Eating Disorders As One of the Seven Deadly Sins (revised)

When I was young, my generation was shocked by a new disease: anorexia. The popular singer, Karen Carpenter put a face on this eating disorder for many of us when she died. Then real people we knew began exhibiting signs. Girls anxious to emulate Twiggy [the British model who looked like her name] began to starve themselves--quite literally. Today most know about the progression of the disease:
1] see yourself as outrageously FAT no matter the truth;
2] eat progressively less and less--by doing it progressively, the body adjusts so that one does not feel hunger in the normal way;
3] the body begins robbing itself to get the nutrients needed to the most vital parts so that at the same time the less vital organs begin to fail, then progresses to more and more vital parts failing until finally: death;

At the same time the person thusly afflicted is:
1] still seeing herself as FAT even though any possible needed weight loss is long past;
2] happy to be "in control" over what she is putting into her mouth--proud of the increasing "control" which is literally killing her;
3] often beginning to wear increasing layers of clothing so when the inevitable concerns are raised, the weight loss is somewhat disguised; [plus she is cold from having lost so much of her body fat!]
4] becoming a liar--lying about what she is eating to satisfy those who question;
5] becoming angry at anyone who tries to intervene in anyway--seeing those people as a threat to her own control;

Please note, that although I say "she" males are also afflicted with this disease/disorder--just not so often.


Then we learned about bulimia. The progression is similar, except that the bulimic person does not starve herself by not eating--no she binge eats, then causes herself to regurgitate everything--thus starving herself. Some will use laxatives and/or diruretics even going so far as to weigh everything that comes out to be sure that everything has!


I think anorexia and bulimia are just two of three faces of the same disorder: control through food. The third face, in my opinion, is gluttonyrecognized as one of the Seven Deadly Sins.

Some see the glutton as a person with no control. I believe that may be an early stage, but I see the glutton progression as:
1] eating as enjoyment
2] eating as a reward and/or eating as a consolment
3] excess eating becomes a norm--apetite grows larger and larger--killing off the good sense to stop eating when full or to take "normal" sized portions;
4] as others begin to say something, the glutton becomes defensive, whether orally or just in her own mind--making choices or controlling what goes into her mouth.

I almost switched to a masculine pronoun for the glutton, as that hits males harder than females, and it more acceptable to societyfor males to be overweight, so tends not to be checked as quickly as females. But as with the other two aspects, it goes for both sexes.

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My recent trip to Boston was filled with good food. Whenever my family gets together, we tend to go a bit overboard with food, we love it--too much!. Then Erica came home, and what do we do to welcome her back? We eat. Lots.

Then came Mother's Day, and a special dinner made in my honor by Erica. I ate too much of the delicious items that I should eat much more sparingly--including fruit! [filled with carb = sugars--not too good for a diabetic to overindulge!

Finally, yesterday, we got around to celebrating Erica's 18th birthday--with more food, including a devil's food cake with triple chocolate frosting and mint chocolate chip ice cream.

By last night, I was stuffed! And I didn't really gorge myself--I've just gotten accustomed to much smaller (and healthier) meals.

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I've a friend at the hockey rink who stand at least 5'7" and weighs about 100lbs. She strugggles with anorexia. She is going thru a particularly nasty divorce which doesn't help, but she says she looks in the mirror and sees herself as fat. She went thru a hospitalization and treatment--and is doing much better now, but she still sees herself as fat. She also feels much of the time that the only control she has in her life, is over what she puts into her mouth. And therein lies the danger, for when everything else seems out of control--she feels like she can regain some control by starving herself.

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It seems like we are out of control when we practice gluttoney. But upon reflection, I see it as another form of control. I made myself sicker in many areas thru gluttoney. My back could not support the extra weight, so as long as I kept the weight on, I got more attention...I controlled how others saw me... and got all sorts of attention--which I now recognize and regret.

After being diagnosed with diabetes, I was able to pretty much get a handle on the gluttony. I still watch carefully for low-sugar signs--usually because I've caused myself to not eat for too long. After all the recent indulgences with food, I sat in my living room TRYING to belch, burp or anything, it hit me , that overeating was another face of the improper eating styles. While I may never be a sveldt size 8 again, it is highly possible to be a nice size ten--I simply have to remember to eat : breakfast, lunch and dinnier at the proscribed times and the proscribed amounts...and remember that gluttoney is a deadly sin. But we can repent.

I hope never to again experience anorexia--which I did when I was in the process of divorce. I was fortunate in that it was caught quite early on...I was already seeing a psychologist weekly--and he "checked me out" to my nurse step-mother with whom my kids and I lived for the following few months. Between Jan and my Dad, one of the most healthy eating nuts ever [after having done a bout with gluttony] I learned how to control what I ate without going overboard--something I still must guard against. So when medications began causing a weight gain, my pendulum swung the other way--and I've had my bout with gluttony.

It really isn't all that hard to eat right--once we learn how. I confess to my children...I really truly tried, but did not properly teach you how--I was still struggling with my own issues.

So: here is my advice. Eat whatever you want--just in small portions. Be careful not to overindulge as a regular thing, but don't worry about the occasional indulgences. Be careful to balance your nutrition throughout your day.

I still think a piece of birthday cake with a glass of milk is fine for breakfast[for a healthy person]--but then have vegtables for lunch, not another piece of cake!

So here's hoping that with the advent of warmer weather, we all can go out and stretch our legs getting what exercise is best for each of us as individuals. At the same time we can be healthy eaters...and see ourselves for what we are, and not try to be unhealthy "twigs"!