Food: “My worst Enemy”

07:00 She wakes up, gets ready for work, drinks a cup of tea with no sugar, gets dressed and she is off to work.

 

14:00 She is back home for her lunch break and makes herself a cup of salad with 1 egg and no dressing and tries to eat as little as possible.

 

15:00 She is back at work and drinks a zero soft drink, trying to avoid consuming any more calories, hoping that this will make her feel less hungry.

 

17:00 It’s afternoon and she eats a small apple with her coffee with no sugar (of course).

 

18:00 She finishes work and goes to her Pilates class to “burn off some calories”, although she is feeling a little bit weak and dizzy.

 

 21:00 She is back at home watching TV and eating carrots and celery sticks.

 

 00:00 It’s now 12:00 p.m. and even though her stomach is still growling, she goes to bed to forget how hungry she is.

 

The next day she wakes up and her schedule repeats…

 

She is starving, but she feels proud for herself. She is no longer that chubby girl that was being bullied at school. She has a control of how much she is eating now, and she is never going back to being chubby. She is now proud that she can say “No” to food, whilst others are eating when feeling hungry.

 

“You are too thin”, “You are skin and bones”, “you are going to die if you don’t eat something”. She really enjoys listening to those comments, because it makes her feel special.

 

Well, this is the state of mind of a young woman suffering from an eating disorder. She is afraid of eating, of being “fat” and not having control over her eating. Feeling hungry provides her a sense of pleasure, comfort, and control.

 

It the meantime, her body is suffering, she is malnourished because she is not getting the energy and nutrients that her body needs.

 

She really loves eating, but she is afraid that if she starts eating again she will gain weight.

 

She is not happy.  She feels weak and her stomach growls much of the day.

 

It will take hard work and inner strength to overcome the condition of anorexia nervosa.

 

Being healthy and living a healthy lifestyle involves much more than just eating fruits, vegetables, whole grains, low-fat dairy and exercising. Being healthy means being mentally healthy as much as being physically healthy!

 

Thinking and living healthily is a choice.

 

We choose whether or not we want to live healthy every day.

 

So how will you choose to live tomorrow?

 

 

Eleana Liasidou

Clinical Dietitian- Nutritionist, MSc