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September 20, 2005
The Whole Stupid Anorexia Thing
As if CR isn't hard enough, our CR and Three Hundred brother Matt has to deal with family members accusing him of anorexia! I hope that MR's mom's comments help him... perhaps he can print them out and distribute to his family. It's quite understandable for family and friends to be concerned when someone loses a whole lot of weight, and for those of you who started out thin, you can become very skinny indeed. (Yea! More skinny guys in the world!) But it's frustrating when instead of learning about the issue and recognizing the signs of health and happiness in their loved ones, like MR's Mom has, family and friends become adamant that CR is an eating disorder.
That stuff just drives me nuts.
For instance, I recently found out that a friend of mine told a few other folks that I'm anorexic. Like, hello! I haven't lost any weight for almost a year! I am just barely underweight, probably not even CR'd enough to get the kind of life-extension benefits I want, and I look so healthy that it's hard to believe that anyone could say I'm anorexic. How irksome!
I can understand how CR is not for everyone. Much like extreme sports, gourmet cooking, and ceremonial magick aren't hobbies that everyone wants to pursue, no matter what astounding benefits they might have. But must we characterize the healthiest among us as somehow disordered just because we PAY ATTENTION to what we put in our bodies?
The description of anorexia that Matt's family saw on a TV program is just absurd. I'll reproduce it for those of you who didn't get to read his comment:
There was a program on the T.V not long ago called "Doctor Doctor" in the U.K and it described some things that parents or relatives should be aware of. coincidentally just before the program I had a few people mention to me how thin I look now and thought I was ill or something... then the program comes on and gives a few indications of what to spot in Anorexia and some of the stuff they mentioned was things like weighing yourself, counting calories, preparing small foods, watching what you eat etc...
So if we pay attention to what we eat, how much we eat, and how much we weigh, we have an eating disorder???
The thing that drives me crazy about these people who see eating disorders under every rock and tree is that by their logic, anyone who does not achieve a weight that scores as "normal" on those stupid height and weight charts WITHOUT PAYING ANY ATTENTION OR DOING ANYTHING AT ALL has an eating disorder. If you're too thin, you're anorexic. If you count calories, pay attention to nutrition, and weigh yourself (or God forbid weigh your food!) you're anorexic. But if you're overweight, then you have a different eating disorder! You're probably a compulsive overeater.
Let me provide all with a newsflash: it is almost impossible in the society we live in to NOT pay attention to what you eat and remain healthy.
We are constantly bombarded with foods that are poison, yet when we search for healthier alternatives, we practically have to engage in summit talks with waiters to order a decent dish at a restaurant. Fast food restaurants abound with high calorie, saturated fat filled sugar laden crap. "Good" restaurants coat perfectly innocent vegetables, fish and meat with high calories sauces and serve them with nutritionally empty carbs. I feel like "no dressing, just some vinegar on the side" is my mantra... I'm not covering my salad in sugar filled oxidized oil of ill repute. I'd rather just go home and consume EVOO with my OO.
Take for instance the lunch that was served today at the executive board for my union, at a perfectly nice hotel with catering facilities. Cold cuts, bread, cheese, a mayo coated coleslaw (poor, poor cabbage, crying out to be free from under the crushing weight of the icky white goo!), brownies for dessert. The saving grace was a very nice mixed green salad with grape tomatoes, and some olives on the side. I made myself a huge plate of salad, topped it with some plain vinegar that I had to request from the back since the only things they had put out were some odd looking oily dressings, and consumed some of the olives for fat. If it weren't for the fact that MR had packed me a delicious Sherm's binging brownie, I would have had a protein-less, unsatisfying meal.
Oh yummy brownie. Oh how easy it is to transport, how beautifully it thaws while riding around in my bag. How I am the envy of all as I consume a perfectly balanced food, lovingly created by the hand of my Orange One. But I digress.
Eating in even a slightly healthy fashion in the US is like navigating an obstacle course. The grocery store is 99% stuff I'd never eat. Restaurants are mine fields. And I live in a major city! What about those folks who live in rural areas or very poor neighborhoods? Yikes!
Yet the eating disorder folks act like we're the ones with the problem.
Well, let me break it to you. Anorexia is not widespread. It is horrible, it nearly ruined the lives of several people who are very close to me, and I curse it at every opportunity. But it is not an epidemic.
Obesity is an epidemic. Heart disease is an epidemic. Type II diabetes is an epidemic. It can't even be called "adult onset" anymore because fat children are becoming diabetic! Before they're even old enough to understand their food choices.
In the midst of this crisis, people are picking on Matt? On me? On my beautiful angel, who thrills me to no end by telling them off in print as often as necessary?
Dying is not healthy. Gaining weight every year is not healthy. Eating whatever crap is put in front of you is not healthy.
Making wise decisions about your food choices is healthy. Monitoring your nutrition WITH NUTRITIONAL SOFTWARE (sorry, that's a rant for another day) and adjusting what you eat to maximize nutrition, minimize empty calories is healthy. Supplementing where necessary is healthy (yes, I take my pills now. You would too if a gorgeous boy brought them to you in bed every morning. I mean, unless you don't like gorgeous boys in your bed. In which case, imagine a gorgeous woman. Or a very attractive cat. With opposable thumbs. Or whatever.) Monitoring your health by getting regular bloodtests and adjusting your diet and lifestyle as necessary is healthy.
We need to come up with a series of progressive disciplinary actions for people who pick on us. First, counseling. We talk with the person about CR, refer him or her to the CR Society website, and perhaps recommend an easy to read book.
If the irksome behavior continues, we challenge the offender to a war of health, as measured by blood test results, energy, frequency of illness, and general appearance.
If he or she does not leave us alone, we politely request that he or she mind his or her own business.
If this is not successful, we sneak into the person's kitchen in the middle of the night, throw out all the gak, and replace with fresh vegetables, eggwhites, EVOO, flax oil, and whey protein powder.
Posted by april at September 20, 2005 1:50 PM
Comments
When people thought I have an illness because of my weight loss they assumed I had some sort of eating disorder... A skinny person living in the rich country? So naturally people would think that something has to be wrong. Most likely the people that are convinced I have an eating disorder are going to die well before I could even reach 100 anyway, so I can't really prove that what I am doing is a good thing other than show them my test results.
At first I am quite happy to explain the situation and what I am doing and how I got to become quite skinny. But it becomes annoying when after I have explained things to them they still keep on.
One thing that might be common in a person that has an eating disorder is that the person may be in denial that there is a problem. So while I'm saying to people I do not have a problem, they could think that I'm in denial about it ! lol
I was having a conversation with a few people the other day and they were saying how I should be eating a little bit of everything... All foods tey mentioned were foods that are horrible for your health with virtually no good nutrition.
Shouldn't people be happy seeing me induldge in large salads everyday?
Am I supposed to be eating for survival or for pleasure?
I really Enjoy my salads and I get the health benifits from the foods I eat. But they don't see it like that... In their eyes a few pizzas a week, some biscuits and milk chocolate, cakes is a good thing and part of a balanced. But consuming large pizzas a few times a week isn't really going to balance anything out, only lead to an earlier death. That reminds me of how burger king or McDonalds put a leaf of lettuce in their 1000k/cal fatty burgers. It's hardly for nutrition... It's just to make it look pretty.
Posted by: Matt at September 21, 2005 10:03 AM