<p>Does anyone else here have problems with regular, healthy eating?</p>
<p>At school, I'm the "perfect" student: I get good grades, I'm super involved with school activities/school spirit, and I always stay after school to help my classmates if they're struggling with the material.</p>
<p>But recently, with the stress of junior year (and the never-ending onslaught of SATs, SAT Subjects, AP exams, and extracurricular commitments), I've developed many stress-related problems, including eating disorders and an obsession with weight.</p>
<p>I've always had an obsessive personality, be it with academics, athletics, or hobbies. Often, this manifests itself as an obsession with perfection. </p>
<p>Since CollegeConfidential is filled with hoards of super-students with near-perfect academic and extracurricular records, I was wondering if anyone else here has gone through the same thing. How did you overcome it?</p>
<p>Perfectionism in academic affairs (even when it rises to the level at which some may characterize it to be obsessive) does not seem to naturally lead to obsession when it comes to eating habits and weight. You claim further that you have a generally obsessive personality, but even the seemingly universal way in which you find this to manifest appears distinct from the typical causes of eating disorders.</p>
<p>Eating disorders that are derived from weight obsession are distinct from other obsessions in that the former are not so easily overcome through intellectualization, or thinking things through in a rational way. This is attributable to the fact that eating disorders are most frequently emotional in nature: They are rooted in more intangible emotional distress or emptiness and – in a way that is unfortunate for recognizing the true cause – are often a means to suppress the realization of the emotional problems. There is a strong association between eating disorders and other emotional problems, such as low self-esteem (and not the sort that motivates compensatory academic or extracurricular achievement), self-consciousness anxiety, and other depressive markers.</p>
<p>Do you feel that conceptualizing the problem along those lines (rather than as a simple effect of duty-related stress and obsessiveness) may help you to solve it better? If so, there are a number of approaches you can try.</p>
<p>Silver turtle made some good points, but I have to say that I disagree somewhat. I’m a perfectionist, too, so I totally understand where you’re coming from. </p>
<p>I definitely don’t have an eating disorder, but I kind of obsess over eating healthy and working out and sticking to a workout plan or saying no to junk food. It’s a constant source of frustration for me. I used to have weight loss goals and I was obsessed with the number on the scale, but over the past few months I realized that I don’t want to look stick thin with no fat or real muscle. I want to be fit, not worried about jean size or pounds. Being fit is far better than looking anorexic and that’s really what your goals should be. It’s also far more attainable. </p>
<p>Another thing I would suggest is to try and redefine your definition of beauty. There’s no strict guidelines for what beauty is. It’s up to you to decide :)</p>
<p>I hope that helped a little bit. It takes time to change…</p>
<p>^ Thanks for sharing that perspective. I guess I should have been a bit more encompassing in my original response: It is certainly possible to struggle with concerns over one’s weight (and in turn diet) but not have an eating disorder. Stress can make these concerns worse, even if no underlying or comorbid psychological concerns exist. Under these circumstances, reminding oneself of the fact that one’s self-image is negatively hypersensitive or skewed toward the unhealthy can be powerful if that idea resonates, which is helped by reassurance from friends.</p>
<p>What my response reacted most to was the OP’s feeling that he or she already has an eating disorder, the development of which is more indicatively meaningful than is a regulated desire to eat in unhealthy ways.</p>
<p>I’m way too tired to read the large blocks of text in front of me (lol), but I completely relate. I have always had an obsessive, addictive personality and been somewhat of a perfectionist but it has gotten worse these last couple months with the absurd amounts of testing I have to do. At one point I was so stressed/busy that I wouldn’t get around to eating until I got home from school (I’m home from 2-3 between school and work) and that would be my only meal. I would end up eating a ton and then feeling bad about it and not eating again till the next day. So unhealthy. Ever since i planned out my meals and started making breakfast and lunch the night before it’s been helping a lot cause I don’t have to think about what I’m eating since it’s right in front of me. been working on it though and it’s definitely getting better.</p>
<p>I’ve definitely had this problem. I can’t exactly explain the psychology behind mine, but I do think it was related to perfectionism, not so much intellectual but more social? If that makes sense. I felt like I would never be good enough although I did have lots of things going for me, so I decided that losing weight would solve all my problems. I became obsessed and I ended up losing like 30 pounds because I just couldn’t stop. Fortunately my best friend realized I had a problem and talked to my mom and me about it. Without both of them there to hold me responsible for actually eating, I would probably be struggling still. Support is key.</p>
<p>As silverturtle mentioned in post 2 on this thread, intellectualism actually prevents me from an eating disorder. I’ve done the research and know both methods won’t help me reach my goals. With that said though, I tend to eat so much food (out of boredom, just for the taste, etc) that it becomes a cycle of pledging to eat less, breaking that promise, and then hating myself for it. I love food way too much to ever truly diet.</p>
<p>ps silverturtle, your SAT prep guide is AMAZING</p>