. See what we are eating now with weight loss surgery is Normal Size portions. We are used to eating such large amounts of food and we didnt need all of that. In the early out stages we are eating so little it may seem as if we are starving our bodies and in a sense we are but its for such a short time that we eat the tiny bits of food. And if we are following the program correctly we are taking our vitamins and eating mostly protein ...therefore the muscle in our body is not being lost. We are also maintaining our fluid and electrolyte balance or trying our best.

I have to be honest i have met people on this journey who have either not followed the program correctly or who have gotten very ill due to complications and yes they do resemble someone with anorexia. Muscle begins to go along with the fat and all that is left is the skin and bones.

For this reason I do emphasize strick routines as to getting in what you need as far as vitamins and protein...

Hope some of this info helps.

LittleLisaMarie

[DocSanae]

I wrote in another thread (I think you'll remember, Kenyar) that anorexia and compulsive overeating are two sides of the same coin. You can't control the world, so you control your eating, one way or the other. Either you starve, or eat to keep the world out. Your body image is distorted on both ends of the sprectrum--no offense to any of you, but, how did you see your size pre-op...when you see your B/A pics now, what do you see of your pre op self, when you think back to then, what do you remember seeing of yourselves? Now that you are getting *better* I think you are more able to face the reality of it all--unfortunately, most anorexics can't go there, because, while with excess weight, you have surgery as a tool, but with anorexics, there isn't any physical tool the equivalent of surgery yet, so, it still has to be a long and drawn out process of psych therapy.

As for the extra energy, you have a lot of excess fat yet which serves as the energy store, and once your body gets *used* to burning your fat because of the reduced intake (think back how much you ate pre-op, you needed all that to keep your weight at where it was, and your body was more geared towards conserving, rather than spending) and balancing out your needs with the vitamins and supplements (if you take a careful inventory of your eating habits pre op, you may be surprised that the foods you ate actually left you deficient of vital vitamins and minerals) so your body will burn fat more efficiently. When you are stalling, you know you are still losing in inches. Muscles are heavier than fat, so when your body is strengthening your muscles, you will become slimmer, but the scale will not move. The more muscles you have, the more stamina you have and the more energetic you feel.