Understanding Bulimia

1. Understanding Bulimia

2. What is bulimia? Bulimia is an eating disorder characterised by a binge-purge cycle…

3. Binge During a binge, sufferers will eat a large volume of, often unhealthy, food in a short period

4. Purge After eating sufferers will try to purge their body of the calories they’ve consumed. The most common forms or purging are: • Throwing up • Using laxatives • Using diuretics • Exercising hard

5. Binge – Purge Cycle

6. Hard to Spot • Very secretive illness – sufferers are usually very ashamed about their difficulties and work hard to hide them • Normal weight – unlike other eating disorders, bulimia does not usually result in noticeable weight gain or weight loss

7. Weight Fluctuation In some cases you may notice a weight fluctuation as purging only removes about 50% of calories – so if a sufferer goes through a period of extreme binging and purging their weight may increase compared to times when they are managing their difficulties and bingeing and purging less.

8. Low self-esteem People with bulimia usually have very low self-esteem They often feel ugly, fat and worthless and think others are judging them on their weight and shape

9. Bulimia Summary I spent longer throwing up than eating. Every time I’d promise myself I’d stick to my diet this time, but I just couldn’t do it. • Binge purge cycle • Roughly normal weight • Fluctuation in weight (some cases) • Low self-esteem, think they’re fat / ugly