If she ' s wasn ' t underweight , then she wasn ' t anorexic . Going periods without food isn ' t anorexia . Fasting isn ' t anorexia either . Everyone works differently , and some people respond better to intermittent fasting . Others will have more success with small meals . Pushing one over the other just because of anecdotal evidence , even though plenty of research says all that matters is that the approach allows the individual to manage their caloric intake , is short sighted . Anything can be taken to the extreme and made unhealthy fasting and many small meals are both no exception . There are people that get cranky and don ' t function well fasting all day , and there are others that naturally default towards eating only once or twice a day .