Eating disordered posts

[Anonymous]

Who is making these posts about eating as little as possible, measuring everything to the gram, but not understanding that yeah you will not get enough nutrients/protein/fiber if you do not eat enough? There is no hack for getting enough protein to thrive if you literally do not eat.

[Anonymous]

Probably lots of people. Denial isn't just a river in Egypt. I am open about my disorder and my comments are ignored.

[Anonymous]

The majority of Americans would not suffer if they ate half as much protein as the currently consume. No one that can post on DCUM is in immediate danger of starvation.

[Anonymous]

Why does every dietician/doctor tell me I need more protein then? Why are all
My girlfriends in their 40s/50s obsessed with protein, macros and lifting??!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why does every dietician/doctor tell me I need more protein then? Why are all
My girlfriends in their 40s/50s obsessed with protein, macros and lifting??!

It's a fad, and not an evidence-based one at that. I doubt real doctors are telling you to eat more protein, OP.

My husband is a doctor - neither he nor his colleagues are on the "more protein, more lifting" bandwagon. Excessive protein is bad for your kidneys. Exercise should be encouraged, but not to extremes, because it can also hurt you - you need to exercise intelligently, vary the type of work, include stretching and not stress joints too much.

The most important problem facing most Americans is obesity. Two thirds of adults here are overweight, making it very difficult for people to see what a healthy figure looks like, since everywhere they go, they see overweight figures. Most people eat way too much processed crap and too many calories.

So no. I understand DCUM, and the US in general, is fixated on pushing back against anorexia. But from a medical perspective, the US is suffering under the financial and life quality burdens of obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular issues due to excessive consumption of sugar and fat. Anorexia is not a public health concern, in that very few people actually suffer from a clinical diagnosis.

[Anonymous]

I can't even imagine what a disordered post tastes like so why would you eat one ???

[Anonymous]

Jeff should rename this the "eating disorder" thread.

People we are 3 lbs over their lowest BMI trying to lose weight because they weighed that at 18.

It's insane.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The majority of Americans would not suffer if they ate half as much protein as the currently consume. No one that can post on DCUM is in immediate danger of starvation.

Starvation and disordered eating are not the same thing. Having a messed up relationship with food can happen at ANY size and health point. I know plenty of "healthy" people who spend their days obsessively tracking their food intake, never able to relax. Or if they do relax, they feel crushing guilt and anxiety. That IS NOT NORMAL EATING.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why does every dietician/doctor tell me I need more protein then? Why are all
My girlfriends in their 40s/50s obsessed with protein, macros and lifting??!

It's a different way to sell low carb. The "add something" instead of "take away something" idea. We all know if you mainly eat protein and less carbs you will lose weight right? The difficult part is maintaining that, since we are surrounded my carbs and honestly, they taste good.

Sure, if you want to focus on adding protein to your diet, fine! Do some safe weight lifting, awesome. But being "obsessed" with anything isn't healthy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The majority of Americans would not suffer if they ate half as much protein as the currently consume. No one that can post on DCUM is in immediate danger of starvation.

Starvation and disordered eating are not the same thing. Having a messed up relationship with food can happen at ANY size and health point. I know plenty of "healthy" people who spend their days obsessively tracking their food intake, never able to relax. Or if they do relax, they feel crushing guilt and anxiety. That IS NOT NORMAL EATING.

Also not normal is stuffing your face all day because it feels good or using it as a coping mechanism.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why does every dietician/doctor tell me I need more protein then? Why are all
My girlfriends in their 40s/50s obsessed with protein, macros and lifting??!

It's a fad, and not an evidence-based one at that. I doubt real doctors are telling you to eat more protein, OP.

My husband is a doctor - neither he nor his colleagues are on the "more protein, more lifting" bandwagon. Excessive protein is bad for your kidneys. Exercise should be encouraged, but not to extremes, because it can also hurt you - you need to exercise intelligently, vary the type of work, include stretching and not stress joints too much.

The most important problem facing most Americans is obesity. Two thirds of adults here are overweight, making it very difficult for people to see what a healthy figure looks like, since everywhere they go, they see overweight figures. Most people eat way too much processed crap and too many calories.

So no. I understand DCUM, and the US in general, is fixated on pushing back against anorexia. But from a medical perspective, the US is suffering under the financial and life quality burdens of obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular issues due to excessive consumption of sugar and fat. Anorexia is not a public health concern, in that very few people actually suffer from a clinical diagnosis.

1. My GP physician is indeed telling me to focus on getting more protein in my diet. Do you think I'm lying?

2. A way to do exactly what you said: encourage (effective) exercise and reduce consumption of sugar and fat is precisely to up protein intake.

Nobody is arguing for extremes here- "excessive exercise" or an "all beef and eggs" diet. But it is weird to me that of all the things to cast shade on getting more protein makes your list.

[Anonymous]

Most of the posts on this forum are like that. Remember quinoa bowl hater?

[Anonymous]

I think about the "just eat six almonds and five walnut halves" lady whenever I come to this forum.

[Anonymous]

What I wish some posters would understand us that disordered eating can actually lead to obesity later in life. Sending your teens, 20s, and 30s trying as hard as you can to make your body look as small as possible is pretty bad for you. It can impact muscle mass, bone mass, and greatly disrupt your body's natural ability to modulate appetite.

Women get to their 40s and have no idea what a healthy diet or healthy exercise is. They experience normal pre-menopausal weight gain, or even just shifts in weight distribution, freak out, but have no idea how to create a healthy lifestyle that will limit that weight gain or help them adapt to a new physical stage of life. Their bodies don't even know how to process hunger.

That's what the trend of telling all women in their 40s to eat high protein diets and lift heavy is about. It's trying to undo years of avoiding foods that have any fat at all (which includes almost all protein rich foods) and avoiding any kind of exercise that will "add bulk" trying to undo the damage if disordered eating. But it's not even clear it works because again their body's are out of whack.

I have greater hope for younger generations who are not terrified of being a healthy size 8 and seem to have healthier relationships with food (and maybe alcohol? Heavy drinking also plays a huge role in this as people will avoid sugar like the devil but drink 2-5 drinks on an "average" night-- terrible for you on about 8 different levels). As a mom the things I emphasize are to find exercise that feels good and keeps you active (and is not so terrible on joints that you can't do it when you're 50) and to understand nutrition basics and be able to put them into practice. Any food restrictive diet other than one a doctor puts you on for specific health reasons (allergies, insulin resistance, kidney malfunction, cardiovascular disease, etc.) is likely to hurt you in the long run.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why does every dietician/doctor tell me I need more protein then? Why are all
My girlfriends in their 40s/50s obsessed with protein, macros and lifting??!

It's a fad, and not an evidence-based one at that. I doubt real doctors are telling you to eat more protein, OP.

My husband is a doctor - neither he nor his colleagues are on the "more protein, more lifting" bandwagon. Excessive protein is bad for your kidneys. Exercise should be encouraged, but not to extremes, because it can also hurt you - you need to exercise intelligently, vary the type of work, include stretching and not stress joints too much.

The most important problem facing most Americans is obesity. Two thirds of adults here are overweight, making it very difficult for people to see what a healthy figure looks like, since everywhere they go, they see overweight figures. Most people eat way too much processed crap and too many calories.

So no. I understand DCUM, and the US in general, is fixated on pushing back against anorexia. But from a medical perspective, the US is suffering under the financial and life quality burdens of obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular issues due to excessive consumption of sugar and fat. Anorexia is not a public health concern, in that very few people actually suffer from a clinical diagnosis.

1. My GP physician is indeed telling me to focus on getting more protein in my diet. Do you think I'm lying?

2. A way to do exactly what you said: encourage (effective) exercise and reduce consumption of sugar and fat is precisely to up protein intake.

Nobody is arguing for extremes here- "excessive exercise" or an "all beef and eggs" diet. But it is weird to me that of all the things to cast shade on getting more protein makes your list.

No. You need to be precise if you want to be healthy. Eating more protein is not the same as reducing sugar and far. Maybe you understand it this way, and that's great, but plenty of people do not, because that's not actually what was said. Also, there is such a thing as eating too much protein - so when you create threads to inquire about increasing your protein intake, just be aware that the excess is not just going to be pissed away in your urine. You will overwork your kidneys.