Eating disorders are commonly associated with anorexia nervosa or bulimia nervosa, two diagnoses that are especially heard. But there are other ADRs, including psychogenic overeating and psychogenic loss of appetite; in the ICD-10 is, and the item “other unadjusted eating disorders” – this group includes a disorder of the electoral power, orthorexia nervosa, compulsive exercise, DRUNKOREXIA (replacing food with alcohol) and pregoreksiya (a disorder that occurs in pregnant women). RPP has serious reasons – they can include altered perception of one’s own body or low self-esteem, and childhood trauma, and pressure from others. The latter is often found in professions or sports that require thin or low weight – that is, among models, ballerinas, gymnasts, runners and boxers.
It can be very difficult to admit the presence of a disorder – to yourself or to others: it seems to a person that overeating or other features of behavior are simply related to a lack of willpower. The consequences can be really dangerous: health problems due to an unbalanced diet, impaired growth and development, if we are talking about a child or adolescent, depression, including suicidal thoughts or behavior. We talked about the signs of RPD , and today we propose to think about what eating habits may not be as healthy as they seem.
You eat up stress or reward yourself with food
The main task of food is to give the body energy and necessary substances, and also bring reasonable pleasure. If you eat not because you are hungry, but because you want to calm your nerves or seize a quarrel, then the focus has shifted. Of course, food can and should be enjoyable, but it shouldn’t become a reward in itself. If, while waiting for dinner with your coworkers to celebrate the end of a project, you are not looking forward to socializing, but thinking about what exactly you will order at a restaurant, it may be worth taking a closer look at your relationship with food.
You only eat healthy foods in public
The secrecy about food can look different: some say that they have already eaten, although in fact they have not, others eat secretly from loved ones, locked in their room. In RPP, the desire to maintain control over their own body and eating behavior plays a very important role – and since this is not easy, many seek at least the appearance of this control and therefore do not want to be seen while eating. If you avoid events where there will be food, it seems to you that everyone is just watching how and what you eat, or demonstratively avoiding unhealthy food in front of witnesses, think about why this is happening and whether it is time to see a specialist.
You “get in shape”
for the summer or birthday
Constant attempts to go on a diet and severely restrict the diet, followed by breakdowns and overeating are also a sign of an unhealthy relationship with food. This also includes efforts aimed at losing weight at a certain moment: for the summer, a wedding, a photo session, and for athletes – for competitions. Even when the desired result is achieved, it is often followed by devastation, frustration and disappointment – after all, life, as it turns out, does not become happier.
You carefully (even too) watch the diet
Obsession with food components – whether it’s carbohydrates, fats, or calories – may indicate orthorexia. The balance of proteins, fats and carbohydrates in the diet has been talked about for several decades, but now large medical organizations are moving away from this concept – it is clear that the world’s population has not improved to eat better and be healthier over the years. Today, it is recommended to focus on specific foods: there are more vegetables, fruits, berries, grains and legumes, less processed food, and meat, fish, eggs and milk can be in the diet in moderation, but they can be skipped if desired.
You beat yourself up
for eating the wrong foods.
Overeating is not emotional – for example, on New Year’s holidays, people often eat more than usual, and it can be difficult to refuse nuts brought to beer or free cookies in the office kitchen even for those who are not hungry. Overeating may result in stomach discomfort or drowsiness. If each time a feeling of guilt is added to them for what they have eaten, for “weakness”, for the inability to maintain control over their actions, one can suspect RPP.
You are punishing yourself
for overeating.
Sometimes people come up with punishments for what they eat – for example, a hard workout or a hungry day; someone, according to the labels on the packages, calculates how many calories have entered the body and how long it takes to exercise on the treadmill to burn them. If the punishment fails, the self-flagellation only intensifies. The result – a bad mood and a sense of guilt – turns out to be far from the goal, because initially it was supposed to monitor the diet for the sake of health and wellness.
You consider certain foods to be evil
Like the cult of food, hatred of food indicates a problem. Eating is necessary for survival and health, and on a regular basis. There are no superfoods that can replace everything else and prevent all diseases, but at the same time there are no products that are extremely harmful and dangerous. Even chips and soda in an emergency can save lives and help you wait for help; such situations, although they seem hypothetical, do happen – remember the children stuck in a Thai cave in the summer of 2018. The pursuit of good nutrition is a good thing if it doesn’t turn into perfectionism.
You weigh yourself all the time
RPP is often accompanied by dysmorphophobia – excessive anxiety about one’s weight, figure, defects (including imaginary ones) in appearance. If you often look in the mirror to scold yourself for “flaws”, think that until you lose weight or change your body, you will not achieve success, or no one will love you – the problem is obvious.
Another sign of fear of losing control of your own body is frequent measurement of volumes and weighing several times a day. In reality, this does nothing, except for additional nervousness, and then the invention of punishments in an attempt to get rid of the “gained” weight: vomiting, taking diuretics or exhausting training. Body weight can (and should) fluctuate throughout the day. The opinions of doctors vary : those who are advised to lose weight should do it from once a week to once a day at the same time, but certainly not every hour.
You comment on the diet of others
The desire to control not only your diet, but also what others eat is at least impolite. Each person has the right to choose what he or she has, and the values or priorities of others may not coincide with yours. No matter how much you would like to criticize someone else’s choice or warn about the dangers of specific products from the best intentions, you should not do this. There is only one exception: you know exactly what a person is allergic or intolerant to, and you are sure that this component is in the chosen dish.
You give
up plant foods
The fear of eating too much sugar from fruits or getting puffy from the water filled with vegetables can lead to the fact that there will be too little of them in the diet. Even if you really need to lose weight, remember that this is a slow process, based on the gradual getting rid of subcutaneous (and not only) fat, and the increase in the scales after a bowl of berries or fresh vegetable salad is mainly due to the liquid contained in them. Plant foods contain fiber, it is necessary for the normal functioning of the intestines, and scientists again and again say that it is a diet based on plants reduces the risk of cardiovascular disease and associated mortality.