Rachel Zoe on Anorexia Rumors: “It’s Silly”
January 27, 2010 in General by Versus
Despite an alarmingly thin frame, A-list stylist Rachel Zoe insists she doesn’t have an eating disorder.
The Rachel Zoe Project star, 38, drew stares when she walked the St. Bart’s shore in a bikini Jan. 8.
But Zoe – who attended the Beverly Hills Rimowa store opening Tuesday – tells E! News, “I’m here. I’m fine. I feel great, and I’m good.”
Dr. Fred Pescatore, author of The Hamptons Diet, estimates the 5-foot-1 Zoe weighs just 80 pounds. A Zoe pal is not surprised, telling UsMagazine.com: “She’s obsessed with being skinny. She never eats. If she does, it’s fat-free.”
But Zoe calls all the chatter “silly.”
“I’m going to go and eat dinner after this,” she tells E!.
Zoe has long slammed eating disorder rumors. She told Harper’s Bazaar last year that she doesn’t get why so many people give her a hard time.
“We’ve had Audrey Hepburn, we’ve had Twiggy, we’ve had Veruschka, we’ve had Kate Moss,” she said. “I’m trying to figure out why I am to blame for skinniness.
“Truthfully, I’ve never seen myself as being too thin,” she added. “Sometimes I’ll look at photos and be like, ‘Oh, that’s not a good look.’ But generally speaking, I’m not too thin.”
Source: US Weekly
She’s a walking skeleton! Who does she think she’s kidding!!
It’s strange how some people just never grow up and realise that they’re acting like children. If I’m not mistaken, she has children – it’s baffling how she can actually find room for stupid shit like an obsession with being skinny. I mean, really. She comes across very, very unintelligent.
No, she doesn’t have children. I’d be surprised if she even menstruates.
I have an IQ of 140.
I am anorexic and neglect my responsibilities. (I don’t have children though – I can’t.)
Don’t judge people for being ill.
Yeah because eating disorders are just childish, stupid bullshit? No.
she isn’t “acting like a child” and she isn’t being “stupid” for “obsessing” about something “Stupid like being skinny”….she most likely has an eating disorder,and you are a complete ignorant bitch. Anorexics are not immature or stupid…you will never understand what we deal with,thank you very much. Bitch.
She puts a lot of her clients on coke diets. It’s fairly well known story. Hell, I’d believe it. There’s videos of Nicole Richie doing blow and god knows what Lindsay is on…
yep, her problem is too much blow, not anorexia
also the argument about Twiggy & Verushka being skinny can’t be compared to Zoe. Twiggy was a teenager in the 60s, kids were skinny back then. Verushka was 6’0tall she had a hard time gaining weight. Both looked gorgeous, smooth, soft, without bones poking everywhere. Zoe looks like a granny. Whatever she is doing is making her look ugly like a zombie. Glad she fixed her wrinkly forehead, that was nasty
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N9_v-o_eFps
All I’m gonna say.
DO NOT CLICK IF YOU ARE EASILY OFFENDED.
Hmh, i thought it was sorta funny, and maybe accurate on many self-absorbed, striving to be thin ppl, but clearly not understanding of the mental problems behind anorexia, in many cases that has really very little to do with food itself. Not sure if RZ falls in to the category of “deserve to be mocked” (if anyone does but anywho) or not.
You have to understand Carlin to get the joke. Frankly I don’t give a crap about people like this anymore. There are people starving all over this planet. She doesn’t want to eat? Well she can starve.
that was pretty funny and true
LMAO! “the empty plate….”
Noone who suffers from an illness deserves to be mocked for it!! How can anyone look at someone like Rachel Zoe and not see that she is in pain?! For whatever reason she looks like that, she needs and deserves help!! In this case, it doesn’t matter if you like her and her standards and opinions or not.
I’m with Ann.
I’m not easily offended, and in fact I can even make fun of anorexia at times (I’m suffering from it). But this just isn’t remotely funny and just plain rude and ignorant. I’m shocked that ppl have such hatred against ppl with EDs. They’re mental illnesses, for f***s sake. Imagine these ppl laughing about depression or other mental illnesses, it’d be the same…I mean, I could imagine them laughing about ppl like that because there are such bigger problems in the world and it’s soo not appropriate for us to despair, too. Which is stupid to think so.
I think ppl don’t realize that anorexia is NOT a choice and is NOT a result of vanity. I think those ignorant bastards (sry for all the swear words) are just angry because of the pressure to be thin, applied by the media and such. They see all those skinny models, find them repulsive and think anyone who strives to be emaciated must be plain weak or shallow because they gave in to the pressure. When in reality, anorexia is NOT really about being thin or trying to fit some beauty standard. It’s a way of dealing with deeply rooted emotional pain and it’s not something you can easily stop.
Agreed. People DO believe anorexia is a choice…that you one day wake up and decide to stop eating. Does a schizophrenic one day decide to lose their mind? No. Same with a person with an ED…they start starving themselves to remove the mental pain that is already there.
People with eating disorder need to be helped, not ridiculed or blamed.
Carlin laughed and mocked all facets of western society. Anorexia and Bulimia are western phenomenon. You don’t see it in the poorer societies of our world.
As for your issues, I have nothing to say other than you should see a doctor because no one here can help you. Just as no one here can help Zoe.
agreed.
You do see anorexia in poorer countries actually, but you’d be correct in assuming that bulimia is primarily a problem of developed nations.
That could just be a definitional problem. A lot of disorders as defined by Western society are not seen in non-Western nations. Yet those nations have their own disorders that are similar (and neurologically identical) to those of Western society.
Also, perhaps we are defining ED like anorexia wrongly. Maybe it’s a more general disorder, that happens to manifest itself as the anorexia we know in our society, but manifests differently in other societies. Or maybe it does just exist in our society. Different envrionmental pressures = different disorders.
To say it doesn’t exist or that it’s not a disorder just because the exact replica of the disorder is not found across vastly different cultures is rather unscientific…
Anorexia Nervosa and starving to death because you can’t afford food are not comparable. The definition of that ED in the DSMV is quite clear. Those at risk tend be white, from better economic backgrounds and female. I’ve read the literature too.
http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/mor_eat_dis-mortality-eating-disorders
I don’t see any very poor nations in the top ten. Now let’s look at malnutrition.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malnutrition#Statistics
Looks like all those poor countries are suffering from a lack of food not the overwhelming desire to not eat it.
Force feeding does occur in some countries as they are poor and see weight as a sign of wealth. But is that a mental disorder or a rational move? If you know something will bring you advantage, why would you not do it? The same could be said for certain people who starve themselves. You don’t know their minds. Baseball players take steroids for advantage even if it’s dangerous to them. This lady pictured is accused of everything form Anorexia to selling drugs. You are being really naive if you think this woman doesn’t know being thin is an advantage for her career. People will do anything to get ahead.
The fact that noone should make fun of ppl with mental illnesses doesn’t change just because their illness only occurs in a certain society.
The worst part of that video is that the poster deletes every comment from people that argue it’s a disorder rather than a choice. So the comment section looks like every single person believes in the F*** ‘em mentality.
i totally agree. i really hate it when people see really thin people and are like “that anorexic girl needs a cheeseburger”. its rude and wrong in so many ways. firstly, cheeseburgers arent healthy anyway, and if she is struggling with an ed its a mental disorder! its like telling someone with altzeimers to just stop forgetting things! and there are people who are naturally thin. everyone just puts so much focus and attention on girl’s weights and it isnt fair. super skinny guys dont called anorexic. (i know that guys get anorexia too and that guys have different bodies and metabolisms, im just saying that people are too quick to judge and focus too much on people’s, especially women’s, bodies.)
Whos the “zoe pal” of hers?!! I really like her but she could gain a few.
Saying you’re not an anorexic is one thing. But saying she’s not too thin, and not seeing any propblem… Somethings wrong. I don’t think she eats enough, but even if she did, the healthiest thing for her would then propably be to try to add weight by following a special diet customed for her special needs. But yeah, i think it’s just a case of not eating enough, she’s not like Twiggy, come on, Twiggy didn’t have that kind of chest! And i’m not saying she’s responsible for anything someone else does, but she sure don’t look ok.
She IS too thin. Yup, she’s in denial. BIG time.
if she’s not too thin, i’m curious what too thin looks like
Sorry Zoe, but there is a big difference between naturally skinny Audrey Hepburn or Kate Moss and you.
WOW people… What if she IS anorexic? Anorexia is a DISEASE. If she had cancer, would you all be so harsh?! What’s wrong with women, that we’re so insensitive to each other??
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disease
It is not a disease. There is no organism that developed within her body or came from outside of it that is forcing her not to eat.
Actually, it’s a psychological disease/disorder… maybe it could be more accurately compared to depression or bipolar disorder than cancer, but that doesn’t mean that anorexics just wake up one morning and decide they are going to stop eating.
Nope sorry, you are still wrong. A mental disorder it maybe but it’s still a habit. Somewhere you still make a choice. You choose not to eat. You could eat. Nothing is stopping you. If Anorexia is a disease I could call Heroin addiction one as well. You are making a choice. People don’t choose to have Bipolar disorder or Schizophrenia-really bad analogy.
I don’t buy into this new wave of people trying absolve individuals of their responsibilities. People make bad choices, they fall into horrible habits. That isn’t a disease.
I am going to have to say that this is one of the least intelligent comments I have ever read on this website, and there are some stupid things said evry single day.
1. Heroin addiction or any addiction is a disease. Ever heard of alcoholism??
2. Anorexia and bulimia are very severe diseases…again evr heard of Body Dysmorphic Disorder?
Some people don’t see their bodies the way the rest of the world does. You may see the number on the scale telling you are underweight, but what you see in the mirror is totally different.
You need to get a clue about a lot of things.
I am going to have to say that this is one of the least intelligent comments I have ever read on this website, and there are some stupid things said evry single day.
1. Heroin addiction or any addiction is a disease. Ever heard of alcoholism??
2. Anorexia and bulimia are very severe diseases…again ever heard of Body Dysmorphic Disorder?
Some people don’t see their bodies the way the rest of the world does. You may see the number on the scale telling you are underweight, but what you see in the mirror is totally different.
You need to get a clue about a lot of things.
It has been classified as a psychological disorder.
Ann, I think YOU’RE wrong here. For one thing, do you actually have any scientific credentials to back up your self-righteous claims? Have you studied anorexia and can you say for sure that there’s no neurological cause to that disorder? I think it’s very arrogant of you to assume that you know everything and that you know what is and isn’t a disease, especially since you’re clearly not a medical or psychiatric professional.
There is a lot of evidence to suggest that anorexia is a biologically-based disease rather than a lifestyle choice, as are other mental disorders. There is evidence that it involves disturbances in the processing of reward signals in the ventral tegmental area of the brain; that there are different patterns of dopaminergic receptor distribution and sensitivity in anorexics versus regular individuals, and that certain medications that act on those areas can improve symptoms in patients.
The bottom line is that I often find that the people who actually don’t know sh-t about a subject are often the loudest and most vigorous proponents of totally incorrect viewpoints. I think you should try and be a little less arrogant and offensive the next time you comment on a subject you clearly know nothing about.
“1. Heroin addiction or any addiction is a disease. Ever heard of alcoholism??”
It is not accepted by all medical personal that Alcoholism is a disease. There are plenty of doctors who do not feel it is an actual disease and by definition it is not. There is not outside organism that forces one to drink, therefore it is not a disease. Once again-you don’t have to pick up the bottle and drink. Therefore it’s not a disease. It’s a choice.
“.2. Anorexia and bulimia are very severe diseases…again evr heard of Body Dysmorphic Disorder?”
These disorders are not necessarily related. You don’t know what you are talking about. People with BDD do not develop Anorexia or Bulimia by default. People who are Anorexic or Bulimic do not have to have BDD.
No, you are the one that is wrong ann.
A person does not choose to percieve their body as something it is not. People often forget that anorexics do not see their body like the rest of the world sees it…a delusion. They forget this because it’s not a relatable symptom…it’s much easier to understand wanting to be thin, than understanding seeing something that isn’t real. Second of all, anorexics have an abnormal preoccupation with their size…a phobia of being fat, if you will. Does a person choose to fear spiders? No, it’s a malfunction of the fear/anxiety systems of the brain.
Second of all, in the last few years, a lot of headway is being done to understand the biological basis of ED’s, and there has been a lot of progress. Just as schizophrenia has do with dopamine, ED’s have their own representation in the brain.
Heroin addiction, by the way, is a disease. It is altered neuronal connections in the dopamine reward system. It changes normal cognition patterns. It’s very ignorant to say it’s just a choice…it’s a choice when you first do it, once you become addicted, it is no longer simply a choice.
“It’s very ignorant to say it’s just a choice…it’s a choice when you first do it, once you become addicted, it is no longer simply a choice.”
If it’s a choice when you first do it then it is still a choice.
Ann, in your attempts to sound smart on the topic, you only show how unknowledgable you actually are.
Regarding your response when I said that anorexia may have a problem of definition, you stated, “The definition of that ED in the DSMV is quite clear.” That’s exactly the problem. When researchers conduct research, for their results to have any ground, they have to use measures (questionnaires, criterion, etc) that have already been proven to measure the variable they are trying to observe. Guess what most researchers use for the measure of anorexia? DSM criteria. Guess what’s the problem with DSM criteria? Their accuracy has only been determined on Western individuals. The criteria may not observe, diagnose, or measure anorexia in non-Western individuals. Thus the call for more culturally-specific measures in psychological research today. So a reseracher who uses DSM criterion in a non-Western country may determine that an anorexic person is not actually anorexic because they don’t meet Western criteria.
“There are people who develop it who never had the markers.”
Being somewhat versed in psychology, I assume you’ve heard of the diathesis-stress model and the liability-threshold model. They are models of mental illness that state that mental disorders are biological by nature, but whether or not an individual will develop the disorder depends upon the envrionment. Both have been proven by replicated studies, and both are espoused by the DSM. I believe the threshold model was originally created to describe why some individuals with risk factors for schizophrenia don’t develop the disorder, why some develop only certain aspects of the disorder, and why others develop the full disorder. Basically, all disorders are assumed to lie on a continum, and whether or not you will have the disorder depends on how strongly variable your genes are, and how strongly your evironment “triggers” the disorder.
Same for anorexia. It is assumed to lie on a continuum, with environmental triggers beginning the disorder for high-risk individuals. Why do you think a lot of anorexics state that they have suffered some kind of abuse in their past? Mere coincidence? No, that was their environmental trigger.
And also, in theory, it makes sense. You have to remember, the brain is not like other organs. The brain is plastic…it will compensate for both structural and functional abnormalities, not just by rewiring its neurons but in terms of neurotransmitters and their receptors as well (as long as the abnormality is minor). Take away the brain’s ability to compensate, such as via stress, and you have a disorder. Also, since you seem keen on making a distinction between disorder and disease, most medical diseases have gene-environment interactions as well. Take congenital heart disease. Most individuals with that disease are expected to die by 25, yet some continue on to old age. Why? Environment. They didn’t stress themselves out, ate healthy, didn’t drink or smoke, and exercized regularly.
But, there you go. Feel free to continue with your inaccurate belief that anorexia is a lifestyle choice rather than a disease. I’ve noticed that in your responses, you select the weakest arguments to address, and ignore the stronger arguments and the personal stories (anorexic suffers by the way know the nature of anorexia better than you, I, or any researcher). I believe we have a name for that; we call it confirmation bias.
Thankfully though, I see that many people disagree with your opinion, which means that people in my field are doing something right in helping people debunk myths about mental illness. This is one of my aspirations in my career so I’m sorry if I come off aggressive, but I do find your ignorance personally aggrivating.
you sound VERY ignorant ANN. I ‘m currently working on my masters in psychology, I have much more to learn, but know enough to realize that your statements are WRONG. Anorexia could never be classified as a habit, its a psychological disorder.
WHY do you think these people just “make the choice” to starve themselves? Is it perhaps because psychologically they have distorted views? THEY MAKE THE “BAD” choice, because they are not mentally sound.
BRAVO CASEY!
For your information-I have a daughter who has anorexia nervosa and she was in the Renfrew Center for 3 months. Anorexia is a mental illness, in my daughter’s case, they have tied it to a type of autism.Anorexics get to a point where they can’t eat, even if they want to. Their bodies won’t allow them to eat. My daughter tries as hard as she can to eat, but she suffers from constant upset stomach and intestinal pain.Anorexics tend to totally despise and hate themselves and if you walked through the Renfrew Center and saw the suffering of these people and their families you’d realize no one would want to live like this.I think what’s really wrong in our society is that we are so fixated on being thin, we actuallyt envy and hate people with eating disorders-and eating disorders include over eating as well. We ridicule the over weight and the anorexic! These are people who have serious problems that just eating or not eating will not cure!
Sorry I used the “wrong” word. I should have said “disorder”… To echo Brittany, it is a psychological disorder, not a choice. Anorexia does not equal vanity. And it bothers me that people treat it as such, as evidenced by their criticisms.
Yep well said, this is exactly true. At the end of the day technically they are ‘choosing’ not to eat, but it’s still a psychological disorder that they get trapped in. It’s a lot more complex and the issues run deep, more than simply on the surface such as vanity.
Pistola is a pretty good song by Incubus, but you should definitely check out “Stellar”, “Pardon Me” and “Talk Shows On Mute” – those are by far my favorite songs of theirs!!
I don’t know why we’re talking about this, but, I love Incubus! Stellar and Pardon Me are great songs, and Wish You Were Here is one of my favorite songs of all time.
Alias, I think you might be my mind double. Haha.
LOL that is too funny! I always knew there was something about you I liked haha! Incubus is fantastic, I adore their music – you rule!!
exactly…it is a PSYCHOLOGICAL diseasse,. Educate yourself before opening your mouth.
Pistola I agree with you… btw is your username in any way related to Incubus’ song ‘Pistola’? If so that is tight, Incubus is one of my all time favorite bands in the world!!
it’s considered the most dangerous mental illness. having suffered from it for 2 years, i agree. i think it’s just frustrating for a lot of people to see this woman constantly denying she’s too thin and not getting help for whatever may be wrong with her
No, I didn’t choose the name for that reason… but now I’m going to have to check out that song!
Not to jump in but Anorexia is not a disease its a a psychological disorder I’m in a psychology class in college and my teacher said so thus I have done alot of my research on eating disorders. If you don’t believe me you can look in the dsm iv which is the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM IV) and you’ll find it there.
exactly. A psychological disorder also known as body dysmorphia. In their minds they see an overweight individual, even if they are emaciated. The DSMV classified HOMOSEXUALITY as a mental disorder until the 1970s. IT HAS PROBLEMS. many psychologists dont even reference it.. and thats exactly what its used for. for BASIC reference. Rachel Zoe is an anorexic, I hope she realizes her problem and seeks help.
That is not natural. You either have to be sick or make an effort to make yourself look like that. Most anorexics don’t want to admit or know they have a problem, they have a skewed image of themselves.
I just don’t understand how people can just “not eat”. Don’t they have low blood sugar and light headiness? How do they function? It baffles me!
I have anorexia so I’ll try and explain.
Yes, it’s true that you get dizzy and such. It takes a whole lot of effort to get out of your bed in the morning and you might faint, it’s difficult to concentrate and you’re constantly irritable, freezing and in pain (emotional and physical). These are just some physical effects, so yeh, it’s difficult to starve yourself (though you don’t eat nothing at all when anorexic but just very few calories every day). It also takes a lot of effort to hide it and seem normal and strong enough in every day life.
its a disorder and affects you like any kind of addiction does. of course she isnt goin to admit that she is anorexic because lying to yourself and others is part of it. she looks awful though. i hope people see that and are genuinely shocked by it. i was
I’m a little surprised and happy world war 2 isn’t going on in this post I thought people were gonna have a field day. I don’t think the Anorexia rumors are silly I think that they are adequate but I’m not necessarily gonna jump to conclusions and say she is anorexic. I’m not around Rachel Zoe 24/7. Nor am I gonna make assumptions because that’s why they start with A-S-S. But for someone who thinks that rumors about her being anorexic are silly she does show some pro anorexic behavior. For instance insisting that all her clients be as small as possible or a size zero even when they all have different bone structures an probably look good when they have a little meat on them i.e. Anne Hathaway saying she’s probably one of the more heavier actresses in Hollywood and ever since Rachel became her stylist she’s lost weight. Also we all know about Nicole Richie, Lindsay Lohan, Joy Bryant and Eva Mendes who I think has lost weight as well since she’s hires Rachel as her stylist.
i kinda feel sorry for her… :-/
I wouldn’t have belived 80lbs but she is short enough to believe it. Nicole richie was about 90lbs I would say at her thinnest. I’m all for the SUPER SLIM and sexy but this is sick. I wouldn’t ever want to be this thin…. when you see that much bone its not a good look cause it messes with your facial features. You have to find a happy medium. 100lbs would be good for her. Thats still soooo light for 5’1 too!!!!!!!! But 80lbs is SICK!!!!!!!! I wouldn’t want to die.
OK, Audry Hepburn was anorexic, Kate moss does coke and makes comments like “nothing tastes better than being thin”, and Twiggy was only that small when she was in her teens and early 20s, not now so why is she comparing herself to them?
I struggled with Anorexia for years and what bothered me is that anyone and everyone felt it was perfectly OK to come up to me and ask if I was anorexic. Co-workers would comment about everything I did or didn’t eat. Yet, if I were to go up to someone who is overweight and say “why are you so fat?” or say to my co-worker “Do you think you have enough food on your plate?” I would be considered completely rude. She most likely knows she has an ED and deals with that battle every day, but I can understand her not wanting to share that with all of the world. Because the more people know, the more they hound you and the the harder it is to recover.
I’m having a hard time deciding if she’s suffering from anorexia, or if she has a drug addiction since she has been accused several times of selling meth to her clients to help them slim.
If she is suffering from an addiction, I have a hard time feeling sorry for her since she was probably selling it to others as well.
hmmmm you may be on to something and now that I think of if why does she look so old of she’s supposedly in her mid to late 30s and why does lindsay lohan one of her former clients look old
And Nicole Richie was her client during her scary days. Also looked old.
you right
“Truthfully, I’ve never seen myself as being too thin,”
Do stars not realize that when they say things like this and demonstrate a skewed mental perception that it’s just going to make us believe them less?
I’m anorexic, and have gone through my share of denial but I don’t think it’s right for people in the media and who have an influence over young girls to say that they are healthy when they are clearly not. I can understand not wanting to disclose such a personal issue to the world (especially WHILE going through it) but it’s better to just not say anything about it than to trivialize an unhealthy image. Some can look at these pictures and comments and not be swayed but it can cultivate an negative perception in other more impressionable and insecure, indivuals.
To add a very important point that has not been mentioned –
Eating disorders are not always about weight per se. For many people, it is simply about control. In the West, people tend to have a more stressful perspective on life — and for many — restricting oneself food-wise provides an illusion that they have control over their lives — especially when nothing seems to be going as planned.
It’s tantamount to drug use/alcoholism.
For many, it’s much easier to ‘bury’ their problems beneath eating disorders or drugs — rather than face them head on.
She clearly has an ED. All anorexics say they don’t see themselves as too thin. And they all tend to say they do eat.
She needs help, unfortunatelly, she just can’t admit that she has some issues.
Looking at these pictures is sooo disturbing.
Probably her chest bones poking out everyone’s eyes brought up the silly rumours. Just saying.
gosh people….she is skinny but that’s her body-type…if she loses weight on the bottom she loses more up…and skin gets thinner and saggier (especially boobs) after 30 so you can see the bones more if you’re skinny
that’s why I think some women look better with more weight on after 30 something
I am also a pear shape but if my chest bones – which are a bit visible, due to losing more weight on top – would poke my eyes out i would believe something is not right. No matter what your body type is, poking bones is not ok. Nor a body type, actually. I know what you mean, my upper body and my lower body sometimes seem to belong to different people, however not to an extenct which screams unhealthy.
Wow. I just hope she gets some help…cuz she clearly has like, body dismorphic disorder along with being anorexic.
I guess my comment got deleted for not being politically correct enough which is a shame as it often feels like nobody is allowed to have an opinion on EDs unless a) you have suffered from one or b) it is in line with what the ED sufferers believe.
I feel that Zoe doesn’t deserve any sympathy or publicity as if she doesn’t want to admit she has a problem then there isn’t much people can say to change her mind. And I am guessing many people in her life have tried.
Also, I had a genuine question to those visitors of this site who are or have ever suffered from an ED. Why do you like to look at pictures of celebrity bodies, knowing that it probably doesn’t help your illness? Is this a compulsion, do you not think it makes any difference, do you feel ‘cured’ so it is safe to do so? Does it help you feel better in some way?
Jenna
I will be honest and reply to your comment. I have struggled with anorexia. I’m healthy now in that I eat 1500 – 1900 calories a day, exercise no more than 1 hour and can eat unhealthy foods without wanting to purge. But does that mean that I don’t have those thoughts? NO. I still weigh myself daily, I do look at these sites which is unhealthy I know and I still look in the mirror and pick apart myself.
There are two parts of healing, healing physically (which I am) and healing mentally (Can’t say I’m there yet). It isn’t something I can turn off but I also remember how terrible it was at it’s worst (always cold, losing my hair, numbness in my arms, legs and even my mouth at times) and I know that I can’t ever allow myself to go there physically again.
BRE, the fact that you made the choice to change (and I believe there is always a choice, difficult though it is) and feel able to talk about it honestly, shows you are on your way to getting there mentally as well. So hats off to you. A lot of people don’t even get that far and you can tell from the way they talk about their disorder and the language they use.
I don’t neccessarily think looking at sites is a bad thing, as long as they aren’t the proanna ones that glorify thinness. But for people who are still suffering with their ED the internet must be a constant source of temptation or ‘thinspiration’ as they say. And when you get people in the public eye like Rachel Zoe and Nicole Ritchie denying they were too thin when it is blatently obvious they were, it is sending out the wrong message and changes people’s perceptions of what is normal. And because it is the internet it is hard to know how representitive or realistic people’s perceptions are. Especially on blogs because the people who post are likely to be at one extreme or the other.
I agree, nicole and rachel denying having an ED can send the wrong message but at the same time I think anyone with an ED knows they are full of it. When I look at this site now, what motivates me are the women with muscles, with a bit of curves. I’m working towards building up muscle and a booty and maybe even some abs. Now when I look at pics like Rachel I think about how I never want to look like that so I guess it actually helps me from slipping.
you know, if you went by the internet you’d think every woman in america has anorexia and yet we are the fattest nation in the world. maybe it’s just me but if i had psych issues i’d probably want to keep that between myself and my therapist… but on the internet everybody is anorexic and wants to shout it from the rooftops. a trendy disorder i guess. also… you do not wake up one day and suddenly you are anorexic, you make a decision to stop eating and i’m willing to bet 99% of these chicks made that decision because they wanted to be a size zero and look like a model so people will like them and others will envy them and maybe one day they will be the popular girl. get over it and eat a sandwich. and if you can’t bring yourself to eat a sandwich, then go see a therapist and stop searching for thinspiration on the internet. frankly the whole “woe is me, i’m anorexic and it’s not fair” comments are extremely tiring and repetitive. join a support group for anorexics or something so you can commiserate together.
I think a lot of people would agree with you CoffeeBaby, especially if you went by the internet ‘buzz’. But there is rarely any point arguing with the anorexics that tend to post those comments. One minute they are proud of their illness and encourage others to be thin but then when people suggest they change they demand pity because it is a disease and they can’t help it. The internet didn’t cause anorexia but it definitely doesn’t help matters and kind of makes it seem more socially acceptable or prevalent than it actually is. And nobody is there to point this out to people.
I can’t speak for celebrities, but I never made the decision that I wanted to look like a model or be a size zero. I was always a perfectionist and growing up I went through a “chubby” period where my mother put me on weight watchers (obviously not smart). When it got the worst I had been working 60+ hours at a job with a jerk of a boss, I was finishing up a 2nd degree and pressured myself to be perfect in every class and had a live-in boyfriend that cheated and left me, leaving me to try to pay all the bills on my own. Obviously my life felt out of control and what started with being so stressed I couldn’t eat turned into feeling so stressed I didn’t want to eat. Before this I, like most, would love to look like a sexy VS model, but after months of starving you do start to look at that as almost being too big, that the more bones the better (it’s a form of self-punishment).
I never had a “feel sorry for me attitude” because to be honest, my eating disorder was nowhere near as bad as other things I’ve been through. Most people (except close friends and family) don’t even know that it is something I’ve struggled with. I’ve went to therapy and gotten better.
The one thing I will say, I would never judge the mental or physcial disorders that someone else has. regardless what one has been through you NEVER know that someone else has been through and you can’t judge them. I’ve have a friend that has been abusive to her body but she also was rapped by her father when she was 12. So to sit in judgement of others in such a way, to belittle a disorder that someone is struggling is insensitive when you have not walked in their shoes.
Coffeebaby, I hope that you or anyone close to you (even your child) never experiences an ED or another mental disorder. If you do I hope you don’t bring such judements to them as that will only worsen the situation.
What people do not realize is that the body has physiological responses to ‘starvation’ whether that is in a concentration camp or on a fad diet. The time it takes to affect people varies, but the body will make it so that starvation is more physically and psychologically comfortable. Eating becomes very difficult, even without the psychological ‘phobic’ part.
When non-anorexics lose weight or change their diet significantly toward starvation for various reasons, they, too, often have great problems forcing themselves to eat. It’s quite common in cancer and other diseases, even when nausea is not among the main symptoms.
What may start out as a strict fad diet can go disastrously wrong for many people, in other words. It’s largely physiological.
I’m not sure I follow your logic there. Also, you sound like a huge bitch, so I hope you are trying to say something other than what is sounds like.