"[A]typical anorexia nervosa, an increasingly common yet little known eating disorder... shares all the same symptoms as anorexia nervosa, except for extreme thinness...."

"Those with atypical anorexia, doctors observed, suffer the same mental and physical symptoms as people with anorexia nervosa, even life-threatening heart issues and electrolyte imbalances. They restrict calories intensively; obsess about food, eating and body image; and view their weight as inextricably linked to their value. They often skip meals, eat in secret, adhere to intricate rules about what foods they allow themselves to consume and create unusual habits like chewing and spitting out food. Others exercise to the point of exhaustion, abuse laxatives or purge their meals. But unlike those diagnosed with anorexia, people with atypical anorexia can lose significant amounts of weight but still have a medium or large body size.... To the outside world, they appear 'overweight.'... Many people with anorexia describe the illness as a battle between two selves. One is a maniacal superego, hellbent on control at all costs in a misguided attempt to find safety....The second is... no longer concerned with being quiet and obedient or apologizing for her existence. And, perhaps most important, she has no interest in making herself small."

"'You Don’t Look Anorexic’/New research shows that our assumptions about eating disorders are often wrong — and that many larger-bodied people are starving themselves" (NYT).