Eating Disorders...Not Just for the Young

Eating disorders and eating bad has affected us and still affects on a daily basis, even though we may not think that we are affected. Young people are not the only ones that have eating disorders. We are going to look at who is affected by eating disorders. I was reading a post from The Huffington Post about how young people are not the only ones that are affected. I want to re-iterate a few points from THIS BLOG POST, and explain my take on these topics as to why older people are NOT exempt from eating disorders. Here are ways you can tell that you have an eating disorder.

1. Preoccupied Thoughts 
All to often we find ourselves being preoccupied with thoughts about food, weight loss, or cooking. This is kind of one of those, "I like to cook / I have a problem and need to stop thinking about food" types of things. If you are a stay-at-home mom or person that likes to stay home, then you find yourself around food and in the kitchen a lot. You eat, drink, live, sleep, with food at the forefront. Older people struggle with this one more than younger people. They have more time to plan and eat.

2. Avoid Social Gatherings
If you know that a social gathering will be at a restaurant or it will have food, you try to avoid it at all costs. This could be hanging out at a sports bar and can go so far as not wanting to go to a friend's house because there will be food there. This is the second way that you can know that you have an eating order. Why do you have to avoid social gatherings because there is food there? Moderation!

3. Mood Swings, Irritability and Depression
If you have ever had an eating disorder when you have to eat to be happier and when you don't eat you feel like ripping someone's head off, you can relate to this all too well. People that have to eat in order to be happy, less irritable, or come out of mood swings have an eating disorder. If you raised your hand and said, "That's me," then you can be sure that you have an eating disorder. You can be older or younger, it doesn't matter. I have known older people that have mood swings as if there is no tomorrow.

4. Nervous or Indecisive
Do you get nervous or indecisive around meal times? If you are like a lot of the people that have an eating disorder, you may realize that you have nerves in the form of an upset stomach or gas. People with eating disorders are nervous or indecisive about their lives or decisions when it comes to meal times. Older people can experience these symptoms as well as younger people, its not just about younger people.

I hope that you have properly assessed your life and if you have an eating disorder, whether you are younger or older. There are 5 more ways that you can decide and assess whether you have an eating disorder. CLICK HERE to go to The Huffington Post's originally quoted post! I hope that you guys can look forward to fixing your eating disorders now that we have looked at some characteristics of people that have eating disorders.

For more information on the most widely spread eating disorder, anorexia nervosa, you can go to the link below to get more information from Dr. Oz on how to fix this eating disorder.
CLICK HERE!

I want to encourage you to fix your life and the problem of eating disorders whether you are a healthy younger person or you are an older person that is struggling.

~Obesity Overload


Sources:
The Huffington Post
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/03/02/eating-disorders-later-in-life_n_6784498.html

Dr. Oz
http://www.doctoroz.com/article/fact-sheet-anorexia-nervosa