The Department of Health estimates that the number of people in Ireland living with an eating disorder could be up to 200,000 people. In an evolving era of fitness, healthy eating and choosing strong over skinny it’s difficult to comprehend that this figure is such a major percentage of today’s population. As the face of fat loss alters from cardio and low-calorie diets to weight lifting and protein intake, it’s important to recognise that the number of hospitalisations of teenage girls for anorexia and bulimia has almost doubled over the last 10 years according to the HSE.
Eating disorders have in the past and present been associated more with women and less with men. This is illogical considering the exposure young males experience of bulky, toned men on social media and on television is basically the same as women. Due to this preconceived notion, less males feel they can ask for help which could mean the HSE’s stats are invalid relating to gender and eating disorders. Harriet Parsons, a manager from Bodywhys (The Eating Disorder Association of Ireland) previously said “It’s just as hard to be Ken as it is Barbie”.
Although the figures above suggest little progression, it is obvious that the new social trend of strong being beautiful has helped women majorly in the modern world of appearance.
As a person who has themselves gone through an eating disorder for a long time unknowingly, I feel this fitness epidemic has been both of benefit and obstruction to me personally. When I was in Transition Year for some unknown reason it became all the rage to go to the gym located right beside our school. At first, I went to be social. I enjoyed the gathering, but as the attendees dwindled out I felt less anxious about going by myself and it became a very regular occurrence, regular as in every day. At the time, I did not realise how a school trend had become my own obsession. Some days I felt like I needed to go twice and the constant exposure to wall to wall mirrors played tricks with my mind. This was well before the Instagram bloggers who encourage weight gain through high calorie diets and muscle building, so I had started to really restrict my diet in unhealthy ways. I even fed into those weight loss meal replacement shakes which had costed unemployed Sarah a fortune.
These bad habits cemented into my lifestyle up until college when I really started to notice and believe that people come in all shapes and sizes and are all beautiful. Since Transition Year I have been a member of a gym however what I do today in the gym is the complete opposite to what I did then. In the past, I would not leave the gym until I had burned 500 calories in cardio which left me with no energy for weights. Today, I haven’t cut cardio entirely, it’s important to be aware that it builds endurance and I do really enjoy running as a stress reliever, but it’s only seen as a warmup when I’m in the gym and the rest of my plan is aimed at weights.
Fitness whether it be at home, in a gym or playing a sport has a major role in the recovery process of an eating disorder if the right approach is taken. Like I said above it can become a destructive obsession. It’s important to monitor and it is vital to place your diet in junction with the amount of exercise you do. The direction fitness has taken at present is a mostly positive one with the inclusion of women in the weights room.
One thing I’m still trying to do is to throw out my scales. I find it so interesting looking at how weight on different people really doesn’t match size due to muscle mass, height and other factors. A possible replacement for those obsessed with the numbers on the scales is a measuring tape. It can be helpful in setting goals and tracking progress. I used to feel very confused when the scales had gone up, but the measurements had reduced. The scales are so discouraging especially when people are unknowing that a person’s weight can fluctuate up to as much 5 pounds (2.27kg) throughout the day!
Lastly and possibly my best advice, relax about your diet, don’t neglect it but trust me people on social media are not eating quinoa and oats 24/7. Eating well does in turn make you feel more energised and happier but snaccidents happen. Meal prepping has been a great tool for lessening my unhealthy snacking and is gentle on the bank account. There is a swell new fad I love surrounding nutrition to adapt a diet without cheat days. In this, you attempt to eat healthy 80/90% of the time and then when you indulge you don’t feel guilty or overdo it.
For those experiencing any form of an eating disorder don’t be afraid to ask for help. At the end of the day it’s a mental health issue so treat mental health like any other form of health, get medical advice. I may have helped myself using fitness and nutrition, but these are no remedies to cure how you perceive yourself or judge your appearance.
Bodywhys (Eating Disorders Associations of Ireland)
Photo by Jairo Alzate on Unsplash