Airys Mind Fitness Blog

Hi!!!

The main reason of this blog it to talk about motivation so I wanted to start talking about self-esteem and self-image. This are not easy topics so I’m trying to make them clear and easy to understand, but, most important, to make them feel motivating.

Since it’s getting harder to blog  as I’m at the end of my semester at school, I haven’t finished my post yet so I decided to post a serial of topics I consider very important when following a fitness plan. I will briefly talk about eating disorders or (since some are not only related to food) fitness disorders. This problems happen more often that we might think and sometimes remain unnoticed until it’s too late.

The disorders I shall expose are: anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, orthorexia nervosa, bigorexia, compulsive overeating and binge eating disorder.  Hope you find this information useful and I will be happy to answer your questions or personal concerns.

Anorexia Nervosa

Anorexia means no appetite and it’s a common symptom of many disorders that also happens as consequence of some meds. when we refer to anorexia nervosa we are talking about a whole set of symptoms that refers to an illness itself. It’s a very common eating disorder in where the person gets obsessed with weight and does everything possible to keep it low, like using drugs to loose weight, taking laxatives or inducing vomiting and avoid eating.  In this disorder, social conditions go hand-in-hand with physical and genetic conditions. When the person accepts all cultural stereotypes of beauty and these don’t match their own body image, deals with a family with weight problems (overweight or underweight) and with an environment that constantly requires a low weight, along with certain personality characteristics and a deficient brain and genetic structure,  is more likely to have anorexia and any other eating disorder.

This disorder leads to different types of health problems. An anorexic girl is anxious all the time and fears of her weight, gets easily depressed, can be so undernourished that her hair falls off, her skin gets dry and stained, she gets cognitive impairment (diminished memory and attention processes), as well as muscle impairment and dysmenorrhea (loss of her menstrual period).

Although this disorder is more common among women also happens among men, but remains hidden for longer.

If not controlled on time, can be deadly. Many models in the beginning of their careers have died from this disorder in which a person loose so much weight that they don’t even look like humans. 

Treatments for anorexia include psycologycal therapy, pharmacology therapy and some authors have even consider brain surgery to change body image. Either case treatment includes nutrition advice and medical follow.

The most important is to identify anorexia (and any other disorder) on it’s early stages because the more the illness grows the more difficult to treat it becomes.

If you think a friend of yours or you might have any of these symptoms (or symptoms of any other eating disorder) do not hesitate and ask for help to a health professional, know that this are social and medical problems that happen a lot in western cultures and have a treatment. You are not alone!

Next week I will talk about bulimia nervosa.

Have a great weekend!!