
It seems that we live in an age of chronic dieting yet its doing nothing for us. Time after time I see people who want to, (or need to for health reasons) loose weight. Frequently they are consuming a 1000 calories or less and have been doing so for a considerable amount of time. Most initially come to me to either be exercised, expecting a boot camp or some sort of encouragement to force them into exercise. I often see people who are labeled "lazy" that are simply too weak, fatigued and malnourished to exercise. My initial comments that they should avoid exercise (why try and build a house without the foundations) are often difficult for people to comprehend. After a lifetime of being told by PT's and class instructors that the only way to stimulate the metabolism is to move, it can seem a little alien to be told to conserve energy and then top up energy reserves (re-generate, re-nourish etc).
One of the best things I ever studied was the effects of starvation on the body. It makes me smile but then I'm a health obsessed aspie that sees patterns a lot.
While working this morning I heard that Greg James from Radio 1 had accused Fearne Cotton of being a feeder. It appears that she bakes cakes to give to others, yet doesn't eat them herself. Its a phenomonom that I've covered in a previous post about low calorie lifestyles.
To sum up my previous post, Ancel Keys, of the University of Minnesota, ran starvation studies to learn how people react to starvation and to assess the best way to recover from it. The subjects were required to walk 22 miles a week. All their food was prepared in a dormitory kitchen, and their average daily calories during the semistarvation period was about 1800 calories a day. They ate approximately 3200 calories daily before the study and were all of normal weight.
The subjects described many symptoms which we attribute to other things:
Lethargy, irritability, anxiety, dizziness, cold intolerance (they requested heavy blankets even in the summer), muscle soreness, hair loss, reduced coordination and edema amongst other symptoms. Their libido disappeared and more importantly they became obsessed with food, many collected cookbooks and recipes and took great pleasure in baking for others. One man collected around a 100 cookbooks yet had no previous interest in cooking or baking. Some even became chef's after they left the experiment.I often have clients in fits of rapture when I mention the obsessions with baking for others and they confess to "loving making cakes for others to eat, but they never try them." I've often noticed that Scott Mills laughs at Sara Cox on Radio 1 for her constant food talk on her shows. He even goes as far as using it for comedy features and games on his shows. Fern Cotton and Chris Moyles both discuss food a lot, many wouldn't consider Chris Moyles under nourished but I do. In recent years he's been overtrained by a PT and has begun under eating, the result, he's now a proficient chef and talks about nothing but food. Same goes for Fern, it makes the show twice as interesting to me and my clients who recognize the symptoms of a hungry seed eating DJ.
Does any of this sound familiar?
Food obsession/disorders
• Increased interest and preoccupation with food (talking, preparing, making meals last longer using a variety of methods such as sucking food). This includes baking etc for others and getting enjoyment from seeing others consume food.
• Heightened craving for food. Is it any wonder when we starve ourselves.
• Became possessive about food.
• Increased gum chewing, smoking, drinking of coffee and tea, and nail biting which also links in well with increased cortisol secretion.
• Purchased useless items and/or hoarded money. Clothes, foods, shoes, handbags, I see it all.
• Some escaped and binged with feelings of guilt (some followed by vomiting) .
Radio 1 Greg James Show about Fern the Feeder (only available for a week)