"Our aim of NEDAwareness Week is to ultimately prevent eating disorders and body image issues while reducing the stigma surrounding eating disorders and improving access to treatment. Eating disorders are serious, life-threatening illnesses — not choices — and it’s important to recognize the pressures, attitudes and behaviors that shape the disorder."
Eating Disorders Awareness Week starts today. Here are a few links to help get you motivated, involved, and aware!
Heidi Diaz portrayed herself as the beautiful woman in the red dress above. The real Heidi (in red, center) at one of her depositions. Heidi captured by PI surveillance.
In a long awaited decision, class certification has been granted in the lawsuit against Kimkins, owned by Heidi Diaz.
Stuffing her site with false testimonials, fake before and after pictures taken from online Russian dating sites, andlies about having lost 198 pounds in less than a year and maintaining that loss for over 5 years, Heidi Diaz/aka Kimmer, charged those seeking to lose weight a lifetime membership fee to her site. Following a feature in Woman's World Magazine where Heidi Diaz represented herself as one of her many aliases, Kim Drake, membership boomed, as did Diaz's bank account.
Heidi Diaz claimed the above pictures as her after pictures.
Despite Diaz's lack of nutritional/medical training, certification, or scientific backing, claims of the diet's benefits to certain health conditions were made. Members also report being advised by Heidi Diazto take laxatives and to lower calories to dangerous extremes. Many experienced health issues including heart palpitations, dizziness, nausea, menstrual irregularities, weakness, disordered eating behaviors, and hair loss. Members state that after questioning her advice, voicing health concerns, or stating disbelief over the fake testimonials, they found themselves banned without warning, explanation, or refund of their lifetime membership fee.
Real pictures of Heidi Diaz/aka Kimmer. Pictures 1 and 3 were used as her before pictures.
Headed by the efforts of Jeanessa Fenderson, alawsuit was filed. Represented by lawyer John Tiedt, class certification was sought on the behalf of all Kimkins victims.
Class certification was granted on January 14th, 2009:
Case RIC483005 - FENDERSON VS DIAZ Action:
HEARING RE: MOTION TO/FOR CLASS CERTIFICATION * BY JEANESSA FENDERSON 01/14/2009 - 8:30 AM DEPT. 04
HONORABLE MICHAEL B DONNER, PRESIDING CLERK: L. HALL COURT REPORTER: T. FOSTER JEANESSA FENDERSON, KARIN BILLECI, TRISTA ESSEX, HEIDI MARTINEZ, KATHLEEN ROGERS, DIANA SHERBY REPRESENTED BY MICHAEL L COHEN A PROFESSIONAL LAW CORP - JOHN TIEDT PRESENT. MOTION FOR CLASS CERTIFICATION IS GRANTED. FORMAL ORDER TO BE PREPARED, SERVED AND SUBMITTED BY COUNSEL FOR PLAINTIFF
*Congratulations and thanks to all those who put (and continue to put) so much time, effort, and energy into uncovering and proving the fraud, providing the evidence needed.
*Be aware: Heidi Diaz, in the midst of being sued and having filed bankruptcy, has started a new diet site, "Simple Choices Diet.” This is not the same diet that is trademarked and owned by HMR (Health Management Resources) and according to reports they are not happy about the trademark infringement.
source: woman's world apology: http://www.grilledcheesewithpickles.com/2008/02/i-dont-accept-your-apology-womans-world.html all other sources linked in post.
"As he prepares to take office, President-elect Barack Obama faces many pressing issues. And some will urge him to defer efforts to achieve healthcare reform, suggesting that it will be too costly, too difficult, or not a sufficiently high priority."
The above postcard can be found at Mental Health America. Please fill one out and send it to help keep Healthcare Reform a priority.
The brain child of director Darryl Roberts, the documentary "America The Beautiful" is about the value of physical beauty placed on people in the US. Spurred by an article Roberts read online about a man who killed a model who refused to date him; "She was really attractive,' Roberts said. 'And he wanted to date her, but she wouldn't date him. So he said, if he couldn't have her, nobody could and so he killed her,"Roberts researched the subject, logging over 500 hours of film in the process. Armed with a set of questions, Darryl Roberts first interviewed 200 women. One of the questions he asked was "Do you feel attractive? Do you feel beautiful?" Sadly, only 2 women answered yes.
Traveling the country he set out to uncover why so many feel so bad about themselves. Speaking with those in the fashion industry, experts, plastic surgeons, and ordinary people Roberts collected the honest and sometimes confused views of those he interviewed. He calls the amount of women and girls with eating disorders and "epidemic." One model in the film, six feet tall and 130 pounds who was told she needed to lose weight said, "Health doesn't become an option in this business. If you want to worry about your health, go to college."
In an interview by Euan Kerr of Minnesota public radio, Roberts said, "You have all these multi-national corporations that are making billions and billions of dollars off of people feeling bad about themselves. We are just entering a further and further state of moral decay."
When asked what his goal was Roberts answered, "basically my purpose in doing the film was to put forth the message that we're all beautiful the way that we are ... so that we can recollect our self-esteem and just kind of take it back from the advertisers ..."
"...One of the most important documentary films of this decade. Absolutely critical viewing." Samantha Urban
"America the Beautiful is funny, shocking, and enlightening and is important enough to merit as many people seeing it as possible." Samantha Urban
"...the shock will keep your eyes glued to the screen for the rest of the film." Anton S
Viewers said:
"Powerful. Thank you Darryl..."
"Amazing, amazing film."
"Very insightful."
"So poignant. So right on point with his perspective."
Massachusetts: Two Hingham high school students, Jasmine Benger and Alex Shabo, hosted an open forum "Our Body-Our Sacrificial Self," reaching out to others suffering from eating disorders.
"Their presentation was strongly rooted in the belief that many girls and women are unhappy with their physical selves and spend a great deal of time, effort, and money in seemingly endless attempts to attain the perfection that the media portrays as necessary to achieve happiness and success," states the article Winning The Battle Against Eating Disorders. written by Carol Britton Meyer
“Women’s bodies have become material objects, and both men and women have begun to treat them as such,” Shabo and Benger agree. “Self-awareness can be lost beneath overwhelming, restrictive societal values and attitudes – which can lead to a distorted image of body, loss of self, and eating disorders.” “It is not a choice. I wouldn’t wish this on anyone,” Jasmine Benger told Carol Britton Meyer concerning the the misconception that people choose to have eating disorders. “It engulfs your life. You lose the capacity to think reasonably and rationally."
"Eating disorders 'creep up on you,' Shabo said. 'In our society, everything’s about 100 calorie packs. You hear beautiful people saying terrible things about themselves.” This is due in large part to low-esteem resulting from the media blitz to be thin and 'perfect.”
"The key, Shabo said, is to 'find out who you really are, to accept the imperfections that you have and give yourself some leeway. Find the beauty in yourself.”
Read this article in full here. source:http://www.wickedlocal.com/hingham/news/education/x836875779 written by: Carol Britton Meyer picture of White Lady by Anna Williams picture source:http://www.flickr.com/photos/nrkbeta/2256309044/
F-word.org is doing a study and is looking for bloggers who have eating disorders who blog about their experiences. The survey is to help determine "the role blogging plays in eating disorder recovery."
"I want to hear from any active blogger - male or female - who suffers from any eating disorder and who are in any stage of recovery," Rachel says.
"This study is done in partnership with Dr. Susie Mendelsohn, a clinical psychological specializing in the treatment of eating disorders, for publication and research purposes. The survey consists of 40 questions and may take some time to complete, depending on how detailed you are in your answers. Your participation in this study would be immensely helpful in our research. Thank you in advance."
Wikipedia: "Anorexia Nervosa is a psychiatric diagnosis that describes an eating disorder characterized by low body weight and body image distortion with an obsessive fear of gaining weight. Individuals with anorexia are known to commonly control body weight through the means of voluntary starvation, purging, vomiting, excessive exercise, or other weight control measures, such as diet pills or diuretic drugs. It primarily affects adolescent females, however approximately 10% of people with the diagnosis are male. Anorexia nervosa is a complex condition, involving psychological, neurobiological, and sociological components."
There are many contributing factors that can lead to an eating disorder. Some of these are biological, cultural, social, and so on. Though different people develop an eating disorder for different reasons there are some common aspects.
Most who suffer with Anorexia tend to be perfectionistic with a strong need to control everything in their lives. Though high achieving they often feel deficient and powerless. They are inclined to have unrealistic expectations of both themselves and others. They frequently lack a sense of identity, relying on presenting a socially admired and accepted exterior to define themselves. Achieving what others are unable to, they feel a sense of pride and see their anorexia as a badge of honor. Their need for approval and their fear of criticism can result in anger. Unable to express that anger in a productive way it is turned inward, and they either starve or stuff themselves.
"Some people with eating disorders use the behaviors to avoid sexuality. Others use them to try to take control of themselves and their lives. They want to be in control and in charge. They are strong, usually winning the power struggles they find themselves in, but inside they feel weak, powerless, victimized, defeated, and resentful."
"In addition, they see the world as black and white, no shades of gray. Everything is either good or bad, a success or a failure, fat or thin. If fat is bad and thin is good, then thinner is better, and thinnest is best -- even if thinnest is sixty-eight pounds in a hospital bed on life support," according to ANRED: what causes eating disorders.
"Anorexia nervosa was not officially classified as a psychiatric disorder until the third edition of DSM in 1980. It is, however, a growing problem among adolescent females. Its incidence in the United States has doubled since 1970. The rise in the number of reported cases reflects a genuine increase in the number of persons affected by the disorder, and not simply earlier or more accurate diagnosis. Estimates of the incidence of anorexia range between 0.5-1% of caucasian female adolescents. Over 90% of patients diagnosed with the disorder as of 1998 are female. It was originally thought that only 5% of anorexics are male, but that estimate is being revised upward. The peak age range for onset of the disorder is 14-18 years, although there are patients who develop anorexia as late as their 40s. In the 1970s and 1980s, anorexia was regarded as a disorder of upper- and middle-class women, but that generalization is also changing. More recent studies indicate that anorexia is increasingly common among women of all races and social classes in the United States," states an article at Health A to Z.
The article goes on to say, "Anorexia nervosa is a serious public health problem not only because of its rising incidence, but also because it has one of the highest mortality rates of any psychiatric disorder. Moreover, the disorder may cause serious long-term health complications, including congestive heart failure, sudden death, growth retardation, dental problems, constipation, stomach rupture, swelling of the salivary glands, anemia and other abnormalities of the blood, loss of kidney function, and osteoporosis."
"The rising incidence of anorexia is thought to reflect the present idealization of thinness as a badge of upper-class status as well as of female beauty. In addition, the increase in cases of anorexia includes "copycat" behavior, with some patients developing the disorder from imitating other girls."
"The onset of anorexia in adolescence is attributed to a developmental crisis caused by girls' changing bodies coupled with society's overemphasis on women's looks. The increasing influence of the mass media in spreading and reinforcing gender stereotypes has also been noted." EHealth MD/ Warning Signs of Anorexia:
Excessive weight loss or lack of normal weight gain, often to the point of starvation
Intense fear of gaining weight or becoming fat
Distorted image of body weight or shape
Absence of at least three menstrual periods in a row in females
Significant reduction of the amount of food eaten
Avoiding eating; skipping meals
Intense focusing on food, eating, and body weight and shape
Repeatedly weighing oneself
Denial of hunger
Rigid eating patterns, such as extreme controlling of calories and fat even when underweight
Unusual rituals at mealtimes, such as cutting food into tiny pieces, moving food around the plate, and throwing out food so it does not have to be eaten
Storing or hoarding food
Collecting recipes and cooking for others while finding excuses to avoid eating
Wearing baggy clothes to hide the amount of weight lost
Obvious fear or anxiety before eating and guilt after eating
Complaining of bloating and unusual fullness after eating only small amounts of food
information compiled from the following sites:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anorexia_nervosahttp://www.anred.com/causes.htmlhttp://www.healthatoz.com/healthatoz/Atoz/common/standard/transform.jsp?requestURI=/healthatoz/Atoz/ency/anorexia_nervosa.jsphttp://www.ehealthmd.com/library/anorexia/ANO_symptoms.html picsourcehttp://www.flickr.com/photos/pinksherbet/3209939998/
Body Image: is a term which may refer to our perceptions of our own physical appearance, or our internal sense of having a body which is constructed by the brain. Essentially a person's body image is how they perceive their exterior to look, and in many cases this can be dramatically different to how they actually appear to others. From the point of view of psychoanalysis, the French child psychoanalyst Francoise Dolto has developed a theory concerning the unconscious body image.[1] Negative feelings towards a person's body can in some cases lead to mental disorders such as depression or eating disorders, though there can be a variety of different reasons why these disorders can occur. Within the media industry there have recently been popular debates focusing on how Size Zero models can negatively influence young people into feeling insecure about their own body image. It has been suggested that size zero models be banned from cat walks.
Self-Esteem:reflects a person's overall self-appraisal of their own worth.
Self-esteem encompasses both beliefs (for example, "I am competent/incompetent) and emotions (for example: truimph/despair, pride/shame). Behavior may reflect self-esteem, in (for example: assertiveness/timorousness, confidence/caution).
Psychologists usually regard self-esteem as an enduring personality characteristic (trait self-esteem), though normal, short-term variations (state self-esteem) occur.
Self-esteem can apply specifically to a particular dimension (for example: "I believe I am a good writer, and feel proud of that in particular") or have global extent (for example: "I believe I am a good person, and feel proud of myself in general").
No matter who you are or how old you are, your body requires proper nutrition in order to function at it's best and be healthy. Proper nutrition means getting enough calories and nutrients. Depending on age, gender, and lifestyle, these requirements vary. The amounts and types of food you consume can have a very powerful impact on your physical and emotional health.
Are you eating too little? Too much? Are you giving your body what it needs?
Use this calculator to find out what your nutritional needs are: Child/Teen Adults
Are you eating enough protein? Take this quiz at Health 24 to find out.
n an eating disorder distinguished by a combination of the symptoms prevalent in both anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa; develops primarily in teenage and young adult females.
"Bulimarexia is probably the most misunderstood form of the three main types of eating disorders; it is also not nearly as well-known. While the most obvious characteristic of anorexia is the appearance of starving oneself, and habitually binging and purging is the primary characteristic of bulimia, many people are quite at a loss to know what the problem is when a person exhibits both characteristics at various times. That factor is actually what bulimarexia is: the person who suffers from bulimarexia runs on a cycle of both conditions. If it isn't apparent, bulimarexia has the potential of being considerably more destructive than either of the two conditions alone.
Bulimarexia totally wreaks havoc on a person's entire system. While both conditions are damaging enough in themselves, the inability to sustain either of the conditions individually puts the person's health in an extreme state of decline. Obviously, if a person has reached this state, getting professional help as soon as possible is absolutely essential.
A person who has bulimarexia will bounce back and forth from the symptoms of one condition to the symptoms of the other. She will display some periods of restricting her food intake to nearly none, and some periods of stuffing in large quantities of food, removing it from her body afterward with purging. If she still has the physical strength to do so, she may engage in unreasonable degrees of exercise, believing that it will not only help her control her weight but will also help her to gain control in general. Bulimarexia is the absolute extreme in the person's sense of, and exhibiting, complete loss of control.
The observer should not make the mistake of thinking that when the pattern of one form of eating disorder changes into the opposite that this is a good sign. Instead, it is a sign that the person is no longer able to even hold to one pattern, and so goes back and forth from one to the other. Not only is this state potentially life threatening, the psychological implications can be equally deadly. Professional assistance is necessary for the sake of the person's life. "
In this video posted on youtube, one young woman reveals what she has lost to her eating disorder. "What I have lost to my eating disorder." A video by Nonamavi
When Would You Spot The Signs? If you suspect your child is suffering from an eating disorder please check out this site that I came across today: Don't Die For A Diet. "This site was created by a number of organizations, including AMV BBDO and Proximity London, in conjunction with beat. It is designed to provide help and information for the parents of young people who may be affected by eating disorders."
"Most of us have done our share of out-of-control eating, whether it’s polishing off a family-size bag of potato chips without noticing or eating all the chocolates in the Valentine’s sampler—and we’ve probably felt at least a little guilty for overindulging. But if you find yourself having those “slip-ups” fairly regularly—or if your eating causes you so much shame that you have to do it in secret—your eating issues might be cause for concern," states Joyce Hendley of Eatingwell.com.
"Most experts believe binge eating is much more prevalent than any survey can measure. 'Our findings only document people whose eating problems are clinically significant and causing marked distress—and that’s probably just the tip of the iceberg,' says James Hudson, M.D., Sc.D., director of the psychiatric epidemiology research program at McLean Hospital and lead author of the national eating disorders survey. 'Because there’s so much shame associated with eating disorders, a lot of people aren’t willing to admit they have a problem. We suspect there’s a much larger group of people who aren’t binging as often or as intensely, but nevertheless have tendencies toward out-of-control eating,' Hudson continues. 'That’s hard to quantify in a survey, but it’s out there.”
"What makes us decide to eat, or not eat, begins in the hypothalamus, a key control center at the base of the brain, explains Mary Boggiano, Ph.D., a psychologist at the University of Alabama at Birmingham who has extensively researched neurochemical changes associated with dieting and binging. 'The hypothalamus is what induces satiety or hunger, depending on our caloric needs,' she says. 'But when it comes to binge eating, which really isn’t about true hunger or satiety, normal hypothalamic function may get overpowered.' The parts of the brain that govern rational responses, like the neocortex (“I need sleep, not that pint of Ben & Jerry’s”) get overridden, too, she explains. What seem to win out are other, connected brain structures that form the 'feeling parts of the brain,' she says—regions like the amygdala (which plays a role in attaching emotional meanings to various stimuli) and the nucleus accumbens (involved in emotions, addictions and pleasure-seeking behavior). For some of us, this inner war with our rational sides and our primal urges to stock up on calories happens dozens of times daily—or more."
If you are suffering with an Eating Disorder please read this post by Medusa, ANOREXIA .... A CRY FOR HELP and be sure to check out the wonderful resource information listed there.
I've finally come to realize that I've wasted far too much time trying to achieve society's notion of the perfect female form and that who you are can never be defined by the reflection found in your mirror.
I fell for the dangerous Kimkins diet scam which brought me alarmingly close to anorexia and opened my eyes to eating disorders.
0
comments
rek´sē
Posts
