4 Ways to Build Momentum in Eating Disorder Recovery

Posted on July 23, 2019July 18, 2019 by Alison Pelz, LD, RD, CDE, LCSW

Are you just starting out on your recovery journey? Or have you been in treatment for a while and feel like your recovery is stalled? You’re not alone.

Here are four tips to help build momentum or re-energize your eating disorder recovery.

Establish a complete eating disorder treatment team.

Without professional treatment, eating disorders tend to get worse, not better.

Unfortunately, getting inadequate treatment, such as stopping treatment prematurely or having an incomplete treatment team, happens all too often. It can lead to hopelessness about ever recovering, slow down recovery or lead to recovery burnout.

The gold standard of care in eating disorder treatment is to have a multidisciplinary team. An eating disorder treatment team usually consists of a therapist, registered dietitian, medical doctor, psychiatrist, family therapist, and possibly other specialists. Click here to learn more about how to find a therapist and establishing a treatment team.

Make recovery a priority.

Recovery can feel like a full-time job, which can be downright exhausting. Eating disorder recovery is definitely a marathon and not a sprint. It takes time to understand how the eating disorder serves you and to establish new healthier patterns to cope with life.

Recovery doesn’t happen in a vacuum. Recovery happens while you are in school or working and involved with family, friends, and hobbies. So, it is easy for recovery to be put on the back burner given all of the obligations you may be juggling.

Making recovery a priority is important because without recovery, your eating disorder negatively affects all areas of your life occupation or school, relationships, physical and mental health, and overall quality of life.

Having acceptance that recovery is going to take time and energy is a good first step to making it a priority. Carving out time in your day for self-care, meal planning, eating, rest, and treatment appointments can help you feel less overwhelmed.

Learn to say no.

This is a tough one for me and so many of my clients. Sometimes saying yes is like a reflex because it is so automatic.

Learning to say no is a must in order to make recovery a priority. Furthermore, you may learn in treatment that saying yes too much may be contributing to or exacerbating your eating disorder symptoms.

Not setting firm boundaries can lead to feelings of hopelessness, worry, anger, and resentment, to name a few negative emotions. When we over-extend ourselves, often eating disorder behaviors are used to cope.

Although there are several reasons why people struggle with saying no, often fear is the primary culprit. You may fear missing out, hurting others feelings, appearing selfish or rude, being judged, and feeling rejected.

Learning how to set boundaries takes lots of practice, so be patient with yourself. If you notice that you struggle in saying no, discuss this with your therapist and other treatment providers.

Ask for help.

Working on your eating disorder recovery is something that you are responsible for. However, that doesn’t mean that you have to do it alone.

As you know, loved ones can’t eat for you or attend your appointments for you, but they certainly can support you in your recovery in many different ways.

As you go through recovery, you are going to need help, and that is okay. Often, part of what keeps people stuck in the eating disorder is isolation and feeling like they have to recover alone.

Barriers to asking for help often include fear of appearing weak, feelings of shame or guilt, or worry about burdening others. Your fears most likely are unfounded, as most people like to help others.

So what does asking for help in recovery look like?

Well, at different times in your recovery, it could mean different things. But, for some, it could be eating a meal with someone, it could mean being social, or it could mean simply talking.

It could also mean asking loved ones to learn more about eating disorders or attending a family therapy session or doctor’s appointment.

Consider making a list of people whom you could ask for help by asking yourself, “Who has my best interest at heart and who believes in me?”. Having some people in mind ahead of time can make it easier to ask for help.

Lastly, don’t feel like you have to be in crisis to ask for help. If you have any inkling that you may need help, reach out. Sometimes just the act of reaching out and talking to someone can be supportive.

The recovery road is always bumpy. But, having a strong treatment team as a foundation, making recovery a priority, setting firm boundaries, and calling on loved one for support can often make the bumps feel more manageable.

Diet Culture: A Major Barrier in Making Peace with Food

Posted on July 9, 2019July 3, 2019 by Alison Pelz, LD, RD, CDE, LCSW

Are you trying to heal your relationship with food and improve your body image? Do you feel like everywhere you turn, there is talk about what you should or shouldn’t be eating? Whether you have an eating disorder or have been on the diet roller coaster, you are probably overwhelmed with diet culture.

Our social media feeds are littered with “fitspiration” images, diet trends, and the like.

We hear messages from well-meaning friends, family, fitness instructors, news sources, and the medical community about dieting. Furthermore, it is socially acceptable for women (and now men, too) to bash our bodies and talk about dieting.

In the world of eating disorder treatment, the constant barrage of messages about dieting and how we should look is termed “diet culture.” Diet culture is alive and well in our country. It can be damaging for those who struggle with an eating disorder because it perpetuates the eating disorder.

For those dieting, it can make you feel like a constant failure because diets don’t actually work. Furthermore, dieting is a risk factor for developing an eating disorder.

Diet culture makes us question how we feed ourselves.

It makes us feel disconnected from our bodies and food. Also, it makes us reinforce the habit of comparing ourselves to others to see how we are supposed to look and feed ourselves. It teaches us to ignore our bodies’ cues of hunger, fullness and food choices. Let’s face it-diet culture can make us feel downright nutty at time, leading to a preoccupation with food and weight or even a full-blown eating disorder.

Rejecting the diet culture is a key step in healing your relationship with food. If you are trying to get off the diet roller coaster or are in recovery from an eating disorder, rejecting the diet culture is an important step in your healing.

Diet culture is everywhere, but there are things you can do to avoid its destructive path:

Identify diet culture.

When you see, hear, or read diet culture, name it.

For example, let’s say you are eating dinner with a friend and she says to you, “I am going to have to work out double tomorrow I because I am eating so much.” Normally, you may think to yourself, “Gosh, she is right. We are eating a lot” or “I guess I need to, too.” Rather than continuing on with the diet narrative or talk, say to yourself, “This is diet talk, and it is not helpful to me.” Labeling the thought as “not helpful” prevents you from going down the rabbit hole of diet culture.

Clean-up your social media feeds.

Delete and unsubscribe from folks who promote dieting, and weight loss. Cleaning up your social media feed will significantly reduce the amount of messaging you get about dieting. Avoid “health” and fitness magazines because the whole purpose of these magazines is to sell diet culture!

Seek out and support messaging that is body positive and discourages dieting.

Once you have decluttered your social media feed and inbox from diet talk, stock up with messages that you find helpful. That could mean following folks like Christy Harrison, an intuitive eating coach, and anti-diet dietitian. Or follow Judith Matz, a therapist and author who supports the anti-diet movement. It could also mean subscribing to more things that “fill you up” and make you happy. These could be things like hobbies, travel, support groups, inspirational post, or humor.

Set boundaries with friends and family.

You may come from a family of chronic dieters where diet talk is the norm. But maybe don’t know how to get the conversation headed in a different direction. Diet culture may be pushed on you with simple yet well intended statements like “You shouldn’t eat that,” “Let’s skip dinner tonight,” or “What is the calorie count on this?” Or maybe you are a college student on a campus where diet culture and eating disorders often run rampant. Here are a few ideas to set boundaries up around diet talk. Simply don’t engage in the conversation either by ignoring the comment or changing the subject. Depending on your relationship with the person, you may say something like, “These types of conversations aren’t helpful for me. Let’s talk about something else.” If you struggle setting boundaries, consider the workbook Setting Boundaries without Guilt.

You may feel ambivalent about rejecting diet culture.

Perhaps you are worried about missing the opportunity to find the “magic bullet” to perfect eating. But if you are reading this post, chances are that succumbing to diet culture has made you feel miserable. Since diet culture is everywhere, it is going to take time, patience, and practice to tune it out. However, there will be a huge payoff. It will result in less preoccupation with food, weight, and shape, so you can spend your energy on things that matter most to you.

Must-Ask Questions When Looking For An Eating Disorder Therapist

Posted on June 12, 2019June 12, 2019 by Alison Pelz, LD, RD, CDE, LCSW

Let’s face it, finding the right eating disorder therapist for your eating disorder can be daunting. It can feel downright overwhelming. You may be ambivalent about getting treatment. Maybe you are worried that your eating disorder isn’t “bad enough” to warrant treatment (trust me, it is). Or perhaps you are feeling hopeless about finding another therapist after being treated in the past.

Whether you are an individual with an eating disorder or a loved one of a person with an eating disorder, looking for a qualified therapist can be tough.

This post will give you tips on what to look for in a treatment provider, and questions to ask to help you determine the right eating disorder therapist for you.

Most therapists are willing to talk with you on the phone before you set an initial appointment. They will help assess goodness of fit in regards to scheduling, payment, and issues you may want to address in therapy.

If the therapist doesn’t offer a phone consultation, then these questions can be asked in the initial face-to-face appointment.

You can use the following questions and talking points when interviewing a potential therapist:

How do you help clients with eating disorders?

If a therapist has a lot of experience treating eating disorders, they should have a concise and clear answer. Many well-meaning therapists indicate on their website, referral site, or insurance websites that eating disorders are their specialty, but really don’t have experience treating eating disorders.

Because of the complex nature of eating disorders, try to get a therapist with extensive experience with eating disorders if possible.

Do you have a network of other professionals who have experience treating an eating disorder to whom you can refer me?

If the therapist has experience treating eating disorders, they should have a relationship with other treatment providers in your community. To learn more about eating disorder treatment teams click here.

What hours do you see clients and what are the payment options?

The course of eating disorder treatment can be long. Having a conversation up front with a potential eating disorder therapist about finances and scheduling is important. Be sure that the scheduling and payment options work for you over the longer -term.

Here are a few resources to help you find a qualified eating disorder therapist in your area:

Finding an eating disorder therapist can take time. Consider breaking down your search into smaller pieces and chip away at it each day.

Additionally, if you feel overwhelmed trying to find an eating disorder therapist, ask a friend or family member to help you in your search.

Please call for a free 15-minute phone consultation to learn how I work with clients with eating disorders.

Don’t live in the Austin Area, but want tips about how to improve your relationship with food and your body? Subscribe to my newsletter here.

3 Essential Tips for Moms in Eating Disorder Recovery

Posted on May 14, 2019May 8, 2019 by Alison Pelz, LD, RD, CDE, LCSW

Often, teenage girls are most associated with eating disorders. While it is true that eating disorders often develop in adolescence, they still affect people of all ages. Motherhood, unfortunately, does not immunize us from eating disorders, either.

There are three common circumstances in which adults suffer from eating disorders:

The eating disorder developed in adolescence or in young adulthood and the individual never fully recovered or never received treatment.
The eating disorder developed earlier on in life and it re-occured in midlife.
The initial onset of the eating disorder occurred in adulthood.

In my counseling practice, I exclusively see adults with eating disorders, and many of my clients are also moms.

Motherhood presents a unique set challenge for individuals suffering from an eating disorder. Although, becoming a mother is associated with great excitement, it also comes with some stressors.

New moms are learning how to navigate their new identify while maintaining old identities of partner, friend, employee, etc. Because of this, parents often feel like they are being pulled in a million different directions.

Furthermore, normal changes in the body that are associated with pregnancy and beyond can be particularly stressful for some with an active or history of an eating disorder.

Change is a constant as a parent. As children grow, their needs change, and so do our roles as parent. Change along with with other stressors can trigger or exacerbate eating disorder symptoms.

Below there three basic tips to navigating motherhood while in eating disorder recovery.

1). Make eating disorder treatment a priority.

Moms are often pulled in several different directions, busy taking care of everything and everyone. Motherhood does not leave much time for self-care let alone recovery.

Making treatment a priority can mean regularly scheduling appointments for yourself with your therapist, dietitian, and other members of your treatment team.

2). Let go of perfectionism.

Perfectionist traits are often associated with eating disorders. Furthermore, motherhood at times can feel like a competitive sport, which can reinforce perfectionism.

Perfectionism is a never-ending cycle of setting very high and rigid stands in efforts to control and boost self-esteem, and when impossibly high standards aren’t met, feelings of failure set in, and the cycle of perfectionism begins all over again.

Practice doing things “good enough” and focus on making progress. (I am sure you have heard the saying “progress, not perfection”). For more tips on how to overcome perfectionism, click here.

3). Get good at saying “no.”

Setting boundaries and limits with your schedule and your children is essential. There are only so many hours in the day, and you have only so much energy.

It is easy to let your recovery get sidetracked with over scheduling yourself.

One important part of setting boundaries is first assessing what the most important things are to you: where do you want to spend your energy and time? Second, once your priorities are established, get good at saying no to things that aren’t on your priority list.

So often, there is fear around saying no due to fear of hurting others, appearing selfish, or missing out. Once you practice saying no, I think you will learn that none of these fears pan out.

Reserving energy and time to focus on your recovery is not selfish. When you are actively working on your eating disorder recovery and taking care of yourself, you will be more available to be a stronger mother, partner, and friend.

Please call for a free 15-minute phone consultation to learn how I work with clients with eating disorders.

Don’t live in the Austin Area, but want tips about how to improve your relationship with food and your body? Subscribe to my newsletter here.

2018 Year In Review

Posted on December 18, 2018December 5, 2018 by Crowncreatives

As we come into the end of the year, I wanted to reflect on the posts I’ve published here in the last year, so here is 2018 in review!

If you’ve read the blog before or visited my site, you’ll know that my mission is to help people make peace with food & their bodies. My goal is to help people challenged with ED and other food & weight-related concerns to move from constantly worrying about food and their weight to being free to create the lives they want.

This year, I wrote a lot about recovery, intuitive eating, and supporting loved ones with eating disorders, to name a few topics. I’ve compiled every single post from this year, so you can catch up if you missed a post or refresh your memory if you’d like!

Are you already feeling diet culture pressure?

Before the new year, read why you should Forget About Diets To Improve Your Health This Year. Another concept to become familiar with is how Rejecting the Diet Mentality is Key to Healing Your Relationship with Food.

How can you support the people in your life to develop positive body image and/or work through disordered eating?

Here are 5 Surprising Ways to Support Your Loved One with an Eating Disorder and a post especially for Dads: 6 tips to Help your Daughter Develop a Positive Body Image.

Recovery from an eating disorder is not an easy process.

This year I wrote about 4 Tips to Cope with Weight Gain in Recovery from Anorexia Nervosa, Tips to Support Eating Disorder Recovery this Semester, 5 Steps to Reconnect with Exercise in Eating Disorder Recovery, and How to Stay on Track with Eating Disorder Recovery during the Summer: Tips for College Students.

Are you curious about Intuitive Eating?

Here are 3 Important FAQs about Intuitive Eating that you should know.

Recognizing that it’s time to get treatment for your eating disorder is a huge step.

Here are 5 Signs That It Is Time to Get Treatment for Your Eating Disorder.

And finally, a treatment team can make all the difference.

Here are my tips on how Building a Treatment Team to Help You Conquer Your Eating Disorder, and 5 Ways a Dietitian Can Help Reduce Binge Eating.

I hope you have enjoyed all of the posts from this year! Please let me know if there are any topics you would like for me to cover in 2019. If you’re looking for even more resources, make sure you’re following me on Facebook and Pinterest – I share tons of resources from me + other experts in the field on both platforms!

4 Tips to Cope with Weight Gain in Recovery from Anorexia Nervosa

Posted on December 4, 2018May 7, 2019 by Alison Pelz, LD, RD, CDE, LCSW

Let’s face it – our society gives us strong messages from social media, print media, our schools, and the health care system that weight gain is bad. Wherever we turn we are given the message that weight gain is a death sentence. (Which, by the way, is not true! If you want to learn more on this subject I highly recommend reading Health at Every Size).

Folks who are in recovery from an eating disorder have a double whammy to contend with. One of the key features of anorexia nervosa (or really any eating disorder) is the fear of gaining weight. This fear plus societal pressure to look a certain way can make recovery from an eating disorder feel like an uphill battle.

Therefore, if you are in recovery from an eating disorder, it would make sense that you have an intense fear of gaining weight. However, weight restoration is a must in recovery in order to maintain your physical and mental health.

Helping clients improve body image while restoring weight, nutrition, and health can be the hardest part of the recovery. But it is possible with perseverance, patience, and hope.

I have gathered some wisdom from around the web from other treatment professionals and those in recovery to help you along with the process.

1. You are gaining weight that you shouldn’t have lost in the first place.

The weight gained in eating disorder recovery isn’t just regular weight gain–it’s weight restoration. You are healing through the weight gain – giving back what you shouldn’t have taken from your body in the first place.

Weight restoration can be complicated and difficult, and shouldn’t be a journey you embark on alone. To better understand the process, read this article on what weight restoration is, what it’s comprised of, and what you should expect when going through it. It also includes a discussion of particulars you might not be familiar with, like refeeding syndrome (the complication of increasing food intake too quickly) and hypermetabolism (the increased rate of metabolic activity that often comes along with an eating disorder).

It also covers how difficult the process of weight restoration can be in recovery–and why it is critical to not only have a meal plan for weight restoration but a therapist to help throughout the journey.

Read the whole thing here: Working Through the Weight Restoration Phase of Anorexia Nervosa

2. Accepting weight gain as part of recovery takes time (and lots of it!).

Accepting your body takes time. In fact, it can be one of the slowest parts of recovery. The author of this article provides several useful ways to cope with weight gain, including thanking your body! It is a must read.

Some of the tips covered are:

remembering our bodies changes are never as visible as we fear
keeping perspective & remembering that the alternative is worse

Read the whole thing here:

5 Ways To Deal With Weight Gain When You Are In Recovery From An Eating Disorder

3. Fear of weight gain usually reduces as your eating normalizes.

I have seen this in my clinical practice. As clients start to feel better physically because they are feeding themselves more regularly throughout the day, the fear of weight gain can lessen.

As weight gain also naturally redistributes after the initial gain, the prospect of weight gain becomes less overwhelming. Once your body has come out of life-saving mode, the weight you’ve gained back won’t just sit in one place. It will spread across your body, and will not be nearly as visible as someone in recovery might worry about when starting the process.

“Will I gain weight forever?”: What we know about weight trajectory during recovery from an eating disorder

Yes, Weight Gain Is Hard. Thankfully, We Have 8 Ways to Cope With Weight Gain For You

What this article shows us is that the odds of perpetual weight gain after the initial restoration, are actually pretty low. Your body will adjust back to a stable, healthy weight, and for the most part, stay stabilized.

4. Weight restoration allows you to enjoy life more fully.

“Going to concerts has always been one of my favorite things to do. The atmosphere, the music — I can go on about it for hours. Ever since my eating disorder came to peak, I’d lost this love.”

Dietary restriction and malnutrition often occur pretty slowly, and sufferers from eating disorders may often not notice that their sense of joy and zest for life is blunted and dulled. Without proper nourishment, your body just isn’t able to sustain you through life as well.

With proper nutrition, you will begin to get feel more like your old self. Your body will have the nourishment it needs to keep healthy, to keep energy sustained, and you will be able to once again be an active participant in your life & hobbies.

How I’m Learning to Love Weight Gain in Eating Disorder Recovery

With your renewed energy, your emotions will feel full and vibrant again–allowing you to enjoy life in a way you may have not even realized you were missing out on. With weight gain comes this capacity to feel full and alert and restored.

Accepting weight gain in eating disorder recovery can be a long and difficult journey. It isn’t something that happens overnight. Work and support are necessary components to the journey. Keeping these four key things in mind can help you on your journey to recovery and weight restoration.