This Sunday's Deseret News had an article about anorexia. As I was reading through the article, it mentioned the fact that there were pro-anorexia sites or 'pro-ana' sites. I was shocked. I could not believe that there were sites dedicated to slowly killing your self from starvation and people were supporting you to do it. They tell you ways to hide it and encourage your weight loss. They say it is a lifestyle choice and if you get to the point that you need a feeding tube to survive then you've been successful.
Of course I had to look some up and see what they were about. It made me sick inside to think that people were wasting there lives trying to be 'thinned' to death. I had many conflicting feelings. I mean, we are so blessed with an abundance of food and people are starving and purging themselves of it. There really are starving children in Africa who would give anything to eat the way most Americans eat. It's so hard for me to understand. Why would you do this to your body? It's so damaging. Anorexia must really be a disease of your mind because logical thinking is definitely taken out of the picture. How freaking sad. Food is suddenly all that your life is about. It makes my heart ache for these people.
Why are there so many people with this horrible relationship with food? And couldn't it go either way? You could be starving yourself to death or eating yourself to death. Both relationships can reek havoc on your body and mind.
I truly think that it all comes down to the adversary. He would really try anything to get you to become numb to the truly good and righteous things of this world. To become numb to living life and enjoying the beauty around us. Just a big old distraction.
You could honestly say this about any addiction. Pornography, drugs, alcohol, etc....pick your poison. It's the same trick every time. All about pleasing yourself. I think that is why we are taught so much about serving others. You stop thinking about yourself when you see the hardships other people go through.
This article just made me think about how important it is to keep my body healthy and strong. I want to be able to do anything physical that my heart desires. I want to be able to keep up with Kelsie and kick the soccer ball around with her one day. After having a baby (and REALLY knowing what a gut looks like), I feel much more motivated to eat right and exercise. It's such a blessing to have a body and I do not want to take it for granted.
