Eating Disorder Reality TV

Remember when they used to say "57 channels (and nothing's on)"? That used to be pretty accurate. Now, given 300 channels times 24 hours of TiVo timeshifting, the Drake equation is working in my favour, and I'm watching narrowcasting television apparently written just for me.

Women's Entertainment televion (WE) had an episode of The Secret Lives Of Women focusing on eating disorders. Three women are shown; one is a morbidly obese compulsive overeater, another is an anorexic housewife, and the third is a 19-year old binger and exercise anorexic. The camera follows these women around in their everyday lives, and they also open up about their obsessions and compulsions. I identify strongly with the overeater and the exercise bulemic binger, while the anorexic is the most foreign to me.

The compulsive overeater loads up on all the snack foods at the grocery store. We follow her at the McDonald's drive-thru, where she orders a large combo meal, plus another hamburger, plus a dessert, and of course, the obligatory large Diet Coke. She explains how she eats the meal in the car, and the additional burger and dessert at home. Been there, done that. But she's looking to bariatric surgery to turn her life around, whereas I just decided to become an exercise bulemic.

The 19-year old is constantly obsessed about food and calories. Every minute of the day, she's obsessed by these thoughts, and she plans out what she's going to eat for the day. She goes to a restaurant with her friends, and she's in a panic about what to eat, and how to special order something on the menu. She drives all her friends crazy with the obsession. (Ok, I might irritate friends at a restaurant, and I might seem preoccupied with food, but as you've seen from my posts, I'm not very picky about what I eat.)

The most telling scenes are where the 19 year-old and her mother get into an emotional, ongoing argument about the mother's anorexia, and how she tries to compete with her daughter. The mother is a size 00, and her arms are the giveaway. The daughter tells the world that her mother has breast implants. Clearly, the mother tries a little hard to recapture lost youth. So, we learn that eating disorders are genetic. And that parents really do need to set examples, and help guide their children. Apparently, this family works in reverse. The daughter has a dangerous bout with anorexia, and gets down below 90 lbs. Her mother immediately goes on a crash diet in response. The mother is too preoccupied with her own obsession to help the daughter, and we see all the disfunction of the family.

The show ends on a positive note, where the compulsive overeater finds a programme for eating right and exercising, and in 8 weeks, she loses 55 lbs, and has completely changed her lifestyle. She's energetic, and is on the right track. I'm sure she's on her way to becoming thin and fit. An amazing turn-around, but not suprising, as once people kick the junk food habit, and start exercising, the natural appetite regulation mechanism kicks back in, and the body finds a healthy weight. Which makes me wonder if compulsive overeating is really an eating disorder. I think it's a natural reaction to our fast-food, sedentary lifestyles, and isn't pathological. On the other hand, the anorexic and bulemic have deep psychological problems that are much more difficult to fix.