Author Archives: Alison Pelz, LD, RD, CDE, LCSW

Part 2: How an Eating Disorder (May Have) Saved Your Life

Posted on by

“Your eating disorder kept you a float when drowning,” Dr. Anita Johnston, author of Eating in the Light of the Moon.

In my last post I discussed that eating disorders can often be understood as a coping skill.  That is, the eating disorder may help one deal with the ups and downs of life.  Of course the problem with having an eating disorder as a coping skills is that it reeks havoc on ones health, personal life, occupation, etc.  I am not proposing that if you have an eating disorder that recovery should not be a goal.  However, I believe that seeing an eating disorder as a coping skill can help provide a framework to more effectively move through recovery.  How does your eating problems help you cope with life?

In Dr. Anita Johnston’s video “The Log” offers viewers a metaphor for the eating disorder that offers this perspective.

How an Eating Disorder (May Have) Saved Your Life

Posted on by

 

How-to-Use-Emotion-Regulation-Coping-Skills-300x300

I am being dramatic in saying that your eating problems saved your life, but my point is that your eating disorder or eating problem may have helped you in some way despite all of the pain it has caused you and your loved ones.   Please don’t misunderstand me I am not suggesting that you stay in your eating disorder if you are currently struggling with one.

Eating disorders do have many negative consequences, some that are life threatening.  And most likely your eating disorder in some way has helped you cope with life, hurt, family issues, trauma or other types of pain or discomfort.

In the world of psychotherapy we talk about coping skills, tools to use when life gets uncomfortable.  Coping skills that are encouraged are ones that help us through life’s challenges and that have few or no negative consequences.  Examples include hobbies, talking to friends, meditation, exercise, journal writing, etc.  Conversely coping skills that are discouraged, because they usually are associated with negative side effects, include things like excessive spending or drinking, avoidance, withdrawing, substance abuse, over or under eating, purging, over exercising etc.  What I am suggesting is that your eating problems or eating disorder may be helping you cope with life in someways.

Most of us are familiar with the negative consequences of say binge eating or purging, but don’t realize that these behaviors may also provide a short-term relief from anxiety or stress.

Seeing eating problems or eating disorders as a coping skill offers perspective and can help reduce feelings of shame and guilt often associated with eating disorders.  I am not proposing that those who suffer from an eating disorder should continue with their eating disorder, I am simply saying it can help to see the disorder for what it is and can be a powerful step in healing from eating problems.

It can be empowering to say “Yes,I have an eating disorder and it helped me in a lot of ways, but now I want to learn new ways to cope with life”.

In my next post I will share a wonderful video clip of Dr. Anita Johnston who uses a metaphor to further illustrate this idea.

Eight Ways to Reduce Food and Weight Obsession

Posted on by

food-healthy-unhealthy-fruit-cake-410x290In my post “Food on Your Mind Much (Always)?” I defined the term food  preoccupation or obsession as excessively worrying about food, calories, grams of carbohydrate or fat, etc.  Thinking about food on a daily basis is normal, but worrying  or obsessing about food much of the time is not.  For more details about food preoccupation please read my post “Food on Your Mind Much (Always)?”.

People with eating disorders or who chronically diet tend to have food preoccupation.  Part of the recovery process from an eating disorder and other eating problems whether it is anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, binge eating  or compulsive overeating is working to reduce food preoccupation.

Here are some tips to reduce food preoccupation:

1.  The first step is to notice when and how often you worry about food, calories, weight, etc.    Notice thoughts rather than CRITICIZE thoughts about food.  If we beat ourselves up about stuff it just keeps us stuck, but we are able to problem solve and move forward if we accept ourselves .

2. Ask yourself some of the following questions:

What purpose does excessively thinking about food/weight serve me?

Am I really in more control (of my life or my weight) by thinking about food/weight so much?

What things am I avoiding by spending so much time worrying about food?  Often times people will focus on food rather than think about painful situations or feelings, to soothe anxiety or stress, to relieve boredom or procrastination, etc.

What am I missing out on (For example friends, family, hobbies, occupation, school, etc.) by spending so much time thinking about food?

What am I afraid is going to happen if I stop obsessing about food?

Learning more about your particular circumstances around food preoccupation may help you challenge some of your worry about food and weight.

3.  When you notice yourself obsessing or worrying about food, dieting or your body:

Simply say “stop” or “halt” to those thoughts and think about something else.

Write out a pros/cons list of worrying about food.

Offer yourself reassurance that decreasing your thoughts about food is OK after all it really hasn’t helped with eating problems, most likely it is making your food problems worse.

4.  Make sure you are eating enough food regularly throughout the day.  Regularly skipping meals and snack or chronic under eating can contribute to increased food preoccupation.

5.  Schedule time to worry about food.  For example, promise yourself that between 9am-9:30am daily you can worry about food and stick to it.

6.  Reduce time reading about dieting, food and exercise.   You may subscribe to magazines or newsletters or spend a large amounts of time on the internet reading about food, weight, etc. which may only exacerbate the food worry.

7.  Reduce the amount of time talking about food, weight/shape and dieting.

8.  Consulting a counselor often helps reduce food preoccupation.  A counselor can help work to reduce the underlying causes of your food/weight worry.

 

 

 

 

New Year’s Resolution: Giving Up Dieting for Good

Posted on by

New+Years+ResolutionYep, that is right I am suggesting giving up dieting as a New Year’s Resolution.

Here is why:
1. Dieting doesn’t work. Research shows that often dieting can lead to weight loss for a short period of time, but doesn’t help maintain a lower body weight for long periods of time.  In other words, lost weight often is regained.

2. Diets increase the risk of developing eating disorders.

3. Diets can increase feelings of shame and failure, because they leave us feeling like WE have failed.  But, really the diet is failing, not the person following the diet. (See #1).

4. Studies show that exercise and quality of food consumed rather than weight can improve health.

5.  Food restriction (AKA dieting) often leads to overeating.

6.  Food restriction can lead to increased food preoccupation, feelings of depression and/or anxiety and poor concentration.

7.   Dieting can be socially isolating.  In other words, often dieters will opt out of social engagements because the foods being served aren’t on their diet.

 

Curious about getting off the diet roller coaster and improving your relationship with food permanently?

Books that discuss the potential harm of dieting and offer a more realistic and helpful approach to eating, health and body image include:

Intuitive Eating: Creating a Healthy Relationship with Food, Mind & Body.  By Evelyn Tribole and Elyse Resch.

Overcoming Overeating: How to Break the Diet/Binge Cycle.  By Jane Hirschmann and Carol Munter.

Health at Every Size: The Surprising Truth About Your Weight.  By Linda Bacon.

Contact me for a free phone consultation to learn how I can help you change your relationship with food, improve your body image and help free yourself from dieting for good.  

Food on Your Mind Much (Always)?

Posted on by

preocc

For those of you who chronically diet, have bulimia or anorexia nervosa or binge eat you probably have a fairly good idea by what I mean by “food preoccupation”. Food preoccupation is when you spend A LOT of time thinking about food—what you are going to eat, if you are going to eat, worrying about choosing the “wrong or right” foods or how the food is going to affect your body weight.  Sure it is normal to think about food on a daily basis: what you want to eat, when, etc. But, when you spend much of your day worrying about food then if feels more like “food preoccupation”.

Why do people with eating problems tend to have food preoccupation?
I think there is a variety of reasons why eating problems increase preoccupation with food.  Food restriction (dieting, eating disorders usually involve food restriction) has been proven to contribute to food preoccupation (See Ancel Keys’ study for details). Since food is a basic need for survival our biology wants us to think about food, so there is a greater chance of procuring and eating food thus survival.Psychological reasons may contribute to food preoccupation. For example for some it may be “easier” or less painful to worry about food than other painful feelings. Worrying about food may give people a sense of control, because in other areas of there life they may feel powerless. Others may think that if they have a “perfect body” their life will be much improved and feel more confident about themselves. And believe food is away to achieve this. These are just a few examples of what purpose food preoccupation may serve for people. Food preoccupation is not something to panic about or try to rid yourself of it ASAP, but just notice when you may be worrying about food a little too much.
In my next post I will discuss strategies to reduce food preoccupation.