Not starving is the obvious option, but there are reasons why I SHOULD.

[Unregistered]

I've been anorexic for almost three years now. I was in the hospital for an inpatient stay once two years ago, and since then I've been alternating between periods of restricting, overeating, and starving. I never got much treatment since I left the hospital, but now there's a chance that my parents can afford to get me into a good treatment program. The only problem is that my mom planned to take my family on a trip really soon, and the treatment center which was going to evaluate me to see how to help me has postponed the evaluation another month. I've been starving myself the past couple of months, but now I'm afraid I'm going to Have the willpower to starve on the trip. I'm super scared that the treatment center isn't going to try to help me as much as they would if they evaluated me now, since I've been starving for a while. I'm also really scared about going on this trip because the family I'm visiting always comment about how I'm "all fine" now since I'm not underweight. I'm scared of eating around them and giving them and my mom more reasons to say that I'm not really sick. And it'll be worse if the treatment center which will evaluate me doesn't take me seriously because I ate a lot on the trip. I'm also super scared because I'm afraid that with all my erratic eating I've ruined my metabolism, and I don't know what to do to fix it. And on top of all that, I have huge digestion problems too. I know that starving won't help fix those, but my eating disorder has always been more important to me, even though other people haven't taken it seriously. And the time I was in the hospital was the only time my parents were actually involved in my treatment, and there were people at the hospital who helped my parents with their issues. I don't want to have to deal with my parents problems and now my sister's disordered eating for the rest of my life, and really really want to learn how to eat the way that'll make me feel okay. So now I'm super conflicted over whether or not I should starve - if I don't I might not get the treatment that'll actually help me learn how to recover and find a happier lifestyle, but if I do stop nobody will ever know that I've been sick this entire time, but I'll also start healing my metabolism and digestive system. So I need to make a huge decision fast and I have no idea which one will end up with me brig happier.

[2NDFLOOR]

We are not medical doctors here so I would encourage you to reach out to your doctor and he/she can refer you to a specialist to talk about your eating habits, there are a lot of behaviors that you described that are unhealthy and very serious so please don’t wait. You mentioned that you don’t believe the treatment program will take you serious because you might eat food and that is not true. Eating disorders are not based on your weight. You mentioned that you appear to not have an eating disorder because you are not underweight which is irrelevant, you can be overweight or average weight and have an eating disorder. Again, eating disorders can be very serious and very dangerous so it's important to reach out for the help that you need. You can also go to this website http://www.nationaleatingdisorders.org/ or call their helpline at 800-931-2237 for more information. Please don't wait to start the help process, usually, as with most things catching these behaviors earlier makes them easier to help than catching them later. Call us anytime at 888-222-2228 or text us daily from 4-8PM.

[Unregistered]

not starving is an option but there are reasons why i should

I'm self conscious about my weight and i have even considered not eating over a long period of time and when i go to shop i am even more self conscious because i want something cute but i don't think it will fit even though i am mot that fat really more thick than fat but the problem really is not my upper body it my lower body there is really nothing i can do about that so I've been thinking about starving starting today it really would not be a problem because there is really no food in the house and the food that we do have can be saved for someone else right so i'm wondering will this help my weight problem instead of sitting here almost every night doing 60 sit ups every day and nothing happening what advice do you have for me because i really need it

[2NDFLOOR]

Thank you for reaching out to 2NDFLOOR. Starving yourself is not a good option, because doctors have said that it can put your body in a "starvation mode" making your body store fat as opposed to loosing it. Also when working out it's important to work all of your muscles not just focus on one area. If you want help loosing weight you can always contact a Dr. or a nutritionist. They can help you come up with a plan that works for you and your body. If you want to talk more contact 2NDFLOOR Youth Helpline 24/7 or text us daily from 4-8PM at 888-222-2228.