Eating Disorder Laws

What better way to spread awareness about eating disorders than through laws? I looked online and found a few recent laws that relate to EDs. The first is from Virginia, where the local government enacted a law that will allow schools to do ED screening and will require them to tell parents the results. I think this is a good idea, assuming students don’t lie.

In practice, I’m pretty sure students with eating disorders will just lie if they don’t want to be found out. And I’m wondering if this will inhibit students from coming forward to counselors about their issues if they will be reported to their parents. I didn’t go to a counselor in high school, but I doubly wouldn’t have gone if I knew they were just going to tell my parents about my problems.

In New York, the same kind of law is being debated.

And Israel has recently banned underweight models. I guess this is good, since it means models won’t be under so much pressure to be thin, and it might cut down on the number of their eating disorders. I don’t think it will cut down on the number of regular citizens who develop EDs though, because as you saw in my previous post, I don’t think the media plays much of a role in the development.

What do you think? Are these laws helpful or hindering? (ha, alliteration. Love it)

http://potomaclocal.com/2013/02/05/law-would-tell-parents-about-eating-disorders/

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/03/20/israel-bans-underweight-models_n_1366435.html

The Big Bad Media

How many of you have heard that the media “influences young girls to have thinner bodies?” That it “creates undue pressure to be thin” or that it “supports unrealistic stereotypes of women.”

Yeah yeah, we know. There are a lot of sources that talk about media being a huge influence on the development of eating disorders.

I don’t doubt that the media doesn’t help, but does it really cause problems? Personally, my ED has nothing to do with media. I developed anorexia when I was 13, when my family didn’t have a big TV and didn’t let me watch it until after dinner. And then in tenth grade I didn’t read any fashion magazines, I didn’t watch diet shows, and again I didn’t really watch TV until after dinner. Seeing thin actresses don’t make me think I’m too fat, and they certainly don’t make me think EDs are the route to go to lose weight.

Of course, I’m not everyone, but I would hazard a guess and say that it’s the people around us, not media, that actually have the influence. For instance, there are claims that the media promotes unrealistic standards for women. Well, I see thin women around me every day at my school. In fact, usually I don’t see much of a difference between their body shapes and the ones I see on TV. When I developed my ED, it was from looking around me and thinking “crap, I’m fatter than everyone else here” rather than swooning over some actress’s body.

As a side note, why do people say that actress’s and model’s bodies aren’t “real bodies?” I get that they’re airbrushed and made up to look good, but if you watch them live there’s not really any way they can change their body shape all that much. Isn’t it mean to tell them their bodies, which they probably work hard on to please everyone, aren’t real? Plus, I don’t understand why people can say that about women in the media when there are women we see every day in normal life with bodies like these. Are their bodies fake too?

I do think that excessively watching diet shows like Secret Eaters or Biggest Loser could have an influence on how you think about what you eat. Shows like these paint food as if it were an enemy, and they’re often triggering for me. However, I doubt that people would excessively watch them if they didn’t already have skewed values about food, in which case the media again didn’t really do much damage, it just didn’t help anything.

The exception to this is if a parent watches the shows a lot and her child accompanies her on the couch.

What do you think? Does the media influence the development of eating disorders? 

Why Eating Disorder Awareness Week is Important

According to Post Secret, this week is Eating Disorder Week! Or Eating Disorder Awareness week? The second one makes more sense. I’m not really a big fan of “awareness” weeks like rape awareness week or coming out week or things like that. Everyone has their own cause, and proclaiming that yours should have a week dedicated to it just seems to make you pompous, so it not only annoys everyone but also it means they associate your cause with annoyance.

At the same time, weeks like these are important. They highlight a problem and remind everyone that people are still suffering that something needs to be done. I think EDs in particular benefit from this, as they’re kind of invisible in this society. Everyone knows someone that’s gay, or they would if they looked hard enough. Rape discussions are becoming more and more integral to our culture. These problems get lots and lots of media attention, and EDs just don’t. At least not in terms of causes, how to spot one, and treatment options.

We are not alone. We’re not a tiny population of mutants. People with eating disorders can be found anywhere and everywhere, and they can be anyone. This week is the time when ED people can come out of the cracks and poke their heads around a little to find each other. And even if they don’t see anyone, a little media attention is a good reminder there are others who can understand us out there. 

Goals of the Week 32

My goal for last week was to follow my meal plan. That went pretty well, except for a few days. I realized I have a problem with eating a lot all at one time. I get dinner for 5 but eat it at 3 and then get hungry later. So my goal for this week is to eat each meal at the appropriate time. Breakfast at 8:30, lunch at 11:30, and dinner at 5. No sooner. 

My goal last week was to limit my vending machine spending to 2 days of the week. I did limit it to 5 days instead of 7, but I still spent about 10 dollars. This week my goal will be the same, and hopefully it will go better. I'm doing well today!

What are your goals?

How to be Remembered

This past weekend I attended a lovely memorial service for my grandfather. People told stories about his life, cried, laughed, and had a real celebration of his life. Someone said that this funeral had more love than any other than they could remember going to. 
It's not hard to see why- my grandfather was a guy that touched a lot of people in a lot of positive ways. He was involved in so many things and always had a hand to help. He told stories, brightened people's days, and took risks that made for great memories. For example, once we were vacationing in the mountains and he saw a bear outside. Normal people would stay inside, hoping the bear would just go away. My grandfather ran outside and started hooting and hollering, and trying to get a picture of the bear. 
Another example of the kind of man he was is that once a foreign family moved to his state from their home country. They didn't know a word of English, knew nothing about how to go about living in the United States, and had no points of contact. My grandfather didn't live near them, but he knew someone they knew in their home country, so they called him up. He apparently didn't understand a word they said, but he drove for hours to try to find them anyway. In the end he drove them everywhere they needed to go, helped with homework, helped with English, and overall just got them assimilated so that they could function as a family in America. 
There are many more stories, but I won't bore you. 
The point is that because of things like the above stories, the rows of the church at his memorial service were filled. And all of us

What this funeral taught me was:

1.    People remember you if you are kind to them and help them in profound ways

2.    People remember you if you are interesting.

3.    It is always better to do things rather than sit down and play video games or watch TV

After hearing about what my grandfather did during his life I have some new goals. To help more people, to have more experiences, and to not spend so much time doing nothing. Or doing nothing alone.

I don’t even want to change so that people will remember me after I’m dead. I want to change because people will love me while I’m alive, just as they did my grandfather. He was a very influential and loved man, and I think his life was the fullest it could have possibly been.

It’s a different world now, one where you have to get yourself on a path long before you can achieve your goals. But I can still have fun. And I can still touch those around me. I can live up to my grandfather’s legacy. 

Goals of the Week 31

My b/p goal for last week was to have all my intake before 9 PM. I didn't accomplish that a single day. I'm going to try it again but not yet, since I need to get back into the swing of things. This past weekend was my grandfather's memorial service, which was beautiful, except that there was food at every juncture. I ate and ate and ate and managed to purge some of it but the scale said I gained about 5 pounds. My goal for this week is to follow my meal plan. Plan my meals and set goals for myself, and then complete them. Starting earlier today, with breakfast. 
My goal last week was to not spend money on vending machine food. I can say there was a reduction in spending from what it was, but ultimately I failed. Since I really need to save my money for printing, I'm going to keep going with this goal. No vending machine spending on 5/7 days of the week. 
What are your goals?