I've looked up a lot of information about people who are anorexic and bulimic. I am a complusive eater, and I am never happy. But I look at anorexics and bulimics, and at least they have control. I've tried to make myself throwup, but i don't know how. I also don't have to willpower to starve myself. Yet I want to, because I know if I were thin, I'd be happy. I know this is more of a recovery type place, but I'd like to know what I should do to lose the weight and the compulsive eating that is making me so unhappy.

Take it from me, you don't want to be bulemic. I've only been doing it for a month or so, but now after almost every meal I feel like I NEED to throw up. It's not something you really have control over. It's more like it makes you. And you don't want to be anorexic because it's really hard to hide.

I'm bouncing back and forth between anorexia and bulemia, and they're both hard to keep others from noticing. If I were you, I'd go to a dietician instead, and talk with them about healthy eating plans. I have to go there now because my psychologist is making me. It's better to chose to go. Good luck!

~Ana

Thanks for the tip. But I have a question - how are you bouncing back and forth? I went to a website that said it's a disease, and you can't make yourself have one or the other. Do you think it really is a mental problem, or just something that some people do?

Sophi
Its just as serious being a compulsive eater as being bulimic/anorexic.You still have a reason for using food to cope with things,its just a different set of symptoms.Trust me you dont want bulimia.I was a compulsive overeater until i decided to go on a diet but unfortunately it was a crash diet and now today im in the full throws of bulimia,yes im several stones lighter but im actually more unhappy now because i have this dreadful; addiction to purging which is ruining my health and sanity.I used to think i could control my ED but in reality it's controlling me.Please go to a professional about advice on losing weight and it sounds like you could do with some help with the overeating.Just dont go down this road.
take care
Nikkitaxxx

Sophi, anorexia and bulimia are definitely not lifestyle choices that will make you thin and happy, they are serious mental illnesses which wreck lives and kill a significant proportion of the people who suffer from them. I don't have any experience of bulimia but I do know about anorexia as my daughter is a sufferer. She has been in recovery for about 8 months but she is certainly not yet recovered. When she was at her lowest weight she was dangerously thin and extremely unhappy, because starvation alters brain chemistry and leads to severe depression. She may have suffered permanent bone damage and she may not be able to have children. She had to have two months off school and for much of that time was not allowed to walk further than the end of the garden. Her friends have become distant because they find the anorexia scary and odd, not smart. As the others have said, sufferers from an ED are not in control, the ED is controlling them: my daughter is so afraid of certain types of food and of 'feeling full' that she cannot eat out in restaurants or friends' houses, let alone contemplate a holiday abroad. Sorry to rant on - I just wanted you to know that anorexia and bulimia really are illnesses. I'm so sorry that you are feeling unhappy: try to be brave and ask your doctor to refer you to a counsellor who can talk through some of the issues with you.

This site is for recovery and support. Anyone giving tips or advice on pro eating disorders will be permanetly banned from this site.