Yoga &/or Meditation: Why She's in Love with It

For those who know me, either personally or professionally, it’s no surprise that I am an avid and whole-hearted cheerleader for yoga and meditation. Over and over, I sing praise for (but try not to preach about) all of the benefits of a mind-body practice. My yoga classes sometimes sound like therapy sessions, and my work in individual and group sessions certainly resonate with tones of Eastern medicine, holisitic psychology, and integrated healing.

…but I never push. (As it turns out, attempting to push, force, control, insist, or fix people just doesn’t work – and it wastes a lot of energy).

However, I have noticed that almost all of my clients that have sustained any semblance of longer-term recovery, balanced living and wellness have one thing in common: a mindfulness practice. They do something, consistently, that involves A) being in their bodies and B) being in the present moment. Yoga just happens to be one of the easiest and most accessible ways to accomplish this, but is – by no means –the only option.

So why does it work?

Okay, first we have to go back. Way back. As lovely as it is to run around in our designer heels and fancy cars, we have to remember that our ancestors were cave people. We developed, biologically, from these very primitive and less sophisticated ancestors. Parts of our brain are primitive, and as sophisticated as our thinking can be, we still have our limbic system, firing away, in a similar fashion to our ancient relatives.

Imagine that you are a cave person and your survival depends on your ability to A) eat and B) not get eaten by a saber-tooth tiger. Imagine that you are out in the sunshine on a beautiful day, with the sun shining on your face, and feeling the soft breeze blowing in your cave person hair – and then BAM!!!!!!!! You hear a rustling in the bush. Immediately, you are prepared for danger because that sound may be a predator. You’re ready to run, or to fight – sending your parasympthatic nervous system into fight or flight response. Adrenaline pumps, and stress hormones are shot into your bloodstream so that you can survive.

Okay, so what?? We’re not cave people any more, so how does this apply to me and my life today?

Science has shown that our brains continue to demonstrate this negativity bias. In a split second, even when there is an infinite amount of positive stimuli to attend to, our brains with naturally, automatically, and because of evolution, zero in on the perceived threat, the “negative” experience, the rustling in the bushes.

And at one time, this saved our lives.

As the psychologist, Donald Hebb, put it: “Neurons that fire together, wire together.” Our thoughts, feelings, memories and behaviors leave behind lasting impressions on the brain – a lot like the grooves created by a stream flowing down a hill. These grooves are pathways, of sorts, that create the lens in which we perceive reality – both ourselves and the world. So very simply, our brain grooves set us up with a lens to perceive our reality in one of two ways: views that make us suffer, or views that lead us to happiness. Your experience matters.

As the intersection of science and Eastern philosophies continues to develop, the exciting news is this: there is a scientifically supported rationale for being nice to yourself. If your experience matters, this creates a substantiated argument that creating and experiencing more wholesome, calm, joyful, pleasant, and satisfying experiences will change your brain.

This is where yoga comes in. While there are many ways to access the elusive and healing “present moment”, we typically don’t learn them. We are top-heavy learners, relying on our rational minds, our intellect, and our reasoning to develop. We sit in desks and eat at scheduled times instead of moving our bodies and learning to trust our hunger cues. We learn to trust “what we are told” instead of our own intuitive sensations, essentially leaving the present moment behind over and over again to examine the past or to predict the future.

As Tara Brach points out, “the only place that is ever REALLY safe is this present moment.” And as for as our neurobiology is concerned, that is true. Whatever type of yoga class you sign up for, there is one unifying characteristic – breath. All yoga is (or at least should be) an exercise in finding the breath, yoking the breath to movement, and –alas- using the breath as a vehicle to come back to the present moment. That’s why yoga works. Eventually, the brain starts to change, and the cumulative effect of our nervous system registering the safety of this moment right now takes effect. I could sing praise for all the physical benefits of a regular yoga practice: joint health, muscle recovery, flexibility, and appetite regulation – but for me, the mental and emotional benefits have been profound.
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Understanding Body Image: Part 1

When you read the words "body image" what does that mean to you? Body image is actually a pretty complicated topic. I google searched a definition and there were over 4 million results and quite the variety of definitions. For our conversation, I decided to select my favorite definition: 

A term that refers to a person's inner picture of his or her outward appearance. It has two components: perceptions of the appearance of one's body, and emotional responses to those perceptions.

There are multiple factors which influence your body image. And I've decided to create a series of blog posts dedicated to helping us better understand what creates our own body image. I will not make promises to change your body image (this may take a lot of work in therapy). But I can give you some tools and insight to get started with your body image work.

Body image issues are influenced and made made manifest in four areas: perception, cognition, affect, and behavior. The following four blog posts in this series will target each of these individually. Often, people believe that they can only feel better about the way they look once their physical appearance changes. I am here to tell you that it is possible for your body image to improve without any physical changes taking place.

I have worked with countless individuals who admit that the only time they felt slightly ok with their physical appearance (if at all) was when they were engaging in harmful eating and exercise patterns that became self-destructive and non-sustainable. My hope with this blog series on understanding body image is to help you empowered by realizing WE create our own body image. And I promise, the only lasting way to feel better about yourself is by treating your here and now body with love, kindness, and lots of self-care.

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Be Big

*Note: the post below is written by a client of mine, who happens to be extremely passionate about swimming. This article (in a longer form) appeared in the July/August 2011 New England Masters newsletter. She shared it with me and I was extremely eager to share it with you. Enjoy.

Recently at the pool I admired a guy swimmer’s newly peroxided hair. The guys around him said, “Yeah, we call him the Blond Baller now.” “Argh!” I screamed. For weeks I had been trying to come up with a female swim power phrase, the equivalent for “macho.” Our language doesn’t have many, or any, female swim power words.

The Blond Baller is a superfast sprinter, so I assumed the “Baller” part of his nickname referred to his fast (swim) stroke. I posted my female swim power language dilemma on the US Masters swim forum and got some interesting suggestions, many of them, ironically, from men—Piscine Goddess, Aqua Aphrodite, and Buff Babes—but none met my criteria of using body language words to convey power. I had my own pitiful list: Ball Busters (later on that one), Water Sweepers (thinking of housekeepers), Power Surgers, Tough-Breasted. Bleah.

Meanwhile, another thread on the masters swim forum was talking about Janet Evans’s possible return to Olympic swimming. A few guy masters swimmers close to her age began worrying that she would be able to beat them. One guy posted, “I used to think I was safe from being ‘chicked’ by masters women roughly near my age in distance races.” Another guy then suggested the term “outchicked” as a way to describe a powerful female swimmer, but this suggested a relational kind of power (aka “Ball Buster”) rather than pure female power.

I found some good nicknames for Olympic female swimmers: Faith Leech, a 1956 Australian Olympic freestyler, was known as the “Flying Fish” because of her streamlined length and “elegant” technique. Mary T. Meagher was known as “Madame Butterfly,” and AP quotes described Janet Evans as “a Force of Nature,” “a whirling dervish of a swimmer,” “perpetual motion.” There was one female-only suggestion from the masters swim forum that I sort of liked: “bitchin,’” as in “bitchin’ sprinter” (though it still has a slightly negative ring).

In the back of my mind, though, I kept thinking “Big Girls.” At a lot of swim meets, the really powerful female swimmers are big. Big shoulders, big arms, big backs, big quads, big muscles overall. They aren’t the majority, but they aren’t the minority either. I think of swimming as a sport where it’s OK to be “sized.” Big Women doesn’t do it for me—it’s gotta be Big Girls, to tie in to the link from childhood on that girls are supposed to be small. Petite. Svelte. Even if very strong, you can’t look it, else you risk being called manly or compared to former East German steroid-enhanced female Olympic swimmers.

I’ll take Evans’s “Force of Nature” any day, but I also want to say to every girl and woman who swims (or does any type of physical activity for that matter): Be Big. Take up a lot of space. Be a Big Force of Nature, a Big Whirling Dervish, a Big Powerful Bitchin’ Swimmer who doesn’t care about “outchicking” guys, but just wants to move with power and strength.

Be a Big Girl and be proud of it.
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Harnessing the Power of Social Media: Tools for Eating Disorder Recovery and Positive Body Image

*Please note, the article originally appeared in the Summer 2011 Behavioral Health Nutrition Dietetics Practice Group newsletter.


We live in a world where thin is glorified and unrealistic images of feminine beauty are plastered online, in print, and on TV. These images are hard to avoid and they present serious challenges for clients struggling with eating disorders and body image concerns. In the Spring 2011 issue of the BHN newsletter, Katie R. Gilder, RD wrote an article outlining the very real threat of “thinspiration” media that is widely available and easily accessible. “Thinspiration” websites, forums, and YouTube videos provide pro-eating disorder advice and support to those looking for it. Recent research from the University of Haifa showed that “the more teenage girls are involved in Facebook, the higher their risk of having a negative body image and developing eating disorders such as anorexia and bulimia”(1). Additional research shows that idealistic images of female beauty effect mood, body dissatisfaction, and eating disorder recovery (2,3,4,5).

While social media presents challenges for those struggling with eating and body issues, a whole new world of eating disorder support and positive body image advocates exists online. Social media is defined as “the use of web-based and mobile technologies to turn communication into interactive dialogue” (6). This article will highlight one client’s experience of integrating social media into her recovery as well as provide a list of tools and resources that clinicians may share with their clients.

One Client’s Journey
Kay has suffered from an eating disorder for eight years and has actively been pursuing treatment for her eating disorder for the past eight months. Three months ago Kay was “stuck”. She believed that she could not possibly accept her body the way it was and also thought she couldn’t continue along the same self-destructive path that brought her to my office. Additionally, she truly believed that every woman hated her body and lived on a diet. She once said, “Marci, you are the only woman I know that seems to have a happy relationship with food and believes it’s possible to reject society’s expectations of a perfect body.” Aside from me, she felt she had no positive food or body role model around her. I advised that feeling better about herself was going to take consistent work. And that if she wanted a shift in her recovery, she’d need to fill up on positive messaging, even if she didn’t yet believe it for herself. Kay decided to accept my challenge and we created a plan for the coming week. This is what we agreed on:
• Take a break from reading any websites, TV shows, or magazines that left her feeling worse about herself.
• Write one thing each day that she likes about herself, physical or not.
• Read a positive body image blog for 5 minutes each day.
• Do her best to follow her meal plan.

She came back to my office one week later and to my surprise and relief she was ecstatic. In addition to what we agreed on, she spent an hour each day reading positive body image blogs and bought a book on self-acceptance (Radical Acceptance by Rosie Molinary). This week became a turning point in Kay’s recovery. She was amazed that even though her body hadn’t changed, the way she spoke to and thought about herself did! Three months later, she and I continue to work on this project. Kay still has her struggles; she still has ups and downs. But rather than feeling stuck, she feels the grip of the eating disorder and self-hatred beginning to loosen. Hope and courage has replaced hopelessness and fear.

In Kay’s words:
“When I began the process of recovery, one of my biggest struggles was comparing me to others. I wanted to be "normal" in regards to my eating and body. But I didn't realize that normal is different for everyone! It's not the ideal body type that we see in mainstream media. I felt like I was surrounded by messages that counteracted my recovery. I felt like I couldn't escape the negative messaging about never being good enough in my own skin. When I reached a particularly low point I decided to actively seek out the messaging that I was looking for. I perused the web for blogs, websites, and twitter feeds for anything I could find that would help cultivate complete body and self acceptance. I couldn't believe the amount of information I found! Suddenly I was surrounded by people just like me, virtually, who were promoting and passing on the messages that I needed to keep me going on the path to recovery and self love. Now it's a daily ritual of mine to go through my newsfeed of positive messaging and journal about how I feel after reading them. It makes me feel like I have a community that is supporting me on a positive path, whereas I used to feel so alone in my struggles.”

Virtual Resources Offer Hope and Healing
I share this story, because as an eating disorder clinician I’ve experienced clients who feel trapped, not realizing that there are options to living a life of self-hatred. They are astounded and relieved to know that there is a huge community of people fighting their same struggle, raising a voice of hope and healing. While the social media scene may seem like a land mine for our clients, some of the best treasures are there for the taking, if only they knew where to look. Here are some favorite social media resources:

Pro-Recovery Virtual Communities
MentorConnect: www.mentorconnect-ed.org
Something Fishy: www.something-fishy
Voice-in-Recovery: www.voiceinrecovery.com

Positive Body Image Blogs
Adios Barbie: www.adiosbarbie.com
Body & Brood: www.bodyandbrood.com
Guiltless: www.iamguiltless.blogspot.com
Medicinal Marzipan: www.medicinalmarzipan.com
Nourishing the Soul: www.nourishing-the-soul.com
Rosie Molinary: www.rosiemolinary.com/blog
The Body Image Project: bodyimageproject.com
Operation Beautiful: operationbeautiful.com
Voice-in-Recovery: www.voiceinrecovery.com
Weightless on Psych Central: blogs.psychcentral.com/weightless

Twitter Chat Parties: they are a very fun and interactive way to chat about a specific topic. There are a couple of twitter chats specific to eating disorder recovery. This is a useful primer for anyone new to using Twitter chats (7).
#endED: a monthly chat on ending eating disorders. Typically the last Wednesday of every month at 8:30 EST. Visit www.facebook.com/marciRD, then click on past events to learn more.
#MHSM: a weekly Mental Health and Social Media Chat on Tuesdays at 9:00 EST.
#VIRChat: a weekly pro-recovery chat on Mondays at 9:00 EST. Visit www.voiceinrecovery.com to learn more.

Media Literacy Websites
www.newmoon.com
www.beautyredefined.net
www.revolutionofrealwomen.com

Research
When looking for research on the benefits of social media and its potential positive effects on eating disorder recovery and promotion of positive body image, two university studies published in the ‘90s looked at the effect of media on attitudes and behaviors regarding body image (8, 9). In 1998 JAMA published a consensus statement on interactive health communication (IHC) (10). Their conclusion was that the use of IHC had potential benefit to improve health, but they cautioned the IHC may also cause harm. Few applications have been evaluated. (10). It appears that no research has been published regarding IHC and social pressure on body image in the past 10 years, hence this is an area that deserves attention for future research.

Conclusion
The ADA Standards of Practice (SOP) and Standards for Professional Performance (SOPP) on disordered eating and eating disorders (DE & ED) are scheduled to be published in JADA August 2011 along with the updated position paper on eating disorders. These publications will be a welcome addition to support registered dietitians in effectively treating eating disorders. The field of dietetics, especially working in counseling clients with DE & ED is both an art and a science. As clinicians, we can benefit from having multiple tools in our tool box as we continue to do our part in offering our clients support, guidance, and hope for recovery from DE, ED and body image issues.

References
1. Link found between Facebook use and eating disorders. Available at http://www.jpost.com/Health/Article.aspx?ID=206145&R=R1. Accessed April 17, 2011.

2. Pinhas L, Toner BB, Ali A, Garfinkel PE, Stuckless N. The effects of the ideal of female beauty on mood and body satisfaction. Int J Eat Disord. 1999 Mar;25(2):223-6.

3. Field AE, Cheung L, Wolf AM, Herzog DB, Gortmaker SL, Colditz GA. Exposure to the mass media and weight concerns among girls. Pediatrics. 1999 Mar;103(3):E36.

4. Thomsen SR, McCoy JK, Williams M. Internalizing the impossible: anorexic outpatients' experiences with women's beauty and fashion magazines. Eat Disord. 2001 Spring;9(1):49-64.

5. Turner SL, Hamilton H, Jacobs M, Angood LM, Dwyer DH. The influence of fashion magazines on the body image satisfaction of college women: an exploratory analysis. Adolescence. 1997 Fall;32(127):603-14.

6. Social media as defined by Wikipedia. Available at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_media. Accessed April 17, 2011.

7. Tweeting With Your Twitter Community: How To Participate In A Twitter Chat. Available at
http://www.twitip.com/tweeting-with-your-twitter-community-how-to-participate-in-a-twitter-chat/. Accessed on May 1, 20118. Gleason NA. A New Approach to Disordered Eating—Using an Electronic Bulletin Board to Confront Social Pressure on Body Image. J Am Coll Health. 1995:44(2):78-80.

9. Rabak-Wagener J, Eickhoff-Shemek, J, Kelly-Vance, L. The Effect of Media Analysis on Attitudes and Behaviors Regarding Body Image Among College Students. J Am Coll Health. 1998:47(1):29-35.

10. Robinson, T, et. al. An Evidence-based Approach to Interactive Health Communication: A Challenge to Medicine in the Information Age. JAMA. 1998:280(14):1264-1269.

About the Author: Marci E. Anderson is a dietitian in private practice in Cambridge, MA. She specializes in treating eating disorders and body image concerns. She blogs at www.marciRD.com and can be followed on Twitter @MarciRD. She created and hosts the monthly Twitter chat #endED which is dedicated to ending eating disorders through education, discussion, and support.

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#endED Twitter Chat with Ashley Solomon, Psy.D

Our next #endED Twitter chat is Wed, June 29th with Ashley Solomon, Psy.D. We'll discuss body image and eating disorder recovery. I can't think of a better topic for summer. Check out the Facebook Event Page for more details, including how to participate in a twitter chat if you've never done so before. Below are the questions Ashley will be discussing. I hope you can make it!


Twitter Chat Questions
1. How is body image defined?
2a. What factors influence the degree to which a person struggles with their own body image?
2b. What role does media play in shaping our body image?
3. How does our society’s focus on obesity impact body image?
4. How do struggles with body image affect a person’s ability to recovery from an eating disorder?
5. What can society/parents/friends/partners, etc do to help us/loved ones feel positively about our bodies?
6. What practical things can we do to improve our body image? Do you have any resources you’d recommend?

About Ashley Solomon, Psy.D
Ashley is a therapist who specializes in the treatment of eating disorders, body image, trauma, and serious mental illness. She maintains a blog Nourishing the Soul (NTS). NTS is a look at how our relationship with food can become distorted when our minds, bodies, and souls are not properly nourished. This blog provides a forum for discussion of these distortions, as well as offers news and views on the latest in the field of disordered eating, recovery, and healthy living. You can also follow her on Twitter @nourishthesoul.

About #endED
The goal of #endED is to bring anyone and everyone together who cares about ending eating disorders. My hope is to end the silence and myths about eating disorders, create a place for honest and informed discussion, while offering hope and encouragement.
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Good-Bye Jeans

I learn a lot from my clients. In fact, that's one of the things I love about my work. A few weeks ago, I got an email from a client who wanted to bring in some old jeans to our next session. These were jeans she wore when her eating disorder was pretty darn bad. So, she suggested she bring them in (with some of her art supplies) for us to have a little fun. From this experience I learned that in order to move forward, there are certain things you have to let go of first.

So after you read her blog post, you might want to consider, the following questions:

• Is there anything toxic in my life (beliefs, thoughts, relationships, tangible items, habits) that are holding me back from living a life this healthier and more free?
• If yes, do I need support to let those things go?
• If yes, what could take the place of those toxic beliefs, thoughts, relationships, items, or habits?
• If yes, is there one small thing I could do right now that would point me in a better direction?

Dear Jeans,

After I said goodbye to my scale (with a hammer), I relied on you to gauge my worth and my value as a person; your job was to dictate what kind of day I would have, to punish me on days when you were tight and to urge me to restrict even more when you were loose. You whispered to me constantly, “You are not enough.” You were a constant test. Like the your friend, the scale, there would be no number good enough, no size low enough, to satisfy you. I used you to compare myself to others, never measuring up.

When I started to get better, you started to get tighter.

You tried to undermine my recovery by telling me I didn't deserve to feel good in my clothes. Every morning I tentatively stepped into you, feeling you grow more restrictive, more punishing. As you got tighter, your voice grew louder, and my recovery began to fade.

It was then that I decided to destroy you, and in doing so reclaimed my recovery.

I wrote on you in permanent markers, things you didn’t like but that made me feel empowered, in control.

I have a body, I am not my body.
These cute pockets are not worth my sanity.
These jeans do not define me.

I think I will cut you up, take your voice away, the way you took mine away for so long. I will make you into a blanket, a blanket that will provide warmth and comfort rather than hatred and self-loathing. You will provide memories, not of cold, restrictive days, but rather of the day I took my power back, the day I decided that a piece of cloth does NOT define my worth.

So goodbye, Jeans. Rest in peace.
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Sunny Sea Gold and "Food: The Good Girl's Drug"

In March I attended the BEDA conference and had the pleasure of hearing from and meeting Sunny Sea Gold. Sunny currently works for Redbook, has written a book for girls struggling with binge eating “Food: The Good Girl’s Drug”, maintains her blog, has recovered from her BED herself, and is a rock star “recovery warrior.”

Her book is truly inspiring and I highly recommend to clients struggling with binge eating disorder and emotional eating. Her honesty, warmth, life experience, and practical advice shine through the pages. She fills a vital niche for women (especially young women) struggling with food and their body. Please check it out.

Sunny was gracious enough to do an interview with me. She is a busy lady and I’m no New York Times reporter. But she is passionate about sharing her story and providing the kind of hope all women struggling with an eating disorder truly need. I hope my words convey the genuine care and intelligence that Sunny exuded over the phone. Enjoy, comment if you are so inclined, and share the love.

Sunny, sharing the story of your eating disorder and recovery is a pretty bold thing to do. What inspired you to share your story?

At 15 I realized that something was wrong with the way I was eating and treating my body. And when I realized what that something was (at the time we called it compulsive or emotional eating) I knew without a doubt that I wanted to tell other people about it.

In the early years of my struggle, the help available was good but the books were aimed at grown-ups. Geneen Roth’s work helped but it didn’t always resonate, because she was speaking to an older audience. During my recovery I had periods of utter hopelessness but somewhere deep inside I knew it would be better. I knew that when it did getter, I would share my story with the girls who haven’t heard about recovery in a way that is relatable.

In my early 30’s I started doing some research and I couldn’t believe this type of a book hadn’t been written yet. This fact encouraged me all the more. As I developed my book proposal I created the HealthyGirl.org website to get the word out. I was surprised at how quickly readers started engaging. While there are a lot of great websites and resources out there, there seems to be something very powerful about hearing from someone who is recovered and is talking about it.

Recovery is a hot topic. How have you defined it for yourself?

Full recovery was an intimidating idea for me early on. In my early years, I thought full recovery was never binging again. But when I got further along in my recovery and was binging so rarely and the binges were so small I considered myself recovered from BED. I no longer had an active eating disorder. I was no longer using food to cope. Now, I can’t even recall the last time I binged. In fact, I totally agree with the post you wrote about recovery. I can’t believe how normal I am with food and weight. Even my Mom (who has never had an eating disorder) can’t believe I can have chocolate hanging around the house without eating it.

Your recovery was a 15 year journey. What were the 3 most important factors in your recovery?

I worked very hard in my recovery and there were a lot of things that were important along the way, and I talk about them all in the book. But the top three contributors to my recovery were:

1. Therapy

2. Self-Help Books

3. Support Groups: I attended a binge eating disorder support group for three years

Most people with BED also struggle with their weight. Do you think it’s possible to focus on weight and eating disorder recovery at the same time?

I really feel that focusing on recovering from the eating disorder first is extremely important. Dieting can actually “pull the trigger” and derail the recovery process. However, after I recovered from BED, I did make changes to my diet to facilitate weight loss. It happened but really slow. I did have to repair my relationship with food first.

It’s often said that a better body image takes longer than eating disorder recovery. What do you think?

I have a neutral body image. I can appreciate things about myself that are attractive but it’s just not that important to me anymore. During recovery something switched. A lot of the messaging I got as a child was that the way I looked (ideally thin) was the most important thing. Through therapy, I was able to replace those messages with messages I truly believe and value. The self-esteem work I did in therapy was pivotal. Another turning point for me was when I stopped dieting. I realized that if I became neutral about my weight I could be neutral about my body. It didn’t mean I loved the way I looked all the time but I didn’t obsess about it either. Another really important part of improving my body image was buying things that fit. It was important to feel good in my clothes no matter my size. And as I recovered my body got smaller and that was fine too.

What are the myths about improving body image?

One myth is that if you stop obsessing about your weight you’ll be stuck in a body you dislike. As you recover, your expectations will loosen and your body changes. As you continue to nourish your body, it will start to trust you and get to a more natural weight for you.

Binge eating is more prevalent than anorexia or bulimia but it doesn’t seem to be talked about as much. Why do think that is? What can we do about that?

I used to feel angry that it was being ignored—I believed that BED was less talked about because it’s simply not glamorous. Binge eating can be seen as weak, sloppy, and out of control, the antithesis of the values of our culture. While there is truth to that, BED is also truly a newer concept than other eating disorders like anorexia and bulimia. It wasn’t even mentioned in the DSM until 1994. And I know it will take a while for the medical community to catch up. Another factor is that overeating and binging is so prevalent that people just don’t realize it’s a problem. Groups like BEDA are incredibly important as it gives legitimacy to the disorder. Also, sharing stories is incredibly important. That’s one of the reasons why I share my story.

If you had one piece of advice to offer to women struggling with binge eating, what would it be?

Don’t let anything stop you from getting help. It doesn’t matter what steps you take, just that you take them. I used to get wrapped up in making the right choice, the right food plan, the right therapist, etc. it doesn’t really matter as long as you are taking the steps. If something has stopped working for you, try something different. Talk to more people, ask what they did, try what they did. I can attest to the fact that if you keep moving forward one step at a time you can get better. It’s slow at times, and that sucks but it can get better. It took me 15 years! But here I am.

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#endED Re-Cap with Marsha Hudnall

Last night Marsha Hudnall RD joined #EndED as our guest expert on Binge Eating Disorder.
There was a lot of great discussion that revolved around these questions:

*How is BED diagnosed?
*How is BED different than overeating?
*How does someone know if their binges need to be addressed?
*What are common myths about BED?
*What triggers binge eating?
*What are the obstacles to treating BED effectively?
*What can we do to support an ED dx for BED?
*What are some practical things someone with BED can do?
*What resources are available for treating BED?

Here are some of the key things I took away from the talk:
@MarshaHudnall A major trigger for BED is deprivation/restriction. Or in other words, dieting

@LeslieGoldman Binge eating is actually more common than anorexia and bulimia COMBINED

@MarshaHudnall When folks with BED focus on losing wt, it can pull them back to restrictive eating & cause more bingeing

@MarshaHudnall: Binge isn’t always large amt of food. Subjective binge is when someone eats a “forbidden” food ...

@MarciRD Support both professionals and loved ones. Eating disorders thrive in secrecy. Support is an essential part of recovery.

@MarshaHudnall: It's Important to work w RD skilled in treating disordered eating to not trigger deprivation

@ElizabethEats you can be any shape and have an eating disorder. Outside appearances are misleading

@MarshaHudnall: Most fat people do not have BED – estimated to be only about 4%

Want more information? Check out The Binge Eating Disorder Association. The goal of #endED is to bring anyone and everyone together who care about ending eating disorders. My hope is to end the silence and myths about eating disorders, create a place for honest and informed discussion, while offering hope and encouragement. Our next chat will be on June 29th with Nourish the Soul. Hope to see you soon!

In Health,

Marci
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#endED Twitter Chat with Marsha Hudnall

Our next #endED Twitter chat is Wed, April 25th with Marsha Hudnall MS RD (of Green Mountain at Fox Run). We'll discuss binge eating disorder. Check out the Facebook Event Page for more details, including how to participate in a twitter chat if you've never done so before. Below are the questions Marsha will be discussing. I hope you can make it!

About Marsha Hudnall
Marsha serves as the program director at Green Mountain at Fox Run where her mission has been to help participants learn to enjoy food and eating while successfully managing their weight and health. An accomplished writer, Marsha has produced a body of work that reflects her desire to help people move away from restrictive notions of food and health, and thereby more easily achieve a healthful intake. She has written over 100 articles for popular magazines and newsletters and has worked extensively on a national basis to produce curricula, pamphlets and other materials to educate the public about nutrition. She currently sits on the board of directors for the Binge Eating Disorder Association.

Questions we'll discuss during our Twitter Chat
Q 1.1 How is BED diagnosed?
Q1.2 How is BED different than overeating?
Q 1.3 How does someone know if their binges need to be addressed?

Q2 What are common myths about BED?

Q3 What triggers binge eating?

Q4.1 What are the obstacles to treating BED effectively?
Q4.2 What can we do to support an ED dx for BED?

Q5.1 What are some practical things someone with BED can do?

Q6 What resources are available for treating BED?

About #endED
The goal of #endED is to bring anyone and everyone together who care about ending eating disorders. My hope is to end the silence and myths about eating disorders, create a place for honest and informed discussion, while offering hope and encouragement.
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My Declaration about Eating Disorder Recovery

Recovery from an eating disorder has been an extremely hot topic lately. A recent New York Times article has created a firestorm in the eating disorder community (from clinicians, people suffering from an eating disorder, as well as their families). In fact, “recovery” is a highly debated topic as there is no consensus currently as to what it actually is or how to define it. If you are interested in reading more about this topic, I highly recommend this blog post by Aimee Liu, this blog post by Randi Hutter Epstein, and this blog post by Lauren Grunebaum.

I’ve been thinking A LOT about this topic. My entire life’s work is dedicated to working with people who are suffering from an eating disorder. And you better believe that I believe in complete recovery. But I’d like to take it a step further. I believe that people who struggle with an eating disorder can actually have a healthier and happier relationship with food and their bodies than people who have never had an eating disorder.

Now, you make think that’s totally crazy but hear me out. While eating disorders may be somewhat rare (but more common than Alzheimer's and Schizophrenia combined), disordered eating, body hatred, negative self-talk, and extreme dieting are not uncommon. In fact, it has become normal in our culture to have a dysfunctional and unhappy relationship with food and your body. Here are a few examples:

*Labeling foods as good and bad (ie “I ate so much last night, I was so bad.” Or “Wow, you’re skipping the bread basket, you’re so good!”)
*Cutting out food groups- Atkins diet anyone?
*Incessant fat and body talk. If you have a lot of girlfriends or work in an office, you know what I’m talking about

My point is that some people with an eating disorder spend years in therapy and/or working with a dietitian to repair their relationship with food and their body. They do an incredible amount of work and find peace on the other side. While many people (particularly women) spend their lives griping, stressing, agonizing, restricting, dieting, and compulsively eating or exercising but never get help. They don’t have a full-blown eating disorder, so they somehow believe that this is an acceptable (even normal) way to live life. And they get stuck there.

While eating disorders just plain suck, they provide an opportunity to “take the road less travelled” and discover that there is life beyond calories, points, and the number on the scale. Yes indeed, having an eating disorder may in fact be a catalyst to living a fuller and more vibrant life than most people think possible.

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