Wednesday, August 09, 2006

Eh?

There's a lot of discussion on the Weight Watchers forums regarding "starvation mode".

It pops up regularly. Someone will post a forlorn little thread announcing that, despite trying really hard this week, they just haven't lost any weight. Lots of people will reply in sympathy, and at least one of them will say:

"Are you eating enough? You should eat all your points every day, otherwise your body will go into starvation mode and you won't lose any weight".

The theory, as I understand it, is fairly simple. If you don't eat enough your body will assume there's no food to be had and will hang onto fat stores. Seems plausible, doesn't it? So, answer me this.

How do people with anorexia get so skinny then?

18 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous chimed in with...

Shhhhh. We do not question anyone who says we should eat all the food we can.

09 August, 2006 21:20  
Blogger FirstNations chimed in with...

...yeah, i'm having trouble losing weight too.
anorexics force their systems to cleanse by obsessively exercising and by purging out both ends, even when they haven't had anything to eat, which fucks up their metabolism. if they finally rid themselves of the psychological part, they still have trouble retaining necessary fat because their heart rate is permanently messed up.
(attended an eating disorders group-long story-all the heavyweights were fascinated with the mechanism of anorexia because they secretly wanted it, so they discussed this endlessly, and i listened.) my sister in law has anorexia and bulemia. you DO NOT WANT either thing!!! yeah, she's thin, but her teeth are rotted black from all the stomach acid and the bad nutrition, she's depressed, her joints ache, her hair looks like straw and she has the skin tone of an eighty year old woman.

10 August, 2006 01:29  
Blogger Spinsterella chimed in with...

GOod question.

Perhaps because when non-anorexics stop eating they don't last very long - maybe just a day or two.

But anorexics stay there permanently?

Did everybody else feel ill at the sight of Keira Knightly's ribs in that gold frock the other week?

10 August, 2006 07:35  
Blogger schoolgatemum chimed in with...

I'm in full agreement re Keira Knightley. Looking at her ribcage, I could totally see why the film was subtitled "Dead Man's Chest".

10 August, 2006 08:21  
Anonymous Anonymous chimed in with...

SG and I firmly believe her real name is Karen Knightley and she's jazzed it up to create a more Hollywood image !

On the plus side, if she wastes away anymore she will die and we won't have to suffer anymore of her fucking awful 'acting' !!!!!

10 August, 2006 09:28  
Anonymous Anonymous chimed in with...

the starvation mode is when you've fasted for a bit. WHen you next eat something, your body clings to every last calorie and squirrels it away as fat. ANorexics never get to eat that next thing so the body has nothign to cling to, but next time the anorexic DOES allow food to pass her lips, her body is ready to suck out every last calorie in there (which is good for the anorexic's health, but in reality it stops her having that moment of insanity as she knows that's what will happen. When I was anorexic I was very aware that anything I eat will be MORE fattening for me than for other, normal people. So I carried on not eating.

10 August, 2006 09:35  
Anonymous Anonymous chimed in with...

Keira Knightley is a ridiculous pile of ribs, stick-like arms and far-too-large pout.

10 August, 2006 11:36  
Blogger frangelita chimed in with...

In agreement with all the things above. I guess anorexics go past starvation mode into actual starvation. It's not nice, my friend was almost hospitalised with it when she was a teenager. Now, she will happily eat cake and chips. Although not often on the same plate, that would be weird.

10 August, 2006 12:03  
Blogger Billy chimed in with...

Basically the starvation mode only lasts for a short while (about a week I believe) after that the weight will start to go down.

Keira Knightley, Charlotte Church, erm... James Blunt, why don't these people use their real names?

10 August, 2006 12:30  
Anonymous Anonymous chimed in with...

James Blunt is his real name it's just everyone thinks he's a c*nt !

10 August, 2006 15:58  
Blogger Spinsterella chimed in with...

Undercovercookie - you've jsut explained anorexia in one paragraph better than a million magazine articles I've read on the subject.

BTW, Ciara is a really common name in Ireland. I assume that Keira (pronounced the same) is just an anglicisation.

10 August, 2006 21:02  
Blogger Peevish McSnark chimed in with...

I was watching a TV show where some doctor said that "starvation mode" was a myth, as was "eating food late at night will cause you to gain weight." Sounds good to me!

11 August, 2006 01:31  
Blogger GreatSheElephant chimed in with...

James blunt's real name is James Blount but that was deemed too posh for marketing purposes. I can't help wondering how much the genius that thought something that rhymed with c*nt would be better earns.

11 August, 2006 13:47  
Blogger zanna chimed in with...

did you know Karen Knightly's best friend at schoool was Angela Jolly?

11 August, 2006 19:47  
Anonymous Anonymous chimed in with...

Karen Knightly almost can't act as much as that other one in Four Weddings can't. (More wine P? Don't mind if I do).

11 August, 2006 22:14  
Blogger tom909 chimed in with...

If it's any help to you ladies most blokes find those bloody stick insects a total turn-off.

12 August, 2006 10:10  
Blogger Twanna A. Hines | FUNKYBROWNCHICK.com chimed in with...

I have a friend who battled anorexia for a a couple of years. The minute she got help, every single pound of food that she ate stayed with her body and turned into fat. In the end, she was much fatter than she was before she became anorexic.

If God didn't want us to eat, she wouldn't have placed cows, pigs, chickens, or all those colorful little veggies on the earth. :)

12 August, 2006 15:45  
Blogger tom909 chimed in with...

You that is fat - go to http://theinfomaniac.blogspot.com// now.

14 August, 2006 15:22  

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