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Huh?
My good guy friend, Riley, he turned vegan four years ago.
At first I didn't think it'd last, but it's lasted for 4 years.
I don't have a problem with him being vegan, I think it's perfectly fine, it's his personal choice, but I think he's anorexic.
I know some people may laugh at the fact that a guy's anorexic, but I think it's true.
He used to be ordinary shape, like not fat, not skinny, just..normal.
The other day he came to my house to swim(it was really hot) and when he took off his t-shirt I was shocked!
His ribs were sticking out completely!
I mean, he weighs about 109lbs and I weigh about 128 or something, and I'm not really fat.
I asked him if he's dieting and he said yeah, I've gained so much weight recently.
I spent 5 days at his house (hes gay, nothing going on between us) and over the 5 days he ate 3 lettuce leaves, one soya yogurt and then some fruit and carrots.
I'm honestly really worried.
Btw he's a 16 year old male, about 6ft4 or so.
What could I do? :(
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First, there's nothing to laugh about when dealing with eating disorders. Second, Oh, My God. 6'4" and 109 pounds?? He's, like, dangerously underweight. At his height, he should weigh something like 175 or 180, and that's on the low end of the normal weight spectrum.
The best thing to do is educate him about what he's doing to his body.
First, you're gonna have to get him to talk about it. That's the hard part. You know him better than I do, so you'll be able to get into his head better than I could suggest.
Once you get him to open up, explain to him the dangers of anorexia. It can cause hair loss, organ failure, and it BACKFIRES. By starving himself to lose weight like that, he's depriving his body of the nutrients it needs to maintain a certain level of health and capability. When your body doesn't have nutrients to feed off of, it starts to feed off of itself, which is where the weight loss comes from. As you can tell, just from the sound of what I just said, that is NOT a healthy way to lose weight. Not only that, but what he's doing is slowing his metabolism like crazy. That, if he should ever decide to eat again, will cause him to gain weight.
I have a friend, for example, who used to be anorexic, and got the help she needed to get better, but now she's very overweight (but working on losing weight in a healthy way).
I myself am a former anorexic, and I still struggle with my past sometimes. But the trick to losing weight, which you can tell him, is to eat more OFTEN and speed up your metabolism. I eat 6 meals a day, or 5 depending on when I wake up. I also work out pretty much daily. I weigh 125, but I'm really skinny just because of all the lean muscle I have.
I have to tell you, he's going to be resistant to opening up about this. He won't think he has a problem, and he won't want help. You need to help him realize that something isn't right. Tell him you're worried. Hell, go on the computer with him and show him his BMI (I think it was 13.4, which is REALLY underweight). Do anything you can to put the idea into his head that he needs to turn this around. Find some way to alert him, because let me tell you, when I was anorexic, I didn't even realize it until my choir director dragged me by my sleeve into his office and went "Who are you and what have you done with my soprano?"
It's hard to work through eating disorders because they're both psychological and physical. You have to have a LOT of willpower, and a lot of support from your friends and family. Otherwise, you need hospitalization. It's dangerous stuff. The best thing you can do for him is let him know you care and that you want to help. Once, of course, he admits he needs it.
If you like, you can keep me updated on the process and I'll help you talk him around as much as I can.
If not, good luck.
-Siren =)
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He's six feet four and only weighs 109? My god, he must be a stick. My boyfriend's 6'2" and weighs almost 170.
Talk to him about it. Voice your concerns, and how prepared you support his beliefs but you are very concerned for his health. You can be vegan and healthy, and not be terribly skinny. Maybe mention to one of his parents how skinny their son is? Just try to put it in general conversation, so it doesn't seem like you're hounding him, you're just curious. The more people know, maybe the more will notice, and something positive can happen.
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