Anorexia's deceiving lies

What triggers anorexia and how to deal with triggers.

What triggers an eating disorder?

There are many things that will trigger an eating disorder nowadays. One of the most common triggers to an eating disorder is media and society. We are often advertised with various weight loss products, or how to achieve a summer body, and so on. These things all lead to what is called dieting, which in fact is also a trigger to an eating disorder. Not only adults, but even children of our generation see and try to diet in order to achieve what media tells us. We must keep in mind that all these nonsense we are advertised daily with, is simply a form of marketing and gaining money for the media.

The media has portrayed us an image of what the perfect ideal body is, but is it really the ideal body? Of course not! We are shown images of models and celebrities that are even photoshopped in away for us to think we need to look like them. There is no such thing as having an ideal or perfect body! We are all made differently and we all have different body types. We should not listen to media's lies on how to have a certain body which is not even ideal or healthy for a human being! The media and society have promoted different types of bodies all throughout the years, which it self show that there is no such thing as an ideal body. Don't be a victim of weight loss products, diets, or photoshopped celebrities, they are not real anyways, instead embrace the fact that we all have different body types, whether naturally slim, curvy, tall, short, thin, or fat (fat is not an insult or something to be embarrassed of , it is shown as an insult because we live in a world where we are surrounding by the word "thin") .

Other things that can trigger an eating disorder are, stress, depression, anxiety or simply a hard time in our life. It's important not to use our health as a way of dealing with these feelings as it can lead to an extremely unhealthy addiction with no way of escaping from in the end. If you do fell stressed, depressed, or any other feeling you don't like, why not talk to someone about it, or even use a healthier form of dealing with them such as drawing, poetry, or what ever hobby you enjoy and love.

Do diets really work?

Another trigger to anorexia is dieting, whether we ourselves diet or we see someone else who diet. Many children have parents who are extreme dieters, this in fact can set a bad example to a child or even lead them into having an eating disorder , because from a young age, all they see is exercise and restriction. Children, or even anyone of any age for that matter should not be restricted foods. If you are a parent who diets, please do not restrict certain foods out of your child's life as well, as it will only make them fall into an eating disorder. It's important to set a good example for a child and show them what self love is not self hate.

So, do diets really work? In a short answer, no, they do not work. Again, the reason behind dieting is due to what we see in media. In diets, we often deprive our selves of certain foods which are deemed to be unhealthy, and we eat clean completely everyday. Dieters also have a day what they like to call "cheat day" where they allow themselves to eat whatever they want. If you think about this carefully, it starts to sound a bit ridiculous. During this cheat day, dieters can finally eat that piece of cake they have been craving all week, and this can actually make them gain weight quicker than they ever had before they started dieting or lived a lifestyle where they consumed a slice of cake daily. Why does dieting lead to quick weight gain? Well the simple answer to that is slowing down your metabolism. Since dieting means restricting or depriving certain foods, your body can actually slow down its metabolism than it was before, making you gain weight a lot even if you have just one slice of cake. When dieting you also tend to want more of what you restrict yourself from, which can also lead to binging or extreme cravings and hunger because you completely cut out foods your body and soul really needs. You may also notice that diets never last long, for exactly those reasons. It is also very similar in anorexia recovery, that you will gain weight quickly at first due to a slow metabolism like I mentioned in the chapter before, but keep in my that your metabolism will speed up overtime and your weight will stabilise as you continue to eat sufficiently and what ever you crave, whether you are recovering from an eating disorder or restrictive diet.