There are a few things I could’ve done without in last night’s Nip/Tuck episode:

a) A guest appearance by Rosie O’Donnell. Gross.

b) Marshmallow fluff. Gross.

c) The ass bandit story line. Where in god’s name did the producers come up with this one? (However, Liz’s comment about “digitally dittling” the victims was pretty damn funny.)

Anyway, on to the good stuff…eating disorders.

As someone who very recently wrote a blog about “thinspiration,” I was especially intrigued by the role it played last night. Naughty Eden has introduced poor MacNamara’s daughter to the trials and tribulations of being a young girl who’s overly concerned with her weight. Not only does Annie ask Dr. Mac for lipo because her ass is too big (???), but she gets coached by Eden on “ana” and “mia” not to mention which “thinspiration” websites she visits so that she gets thinspired to skinny.

She even goes as far as making Annie practice purging. Good lord this was so f-ed up! Aside from the fact that this is only a TV show, it’s no wonder so many young girls are developing eating disorders with the kind of influence that’s out there.

Then we have Kate, “the chick who used to be chubby.” She is battling her body as well with her peanut M&M and fluff cravings. Binge eating disorder is becoming more and more common these days and she exemplifies someone who can’t quite overcome it. I think we can all relate to her experience of eating a ton when we’re stressed or sad because some sh*thead broke our hearts. But I can’t help but not like her because she’s so sad and pathetic. It sounds awful, but I’m kind of over her character especially now that Doc Mac has asked her to marry him. Is he for real?

While we’re on the subject, I predict that Dr. MacNamara will have a bit of a bad boy streak. There is this part of him that wants so badly to act out (and screw Eden), and I think it’s only a matter of time before he unleashes the beast.

In contrast, it seems that Christian Troy may become a saint. His connection with the breast reduction nun may have awakened the good in him. Is it safe to say that his man whore days are over?

Guess we’ll have to see how it all plays out.

That thought probably floats through my head a few hundred times a day. And the truth is I’m not overweight. Not even close really. But I just want to be thinner than I am, like 10 pounds thinner.

Do I need to lose weight for health reasons? No.

Am I totally out of shape? Nope.

So what gives? Why do I insist on being so un-accepting of my body?

Probably because I have this innate desire to be perfect, to strive for that unattainable “perfect,” hot celebrity body, that is the result of a) a super intense trainer and nutrition coach, which I will never be able to afford or b) a combination of drugs (no thanks) + an eating disorder.

Now I’ve never had an eating disorder, but I must admit I’ve treaded quite close to the edge with some serious calorie counting, not to mention borderline obsessive exercising. But most recently, since I’m perusing the web a lot (who isn’t?), I’ve stumbled upon the term “thinspiration.”

I’m sure many of you have heard of this. But since I hadn’t yet, I did some more digging, which led me to a TON of anorexia blogs, pro-anorexia websites, insane dieting tactics to avoid eating at all costs, YouTube videos that flash images of reallllly skinny girls so that they’ll “thinspire” you… the list goes on.

At first I was totally shocked and horrified by how mental the girls who create this sh*t are. But then, I became intrigued.

I visited these sites daily and read what they had to say about the monster that is anorexia or “ana,” which most of the girls nickname “her.” Their struggles with the “ana” voice in their heads is pretty much documented daily along with what they eat, how they feel, etc.

Then there are virtual support groups where girls exchange tips and tricks on how to lie about eating or pretend they have just eaten to avoid harassment from parents and friends.

One dialogue that really stuck with me was about one girl who was freaking about having to go out and drink with her friends. She asked how many calories are in beer and other booze and when someone responded explaining there were about 110 per drink, she wrote, “OMG I don’t think I can handle that many!”

My thought was, “Huh? I doubt beer calories have ever deterred me from drinking like 10.”

Despite my disconnect with them on the level of caring how many calories are in my alcohol beverage of choice, I did relate. I too want to be thin and beautiful. But obviously there are different levels to this desire, some that drive you to do totally crazy and unhealthy things to yourself.

Lucky for me I’m not there, but I still have a voice in my head telling me I need to weigh less, I shouldn’t have eaten those cookies, I look fat today… I want to be skinnier.

How the hell do you make that stop?

Check out this video that serves as “Thinspiration” for girls who are suffering from Anorexia. Unfortunately, there are many variations of this kind of video, all of which support looking unhealthy: