The Diet Rules and The Thin Commandments

The Lies We Believe Traveling The Road Of An Eating Disorder ...

Diet Rule #1: "Calories are bad and will cause weight gain."

TRUTH: Avoiding adequate calories lowers metabolism, increases fat storage enzymes, decreases fat releasing enzymes, and may increase the number of fat cells. This means we store fat more easily from fewer calories. Muscle tissue is lost which further decreases your metabolism and energy needs. Under eating is abusive and causes physical and mental changes such as irritability, fatigue, depression and hair loss that will not reverse until you eat enough.

Diet Rule #2: "Eat the least possible food and ignore hunger."

TRUTH: Putting your body's needs off constantly by trying to eat so little can cause an enlarged appetite and cravings (often for high fat and sugar foods). This can be terrifying and cause fear of loss of control. If you do not satisfy your hunger, it will never leave you alone. You will end up thinking constantly about food, cooking, shopping, watching people eat, or have other indications of hunger. Satisfy it with substantial amounts of food and it will leave you alone. Many diet foods, rice cakes, carrots, a piece of fruit, etc. do not contain a substantial amount of calories to satisfy your needs and will leave your body hungry soon after. Letting yourself stay constantly hungry or get too hungry can result in overeating and bingeing. Give yourself real food. Eat substantial meals and snacks. Diet soda, coffee, tea, gum, excessive water, and other appetite suppressants prevent you from being in touch with your true hunger and body's needs.

Diet Rule #3: "Fullness is bad and causes weight gain."

TRUTH: Being full does not cause weight gain. It is normal for your stomach to get rounder after eating but this is temporary. You do not look different just because you feel full. Being full from a normal meal means that you can be satisfied for several hours and can be free from the distractions of hunger to concentrate on other things. Occasional overeating (which is normal) will not lead to weight gain. Your body averages up it's needs over several days time. People who under eat can have altered signals of hunger and fullness and can get full on small amounts of food that do not satisfy their body's needs.

Diet Rule #4: "Snacking is bad."

TRUTH: Snacking between meals keeps your blood sugar more even and contributes to better mood, energy, and ability to handle stress and PMS. If you snack between meals, you won't get over hungry and won't be as likely to overeat at the next meal. Regular meals and snacks give your body the message that there is no starvation and prevents it from going into fat storage mode.

Diet Rule #5: "Fat is evil, diet foods are best."

TRUTH: Fat is needed in the diet to prevent essential fatty acid deficiency, and to provide and help you absorb fat soluble vitamins (vitamins A, E, D, K). Certain vegetable oils improve blood cholesterol levels. Fat does not make you fat! Fat is burned for energy just like protein and carbohydrates. Too many calories from any source will be stored as fat. Fats are digested more slowly and help provide hunger satisfaction. Some fat with a meal will help you stay satisfied longer so you won't be hungry so soon after eating. Moderate fat in the diet helps prevent cravings and bingeing. Diet foods are more expensive and are often loaded with extra sugar and food additives.

Diet Rule #6: "You have to exercise to burn off calories
so they won't be stored as fat."

TRUTH: Your body uses most of the calories you need for all kinds of reasons (producing heat, growing hair and fingernails, replacing cells, producing hormones, enzymes, etc.). Even if you do not exercise your body will stay the same weight, if you follow it's built-in regulation system called hunger and fullness. Exercising when you don't get enough calories is dangerous and unhealthy. It causes you to lose muscle and over stresses your body. It can cause heart damage and the loss of your menstrual period. Feeling like you have to burn off what you eat is entrapping and robs you of the joy of exercising to feel good and improve your stamina.

The Thin Commandments

By Carolyn Costin

One of the things that is so difficult to understand is the dedication to thinness beyond a reasonable doubt. I know it is hard to comprehend how someone could relentlessly pursue something that is killing her/him and ruining the family, etc. Who or what is telling her to do these things? Where did she come up with some of these behaviors? After working with several patients and thinking back on my own experience I began to see that one of the things that goes on inside is the formulation and adherence to self-imposed rules.

I have formulated these rules into what I call "The Thin Commandments". I use these to expose my patient's rules to themselves (many of them are unaware that they have certain rules). We go over "The Thin Commandments" and try to extract any other rules they might be living by. Below are the ten most common eating disorder "commandments" I came up with out of countless interviews with patients. In treatment these cognitive distortions are confronted and the meaning behind them uncovered in a slow and careful process.

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The Thin Commandments

1. If you aren't thin you aren't attractive.

 
2. Being thin is more important than being healthy.

 
3. You must buy clothes, cut your hair, take laxatives, starve yourself, do anything to make yourself look thinner

 
4. Thou shall not eat without feeling guilty.

 
5. Thou shall not eat fattening food without punishing oneself afterwards.

 
6. Thou shall count calories and restrict intake accordingly.

 
7. What the scale says is the most important thing.

 
8. Losing weight is good/gaining weight is bad.

 
9. You can never be too thin.

 
10. Being thin and not eating are signs of true will power and success.

 

Source: Carolyn Costin is an expert in the treatment of eating disorders. She has also written two books (The Eating Disorder Sourcebook - Lowell House; Your Dieting Daughter - Brunner/Mazel) on the subject and supervises inpatient and outpatient treatment of eating disorders.

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