It can be difficult to characterize whether behavior falls into a “normal” realm of diet, weight control, and body image. A few markers can help distinguish when physical and dietary concerns might become an eating disorder. These signs include intensely planning and structuring food consumption, consistently consulting nutritional information when purchasing food and weighing ingredients when cooking, maintaining a list of forbidden foods, eating in a severely controlled way and feeling superior to others, and maintaining and justifying strict rules about food.
For more, see Eating Disorders.