Eating is a behaviour that is controlled by many different factors that include appetite, the availability of food, social practices, and attempts at consciously controlling it.  These attempts to control your eating are often as a result of a desire for the leaner body weight that is promoted
by fashion trends and media marketing.  An Eating Disorder involves a pattern of eating that creates negative consequences for the victim.  It leaves victims feeling distressed and wracked with guilt and shame.

Where eating is usually under our voluntary control it somehow slips out of the control and becomes a problem.  Studies are underway to try and establish the mechanism that leads people to losing control of their eating and developing an Eating Disorder.  The biological functions that lead to appetite are very complicated, especially when metabolism becomes altered through periods of overeating or starvation.  The hope is that if we are able to understand the physiology of eating we will be able to create a pharmaceutical treatment for Eating Disorders.  As yet this is out of our reach and traditional psychotherapeutic models remain the most effective treatments available.

Emotional eating (see Wikipedia) can sabotage your efforts to get in shape and reach a healthy weight.  Emotional eating refers to overeating or making poor food choices in response to emotional difficulties.  Studies on the effect of stress on women who have a binge eating disorder showed that those who experienced stress were more likely to binge eat.

It is important to note that it is the experience of stress and not the actual event itself.  That is to say, it is more important how we interpret and respond to an event than the actual event itself.  Some people are able to deal with stressful situations in a proactive manner and don't experience them as negatively as others.  Some theories suggest that this is related to our internal belief of how well we can cope with things:  If we believe that we are highly capable then we are less likely to be thrown by stressful events.  Other people experience stressful situations as being overwhelming and may stay focused on the problems before them rather than mobilizing for a solution.

The bigorexic will stand in front of the mirror and see a lot of areas that need improvement - arms are too thin, legs scrawny, chest needs more muscle, and so on.  They will be constantly looking for ways to get bigger and more muscular, no matter how big they are. 

The condition known as "orthorexia nervosa" was first described by Dr Steven Bratman in 1997.   This diagnostic category is usually viewed by psychiatrists as being a variety of anorexia nervosa.  The chief difference between orthorexia and anorexia nervosa is the motivation for a person not to eat, although the end result is often very similar.  An eating disorder treatment center should be able to accurately diagnose this eating disorder where it occurs. 

Eating disorder treatment is a complicated process that requires a combination of many factors to be successful.  By using a blend of hard work, personal effort, and expert counseling an eating disorder can be overcome.  This difficult process often requires a lot of dedication on behalf of the client.