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When Even Pro Anas Should Stop Losing Weight
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Posted: September 29, 2016 |
Pro ana implies weight loss, and sometimes so much weight loss that a person can look so thin that the person looks anorexic. Since going into the underweight Body Mass Index (BMI) category might not necessarily mean that a person is unhealthy, as BMI might not be the best predictor of health, some people who are pro ana continue to lose weight until they end up hospitalized or even die.
For people with an eating disorder, one common criterion is a fear of gaining weight. But most people also fear death. However, since BMI is not necessarily a very effective measurement at predicting health, it’s hard to know when losing weight may result in death.
However, there is a more accurate measurement of when it’s appropriate to not lose additional weight, or more accurately, additional fat in the body, also known as body fat. This measurement is known as the body fat percentage, which is a percentage of how much of a person’s weight is composed of fat, as opposed to bone, skin, muscle, etc.
Now, we need fat in our bodies. We’re like a car engine that runs on gasoline. If a car engine receives a constant supply of gasoline, the engine runs. That’s similar to our hearts, which require a constant supply of energy, which is measured in calories, to beat and keep us alive. When we run out of energy, the heart stops. Similarly, when a car runs out of fuel, the engine stops. But a car has a gas tank, which holds a supply of gasoline, and when it nears being empty, a light comes on the dashboard, indicating that the gas tank is almost empty. We humans have a similar measurement, and that’s called the body fat percentage. And our “indicator light” of when the tank of body fat is nearly empty and dangerously low is provided, conveniently, via the body fat percentage. And just as there are different models of cars, and the warning light comes on at different times for different cars, so too we humans have different amounts of “danger level – not much remaining” indicators, via the percentage of body fat that we have, depending on our gender (at birth).
Our organs, including our heart, have a protective layer of body fat around them. That way, when we move around, we don’t damage our internal organs. But to maintain that protective layer of fat, we need a minimum level of “essential fat” to avoid having our body “eat” that fat for fuel for our heart. If we don’t have enough net calories coming in, though, which is calories consumed versus calories expended (such as via exercise), then our body will convert body fat to energy, and if there isn’t fat elsewhere in the body, then the body will convert “essential fat” that protects vital organs to energy. Consequently, some people with eating disorders have heart disease, as their heart becomes damaged while being bounced around because they didn’t have enough “essential fat” to adequately protect their heart. This effect can also happen to other internal organs, too. The body doesn’t care that it’s eating the protective fat around the heart, since the alternative is not providing fuel to the heart, which is essentially instant death as there would then be a “heart attack” and the heart would stop. Therefore, some people with eating disorders die due to heart failure. To prevent this from happening, or to mitigate the damage, some people in this situation have a tube inserted through the nose and into the stomach to provide them with nutrition.
Given this situation, to know when a person’s body is getting to the point where it would begin to eat “essential fat” that protects organs like the heart that keeps you alive, it’s important to know how much body fat we need, as a percentage, to adequately protect the heart and other internal organs. This percentage varies from person to person and from gender to gender, but it seems that according to the American Council on Exercise, “essential fat” is between 10% to 13% for females and 2% to 5% for males (with regard to one’s gender at birth, so a trans-male would have female body fat requirements). Therefore, if a female has at least 14% of their weight as fat, and if a male has at least 6% of their weight as fat, then the body shouldn’t have to consume protective fat around their organs to provide fuel for the heart, and this should be considered the absolute limit for body fat loss, in my opinion.
To accurately determine the body fat percentage, it’s best to consult with a nutritionist or doctor, but less accurate methods are described at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Body_fat_percentage#Measurement_techniques
Now that I, the author, have described some of the dangers of the pro ana lifestyle, as well as possible ways to mitigate such danger, I refer you to http://chatzy.com/proana for pro ana chat and additional information on this topic.
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