Friday 4 September 2009

Supersize v Superskinny | Series 1 Episode 1 | Tatiana & Sandra

19 year old Tatiana weighs 6st 9lbs (93lbs) and her BMI is just 15 - thanks to her tiny portions. Sandra on the other hand is very overweight at 23st 4lbs (326lbs) due to her late-night comfort eating.
Also, follow Gillian McKeith as she tries to reduce the size of Britain's arses and Anna Richardson as she tries out a bizarre model diet.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0xMz4EYaa2s
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z_vSiGYhAjc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t-9JcjNvDf8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kK9O4uP06Iw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nayw_t1Md10

Happy Watching :)

Sunday 2 August 2009

5 reasons why you shouldn't purge today.

So, you feel you've eaten too much, or maybe you have eaten to much, and often in this situation it's very tempting to purge, especially if you feel particularly bad about yourself, but here are 5 quick reasons not to, and if I can get through to just one person I will feel satisfied.
  1. The damage done by over-eating can be fixed by exercising and cutting your calorie intake for a few days, but the damage done by purging can last a lifetime - even years after your recover from an eating disorder your teeth may be yellow, you could suffer from cancers of the gullet, mouth and throat and your gag reflex may not return to it's original state.
  2. You will still've absorbed some of the calories. Your body begins to absorb calories from the minute food and drink enters your body, so it's impossible to get them all out.
  3. Think about whether you'll really feel better. I know purging just depresses me further. The guilt I experience whilst binging is replaced by the guilt of knowing I'm damaging my body.
  4. If you don't do it just this time then that will make it easier to stop next time and it could help break the cycle.
  5. Just think, this could be the time that it goes very wrong. You can die from bulimia, cardiac arrest caused by electrolyte imbalances or low potassium levels is one of the more common causes and it could happen to you. Do you really want to die because of this disease?

Stay safe darlings.

Happy reading :)

Tuesday 21 July 2009

Dana: The 8 year old anorexic.

Dana is 8 years old, and shortly after her 8th birthday she began dieting, which quickly turned into anorexia nervosa.
She's been put into Rhode's Farm, a clinic for children and young adults suffering from anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa, for 12 weeks in a hope that she'll recover.

http://www.veoh.com/browse/videos/category/educational/watch/v16140109X8ZMecHB
http://www.veoh.com/browse/videos/category/educational/watch/v161401116M8tZ2D5

It's really interesting as you really see how it has effected Dana's family.

Happy Watching :)

Saturday 11 July 2009

I. Love. This. Website.

http://www.dietandfitnesstoday.com/
It's packed full of resources and essential information. Find out your BMI, body fat percentage, waist-to-hip ratio (whether you're an apple or pear shape) and how many calories you're burn sitting down - to name a few things.

Have a look around, maybe print some things out.

Happy Reading :)

Friday 10 July 2009

Calorie Restriction.

When I say calorie restriction I'm talking about eating a daily calorie intake of roughly 1,200 - 1,800, maybe a little more or less depending on the person. I don't mean a couple of hundred calories each day.

It's something that's interested me, but I've never really bothered to look it up until now. I found an interesting article in the New York Magazines website: http://nymag.com/news/features/23169/ and it definately provided me with some information.
Firstly, I was surprised by the amount of calories eaten. All of the people mentioned in the article eat 1,300 calories or over.
Secondly, they didn't seem particularly obsessed with their weight at all, it was more about health over all.

I was first introduced to the concept of Calorie Restriction (sometimes referred to as CR or CRON, which stands for Calorie Restriction Optimum Nutrition) when I read the blog of Dylan, ex-maintainer of the Livejournal Proanorexia website and argueably quite the sociopath. I was slightly intrigued but decided that obsessing with my weight was enough, I simply didn't have the energy to find out how much zinc, vitamin K, sodium etc everything I consumed contained.

But now, as the thought of recovery occasionally skims through my mind, it is becoming more of an option. I'd be eating more, I'd be eating healthily and my weight wouldn't zoom up. Could CR be the answer for me and others suffering from eating disorders?

Right now I don't feel ready for recovery, but I hope one day I'll embrace it, perhaps with the help of calorie restriction.

Wednesday 8 July 2009

My Big Fat Eating Disorder.

I didn't write this, but I like it.
"My Big Fat Eating Disorder."

I have an eating disorder. Not Bulimia or Anorexia but EDNOS. This means that i alternate between puking and starving. I also have rules. Bread has to be eaten in even numbers. Cake is evil. Carbohydrates are secretly plotting against me. Diet Coke is the elixir of youth and beauty.

My EDNOS is 19 years old. It started out as Anorexia when i was 15. Then i progressed to Bulimia, otherwise known to some as a failed anorexic. My weight fluctuates between slightly overweight, slightly underweight and somewhere inbetween. Which proves that my methods of losing weight aren't that efficent, but this is not about logic. This is not about doing the right things like eating less and exercising more. This is not about being sensible or healthy or a shining example of mental health. This is not about Jamie Oliver and his organic pig testicles. This is not about looking good on the beach and wanting to be a supermodel. This is not about wanting the cute guy in the coffee shop to beg for your telephone number. This is not about sliding a pair of skinny jeans over your hip-bones and laughing all the way to the check-out till.

This is not about wanting attention until complete strangers force feed you Black Forest Gateaux and siphon double cream into your skinny latte.It is not about deliberately pissing off the nurses by hiding your peas under your fork and stashing butter in the bed pans. It is not about starving for all the children in Africa. It is not about reading the magazines and pining for the Body Mass Index of Paris Hilton’s pet Chihuahua. This is not a conspiracy created by the Patriarchal system to oppress women.

This is about having the self-esteem of a gnat’s arse. This is the polite way of committing suicide. This is about having no life because it’s impossible to order a bowl of dry cereal in a restaurant and ask them to hold the raisins. This is about weighing pasta, cereal, raisins and anything that passes your lips, including toothpaste. This is about secrets and lies and shame. This is about not wanting to admit that you need to eat. That you deserve to live.

This is about being scared. This is about being terrified. Of everything.

This is about control. This is about sex. This is about putting relationships on hold until your thighs don’t meet in the middle and by then you have no libido anyway. This is about hiding under layers of clothing that are mostly black. This is about “Please don’t look at me and cover all the mirrors with black crepe.” This is about avoiding the camera, even at your sister’s wedding. This is about intense self hatred.

This is about needing so much that you can’t stand it. This is about having emotions that bubble up and spill out all over the carpet and stink up the whole house. This is about having too many choices and too much pressure and isn’t it easier just to keep it simple and obsess about the amount of calories in a small cantaloupe? Instead of making big scary choices that might crush you to a pulp?

This is about wanting to be safe. This is about wanting to curl up in a nutshell like Thumbelina and ignore the big bad world that’s too noisy and dangerous and can’t be trusted. This is about not trusting anyone and relying on food (or lack of) to give you an all enveloping comfort blanket when the medication bloats you up like a corpse in a river.

This is about really crappy coping methods. This is about making a choice that will quite possibly kill you. This is about failed relationships, waiting lists, devastated families, waiting lists, becoming vegetarian, becoming vegan, becoming lactose intolerant, developing a wheat allergy and more waiting lists. This is about infertility, rotten teeth, and hollow bones. This is about cardiac arrest in a shopping centre. This is about being sick. This is about not being sick enough. This is about finally being sick enough for a bed in a unit until you drop down dead and you get a mention in the local paper for being such a model student.

This is not about food.

Sunday 5 July 2009

Exercises to add to your workout.

There're two problems with doing the same workout day in day out. The first is that it's hopelessly dull and the second is that when your body gets so used to doing them it adjusts, you don't work as hard and therefore you burn fewer calories.
So, if you're lacking ideas and exercises to spice up your workout with then here are a few.

Mountain Climbers - A challenging calisthenic exercise which works the core and legs whilst increasing the heart rate.
Begin in a pushup position on the hands and toes. Bring the right knee in towards the chest, resting the foot on the floor. Jump up and switch feet in the air, bringing the left foot in and the right foot back. Continue alternating the feet as fast as you safely can for 30-60 seconds.
http://exercise.about.com/b/2009/04/14/exercise-of-the-week-mountain-climbers.htm

Burpees - A difficult but do-able calisthenic exercise.
Begin in a squat position with your hands on the floor in front of you. Kick your feet back into a pushup position. Immeadiately return your feet to the squat position. Leap up as high as possible from the squat position.
http://www.rosstraining.com/articles/burpeeclip.htm

Jump Squats - An easy calisthenic exercise that will work your legs and keep your heart pumping.
Begin in a squat position with your hands on the back of your head. Jump up quickly with as much power as possible. Land in the squat position again.
http://mrjefffitnessfun.files.wordpress.com/2009/06/squat_jump.jpg

Jumping Jacks - One of the most simple cardiovascular exercises possible that is unfortunately often ignored.

Happy Reading :)

Exercise Playlist.

Just thought I'd share my exercise playlist for those looking for inspiration for their own playlist.
  • Circus - Britney Spears.
  • Naive - The Kooks.
  • Paper Planes - MIA.
  • Heartbeat - Scouting For Girls.
  • Boyfriend - Alphabeat.
  • Disturbia - Rihanna.
  • Bette Davis Eyes - Leighton Meester.
  • Perfect Day - Hoku.
  • Rabbit Head (Raise It Up) - Florence and the Machine.
  • Speakerphone - Kylie Minogue.
  • Mad About The Boy - Ava Leigh.
  • Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger - Daft Punk.
  • Hot + Cold - Katy Perry.

Daft Punk, Kylie Minogue and Alphabeat are my workout music must haves, they're songs are so energetic.

Happy Reading :)