In terms of the pattern of disordered eating, it sounds like my doctor, counselor, and dietitian all want to talk to me.
For those who don't know... I was a fat kid, fat teenager, and a fat 20 something. Weighed 396 pounds in 2003, but started working it off thanks to mostly healthy eating and an amazing support system while at NMU. But after college, I continued to lose weight. In 2007, I weighed 200 pounds, and should have stopped there. Only 4 people told me to stop there, mostly coming from this board. The rest of my friends encouraged the weight loss, and sometime in 2008, weight loss became an all consuming thing. No sugar, hardly any fat, etc. In 2009, training for the River Bank Run 25K, the weight loss continued, and then I signed up for my first marathon. Weight loss continued, and in November 2009, I weighed 146.4 lbs. 6'2, and a walking stick figure. Truth be told, I wanted to take it down even further. The extreme lifestyle carried on, but in early 2010, the wheels started falling off. STRUGGLED in training for the River Bank Run, and on race day, hit the proverbial wall at mile 8 (halfway through) and I walked to the finish.
After the race, I went to Steak N Shake, because earlier I swore up and down I was going to eat a greasy cheeseburger. I did not eat a greasy cheeseburger. I ate an awfully lean salad with hot tea, and I sat there, thinking **** had to change. I had to start eating food.
Wake up call number 2 came a bit later in the year. Did my morning workout, then went to the lab to get some blood drawn. Got home from the lab, and got a phone call. My hemoglobin level was a mere 6, and I needed to get my *** to the ER. Spent that day in the ER, getting transfusions and poked and prodded.
Third wake up call came when my mom died. Realized all the calorie counting in the world wasn't going to prevent death from knocking at my door one day.
And here's why I need encouragement here. That behavior of calorie restriction and a preoccupation with weight loss... never fully disappeared from my life. No. It got shoved to the subconscious, where it hides and serves as a how-to manual every time the scale says something I don't like. Even though I threw away my bathroom scale 5 years ago, I am sorely tempted to buy another one.