3 ms·
Even if you do accept that disordered eating behavior leads to a longer life, that doesn’t mean that it’s the right thing to do. If someone is spending years of
by elil17 7y ago
Even if you do accept that disordered eating behavior leads to a longer life, that doesn’t mean that it’s the right thing to do. If someone is spending years of their life with increased social isolation, decreased free time, and decreased enjoyment of food, just to live marginally longer, is that a rational choice?
For me, it wasn’t a rational choice at all - it was an anxiety response to food with a good justification (health) that people around me were willing to accept. In retrospect, I realize how much I was missing out on. Life’s much better now that foods something I can enjoy and now that eating can be a social experience.
- not_a_moth 7y agoI can't accept the label “disordered eating”, given it's based on how people ate for millennia and the underlying mechanisms therein. There's of course room for middle ground. For example, I had a dinner I cared about, the host cooked lasagna, and I didn’t want to reject the host’s cooking or draw that kind of attention to myself. I know you can render your body in an insulin sensitive state if you do a muscle-glycogen depleting workout before, so I just did some weights after work and could enjoy the gathering guilt free. Definitely about health span too, not just lifespan. Ie invest now so at 60 you feel like 40, and can pick up (great)grandkids let alone be able to tie your shoes in your 90s.
- JamesBarney 7y agoDisordered eating isn't about the eating. It's about the thought process and obsession behind it. So the thought process you described is similar to orthorexia except the feeling of guilt is more powerful so it has a more powerful effect on behavior. For instance missing loved ones birthday's and avoiding go outing much at all in order to make sure you only eat the healthy food.