Anorexia is different than dieting. While someone who wants to lose weight may temporarily change their eating habits or eat healthier food, people with anorexia become obsessed with their eating and weight. A person without anorexia typically has a fairly accurate assessment of their bodies. People with anorexia may be dangerously underweight and still consider themselves to be fat.
It may be difficult to know whether a friend or family member is dieting or has an eating disorder like anorexia nervosa. There are warning signs of anorexia nervosa that may indicate that there is an eating disorder problem.
People with anorexia may become obsessed with food. They may label some foods are bad and ban them from their diets. Anorexics are obsessed with portions, calories, and fat intake. Even though the anorexic person eats very little, the anorexic may be constantly preoccupied with food and weight loss. They may also develop rigid habits or rituals for eating that are peculiar.
The anorexic person may use diuretics or laxatives for weight loss. Many anorexics compulsively exercise. Some may exercise for hours a day or be constantly moving in attempts to burn as many calories as possible even when forced to be seated such as at work or school.
Anorexia often causes people to become preoccupied with their appearance. A person with anorexia may frequently check mirrors and spend excessive amounts of time dressing and grooming. The person affected by anorexia may become obsessed with their clothing size. They may complain about their size or express a need to get into a smaller size.
Friends and family of anorexics may not notice any warning signs of anorexia until they see a drastic and sudden weight loss. The anorexic may criticize their own weight or complain about it even if they are underweight. If a family member or friend confronts the anorexic about their thinness, the anorexic is likely to deny the problem.
Though some of these signs of anorexia may be experienced from time to time by someone without anorexia, the condition of anorexia is an extreme, persistent preoccupation with weight and food. Dieters may plan meals and think about food more than usual, but most dieters will never go to the extremes that are typical for people with anorexia.
