With each bite that you take, you hate yourself more and more! Your mind is racing, your heart is beating, "Five bites, I can only take five bites!," your stomach is growling in pain, yet your goals are too high to take another bite. Your thoughts constantly remind you of what "beauty" looks like, you have visions of a thinner you, happily dancing around the way that society wants you to.
Eventually, you train your body to become used to smaller portions of food, you survive on drinks and air. Just the thought of eating kills you inside. You fill your plate with food in order to pretend to eat, you push most of it aside, or pretend that it tastes horrid. Your friends constantly question you, they wonder why you haven't been eating as much. You wonder if you're actually losing any weight...where do you go from there?
If you or anyone you know has these feelings, I urge you to seek help as soon as possible! These feelings do not go away on their own, and eventually you can lose sight of what is really going on. Eventually, you may have a distorted view of what you actually look like.
Anorexia is a serious condition and may cause the following symptoms:
- extreme weight loss.
- thin appearance.
- abnormal blood counts.
- elevated liver enzymes.
- fatigue.
- dizziness or fainting.
- seizure.
- brittle nails.
- hair that thins, breaks or falls out.
- absence of menstruation.
- development of fine hair on the extremities.
- constipation.
- dry skin.
- intolerance of cold.
- irregular heart rhythms.
- low blood pressure.
- dehydration.
- osteoporosis, the loss of bone calcium, which may result in broken bones.
Do NOT take this route, it may seem like the easy way out, but it leads you down a long dark road of illnesses and further unhappiness. By now, you probably realize that I am referring to anorexia nervosa. Want to know the warning signs? Check below:
- refusal to eat.
- denial of hunger, even when starving.
- difficulty concentrating.
- obsession with body size and shape.
- skipping meals.
- making excuses for not eating.
- eating only a few certain foods considered safe, usually those low in fat and calories.
- adopting meal or eating rituals, such as cutting food into tiny pieces or spitting food out after chewing.
- weighing food.
- cooking elaborate meals for others but refusing to eat.
Anorexia has been known to cause some irreversible and extremely dangerous outcomes. You DO NOT want this lifestyle:
- infertility.
- shutdown of major body systems.
- brain damage.
- heart attacks.
- death.
If you know someone who y be at risk for anorexia, feel free to call this FREE, CONFIDENTIAL helpline: 1-800-931-2237
