Thinking About Eating Disorders

Allow me to tell you the story of a friend of mine.

A young teenage girl we know recently suffered through the death of her mother and consequently had to be faced with being raised by her father in whom she was petrified of. Did I mention she was to be in charge of raising her 6 younger brothers and sisters.

She was always thin, but now weighs 90 pounds. She doesn’t think she has a problem and her father doesn’t think she has a problem. There are many questions in this situation, the major one being does she have an eating disorder. If she does have an eating disorder, what type is it….anorexia, bulimia?

It’s clear she needs help, others have tried, however her father prevents any intervention. The question becomes, what is causing the eating disorder? That’s why I assembled this collection of articles and ebooks on eating disorders. Hopefully, you…the reader, might see yourself or someone you care about in the articles to come. Perhaps you might see that you are experiencing the symptoms discussed for anorexia or bulimia. Maybe you binge eat.

In a society that is increasingly placing standards of beauty upon the youths of our population, people are at more of a risk than ever when it comes to developing an eating disorder. The celebrities in television and the media display stick-thin figures which can create a high standard of beauty that can lead to many problems with an individual’s self esteem. When coupled with the fact that an obesity epidemic is overtaking much of the modern world, it’s important to have a full understanding of the eating disorders which are prevalent in society today in order to be able to catch the warning signs when an individual you know is afflicted.

This truly is a life and death discussion. Admitting you might have an eating disorder of some type is the first step in finding a solution to your problem. I pray that you might listen to the voice inside your head as you read the following material.

 

Emotional Eating and Eating Disorders

Although emotional eating does not classify as a type of eating disorder, some physicians believe it is similar to many types of eating disorders because it represents an unhealthy relationship with food. Emotional eating refers to the act of using food to manage one's mood. Many of us eat out of emotion, not hunger, but some people are more vulnerable to emotional eating than others. If you are wondering if you might be an emotional eater, ask yourself these questions. Do you find yourself consistently eating when you're not truly hungry? Do you resort to "comfort food" when you are feeling sad, lonely, stressed out, or just bored? Do you think of food as a distraction or a way to escape your current problems? Do you have trouble differentiating between true hungers and just snacking? If you answered yes to any of these questions, you may have experienced emotional eating in the past. Other symptoms of emotional eaters are that they tend to obsess about the food they eat. They may rely on food to soothe themselves at stressful times, or use food as a reward. For most emotional eaters, food acts as their primary means of distraction or entertainment, taking on a significant role in their life.

If you think you may be an emotional eater, what can you do to cultivate a healthy relationship to food? First, understand that food is an important part of our lives, and it is not unhealthy to have a strong passion, interest, or desire to eat food. Food is a part of the most important moments of our lives: weddings, birthdays, anniversaries and other important celebrations all use food as an important part of the celebration. This is normal and healthy. However, food should not be used as a tool to soothe hurt feelings or compensate for something that is missing from our emotional lives.

Part of helping to stop the urge of emotional eating is learning to become a more mindful eater. Have you ever plowed through a bag of chips, yet still felt unsatisfied afterwards? How about gulping down a can of soda with barely getting a taste of it? Many emotional eaters eat without thought or consideration of what they are eating. As an emotional eater, you must learn new eating habits and skills to help you get past your emotional eating tendencies. One of these tools is keeping a food journal. Keeping a food journal is an easy way to become more mindful of what you eat and why. Simply buy a small notebook where you can write down everything you eat in the course of one day. Keep it somewhere handy where you will see it. On the kitchen counter, or posted on the refrigerator are both good locations. Simply write down everything you eat. If you can, write down the time and how you felt at the moment. This can help you locate any emotional eating patterns that you may have never noticed before. For instance, maybe you tend to snack after getting home from work, as a way to relieve stress. Keeping a food journal is an excellent way to locate such emotional eating patterns. Once you have charted these patterns, come up with strategies to keep you from emotional eating. Maybe you can take a walk right after work, or prepare a healthy snack that is right at your disposal.

Written by: Scott Parat