Anorexia, california

[cptdeath]

I have some trouble, you see a good friend of mine is ill. She moved to California and fell in with the wrong crowd. Diet crazed calli chicks. her boss would cringe and be repulsed by the average person. her friends were obssesed with fat and the slightest sight of it or the thought of it would cause a series of social outburst. they would go for days without eating and suffer from dementia as a result. but this would be considered normal behavior if enough people in a group acted as such. So poor kelly was allways skinny and hot to begin with. she and all her family have an extreame metabolic rate making it impossable to gain weight. once she slipped below a hundred pounds and her mood swings became out of control she was forced to move back to michigain. she has broken up with her boyfriend who is still in Calli. her challange is mental. she had to get away from that crowd. Now she is danger of death. She faints from standing, her blood preasure is dangerously low. they say her heart is becoming atrophied.

I myself am part of an unspocken sub culture of competative eating. I have trained extensivly in endurance eating. I have competed many times. I have many friends in the feild of competative eating. Dwayne i met here in florida. from a different school he can eat any quantity in 5 minutes trained for speed.

So i talk to Kelly and start to explain some of the training regiments common to beginers. How to set a limit and push past it. how to judge were your at and how to train to progress. It all comes down to mental dicipline. The shrink says all of anorexia is mental. and we know from compatition how to have the eye of the tiger. I'm gonna get kelly a team usa headband and were going to take her to some competitions. I think I'll start her out with a large salad then when she thinks it's over present her with a challange witch is customary. a challange would be a large breadstick or half a snickers. something like that appropriate for her level. the point of it is to break it down mentally, to see your limit and surpass it. I would talk her through it at first. it also stretches the stomach witch build endurence. Once she understands the spirit of competition and embraces it she will develope a drive to overcome her advisaries at the table and will conquer her own personal demons. I believe truly that the world of competative eating has alot of hope to offer to those with eating disorder. You gain a certian mastery over your own body a sort of mental conditioning that gives you dicipline. I also lift weight to and have helped a few people to gain mass. morris went from 110 to 160 My friend Guy went from 120 to 180 at his highest point. all muscle friends. So Kelly is in michigain and since i am in florida i am powerless to help her and to train her. her family is gravley concerned for her as am I. It pains me greatly to have so much knowledge and experience to help her but be so far away while she suffers. She often complains that no one around her knows how to cook worth a damm and i tell her about the 14 inch high plate of polish sausages and the 3 different kinds of hand made perogi,s that grandma made for brunch yesterday. with Kelly's life hanging in the balance literally i am at a loss for words. I will bring the subject of anorexia up next i meet with Dwayne or other competative eaters. It's purly a mental disorder and with proper training could easily be overcome. you could see why it affects me so mutch emotionally on a personell level. Any advice would be muthc appreciated. If you struggle with anorexia how did you treat it? how do you overcome it? also if you dabble in competative eating I'm sure any tips or trick would be benaficial here.

[torn asunder]

look, i don't mean to be an ass, but anorexia is a very serious issue that requires help from trained professionals. you're not a psychiatrist/psychologist, and you really have no business trying to switch her from one eating disorder to possibly another. competetive eating for an anorexic? are you serious? she needs to get a grip on why she does that, and just trying to force her to overeat is most definitely *not* the way to go about it.

my advice? help her to get professional help, but don't try to "correct" her on your own - you may cause much more harm than good...

[littlepinkkitty]

I have ahd friends with anorexia and one was hospitalized. There is usually in underlying issue that is brought out by doctors. WIth a lot of women its a control issue or a self esteem thing......that has been proven by years of study and i have learned that from my friends. They have to seek medical help because it is a mental disorder before that turns into a physical one I agree with torn Asunder she needs to go to a doctor. Its good that you care abut your friend so much. Sometimes the best friends are the ones that tell us we need help.

[KatRN05]

I agree with Torn and Kitty, your friend has some underlying issue as to why she became anorexic. Sure the Cali-girls were not much help but that is not the only reason your friend is starving her body. It's great that you want to help her because you are her friend but the way you want to help her is not going to make her better. Anorexia is a very serious mental illness and she needs a professional to help her overcome it. If she does not, she will die.

National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Eating Disorders

Treatment info

Edited April 7, 2010 by KatRN05

[FarrIL]

Competitive Eating? Say what now?

Hun, if you really cared about your friend, you'd take her to seek a professional. The DIY method isnt wise in this case.

[candyman]

I also have a very high metabolic rate and that creates eating problems right away if you are not careful. I also was a wrestler in high school and in order for me to stay on the varsity team the whole year I had to stay at 135lbs which may not sound difficult with a high metabolism but it is.

If you are going to help her, which you should but IN CONJUNCTION with a professional, there are many things that you can do.

1. Eating large meals to stretch the stomach is not going to teach the body anything good...it has move of a chance of taking her in another wrong directing. The doctors had me start small. A meal does not have to have a large main dish to be a meal. A salad can provide much of what you need along with some fresh fruits, bread WITH honey on it, plenty of water and a dairy product like cottage cheese.

2. Weight training is a BIG no-no if you are not eating right in the first place. If she doesn't have something to build WITH and to build ON she is going to hurt something. Just like the food it is a small start. Pushups, situps, flutter-kicks, mountain climbers, and the rest of the workouts like those are a very good start and for some people its all they need. With the right diet those workouts will not only bring her body under control but they will also give her the resistance training she needs to move on from there.

3. Care for her all you want but this is not a popularity contest. Now don't be harsh and force her to do stuff but you have to be firm. If you are going to help coach her through this, again with help from a professional, you must raise the flag of no mercy. You are not fighting her you are fighting something that is affecting her...it doesn't care if you hold her, speak to her like she is a poor victim, or give her comfort. In other words this is a situation that calls for you to be something like an army drill instructor...even though you do care about what happens to her you can't take any bullshit like "I don't like that cooking" until she gains your respect by making progress.

If you like I have an eating program and a fitness program that the doctors in the area use...its actually the Army Pocket Physical Training Guide that they get copies of from the recruiting stations. Its almost like P90X except there are not stupid commercials and it is free...you just need to add motivation. It starts you off as if you are a resistant, sloppy, out of shape high school kid that needs to get his/her ass in gear...so you start with eating simple, yet effective meals, along with mild workouts and walk/run cardio. Even though I smoked and at shitty food for 4 years it got me to the point where I can run 5 miles, eat good and filling meals each day, and my muscles and in better condition the when I was wrestling Varsity in high school.

[TitsMcGee]

As a former bulimic, she needs treatment. And if it is as bad as you say, she needs inpatient treatment in a psychiatric ward that deals with eating disorders. Please pass this list of treatment providers in MI along to her family http://www.edreferral.com/states/mi.html

[cptdeath]

OK thanks for all the help. She has been seeing a shrink for a while now. When she left cali and came back to detroit she found an excelecnt shrink. I just thought that a competative attitude was necessary for her to dominate. I am no professional of course. the idea of anorexia seems so foreign to me. She is in good hands though with the doctors she see's. I just want to coach her and motivate her. I would love to feed her half a steak some mashed potatoes, some key west pink shrimp, and maybee a shark steak with manderian orange sauce after a good weight session. Not a crazy session but comperable to her ability. 3 sets of ten at 60 pounds on a bench 3 sets of curls light weaight. lots of stretching before hand. just the tip of a regular rutine. do that a couple times a week and in 3 weeks the results will be a vast improvement on her health. even a lighter meal like half a steak and 2 glasses of whole milk optional salad and a little exercise, good night sleep. you can't try to do it all in one night or you'll burn out. it's more important to establish a regular routine then ever over due it. Any way it's out of my hands and apperently over my head. If some one needs to learn to eat or build mass i can help but if some one is anorexic thats not my feild. if the person wants my help with the other things i can help but the underlying mentall problem i must avoid trying to treat. I can help with the sports psych the never say die never quite attitude the thrill of competition and overcomeing you own limits, but what harm will that do to the anorexic mind? giving the will a dominate power with an irrational mind at the control could be very reckless. I have looked into the links provided and passed them along. I cant treat the underlying cause. I just hate to be helpless to do anything. Oh well she will live she is tough. she is a statistical anomaly only developing anorexia at the late age of 32 shortly after she moved away to Cali. most develope it in their teens. I know one thing. enviromental changes kills alot of plants. it affects a person more then thay realize.

[littlepinkkitty]

Darling you are a great friend. The best thing to do is listen abd encourage healing. Her shrink will help her but she still needs her pals to be there for her to vent to. I remember watching my friend stare at a sandwich with this hateful stare. She lost her period for years but is healthy now. It took work with professionals. Just hold her hand when she cries and tell her you are there for her. That means more then you know to her.