Jared I saw the real life episode... I hope that you are going to
continue to seek help, even though you still are pre-occupied with
losing weight. I had never seen another male's story on tv, and
have met maybe two other guys several years ago when i was in
treatment. Find solace and comfort regarding your problem with other
women, it's not a gender thing, more of a self-esteem/ self-
punishing disorder...remember, dont give up, you are not the only
one....


--- In menseatingdisorders@yahoogroups.com, J-Rad
<jareda_kennedy@y...> wrote:
> To Who ever this reaches:
> Hey. My name is Jared. I am a 23 year old man from Minnesota. I
have been battling anorexia and bulimia since I was 15, but have
only recently, within the last year, decided to get outside help for
it. Before I was getting help, I was constantly worried about what
I was eating. I would throw up anything from a cough drop to a bag
of Oreos and a jar of peanut butter.
> I was reserved about getting help, as I didn't think that other
men suffered from that. I was worried that I would only add to the
gay stereotype of the dire need to be feminine. As many
factors/experiences go into eating disorders, I know being gay was
one of them---I wanted my boyfriend to be more proud of me...I
wanted my friends to be jealous...I wanted to be thin no matter the
cost. When I could, I would avoid eating altogether, but when it
was nearly impossible, I would binge and purge, in a sense.
> I guess I realized I had a problem when I was on the phone with a
friend telling her about my E.D. and she came over to help me
eat...I am still embarrassed that it got that far...but the past is
the past. I had a panic attack after eating a tablespoon of rice
with gravy, after which she offered me an ultimatum--either I get
help or she would get help for me. That was how I got into
outpatient therapy, as the area I am in doesn't have a specific
inpatient program.
> My outpatient therapy consisted of seeing a dentist, a doctor, a
dietitian, and a psychologist once a month. Although I have yet to
see a dentist, I went through about 3 months if therapy--which
consisted of extremely close measuring of my weight, mental state,
blood levels, checking for organ damage....the list goes on.
> At my heaviest, I was 230 pounds, and at my lowest weight, I was
at 165. I am now at what my friends and Doctors consider
a "healthy" 185lbs, but I will always desire to be thin. Since
leaving my treatment program ( due to the fact that I am a broke
ass), I have eliminated meat from my diet, eating only soy meat (
which is completely fat free).
> A lot of problems arise from being anorexic/bulimic---the one bad
thing I went through was in my hometown at a school reunion, I
hadn't eaten all day then went out all night. At 2:30 in the
morning my friends drove me to the ER after I had been involuntarily
puking for 2 hours and was unresponsive. I was pumped with IV fluid
and obviously didn't need to pump my stomach, but that gave my
friends, family, and I quite a wake up call.
> I will get thinner, and hopefully won't have to regress to my
earlier methods, but dire situations call for extreme methods...I
can't say I won't do it again, and I don't know if I want this to be
over yet. All I know is that this ED scared a lot of people around
me...including myself.
> All I ask of you guys at MTV is even if you don't decide that my
story is interesting enough, PLEASE put on the show that this is a
problem faced by both genders...I think that will help other men out
there to realize that there is help out there---if they want it.
> Thanks for listening--
> (Say hi to Justin Timberlake for me !!! :) )
> Jared Kennedy
> 2521 Minnesota Ave NW #1
> Bemidji MN 56601
> 218-209-1933 cell
> 218-444-8468 home
>
>
>
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