Originally Posted by Imortyl Pussycat

my 14 yo (15 in Nov.) is going through something similiar. Not bulemic but wasn't taking in enough calories and nearly blacking out during PE last school year. It's all about body image and it sucks that she has to go through it as we all have. I took her in for a physical and her Dr. said she needed more calories but mostly more protein. She is 5'51/2 and at that time weighed 119 lbs. She was used to weighing 110 eating whatever she wanted but after she started her period that all changed within months. You get curvy and your body adds a little fat so it can reproduce. She crash dieted without much notice because she would share her food with the dog on the downlow. She now weighs 115 and is happy about the way she looks (she is a size 3). After the Dr. visit things leveled out and she was eating more and we stuffed her with protein until all the symptoms were gone.

Enter the new problem: she made highschool cross country team and is required to eat 2,400 calories min. per day plus an additional 900 to replace those she burns at daily practice. She was refusing to eat even more out of a fear of "getting fat" and the dizziness returned. I had to take her aside with one of the coaches after orientation that is an excercise physiologist and have a big pow-wow. He has been able to convince her with facts and logic that her body must have a lot of carbs and the right balance of proteins and other foods in order for her body to sustain this amount of running and be healthy. She is willing to do what he says because we all know that our parents word was never the right one until someone else said it.

I hate that she and all of her friends feel this same way about their bodies right now. Always worried about fitting in and looking/feeling attractive. I have been careful not to let her hear me talk of cutting calories or needing to lose weight at the various times i "felt fat" but no matter it still found it's own way into her head, it's all around her all the time. I spilled this out just to let people with teenage daughters and relatives know that you really have to watch and be aware of what's going on with these girls at this age. Lifelong bad habits/bad health can take hold if these issues are not addressed and resolved.

Thank you for the post.