Body dysmorphia...

i think you may have an eating disorder, not bdd. i've had bdd for yrs and if your focus is your weight you don't fit the diagnostic criteria.

can you confide in your mum abt the way you feel?

Reply 2

If you stop eating then your metabolism will enter starvation mode and will hoard fat and burn muscle. Work out with weights, eat every 3 hours (small portions) and try and keep your diet mostly to protein and fat, no more than 1200 calories, and you should reduce your bodyfat percentage.

Note: this is not a healthy long term plan, but it should shed some flab pretty quick and hopefully stop you crying at night.

Reply 3

Gem

14

I agree with Spig, it sounds more like an eating disorder than BDD.

Check out this website and see if any of it feels familiar. The best thing is to go and see your GP, ideally with your Mam, and they will be able to help more. Also, there are counsellors at Uni who can help and they're free.

You're unhappy and you need to do something to make things better. Identifying you have a problem, like you have already done, is the first step - Well Done. The next step is to fight it and use all the support you can get. Good Luck, you can get through this :smile:

Reply 4

Note: this is not a healthy long term plan, but it should shed some flab pretty quick and hopefully stop you crying at night.

she's a size 10-12.her problem is not her body. it's her mindset.

Reply 5

Spig

she's a size 10-12.her problem is not her body. it's her mindset.

In your opinion. Maybe she wants to be slimmer. At 10-12 that's a fine size, but there's nothing wrong with being slimmer, and you have no idea whatsoever what her bodyfat percentage is like. She might be toned and just of a reasonable build, but she might have really skinny arms, shoulders, legs etc. and have a bit of a gut.

Reply 6

In your opinion. Maybe she wants to be slimmer. At 10-12 that's a fine size, but there's nothing wrong with being slimmer, and you have no idea whatsoever what her bodyfat percentage is like. She might be toned and just of a reasonable build, but she might have really skinny arms, shoulders, legs etc. and have a bit of a gut.

exercising for 8 hours a day is not normal. noone will convince me it is. there is something wrong there.

Reply 7

God no, she clearly has some sort of obsession or a mental illness of some sort, but my point is that you have no idea what her body is like, so it may be perfectly reasonable to want to lose weight, even if she is a nutcase about it.

Reply 8

username47781

20

You seriously need to start eating otherwise you are going to end up dead, being stick thin is not cool at all.

Long as you eat the 3 meals a day and exercise regularly your body will be fine.

Reply 9

InnocentEyes

10

props to Spig, to the op totally agreed the problem is your mindset, please find someone to talk to about it. pm me if you like, i have some experience with ed's, and i agree that is probably the problem, not bdd...

Mr God - how exactly is it helpful to tell her how to lose weight? you're just adding to her obsession...and you said yourself it's impossible to tell whether she need to, or even should, lose weight anyway...

Reply 10

_incorporated_

Mr God - how exactly is it helpful to tell her how to lose weight? you're just adding to her obsession...and you said yourself it's impossible to tell whether she need to, or even should, lose weight anyway...

She isn't suddenly going to get over her obsession instantly. By telling her a reasonably sensible eating program to lose bodyfat I am stopping her from starving herself and being even more unhealthy, and I'm telling her how to reduce bodyfat in a reasonably healthy way without damaging her body, which is therefore helping her mental and physical health.

How does that grab ya?

Reply 11

Lady Stardust

_incorporated_

props to Spig, to the op totally agreed the problem is your mindset, please find someone to talk to about it. pm me if you like, i have some experience with ed's, and i agree that is probably the problem, not bdd...

Mr God - how exactly is it helpful to tell her how to lose weight? you're just adding to her obsession...and you said yourself it's impossible to tell whether she need to, or even should, lose weight anyway...

She can't suddenly stop exercising 8 hours a week to doing nothing and go from eating nothing to eat 2000 calories a day, she mentally won't be able to do it. Mr God has given her a healthy alternative, so that she can ween off this excessive behaviour gradually, by still doing some exercise and dieting so she feels like she is still doing something to make her body better. And what Mr God suggested is far more healthier than what she is doing now. If anything, it is a very clever idea

Reply 12

Lady Stardust

She can't suddenly stop exercising 8 hours a week to doing nothing and go from eating nothing to eat 2000 calories a day, she mentally won't be able to do it. Mr God has given her a healthy alternative, so that she can ween off this excessive behaviour gradually, by still doing some exercise and dieting so she feels like she is still doing something to make her body better. And what Mr God suggested is far more healthier than what she is doing now. If anything, it is a very clever idea

Hah I just realised that Mr God had said the exact same thing already. Whatever, free post and all.

Reply 13

Maybe I don't belong on TSR, but somehow I can resist the urge to type out all my module marks for AS (along with GCSE and any other reasonably pointless qualification and/or the fact that I used to be a NAGTY member before I realised it was a forum for narcissistic kids and pushy parents) along with an analysis of how little work I do...

lol. much respect for the above alone :wink:

i must not belong here either!!

Mr God- i totally agree that losing weight if you are a size 10-12 is fine BUT only if you have a rational mindset and know when to stop. sadly i think that the OP has a problem of sorts which means that although your eating plan was perfectly acceptable, i very much doubt that a)she would get to a weight she feels happy with and b) she would even be able to stick to a slow weight loss plan by resisting the urge to lose weight faster.

if you have a target weight you're aiming for and it's within reason, there is no problem. i have a feeling though that the OP will fall into aimless weight loss with no real target- 'thin' will never be thin enough. i think the first step would be to sort out her state of mind as there is obviously something troubled going on there.

OP-i have known people very close to me who have suffered from,(and recovered!!) from eating disorders and exercise addiction so if you want to talk, i'd be more than happy to.

Reply 14

Spig

Mr God- i totally agree that losing weight if you are a size 10-12 is fine BUT only if you have a rational mindset and know when to stop. sadly i think that the OP has a problem of sorts which means that although your eating plan was perfectly acceptable, i very much doubt that a)she would get to a weight she feels happy with and b) she would even be able to stick to a slow weight loss plan by resisting the urge to lose weight faster.

if you have a target weight you're aiming for and it's within reason, there is no problem. i have a feeling though that the OP will fall into aimless weight loss with no real target- 'thin' will never be thin enough. i think the first step would be to sort out her state of mind as there is obviously something troubled going on there.

I agree completely, but us saying "be sensible, talk to somebody and eat sensibly" isn't going to work, she's just going to keep starving herself and exercising excessively and getting nowhere.

At least if she follows my plan, if she gives it a week she should notice bodyfat loss, and hopefully that will be enough for her to keep going with it, which is MUCH healthier than what she's doing now.

If the OP wants to PM me, I'll even write out an exact menu for her to stick to.

Reply 15

Doodahdoo

13

Mr.God

If you stop eating then your metabolism will enter starvation mode and will hoard fat and burn muscle. Work out with weights, eat every 3 hours (small portions) and try and keep your diet mostly to protein and fat, no more than 1200 calories, and you should reduce your bodyfat percentage.

Note: this is not a healthy long term plan, but it should shed some flab pretty quick and hopefully stop you crying at night.

Are you silly? 1200 and under IS A starvation diet. To lose weight, you have to have a balanced diet, not one consisting of protein and fat.
The OP needs to eat 1200 and over, even if she wants to lose weight.

To the OP: Please try to go and see your doctor, explain all of this to them. You can get the appropriate help you need (and not some fad diet, either). x

Reply 16

mostly to protein and fat, no more than 1200 calories, and you should reduce your bodyfat percentage.

err...yeah. that does sound pretty faddy. no carbs and 1200 calories??? how is she going to prevent herself from fainting????

Reply 17

Doodahdoo

13

Mr.God

I agree completely, but us saying "be sensible, talk to somebody and eat sensibly" isn't going to work, she's just going to keep starving herself and exercising excessively and getting nowhere.

At least if she follows my plan, if she gives it a week she should notice bodyfat loss, and hopefully that will be enough for her to keep going with it, which is MUCH healthier than what she's doing now.

If the OP wants to PM me, I'll even write out an exact menu for her to stick to.

You really are silly, aren't you. What position are you in to write a meal plan for somebody with a potential eating disorder?
It won't be enough for her to keep going. If she is anything like some others with eating disorders, when she sees she is losing weight, she will continue to do the extreme diet you suggested, losing more and more weight.

Reply 18

Simulatio

Are you silly? 1200 and under IS A starvation diet. To lose weight, you have to have a balanced diet, not one consisting of protein and fat.
The OP needs to eat 1200 and over, even if she wants to lose weight.

Not true. It depends on your metabolism. I'm a 175lb man, and I could successfully cut bodyfat and maintain muscle mass on 1500 calories a day. In fact, I do. For a woman of that size, 1200 calories is fine. It will be less than 1000 under her maintenance level, and will be fine for losing bodyfat.

And when I say protein and fat, of course she will be eating carbohydrate, but in trace amounts. The peanuts, cottage cheese, veg etc. all have carbs in them, but small amounts. By limiting her insulin response, she will lose bodyfat perfectly well.

1200 calories is not a starvation diet for everyone. I even know a couple of women for whom 1200-1400 is their maintenance level. Not everybody has a sky high metabolism, you know.

Reply 19