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222.6 lbs
Today was filled with photo shoots, going to the gym, and visiting friends. I got in at 4:30 and realized I still hadn’t eaten today. As someone normally north of 200 lbs as it is, I would have usually eaten 2,000 calories or so by now. The weird thing was I didn’t feel hungry – just kind of weak. Is my body adapting? Or am I just forgetting the taste of bread?
I scarfed down another of those little cottage cheese and fruit cups (100 Calories) and felt recharged. It amazes me how quickly the appetite adapts. Scary, really.
I’m 1/10th through this 100 day experiment. In 10 days I’ve lost almost all the 20 lbs I packed on before starting this diet (for safety – this way my body had lots of fat and muscle to tap into. Less chance of it trying to digest my liver which is obviously very harmful and just kinda gross). It took me 6 weeks of eating deep fried foods, whole pizzas, chocolate, and other indulgences. And 10 days to drop it. But it’s not about the weight – I’m also losing muscle mass, feeling like a pile of stir fried puppy poop, and I notice the nick I gave myself shaving a few days ago is taking longer to heal than it should. A sensible reduction in calories is part of a smart weight loss program. An extreme reduction in calories is just a bad idea.
About today’s title: anorexia and obesity may seem like opposite things, but really they’re two sides of the same coin.
A person scarfing down a large bag of chips every day or having a 4 litre of pop per day habit may as well call themselves a drug addict. Food is their drug and while it may not be giving them meth-face, it’s giving them glutton-gut. There is a reason why it’s cited as one of the deadly sins.
It’s also costly to society as a whole. According to the American Cancer Society, obesity costs about $75 billion a year because of the long and expensive treatment for several of its complications. According to the National Institute of Health, $75-$125 billion is spent on indirect and direct costs due to obesity-related diseases.
On the other side, if their life has spiraled seemingly out of control, a person may slip into anorexia by using ‘self discipline’ to not eat as a way of feeling like they’re regaining control. Not only does this fail to address the underlying emotional troubles that lead to them needing to feel some control in the first place, it often backfires. Scorn or guilt trips from others dog pile on top of an already fragile emotional state, which sets up a loop that feeds upon itself, sending the person into a downward spiral and making them cling even tighter to their control over food intake. But to those on the outside, harming yourself isn’t control. It’s just weird.
(Yes, I’m aware of the irony of a guy starving himself saying that. But I’m doing it for a purpose; after all, it got you to read this blog.)
Remember when you were a little kid, and everything was awesome? Or if it was crap, you still had your whole life ahead of you to make it awesome? This is that life. You’re living it. Make it awesome.
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3 Comments
You’re raising awareness but you’re going to call us weird for what we do. Gee Thanks. I appreciate it. First of all yes you’re body is adapting, see when you don’t eat you stomach shrinks too making things more bearable. Secondly I understand you want to be safe in you’re little experiment here, but none of us did it safely, you’re not going to understand the effects of this disease past the physical. Which isn’t as bad as the mental aspects.
As someone still fighting this, I find you’re whole project a punch in the face personally.
The point is that anorexia is an unhealthy lifestyle to engage in.
My concern is that most obese Americans are living in poverty…believe it or not. This poverty allows them to survive on the Food Assistance program (formerly known as Food Stamps). With this program, any non-ready grocery items are allowed to be purchased. Working in a retail grocery environment, I see the majority of these dollars being spent on white bread, Little Debbie cakes, bologna, American cheese, sugar-laden soda, and countless other unhealthy items. The Food Assistance program offers nutritional education and tips, but nothing that is required to be eligible for these food benefits. The really sad thing is, the tax dollars that are going to feed (kill) these people, are the same tax dollars being spent on their Medicaid (low-income health care) to treat their heart disease and Type II Diabetes. It is a vicious cycle and I would like to get involved to come up with solutions but I have no idea where to start!