Are you worried that you may have an eating disorder? Often times an eating disorder can begin with a diet that has gone too far. Perhaps you need to lose a few pounds, or even quite a bit of weight. As you do so, people begin to notice. They tell you that you look good. It feels great to hear these complements, and you keep going. However, some people don’t know when to stop. If this occurs, you may develop disordered eating. Here are 7 signs that you may have an eating disorder.

  1. People begin to comment that you look too thin. The saying that you can never be too rich or too thin may be going through your head. It is not true. You may not be listening to these comments as you think your stomach is too fat, your jeans are too tight, your thighs are too big etc. Just a few more pounds….
  2. Even though you are starving, you tell yourself that you are not hungry. Perhaps you pick at the food on your plate and push it around. You want to eat it, but you deny yourself. Maybe you cook elaborate meals, or sweets for everyone else, but don’t eat any yourself.
  3. Your weight determines your mood. If you look to the scale to determine if you feel good about yourself or not, this is problematic. The way you feel about yourself should be separate from your weight. Perhaps you have difficulty staying away from the scale. Realistically, there is no need to weigh your self any more than once a week.
  4. You look in the mirror and on some level you know you are too thin, yet you are afraid to gain any weight. Actually, it is an intense fear of gaining weight. There may be a running battle in your head. Your heart tells you one thing and your head tells you another.
  5. Restriction of ‘bad’ foods. Realistically foods are not good or bad. Anything in moderation is fine. Cutting out all the fats and sweets in your diet is common in those who have anorexia nervosa. Perhaps you have a feared foods list, so you deny yourself these things you previously enjoyed.
  6. Spending too much time worrying about your appearance. People with eating disorders spend a tremendous amount of time worrying about what they look like, or feeling like they never look good enough. Things may trigger negative thoughts such as a seeing yourself in a mirror or trying on clothes. You never feel you look good enough.
  7. You over exercise to make up for what you determine is too much food. Spending several hours at the gym on a daily basis is too much. An hour or hour and a half is plenty of time for exercise. You should also be taking a few days off. If it drives you crazy not to be able to exercise, or exercising despite injury, then you may have a problem.

If you have several of these symptoms or know someone who does, therapy is indicated. Anorexia nervosa is one of the deadliest disorders. Depression is also common with this. Some people commit suicide or starve themselves to death. Women who have the disorder typical stop having a menstrual cycle. Men’s level of testosterone decreases. Many other dangerous symptoms also occur such as electrolyte imbalance, lowered or irregular heart rate, osteoporosis, or dehydration. Please give me a call at 713-304-6554 if you have any questions or need help. You can also e-mail me at [email protected].