REHAB with THE SWARMITE: FOOD DISORDERS (pt 2)

Yes, we learn to never touch the love handles of the buffed up boyfriend in case he was a fat boy at school. Yes, we learn that the body of boy diver Tom Daley coupled with the face of a walnut, is not always a good look for older gay men and Yes, we really DO spot the hairline on those Aussie Cricketer Hairpiece ads on SKY. Mind you, they no longer look like a bacon sandwich plonked on the head but why choose a spiky hairstyle and colour graduation from two decades ago? The mind must say Jedward but the eyes see Bonnie Tyler. Gayers don’t bother with all that malarkey, once it thins, it’s off with a number 1.

Body dysphoria is as varied as the diversity of gayers at Mardi Gras but at some point we all need to take bodystock and accept ourselves as we are. Sondra Ray wrote a book many moons ago called THE ONLY DIET THERE IS. It simply listed page after page of Loving Yourself Affirmations, sickly as it sounds, but it’s true that losing weight and feeling trim has nothing to do with food, and food disorders have nothing to do with Love. Depending on the individual case, Body Dysphoria Disorder (BDD) may either be an anxiety disorder or part of an eating disorder or both; BDD always includes a fear of judgement from others, as seen in social anxiety, social phobia and also some OCD problems like having to be perfectly turned out in public to avoid expectant ridicule; or alternatively may be part of eating disorders such as anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa and compulsive overeating. Binge eating or comfort eating followed by a strict gym regime of imbalance, is not loving yourself into acceptance. Mix into this conundrum, steroids and chem use, and you have a right mash up. Like an alcoholic who looks like a social user in public, the real burn up starts when they get home, and so it is with food. Slouched out with a tub of delights laced with depression, it can go either way. Continue into oblivion or use the over-eating as a motivator to burn it off on the track or gym. Or not.