Any time you ignore hunger signals and deprive your body of the nourishment it needs, it has a physiological response. This is why those who’re struggling with an ED commonly lose their hunger and fullness cues. The body simply prioritizes other functions in order to keep the heart beating and blood pumping to other extremities. In ABA, we call this selectionism. Author and Eating Disorder Recovery coach Tabitha Farrar explains the genetic adaptations to starvation in her book “Rehabilitate, Rewire, Recover,” as your body telling you to move more and eat less. This is why eating disorders are addictive; your body can’t tell the difference from an actual famine. If you didn’t have access to food, you would need to 1; search and hunt for it and 2; survive off of a lower quantity.
In “Sick Enough” by Jennifer L. Gaudini, she explains how these genetic adaptations vary from person to person. While one starved body may experience a decreased heart rate, another may have cold hands and feet. While one body may look emaciated, another body of similar stature and caloric intake may grow hair in peculiar places but maintain the same weight. These genetic variabilities cause many Eating Disorders to go undetected or underestimated. Luckily, a visit to a Doctor who noticed my trending weight loss pointed me towards my first treatment center in 2017. When I had a relapse in 2021, I recognized the signs and sought help before I became sicker. Had I not been aware, an outsider wouldn’t have suspected an eating disorder due to my body’s physical adaptations to starvation.