I feel like i'm going crazy!! No one seems to understand why i want to lose weight or why i feel so fat!! I am 13 years old, 5'9 and 115 pounds. Everyone tells me i'm underweight, but then why do i still feel so fat! I think i may be anorexic. I don't eat a lot of food but i don't starve myself either. Today i ate 900 calories, which is pretty good for me. I don't purge so i'm pretty sure i'm not bulimic. But, i have a lot of the signs for anorexia. My mom and dad constintly tell me i look great, but you know parents. They always say you look great even when you look like s***. I'm always trying to weigh less than my friends and refusing food when it is offered to me. Do u think i may be anorexic?

Now, I'm probably not the best person to ask, but in my opinion, I think that you probably are. Try looking it up on the internet. That's what I did when I started to think that I had some problems. So, if you haven't already, do a search on anorexia or eating disorders and there are a lot of sites where you can read some of the symptoms, and if you show most of them, then you probably are. But, again, I'm not the best person to ask...maybe someone else will come along and give you their perspective...

------------------
--katie--

Thanks for the advice I did find one very good site on warning signs that you may be anorexic. If you score:

0 to 10: Normal. You have low to modest anxiety about eating and food.

11 to 20: You have a moderate disturbance in your eating attitudes.

21 to 30: You have a significant disturbance in your eating attitudes; it is possible you have an eating disorder.

31 and over: You have an extreme disturbance in your eating attitudes; it is very likely you have an eating disorder.

I scored a 33 http://www.healthboards.com/ubb/frown.gif i guess i know what that probably means, even though i pretty much knew it without that test. I've been to other websites too, and i have almost all the signs for anorexia.

[This message has been edited by cutegirl (edited 08-14-2002).]

deleted

[This message has been edited by cutegirl (edited 08-14-2002).]

Hi cutegirl and welcome!! http://www.healthboards.com/ubb/wave.gif

First of all, you are NOT going crazy! This is not your fault. And I know how you feel. You are not alone! People struggle with eating disorders everyday, that does not make you crazy!! You have found a board where people understand your fears and concerns and desires about food and weight, etc.

From the info you gave us, your friends and family are right, you are underweight. However, I know what it's like to have someone tell you that you are "underweight" and then look in the mirror and see someone who weighs 300 pounds. That's your mind playing tricks on you. It's a mind-game, and beating the demons in your head is the hardest part about overcoming an ED.

As for whether or not I think you're anorexic, you know in your heart that the only person that can tell you this and make you believe it is...YOU. http://www.healthboards.com/ubb/smile.gif I'm not a medical professional, but I can tell you that 900 calories a day is NOT enough food for a growing person. You're only 13, your body needs more food, not less. I know me saying these things doesn't make a difference. I'm right where you are, it's easier to GIVE advice than to take it. But if you think you're ready to get help then I say TAKE THE CHANCE. It's always better to get into recovery as soon as possible! There are so many horrible things that go wrong with an ED (as I'm sure you know, sounds like you've been doing your research! That's awesome! KNOWLEDGE IS POWER) http://www.healthboards.com/ubb/grad.gif hehe, ok, now I sound like a "stay in school" commercial. http://www.healthboards.com/ubb/biggrin.gif

anyway, let us know how you're doing. You've found a wonderful board with many supportive people who can understand what you're going through when it seems like you're totally alone!!! http://www.healthboards.com/ubb/smile.gif

NEVER GIVE UP
~sarah~

Well I was doing a little bit better yesterday but today i haven't ate much and still don't want to. I just came back from a friends house and we ate breakfast at 12:00 (we had slept in until 4:30 and some ppl were still tired, lol) so i had a peice of toast with butter and jelly and two peices of bacon, everyone else had pancakes (which i hate anyway). I don't want to eat anything else until supper (but i do get hungry so i will end up eating something. I'm not to the point where i purge so i guess that's a good thing. I think some people are starting to realize what I'm doing and before school got out for the summer some people thought i was anorexic (and that i purged). Someone who used to be anorexic (well sort of still is) came up and told me what everyone else was saying about me. I'm gonna try to eat more. I really don't want to have an eating disorder (i know that no one does, but ya know what i mean). I'm hoping i can control it by myself. But, if not I will go get help.

---Jessica---

Hi again, Jessica!

I just wanted to tell you "good job" for the little bit that you DID eat today, WITHOUT PURGING! woohoo!! http://www.healthboards.com/ubb/biggrin.gif That really is an accomplishment and you need to realize that.

As for "not wanting ot have an ED" most people don't want this either. It's not a happy place to live, it's hard and incredibly painful, but it's not the end of the world. People recover from ED's all the time, you can too! You just have to believe in yourself!

Purging is so harmful to your body, I know you know this, but I hope you fully realize what you're doing to your body. So many things can go wrong. From a bulimic, I am telling you...bulimia hurts. ED's hurt. I know why you don't want to say you have one. That means admidtting something's wrong with you...right? WRONG! Just because you have an ED doesn't mean you are abnormal, it just means that you have an abnormal way of viewing food...a way that needs to be changed and corrected to go on living a healthy life! http://www.healthboards.com/ubb/smile.gif You can do it. I have faith in you.

hope today is a little better!!

NEVER GIVE UP
~sarah~