Anorexia nervosa begins often begins as a weight loss diet, and the self induced body of bulimics always begins after a dieter has broken diet resrictions and gorged. As ideas of beauty have varied without time, women in every era have struggled to make their bodies to conform to the ideal of their day. Women have always grown up with the idea that fat is bad and that you can never be too thin. Ths forces women to live in a constant state of semi-starvation. The pictures of what many of us see in women s fashion magazines and advertisements distort women s perceptions of what men find attractive.
Women tend to think their cheeks, hips and waist look larger than they do.
Women with low self-esteem are particularly likely to have a negative body image, and are especially vulnerable to eating disorders. Also an anorexic may sometimes show signs of insecurity. She may begin to feel that family or friends neither love nor respect her, no matter how often they tell her or show her their love. Another sign is preoccupation with food and weight. An anorectic usually measures her worth by what she has or has not eaten.