Fear Foods and Eating Disorders
I’m afraid of cake.. I’m afraid that if I allow myself to eat one bite, before I know it the whole thing will be gone! Lots of us have this feeling towards one specific food or another. That feeling is called a food fear. Many individuals suffering from eating disorders have intense food fears. I […]
The Development of Eating Disorders and the Media
From a very early age, children are taught by society that their looks matter. Think of the four year old little girl who is constantly praised for being “so cute” or the mother who tells her teenage daughter to “be sure to dress nicely and wear make up because you never know who you will […]
Intuitive Eating: Listening to Inner Hunger Cues
Intuitive eating, aka mindful eating is a pretty hot topic these days. Intuitive eating creates a healthy relationship with your food, mind, and body. It allows you to become completely in tune with yourself as a whole. It teaches you how to distinguish between actual hunger and the emotional feelings that may be fueling your […]
Adapting Addiction Recovery Skills to Eating, Part 3
Strategy 3: Abstinence Abstinence from an abused substance or behavior is an essential part of addiction recovery. This difficult task includes fending off cravings, finding alternate behaviors to meet your needs, and avoiding triggering situations if at all possible. When the substance you abuse is food, abstinence is not an option. Since eating is […]
Adapting Addiction Recovery Skills to Eating, Part 2
Once you have utilized your addiction recovery skills to Identify Your Triggers for dysfunctional eating behaviors, you can take the next step to avoid those triggers whenever possible. Having been through the 12 steps, you are very familiar with accepting that willpower is not enough to change addictive behaviors. You must consciously try to […]
Pro-Ana and Thinspiration
Before the internet became a constant presence, body image distortion, body shame and related disorders such as anorexia, bulimia and binge eating were almost exclusively private matters. Most of us wouldn’t have even considered sharing our secret behaviors or shameful thoughts and feelings in any kind of public forum. Contrast that “old-fashioned” mindset with […]
Adapting Addiction Recovery Skills to Eating
The development of a healthy relationship with food is the foundation of recovery from an eating disorder, yet it takes months and years to build. Therefore recovery from an eating disorder begins the day you commit to change, even if change hasn’t happened yet. Unlike recovery from a substance or process addiction, where you […]
The Quest for the Right Question: Your Weight vs Your Life
Read these statements and try to imagine the person who said each of them: “I want to change my body.” “I think about my weight all the time.” “I am petrified of gaining weight.” “I get really stressed out about eating in front of people.” “I worry that the way I’m eating is bad for […]