carnival of eating disorders #2

we read a lot about women with body image problems. but what about men? well, in this, the second carnival of eating disorders, you’ll read someone’s reflections on that. and while we’re at it, why don’t we talk some more about what guys have to say on the subject, since it is often seen as a women’s topic.

charly discusses his recovery from overeating. hal deals with self sabotage and weight loss, craig shares his experience with exercise anorexia, and matthew points out the dangers of drinking pop. i particularly appreciate hugo’s, charly’s and craig’s frankness in discussing their life experience; for some guys it’s still a bit harder to do that, and takes a bit more courage, than for women. you guys are pioneers – thanks!

ok, so here we have it – our second carnival of eating disorders!

topic: overeating

charlie talks about his food plan at diary of a mad overeater. he also has lots of good observations on the dangers of weighing oneself too much. (reminds me of the saying, “scales are for fish!”)

dr dawn heather presents the case of a 13-year-old girl in overweight and undervalued on her blog caring about the future, explaining:

very few of sally’s issues were about food, they were more to do with her low self-worth and low self-esteem – feeling of no value, unwanted, unattractive, and unable to achieve – and in response to these negative feelings, trying to find some way of feeling better and to have some control.

hal sommerschield, ph.d. presents don’t risk your unconscious mind deleting your weight loss! posted at north star mental fitness blog, noting that

for lasting success, changes in the conscious mind (new habits, eating properly, exercising and thinking for successful weight loss) must be accepted and activated also in the unconscious mind.

topic: body image

hugo schwyzer talks about male and female body anxiety in glorious me:

it’s a classically masculine anxiety: the sense that the body is a “performance machine” threatened by sloth and by ageing, always in need of vigilant monitoring.

then there are a few people concerned about the connection between the fashion industry and anorexia, for example anorexia nervosa and bulimia versus fashion design by vahid chaychi at healthoma and susan bartell‘s model thin at in it for health.

a story about how one woman stopped hating her body can be found at talia man’s blog emotional well-being. good girls do swallow is a book written by rachael oakes-ash, an australian magazine columnist and television presenter long obsessed with acquiring the waif like figure of a kate moss, and how she managed to get out of that treadmill.

topic: exercise anorexia

craig harper talks about how he turned from a chubby teenager into an exercise addict. his story of exercise addiction may be a surprise to some – he’s an exercise specialist, and somehow we always imagine that experts like him have never had any serious problems related to their specialty. his warning signs of anorexia athletica (the scientific name for this condition) include

  • always working out alone – many addicts prefer solitude so that their behaviour cannot be observed or criticised and so that people cannot keep track of their workout load.
  • people who lie about their exercise habits – once people start to lie about their exercise habits, there’s a problem (also people who avoid answering questions about their training).
  • change in social behaviour – many exercise addicts change their social behaviour significantly; spending less time with friends, avoiding social settings, skipping classes or work, less tolerant of others.

you can find the post at craig’s blog renovate your life with craig.

topic: eating

you know how they always say you shouldn’t blog about cats? i don’t know about that – i’ve seen lots of insightful articles about cats. daphne riordan thinks about them, too, in her post intuitive eating instead of dieting found at live by the pen, die by the pen:

they eat what they want, when they want, as much as they want, refuse the things they don’t like, almost never clean their plates, and have never had a weight problem of any kind.

aaah, to be like a cat …

and cats know not to drink pop. (well, most of them, anyway.) humans, on the other hand, they drink the stuff. not a good idea, says matthew paulson in say no to soda at his blog at getting green:

many of us do not realize this, but pop is addictive. there’s a lot of caffeine in each and every one of these beverages we consume, and when we don’t get enough caffeine, we get headaches and start to have withdrawals. drinking pop is nothing more than a more moderate version of smoking.

finally, i’d like to acknowledge two submissions that, while not directly related to eating disorders, may still be of interest: brandon peele‘s second 10-day vipassana sit at gt, and miguel trujillo‘s invincible happiness at think happiness blog.

this is it for this edition. if you’d like to contribute an article for the next edition of carnival of eating disorders, please use this carnival submission form. you may also find other interesting carnivals at the blog carnival index page.

isabella mori
counselling in vancouver

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