Okay, this is stupid, right?

nunqual

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Alright, so my girlfriend is heavily anemic. She doesn't take supplements (Why? I don't know, I always try to get her to though), and she doesn't eat enough iron-rich foods. This isn't what the thread is about though.

Today she told me that she was fasting. Not for any religious reason, mind you, but because "she'd been eating too much." Apparently she talked to her mother about it, and her mother does it all the time. So basically, she's not going to eat for the week. I think, certainly, that she's going to fail, but I can't for the life of me imagine why she thinks it's a good idea.

Now, I understand trying to retrain your body so you don't binge as much, but you certainly don't do that by completely ceasing eating. This would be stupid for someone in peak physical shape, and it's doubly so for someone who is heavily anemic.

/rant.

So, anyway, do you agree with me? Obviously, this is a skimmed version, but I didn't feel like explaining the whole thing. Is this not stupid? Am I stupid?

EDIT: Also, I welcome any advice concerning how to talk her out of this.
 
Dec 14, 2009
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Fasting, especially if you're anemic, is a stupidly bad idea.

Your body can't be tricked into not wanting food (without surgery anyway).

After a week of fasting, your body will demand you pay it back, with interest.

You lose weight through excercise and controlled calorie intake.
 

LeonLethality

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If she's fasting for weight loss that is possibly the worst idea ever. Aside from your body going in to survival mode and trying to retain as much fat as it can from your lack of food, you also are not getting necessary nutrients and such. You should try to talk her out of this especially if she really needs iron, stopping what little she gets is a bad idea.

If she wants to lose weight get her to eat properly (three meals with proper nutrients) and excercise. Starving herself is going to only lead to bad things.
 

nunqual

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Daystar Clarion said:
Fasting, especially if you're anemic, is a stupidly bad idea.

Your body can't be tricked into not wanting food (without surgery anyway).

After a week of fasting, your body will demand you pay it back, with interest.

You lose weight through excercise and controlled calorie intake.
LeonLethality said:
If she's fasting for weight loss that is possibly the worst idea ever. Aside from your body going in to survival mode and trying to retain as much fat as it can from your lack of food, you also are not getting necessary nutrients and such. You should try to talk her out of this especially if she really needs iron, stopping what little she gets is a bad idea.

If she wants to lose weight get her to eat properly (three meals with proper nutrients) and excercise. Starving herself is going to only lead to bad things.
I would love to be able to convince her that what she's doing is absolutely ineffective and stupid, but she's even more stubborn than a donkey...
 
Dec 14, 2009
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nunqual said:
Daystar Clarion said:
Fasting, especially if you're anemic, is a stupidly bad idea.

Your body can't be tricked into not wanting food (without surgery anyway).

After a week of fasting, your body will demand you pay it back, with interest.

You lose weight through excercise and controlled calorie intake.
LeonLethality said:
If she's fasting for weight loss that is possibly the worst idea ever. Aside from your body going in to survival mode and trying to retain as much fat as it can from your lack of food, you also are not getting necessary nutrients and such. You should try to talk her out of this especially if she really needs iron, stopping what little she gets is a bad idea.

If she wants to lose weight get her to eat properly (three meals with proper nutrients) and excercise. Starving herself is going to only lead to bad things.
I would love to be able to convince her that what she's doing is absolutely ineffective and stupid, but she's even more stubborn than a donkey...
Well, tell her that if she goes through with it, she'll actually put on more weight. If your body thinks it's being starved, it becomes very efficient at storing fat, so fasting actually has the opposite effect of what she is intending.
 

LobsterFeng

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Yep, this is stupid. I would give advice but everything that has needed to be said, has been said.
 

The Funslinger

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nunqual said:
Alright, so my girlfriend is heavily anemic. She doesn't take supplements (Why? I don't know, I always try to get her to though), and she doesn't eat enough iron-rich foods. This isn't what the thread is about though.

Today she told me that she was fasting. Not for any religious reason, mind you, but because "she'd been eating too much." Apparently she talked to her mother about it, and her mother does it all the time. So basically, she's not going to eat for the week. I think, certainly, that she's going to fail, but I can't for the life of me imagine why she thinks it's a good idea.

Now, I understand trying to retrain your body so you don't binge as much, but you certainly don't do that by completely ceasing eating. This would be stupid for someone in peak physical shape, and it's doubly so for someone who is heavily anemic.

/rant.

So, anyway, do you agree with me? Obviously, this is a skimmed version, but I didn't feel like explaining the whole thing. Is this not stupid? Am I stupid?

EDIT: Also, I welcome any advice concerning how to talk her out of this.
I'll give you the best reason you can give her not to fast: Science.

Fact is that when someone becomes starved, their metabolism adapts. Any food they get is processed so that its by-products last longer. The practical upshot of this is that the moment you stop starving yourself, any weight you lost will hit you twice as hard, plus interest.

Edit: Oh yeah, you're going to want to mention (in the face of the inevitable "then maybe I just won't stop" response) that perpetual starvation includes such side effects as disgusting emaciation and a mild case of death.
 

RobCoxxy

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Throwing away whatever arguments I had against myself being a Chauvanist:

Silly, billy *****.
 

Falconsgyre

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...is she anorexic? Saying "I'm eating too much" when you're not overweight is a pretty bad sign.
 

nunqual

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Falconsgyre said:
...is she anorexic? Saying "I'm eating too much" when you're not overweight is a pretty bad sign.
I'm tempted to think that she may have anorexic tendencies, but I don't think she's anorexic.

What bothers me a lot is that her mother approves of it...
 

Falconsgyre

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nunqual said:
I'm tempted to think that she may have anorexic tendencies, but I don't think she's anorexic.

What bothers me a lot is that her mother approves of it...
Hm. Yeah, that's pretty bad. I don't think there's a whole lot you can do to stop that, though.