The Drunkorexic Diet
Posted by: Deborah Findling
Filed in:
news
3:30PM, Wednesday June 17th 2009
How’s this for a scary trend? Apparently some college-aged women follow what’s being called a “drunkorexic” diet that involves binge drinking and then offsetting those calories by not eating. Stats show that about 30% of 18-24 year old women now participate in some form of drunkorexia. So why are so many women doing it? Well, the desire to be skinny can compete with a person’s desire to participate in the social scene. Dr. Douglas Bunnell, director of outpatient clinical services for the Renfrew Center, said to The New York Times, “Binge drinking is almost cool and hip, and losing weight and being thin is a cultural imperative for young women in America. Mixing both is not surprising, and it has reached a tipping point in terms of public awareness.” Can you say dangerous? The calories in alcohol lack any nutritional value and are hardly a supplement for, you know, food just aren’t the same. And how in the hell do these people pass up a bacon, egg, and cheese sandwich when they wake up with a nasty hangover? [NationalEatingDisorders.org]
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Symian
wrote on June 17 2009 @ 03:56 pm: [report]
So, I can offset the number of calories in my Tanq and tonic by passing up food for a day? When I went to college the cool thing was eating before you drank, but I guess we had it all wrong…
TCU1793
wrote on June 17 2009 @ 04:55 pm: [report]
Wow, unfortunately I have to say that this is how ALL of the girls I’m close to at my university do it. Including myself… only once or twice a week… but yeah, I know it’s bad. There is just too much pressure to be thin AND go out and network, keep yourself well-known, etc. Especially around here where sororities and fraternities are so important in collegiate life because they have a huge impact on “who you know” in your career field.
EarthGoddess
wrote on June 17 2009 @ 05:50 pm: [report]
When I was in college, I knew girls that would eat a huge dinner, then throw it all up before going out so they could enjoy the dinner and have their stomachs empty to get drunk faster. Sad, sad, sad.
duckie
wrote on June 17 2009 @ 06:00 pm: [report]
Its pretty crazy what we’ll do to our bodies… I recently was dieting to lose some extra weight I’ve put on and when I went out, instead of having a drink I had diet coke with a slice of lime- so it looked like I was drinking. One bar I go to had “QUAD” specials on Saturdays and we were there and I ordered a soda- which came in the same giant cup the 4-shot drink did- some guys there were impressed how fast I drank it because they thought it had alcohol lol.
TotallyRidiculous
wrote on June 17 2009 @ 06:22 pm: [report]
They don’t have nasty hangovers to deal with because they haven’t been doing it for that long. After a couple years of getting trashed all the time they will be brought down to earth with either wicked hangovers or alcoholism (or both).
writergirl
wrote on June 17 2009 @ 06:31 pm: [report]
There just now discovering that this? We did it all the time. It isn’t something I am proud of, but it isn’t “new”; it’s been going on for years. I alway did a balance system. If I drank, the next day I didn’t eat. Or ate only dry lettuce—something like that. Not the healthiest, no, but I was young and stupid, then, too.
And anorexic. And had exercise bulemia. I’m much happier now.
writergirl
wrote on June 17 2009 @ 06:32 pm: [report]
*They’re.
I swear I read it three times before I hit ‘Submit’.
raqueleza
wrote on June 17 2009 @ 06:48 pm: [report]
Most of the girls I know still do this (including myself…eep). Everyone knows that drinking leads to gaining weight, so just take into account how much you plan on drinking into your daily caloric allowance. Certainly not the healthiest way to go, but it works.
I wouldn’t, however, call this any form of anorexia. There isn’t a lack of calorie intake here, just nutrition. And in that case, you could call half of the American population “Big Macorexic.”
bbpickles
wrote on June 17 2009 @ 06:49 pm: [report]
I understand that girls are probably doing this to extreme, but my friends and I would “diet” all week so we could binge drink on the weekend. One of my friends was on weight watchers, ate under her point allowance for the week and then drank her ass off all weekend! She lost 20 lbs!
@writergirl-We also wouldn’t eat anything the day after drinking, but that’s because we were so hungover we couldn’t keep anything down!
@Duckie-That is an awesome idea, and now that I have grown up a little and don’t want to get trashed when I go out, I will try it…..But wasn’t that just annoying and super irritating when all your friends are drunk idiots and you are stone sober?
dirtyboots
wrote on June 17 2009 @ 07:20 pm: [report]
I’m surprised by all of the comments justifying this behavior. What it comes down to is that it is just unhealthy. Also, if you are drinking on an empty stomach it’s that much more likely that you will get extremely drunk, which I suppose is the point for binge drinkers, but that’s when a lot of bad things can happen to people. What about moderation with both eating and drinking?
Erin G
wrote on June 17 2009 @ 08:33 pm: [report]
Every time I drink, I struggle with the drunk munchies. This would never work for me with all the food I eat at 2:30am.
I’m in college, and I simply save my drinking for the weekend and at most, one night during the week. And I stick to light beer.
pixieonacid
wrote on June 17 2009 @ 08:41 pm: [report]
Seriously just drink vodka,and lots of it, less calories than beer and you’ll be so sick the nexy day that you wont be able to eat, you might even drink so much that you throw up the contents of your stomach from the day before and thats two days or at least one and a half days without food, perfect diet!!
(BTW incase you think i’m stupid i’m not actually suggesting this, just saying it would probably work:P)
loveitlala
wrote on June 18 2009 @ 06:06 am: [report]
I agree with whoever said this won’t last out of college. You’re body can’t take it after a certain age so you stop… or you become an alcoholic. BTW a main way alcoholics get so sick is that they get all their calories from their drinks. They all get Wernicke’s due to a lack of B1 for this exact reason.
Riley
wrote on June 18 2009 @ 06:15 am: [report]
College-fad, turned into “epidemic” by the bored media. Like others have said, this isn’t new. For most of the people I know that did this in college, all of the ones with jobs have stopped; all of the ones that are still in college or dropped out, still do this.
It is all a matter of growing up.
jojo32
wrote on June 18 2009 @ 06:16 am: [report]
uhhh…glad I dont feel pressure to be thin or get drunk on a regular basis. It’s nice to just do whatever I want without being judged for petty behavior. If I get drunk, my friends like me. If I dont, guess what, they dont pressure me to drink more and…they still like me!! What a novel concept!
Bottom line…if I’m out drinking really late, I’m getting some greasy food before I go to bed. And all the people who love me STILL LOVE ME! Yay for my life!
Oliveira
wrote on June 18 2009 @ 02:30 pm: [report]
I wonder if people who do this realise that replacement livers are not sold at Walmart. This is especially aimed at people who write “yeah I know it’s bad”. But… what? But your liver is special?
bogart4017
wrote on June 19 2009 @ 01:33 pm: [report]
future alkies of the world beware. If you’re getting all your calories out of a glass you will die slowly. If you’ve ever seen someone suffer from d.t.s you’ll never want to drink again. Or watch someone die slowly while their arteries harden and their liver betrays them. Dialysis three times a week turns your skin to leather, ages you overnight and generally weakens your system. Is it worth it to be whippet thin? A little weight never hurt anyone and you’ll need it when you get old or sick anyway.