Having "good and bad" days.

I used to work at a recovery house for clients suffering from an addiction to drugs, alcohol and gambling. I would often tell them that eating disorders are one of the worst addictions you can have. Many didn't understand this until I put it to them this way. I told them that while their addictions are of course VERY serious, their bodies can do without drugs and/or alcohol. However, when someone has an eating disorder they MUST eat or they will die. When I explained it to them this way you could almost see the light bulb go on. This example was not used to minimize their own issues but rather shed light on an illness that in my opinion is too easily overlooked.

Similar to a chemical dependency, we have relapses. In the case of ED it is often called "binging and purging."

In addition to this, body image can play a huge role in the determining if a binge/purge is about to happen. Having low self-esteem or confidence about how we "look" can set up a dangerous pattern of binging/purging or starving in the hopes that it will garner the results that we want. More often, though, it does the exact opposite as our bodies try to recover from either not eating or overeating and purging either through excessive exercise or vomiting.

In my own case, it's something that I manage from day to day. I try to stay as positive as I can and surround myself with positive people and influences. Running, for me has been one of the best things I have ever done. It is a truly remarkable sport where I have to rely on my own strength and determination to achieve my goals. It also has led me to finding some remarkable people who I call close friends.

Even with running, though, I have good and bad days with regards to my ED. I try to focus on the good days and not let the bad days snowball out of control.

When I was growing up there was very little information about ED especially with regards to men suffering form this disorder. Thankfully today there are literally hundreds of websites you can turn to for help.
Here are a just a few:
http://www.sheenasplace.org/

http://www.something-fishy.org/