Pro Ana Myths

Myth: Pro-Ana prays to anorexia.

Reality: There is reference to a religion of sorts that exsists on pro-ana websites, with several referrals of the name "Ana" mentioned. But people, mainly the media and anti's get confused and spread the misinformation that Ana refers to anorexia. The name Ana in the religious conotation actually is the full name Anamadim, and not some goddess named anorexia. The orgin of Anamadim was the creation of a site by the name of Underground Grotto, where there is even a summoning spell to invoke Anamadim. However there is an extremely slim (no pun intended) minority of those on pro-ana sites that partake in this religious style activity. This also has nothing to do with the letters, creeds, commandments, ect. either (see below for that information). It has nothing to do with the huge majority of pro-ana.

Myth: The entire pro-ana religion.

Reality: The pro-ana religion seen on many pro-ana sites was never created by any pro-ana site at all. All the creeds, letters, comandments are all made by professional psychologists in an attempt to make the mindset of the anorexic views be seen through their eyes. This was seen as a powerful message, and to those who are anorexic and wanting to go further into it, seen these messages as motivation instead of the reverse that it was intended to be. It's funny how those that hate pro-ana unwittingly gave it a religion isn't it? Not too many want that be known, and no wonder. Big opps eh? Just so you know, that is their writings if you ever see and/or use it.


Myth: Tips and tricks

Reality: Yeah, you may be on the pro-ed sites looking for some new way to hide something, do it better or if there is something better than what your doing now. But if your parents, relatives, loved ones, co-workers or whoever you are trying to hide it from are thinking you have an eating disorder ... guess what? They are on the same sites you are on reading the same tips and tricks. They may help for a little while, but sooner or later (or already) the one you are hiding it from are going to find out. The sites are real easy to find, but it makes the "T's" that much more in-effective. As they say, you can run but you can't hide.


Myth: Pro-Ana is Pro Death

Reality: If you ever been on a pro-ana forum before, you will notice that alot of the long term members are of a normal to ever so slightly below normal weight range. There is very few long termers that are in the medical anorexic weight range. So true they are thin, but in reality terms, they are in fact normal. In fact many of the extreme thin don't frequent pro-ed forums at all, they are on support forums instead. Of those that get to an extreme level who post pics and weights, are replied back with messages of concern and pleas for them to take care of themselves and to not loose any more weight. Now you have to actually be ON the forums to know this, but those who cry out the evils do not do very good research into what they are talking about. You could say that pro-ana is alot more pro-support leaning than it lets on too.

Myth: Pro-Ana is teaching others to become anorexic

Reality: You cannot "become" anorexic, it is not something you choose like a diet, anorexia chooses you and in the lottery of anorexia winning is loosing more than you know. It's outside factors in your own enviornment that make one eating disordered, not text and pictures on a website. To those that think you can become "ana" ... it won't happen. You may skip a few meals, fast for a few days but that does not make you anorexic at all. Much like a drag queen, you can look act talk walk and sing every bit like Cher ... but you are not Cher. It's simple as that.

Myth: Pro-Ana encourages you to stay anorexic

Reality: This is the touchy one. We don't encourage you to stay anorexic, but this is the biggest way in which we differ from the professional and pro-recovery sites. Instead of treating a disorder itself, pro-ana treats the person. We get to know the individual, what makes them laugh, smile, cry and scared to see what their world is like through their eyes. See, like I said before, eating disorders are a deep rooted problem and there is no point trying to get rid of something that will just come back again instantly. To get rid of this, one must get to the main root and work from there. Once the root is gone, the consequense of eating disorders are that much easier to recover from ... and the process will be a lasting one. This is why the most important part of any ed forum is the journal area.

ED plateau

A plateau is a phase during weight-loss when you seem to maintain your weight even if your caloric intake/output haven't changed. your body is probably resisting weight loss because it's being pushed too far. Your metabolism could be slowing down because you're not eating enough, and variety is important to your body. You can affect your metabolism through eating habits

• Eat more negative calorie foods like fruits and vegetables. they'll keep your digestive system moving with fewer calories.
• Drink lots of water, as you already should be doing, this way your body will be well hydrated, and you will less likely become lethargic.
• If you're eating a few larger meals each day, try eating smaller bits of food more often, so if your eating 1 meal then make it two smaller one etc. Changing your caloric intake does not always mean decreasing! if your metabolism has slowed down, it may need some more calories to speed up a bit. Don't overdo this, just try to increase by 10%, and when you passed the plateau, you decrease 10%.
• You can also try a spike, this is when you eat regular meals for one day (should equal roughly 1500 cals) to jump start your metabolism, then simply return to your regular eating habits the next day.
• usually when you use a new shampoo, your hair will be so soft and shiny you'll keep using the shampoo...but after a few weeks it doesn't do anything special. same with exercising; your body will get the best out of a workout when it's being challenged. so the first time you run a mile you may feel exhausted, your muscles might be sore and all of that...but if you keep running one mile each day for a week or two, your body will build more muscle, use those same muscles over and over while neglecting others, and won't be as challenged. You should change either the length of time or intensity of your workout.

If you've been exercising for 20 minutes every day, try doing 20 minutes one day and then 40 minutes the next day, so you're getting a variety. Weight training increases metabolism significantly. muscle burns more calories during the day than fat, even if you're just sitting still. you don't have to become a body builder. a few minutes of push-ups and simple weight-lifting or calisthenic exercises will make a difference. Don't put all of your trust in this, but i'm pretty sure i read that 10 minutes of weight lifting 3 times a week will increase muscle and metabolism within the first week. thats only 30 minutes out of the 10,080 minutes you have every week. also try switching to different types of exercise every other day, for example, run on monday, swim on tuesday, weight lift on wednesday, run on thursday, yoga on friday, swim on saturday, bike/hike on sunday. effects won't occur immediately. Patience and slower weight loss is good according to doctors. But if you don't want to increase your calorie intake, then you simply must exercise more and also throughout the day, do a couple of jumping jacks it will give your metabolism kick or fidgit a lot, I believe that I read that fidgiting can burn up to 800 calories a day, which equals roughly over 1.5 lbs burned a week on top of your diet and exercise.

Fact & Tips

Fact: You can only purge up to 80% of calories consumed. Tip: Avoid high caloric binges, instead eat things with a greater mass and less calories. Fruits and veggies are always a good choice. Fact: Carbohydrate digestion starts in your mouth. Our salivary glands secrete amylase, which is a digestive enzyme that begins the break down of carbs. Tip: Avoid eating carbohydrates at the beginning of the meal, because you'll absorb more calories. Save the carbs for desert. Fact: Fat is digested in the small intestines and therefore you feel fuller after eating a high-fat meal. Tip: Eat the fat first because it takes a long time to digest, therefore you'll absord less calories than eating carbs first. Beware, fat has twice as many kcals as carbs and proteins. Fact: Laxatives do not affect calorie absorbtion. Most food and calories are digested and absorbed in the small intestines and laxatives only affect the large intestines. Yes, you'll lose weight, but the weight lost is from water and fecal matter. Tip: Only use laxatives after a large meal that you did not purge afterwards, this way you'll see the real amount of weight gained instead of the fecal matter gained.