'I'm a bulimic boy'
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I’m in my mid-30s, male and bulimic. It’s hard to know how common a combination this is. Reliable, up-to-date information is scarce. In 2005 the Eating Disorders Association estimated that ten to 20% of eating disorder sufferers in the UK were male. It may be a higher proportion if men are less willing than women to seek help.
Bulimia nervosa is characterised by a cycle of binge and purge: overeating, then getting rid of calories so as not to put on weight. That’s in contrast to anorexia nervosa, which involves restricting eating in order to control weight and shape. But this can be a blurry distinction and in fact, I started by dieting and the bingeing came later.
I was 22 and had just left university. I’d never had much of a relationship with food at all. It was fuel. I ate when hungry. I liked some things and not others. But I paid it little attention.
Then one day I looked down while showering and thought I looked a bit fat. So the next day I took one sandwich to work instead of tw...
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