Signs You Could Have An Eating Disorder

By Anna Collins 1 year ago

1. You have strict food rules around food

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One sign that you may have an eating disorder is when your relationship with food is extremely strict, you have rules you feel that you cannot break. This could be how much you eat when you eat it or even where you eat it! These rules for you have to be followed and you cannot eat spontaneously or disregard these rules.

2. You study yourself in the mirror in a very critical way

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On common symptom of an eating disorder is when you see yourself in an unrealistic way. You may see yourself as 'too large' or 'too heavy' when in reality you are not. You may spend hours studying yourself in the mirror in a very critical and damaging way.

3. You avoid eating with others

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Eating with others for you may sounds like a complete nightmare, it may result in you feeling completely anxious about the situations. You do not want to be around people who will what you eat, what what you eat, and how much you eat. So you avoid these situations altogether, and any situation which could involve eating with someone.

4. You sometimes make yourself sick after eating

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A very indicative sign that you have an eating disorder is when you make yourself sick after eating. This may be when you feel that you have had too much, or the 'wrong foods' - which is all thinking that is associated with an eating disorder. Then, you may make yourself sick to get rid of the food so that it will not add any weight to you.

5. You can't think about food in a healthy way

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When you think about food, it isn't in a positive or healthy way. Often, you may see food as the enemy. And, you never see food in a relaxed way with happy associations. Instead, you have linked it with feelings of anxiety and aim to control it as much as you can.

6. You restrict yourself

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You restrict yourself when it comes to food. There are lists of foods you cannot eat, there are other foods you can have in miniscule amounts. You have a highly restrictive diet which affects your entire life as everything you eat has to be calculated in some kind of way.

7. You have a very low weight

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One of the symptoms of an eating disorder is having a very low body weight. This of course, may fluctuate. But overall, you will have a low body weight for your height and body type, perhaps dangerously low as you are not eating much food, or you are making yourself sick so your body isn't intaking enough sustenance to maintain a healthy body weight.

8. You drink a lot of water/ caffeine to supress your appetite

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You try and supress your appetite so that you o not have to eat food. You may drink lots of water or caffeine which will help you to feel full and cover up the hunger. You may even drink diet drinks which may also trick you into feeling like you do not need to eat.

9. You feel immense guilt after eating

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Eating should be something that we enjoy, it is not just a necessity but should be relished. However, instead, if you eat a mela or a kind of food rather than feeling satisfied you will feel an immense surge of guilt. You will be fixated on the effect it will have on your weight or the appearance of your body.

10. You exercise excessively

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Exercising in a healthy way is of course, great for your body. But, a sign of an eating disorder is when you over exercise, to the point where it takes a negative toll on your body and health. You may view exercise as a way of losing weight, or improving your appearance. But rather than exercising moderately you may push it to excess.

11. You obsess over calorie intake

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Counting calories may be the norm for you, everything you eat or consume may be tallied up in your head. Nutritional values, fat, sugars...all of this is some4thing you are constantly aware of. This obsessive view is very damaging as it leads you to view food as the enemy.

12. You have unhealthy weight goals

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You set yourself wight goals which are not considered a medically healthy weight . It may be a weight that is dangerously low for your health. But these goals will be something you are fixated on. And, if you go over these limits you may criticise yourself harshly for it.

13. You stash food away in secret

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When someone gives you food in public, you might stash it or hide it away and put it on your pocket. You'll wait until nobody can see you to hide it and you may pretend that you have eaten it so that nobody notices anything strange about your behaviour.

14. You have low self esteem

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Your self esteem is super low, you are so harsh and self critical constantly and every time you view yourself that you have developed an extremely low self esteem. This can lead to the eating disorder getting worse and worse and spiralling because you may then restrict yourself even further.

15. You see some foods as forbidden

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Some foods are just not in your radar, they are not allowed and you can never eat them - not because you can't, or they disagree with your stomach, but because you view them as 'too fatty' or 'too sugary'. If this is how you eel it could be a sign of disordered eating.

16. You have no energy

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Of course, your body has not got enough sustenance to be healthy or to be functioning at full capacity. You will have no energy due tot he fact that you haven't got enough nutrition. So you probably feel weak or tired. It may have been so long that you do not even realise anymore and you think it is normal to feel this way.

17. You fluctuate weight a lot in short periods of time

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At some points, you may restrict yourself from food so much that you may barely be eating. You might find yourself losing lots of wight in a very short, dangerously short, amount of time. You may purposefully do this, which is a clear sign of an eating disorder.

18. You don't eat much

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One of the most basic symptoms and signs of an eating disorder is that you don't eat much, and you don't eat enough to sustain your body properly. You don't eat much because you fear the effect it will have on your appearance, and also because you may now associate food with such negativity that you do not enjoy food.

19. You feel anxious/ depressed

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The effect on your mental health as well as your physical healthy could lead to you feeling completely anxious or even depressed. First there is the immense pressure you put on yourself in terms of how critical and negative you may be about your appearance. Then, there is the physical effects of not consuming enough food which has a negative impact on your body, also affecting your emotional well being.

20. You often feel faint or faint

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The malnutrition will lead to your body essentially not functioning properly. Your body cannot sustain itself on the limited diet you are inflicting upon it. So you will not have enough energy and you may even faint due to the malnutrition leading your physical health to malfunction. It no longer has the energy to keep going.

21. Your period stopped

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If you are a woman, then you may have noticed your period has stopped. Because your body is no longer 'healthy' because it doesn't have enough nutrition, normal bodily processing can not function. If you are a man, you may have noticed that your puberty was delayed if you had an eating disorder at this time.

22. You lie about what you have eaten

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If anybody asks you hat you have eaten, you will lie so that they do not think that you are not eating enough or have stopped eating. You do not want anybody to know about your eating habits, so you will pretend or hide it from them and give them an answer to throw them off the scent.

23. You wear extra clothes to hide your weight loss

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On a similar note, you will go to other lengths and measures to try and hide what is happening. So, you may wear multiple layers to try and hide the fact that you have lost a lot of weight and so wearing a lot of layers might deceive people into thinking that you are a consistence weight.

24. You cut food into tiny pieces and eat very slowly

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You may develop strange eating habits, such as cutting your food into tiny pieces, chewing for a very long time, or pushing food around your plate. for example;. These are all signs and symptoms of an unhealthy relationship with food. You are avoiding eating, and trying to eat as slow as possible or avoid eating.

25. Your skin is dull and hair may fall out

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Not only will your weight be visibly diminished. Your appearance will also have other signs. Your skin may be grey and dull from malnutrition. Your hair may even thin or start falling out as a result. This is because your body does not have enough food to sustain itself.

26. You are often constipated

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Constipation isn't a symptom on its own, as it can indicate many things. However, combines with others on this list it can be. This is because your diet doesn't contain the correct nutrients, vitamins or sustenance for healthy bowel movements or gut health.

27. You use diet pills

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Diet pills are dangerous and have never been recommended by medical professionals. Some may not even be regulated and could make you sick. If you are using diet pills, it suggests you have an unhealthy view on losing weight because you using unsafe practices to do so!

28. Your mood is always up and down

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You cannot expect your mood to be stable when your body is being pushed to its limits. Your body will not be able to cope with the strain of not having enough nutrition. Your emotional well being will also suffer and you will find that your mood is constantly up and down.

29. You use laxatives

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Another way that people suffering with eating disorders make themselves lose wight or get rid of the food they have eaten, is by using laxatives. If you are using laxatives to get rid of the food you have just eaten and as a regular way to lose weight, then this is a clear sign of an eating disorder.

30. You purge/ binge

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Purging and binging are common signs of an eating disorder. At one point, you may eat so much food until you feel uncomfortably full. The next, you may make yourself sick to get rid of it, and then decide to stop eating for a while. These extremes are extremely dangerous and are a sign you are suffering with an eating disorder and need help.

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