Terrible relationship with food, is this an eating disorder

[Niksig]

So I've had this problem for years but each time it comes back its more extreme.
so over the last few years I've lost and gained weight I never maintain, when I've lost weight most of the time its due to be doing extreme things like not eating, taking slimming medications, vomiting after eating, taking too many senna tablets, drinking slimming teas.... I realize its a problem but I cant help myself I feel guilty for eating because I am massively over weight.
in the past it has got to the point my hair has been falling out and I have felt so weak, the dr made me write a food diary explaining how I felt after eating but it didn't help.
it comes in waves of a few months at a time and when I'm back to eating I eat stupidly and put weight back on, I'm extremely unhappy with the way I look, I have a really unhealthy relationship with food and its really getting me down.
at the moment I'm on day 8 (I think) of not eating properly and vomiting after food, I do need to lose weight desperately but I need a healthy way to do it, I have bad legs so gym and most exercise is ruled out sometimes I feel like this is my only option.

i realise ive rambled a bit here and i dont know if it makes any sense at all lol.
I don't even know if I'm posting in the right place for this tbh and I don't know what I'm looking for, I guess I just need someone to tell me I don't have an eating disorder and I'm just being silly.

Thanks and sorry guys x

[palomine91]

Exercise isnt the be all and all of losing weight. YOu can do this in a number of ways such as eating more healthy foods but dont ever skip a meal as this makes your stomach shrink and will cause more harm than good.
You could try eating little and often which may stop you wanting to make yourself sick after eating.

[BigPlay]

I'm not an expert, (Your doctor is probably better), but you can ask for him to suggest a nutritionist to help you look at meal plan's and amounts.

Exercise isn't the best way to lose weight, as you don't spend that much over your resting calorie burn rate. It does build muscle, and does help with heart health etc, however don't over do it.

Few other things to try - cut the carbs / sugars as much as you can, this is what most athletes do to cut weight, and it works for us normal people. Start with soda/pop/juice etc. The consensus of the few Doctors I have visited recently is higher fat and protein, and lower carbs. Some however think low fat, high carb is better. If what you are doing now isn't working, switch to the other way. Look up the Ketogenic \ Paleo \ Primal \ LCHF diets. Lot of interesting new research coming out about that.

Hair falling out - some sort of nutritional deficiency. Could be zinc. You can buy cheap zinc tests to see if you are deficient. You can ask your doctor for a blood test.

You may find that this sort of change helps, or you may not. Anxiety can be caused by lack of different nutrients, and you can ask for a blood test from your doctor for all the normal things (Zinc / vit D / iron / mag etc).

Hope this is helpful.

[Niksig]

Thank you I'll have a look into all this xxx

[Bigboyuk]

Hi Niksig yes it does point to some eating disorder which can be in many disguises from over eating to comforting your self to the other extreme where you want to make your self sick. I struggled for years with my weight and eventually found a very supportive group called Overeaters Anonymous there are many local OA groups across the uk and there could be one near to you do have a look and see if there is a group near you it really does work and they are great help on the road to recovery :) Let us know how you get on ATB

[Niksig]

Thank you I will definitely have a look into this x