March 4, 2013 | 9:54 am

Eating Disorders and Older Women

Posted by Rebecca Cooper

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Sixty-six percent of America’s adult population is overweight. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported earlier this year that 35.7 percent of adults and 16.9 percent of children age 2 to 19 are obese.

Marketdata Enterprises, Inc., an independent market research firm who is an analyst of the U.S. weight-loss industry since 1989 reports Americans are spending over $60 billion on dieting and weight loss products each year. Weight loss has become a national obsession! At any given time, 25 million Americans are seriously dieting. Only 1 out of every 200 dieters loses their weight and keeps it off for a year or more. There are now more overweight people in the US than any time in history. Obesity is costing our healthcare system over $147 billion annually. Something is drastically wrong! We have 12.5 million children who are overweight or obese and twelve million people in the U.S. with an eating disorder.

Eating disorders most often start between the ages of 11 and 15 years old. Eighty-six percent of people with eating disorders report that the onset of the disorder started by the age of 20. It is reported that 50% of girls ages 12-14 say they are unhappy because they “feel fat” and 45% of elementary age children report wanting to be thinner. This sends some into the abyss of an eating disorder.

But today we have more and more older women admitting to our eating disorder treatment center. The U.S. Census Bureau, 2010 reported that 46.3% of the US are women age 40 and older. Older women often fly under the radar with their disorders. They may not seek help because they fear they will be forced to gain weight or stigmatized as having a teenager's disease.

At a more mature age there are many additional stresses that may trigger an eating disorder. Among women 42.3% of those aged 60 and over were obese compared with 31.9% of women aged 20–39. These stresses include body changes, divorces, financial strains, blended families, career changes, parenting young adults, caring for older parents, empty nest, and health problems. Sometimes an eating disorder can be camouflaged during earlier years because the focus is put on being a wife and mother, child rearing, and/or climbing the corporate ladder. When these activities are ceased the eating disorder will resurface or appear for the first time.

The International Journal of Eating Disorders reports 13% of women ages 50 and older struggle with an eating disorder — some for the first time in their lives.5 In this on-line study of 1849 women 79% said their weight or shape affected their self-perception, 71% said they are trying to lose weight, 41% checked their body daily, and 40% weigh themselves a couple of times a week or more. This is not normal behavior, their disordered eating and thinking is affecting their quality of life in many ways.

Researchers from the University of North Carolina conducted a similar survey showing that 62 percent of the women reported that their weight negatively impacted their lives, 8% reported purging and 70% said they were in the process of dieting or trying to lose weight.

Often-neglected symptoms for some patients suffering from obesity or eating disorders are food sensitivities or food addictions. The most common being sugar. Scientific evidence has shown commonalities between overconsumption of sugars and drug addiction.5 A French Scientist’s research demonstrated that intense sweetness can surpass cocaine reward, even in a drug-sensitized and addicted individuals.6

Our food supply has so many different types of sugars and artificial sweeteners. Even health conscious people who read the labels on processed foods need to take into account that the first few ingredients on the label may not be the ingredients with the most volume. The label may include ten or more different words that are all a form of sugar. If all those ingredients were combined many processed foods would be required to list sugar as the first ingredient. The best foods to buy do not need labels or at least we should be able to understand the words on the label. “If we do not understand the ingredients, our body does not either.”

People are becoming more aware of the effects that sugar is having on them by abstaining from sugar for 5 days or more. For some people this is no problem, but for others they will experience headaches, mood swings, and flu like symptoms. People with sugar sensitivities experience cravings to eat more even when full. At Rebecca’s House Eating Disorder Treatment Programs we have seen some patients obtain recovery from their eating disorder after omitting this one substance from their diet. Many have tried to recover for years without knowing that sugar was causing their cravings or binges. There is much deliberation about sugar being addictive right now. It is important to remember that not everyone has this reaction to sugar. But some people have a reaction similar to an alcoholic having one drink. The person with alcoholism would have a different reaction to the drink than a non-alcoholic.

In January there will be a Sugar Awareness Week where people will be commenting on their experience of omitting sugar from their diet for 5 days. You can also take the challenge and record your experience at www.SugarAwareness.com. You can also read about other people’s experience with the sugar awareness challenge.

There are also dire medical consequences for the older woman with an eating disorder including severe osteoporosis, cardiomyopathy leading to sudden cardiac death, muscle wasting and gastro esophageal reflux disease. An older person who forceful vomits may rupture the esophagus resulting in a medical emergency or even death.

Now we are seeing complications from patients who have had gastro-bypass surgery. Some are experiencing weight gain 18+ months post surgery, medical complications and suppressed immune systems due to the malabsorption of vitamins. Thirty percent of post-bariatric patients develop substance addiction.8 It is so important that the underlying reasons for developing obesity are addressed in conjunction with this type of surgery or dealt with before the surgery.

Eating Disorders affect every social economic status, gender, and age. It is important to recognize the signs of eating disorders and seek professional help. Eating disorders do not just go away. Once in the destructive cycle of an eating disorder it is very hard to break out of the disorder.

If you a friend or loved one that needs treatment for an eating disorder, go to rebeccashouse.org or call 800.711.2062

January 28, 2013 | 1:47 pm

7 Reasons Why Diets Don’t Work

Posted by Rebecca Cooper

Have you been on more than one diet? How many? Just answering that question tells you a lot. If diets worked you would not be spending your money on one diet (plan, book, program, supplement, diet foods, pill, etc.) after another. Marketdata Enterprises, Inc. (2011), an independent market research firm who is an analyst of the U.S. weight-loss industry since 1979 reports Americans are spending over $60 billion on dieting and weight loss products each year. The FTC reports an estimated 4.8 million of U.S. consumers were victims of fraudulent weight-loss products in 2007.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported in 2011 that 35.7 percent of adults and 16.9 percent of children age 2 to 19 are obese. There are more overweight people in the US than any time in history. Weight loss has become a national obsession.

Diets don’t work! Even before a person starts a diet the thought of going on a diet begins to influence their overeating. They think, “I’ll go ahead and eat that cake now because tomorrow (or on Monday, or the first of the month or year) I am going on a diet.” So they overeat now and the day to start the diet may never come.

So how do we get hooked into the diet trap? Now let me contradict myself and say that “all diets work” . . . at least temporally. The problem is that people eventually go off the diet. Only internalize behaviors can be followed for a lifetime. Most people rebel against external controls. They get fed up with the diet and eat all the things they have been deprived of.

Then they gain the weight back… plus more. Due to the food restrictions of the diet, their metabolism has slowed down. The body thinks it is experiencing a famine; it is in starvation alert mode and is trying to store every calorie. The result is that they gain weight with a vengeance, faster than ever before.

It is reported that 95% of all dieters will regain their lost weight in 1-5 years (Grodstein, Levine, Spencer, Colditz, Stampfer, 1996).  When they “slip” on their diet they mentally beat themselves up for not having the willpower to stay on the diet. With every repeated failure their self-esteem suffers. They become depressed, withdrawn, or anxious because of their eating patterns. It affects every area of their lives and their family’s lives too.

Some people who are struggling with their weight eventually give up dieting and just accept obesity as their lot in life. Binge eating often starts as a direct result of dieting. Thirty-five percent of "normal dieters" progress to eating disorders (Shisslak, Crago, & Estes, 1995).

Because of following a diet (external control) a dieter becomes disconnected from their appetite. In fact they think they are being “good” if they are truly hungry, but not eating. It can become difficult to know when they are physically hungry or full because they depend on an outside source, the diet, to regulate their food intake.

Some people start using food for emotional reasons. They may confuse an emotion or feeling with being hungery. They use food or the compulsive thoughts about food, weight, diet, or body image as a way to push down feelings. After awhile they do not even know what they are feeling so they mistake any uncomfortable feeling with hunger.

Dieting or thinking about what to eat or not eat can become the primary focus. The most common characteristic of disordered eating is the obsessive thinking about food, weight, diet, exercise, and body image. People with eating disorders report 80-90% of each waking moment is consumed with these thoughts.

There are some people who have an addictive reaction to certain foods, especially sugar. Once they have one bite they experience a craving for more that seems impossible to control. Many people are not able to stay on a diet because they are not aware of their reaction to sugar or other substances found in processed foods.

To summarize, the reasons that diets don’t work are:

1. Diets are a form of external control that further disconnects a person from their appetite and they lose the ability to know when they are hungry or full.
2. Dieting changes the metabolism that leads to weight gain later.
3. Dieting or restricting leads to binge eating.
4. Sometimes there can be underlying emotions, feelings, trauma or situations that are the real problem and the eating or dieting is used to mask this.
5. Dieting affects the dieters’ thinking and self-esteem.
6. Dieting can become an obsession. Excessively thinking about diets, food, weight, body image, and/or exercise is a characteristic of eating disorders.
7. Sometimes there may be an underlying sugar or food addiction present.

If you think you need help with your relationship with food, Rebecca’s House Eating Disorder Treatment Programs provides free phone assessments by calling 800-711-2062 or go to rebeccashouse.org today.

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December 31, 2012 | 10:34 am

New Year’s Dieting Expectations and Everything that Goes with it.

Posted by Rebecca Cooper

At this time of year many of us are contemplating New Year’s Resolutions for the year to come. According to the Journal of Clinical Psychology, the number one New Year resolution for 2012 was to lose weight. How did our country get to a place where this is our biggest concern? Many people will tell you that they are consumed with the thoughts of diets, food, weight, or body image. People with eating disorders spend 90-100% of every waking moment with these thoughts.

The United States government listed to “lose weight” as one of the most popular New Year Resolutions. But when they explain how to do this, the answer again is to diet and exercise. This has been the answer for the last 50 years, as our nation has become more and more obese. Clearly this has not worked in the past, nor will it work in the future. Enough said about the logic of this directive.

The way we have been taught to lose weight does not work. In fact many of these behaviors become the catalyst for eating disorders.
• Count calories – when people start obsessing on the calories in different foods, they think of themselves as good or bad because of their number for that day.
• Watch your weight – some people weigh themselves every day or multiple times a day letting the scale determine how they will feel for the day or what they will eat.
• Exercise – although this is an important step, some use exercise as a way of purging calories, a form of exercise bulimia.
• Diet – when people follow and obsess on the newest diet they disregard their appetite and internal cues. In fact, the more they ignore their hunger, the better they are at it.
• Take appetite suppressants and diet aids – this does nothing to get you in touch with your appetite or what is causing your destructive relationship with food.
• Eat only diet foods – most diet foods contain more sugar and chemicals than healthy foods.
• Have your food delivered  – then you don’t even have to make a choice about what to eat or not eat.
• Get gastro bypass surgery – unless the underlying core issues have been dealt with, this procedure is doomed to failure.

None of these options can be sustained for a lifetime. But most importantly these are someone else's external controls to follow. External controls never work long term. Eventually we get fed up and rebel. Only an internal change can become a way of life. So how do we achieve an internal shift that will help us obtain and maintain our ideal weight?

First, we need to look at why we have gained weight in the first place. Some of us are using food to avoid our feelings or stressful situations that need to be dealt with. We use food, weight, diet, and body image as a way of pushing down these feelings from our conscious mind. Many of us do not even know what these feelings are because the minute the feeling tries to surface we push it down with the food. It is recommended to seek professional help to become aware and deal with this obstacle.

Second, we need to see if we are having an addictive relationship with some food, drink, or substance that may be exacerbating our food cravings. In this case a food journal can provide answers, especially if we note how we feel after ingesting certain foods. Giving into cravings that are influenced by the reward system in the brain is too hard to break without help.

Third, we need to look at our motivation for losing weight. What do we think will happen when we lose that weight? Our expectations set us up to fail in many cases. We think when we reach our ideal weight, then we will be happy. Happiness is a by-product, not a goal in itself.

We think that when we lose the weight we will find true love. We may look for love from someone else because of an intense void inside. Some try to use food to fill this void. If we are disconnected from our Self, thoughts, feelings, and appetite we don’t know what we truly need. We will always be searching for something outside of our Self to make us feel better, but we first need to find the love within. Does our self-talk, actions, and food choices reflect the love we have for our Self? Even if we do find someone to love, what are we going to give him or her? It’s true that you can only give what you have. It is a worthwhile endeavor to get professional help to remove the barriers to finding love especially if this is a symptom of disordered eating.

Expectations can have a lot to do with how your life unfolds. Some of us expect too much from ourselves. This sets us up for a life of unrequited failures and disappointments. Usually when you expect too much from yourself you also expect too much from others. Others expect too little and live a life of complacent, unproductive, unfulfilled existence and poverty… an unfulfilled life never knowing their potential. Lack breeds jealousy and hate. Gratefulness breeds happiness and prosperity.

What we focus on grows, and we have the ability to choose what we want to focus on. Be a master of the second thought. We can’t always choose what comes into your mind, but we can choose what we do with that thought. Do we let it take over and become our focus or do we choose to challenge that thought to have a better life? We have over 70,000 thoughts a day. How many of those thoughts help us to create the life we want?

You live with you. No one else has the power to change your life but you. It is up to you to make your life what you want. Here are some ideas to ponder when you are thinking about making the year ahead a better year.

1. Get in touch with your own appetite so you can know when you are truly hungry and full.
2. Get help with eating problems when needed, but remember ultimately others cannot do it for you and you cannot do it for others.
3. Being a master of the second thought can change your world.
4. Fear can keep you from living a life full of potential and possibilities.
5. Happiness is a by-product of a life well lived. What can I give instead of what can I get?
6. Develop your inner resource of love; jealousy and resentments rob your inner peace.

Current statistics says only 8 percent of people are successful in achieving any of their New Year’s resolutions. This year is not only the start of a new year, but a whole new age. We have left the Age of Pisces and have entered into the Age of Aquarius. Change is all around us, but for a positive change to be sustained, it must start within us. We are all responsible. It begins with you taking action to remove your own blocks to love, acceptance, and understanding. I wish you much success!

If you or a loved one has an eating disorder or needs counseling, please go to rebeccashouse.org today.
 

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November 28, 2012 | 8:45 am

Holidays and Eating Mindfully

Posted by Rebecca Cooper

As the holidays are well upon us, you man be looking for that perfect diet. You want to look your best for the family and friends you may not have seen since last holiday season. You have to lose those ten pounds you gained since last year. So you diet and restrict as the holidays approach.

Then you eat more than you intended. You think, “well I’ve already blown it so I may as well eat some more.”  You will get back on your diet tomorrow. You promise yourself that the New Year will be different, and it is for a few weeks. And so it continues year after year after year.

So how can this season be different? I would like to offer you a recipe for sensible eating to try this holiday season:

1. Recognize that the holidays are a time when most people overeat. If you do overeat just wait until you are physically hungry before you eat again. You will be surprised how stable your weight will remain just by eating intuitively.
    
2. There is scientific evidence that sugar affects some of us differently. You may have a dessert, and then you crave more food and eat uncontrollably. It is important to know how different foods react with your own body, mind, and emotions.
    
3. Watch for emotional overeating. Make sure you are centered when you are going to be with difficult people. Keep your side of the street clean. If not, holidays can foster using food for emotional relief.
    
4. Don’t deprive yourself! If you feel deprived you will make up for it later. How many times have you chosen the tasteless diet food, only to end up eating what you really wanted to eat later?
    
5. Don’t skip meals. You will overeat when you do eat. Remember, the first meal of the day starts your metabolism.
    
6. During the holidays many of us compare our insides to other people’s outsides. They have the perfect life, with the perfect family, celebrating their perfect holiday. You focus on what you are lacking. Negative thinking can lead to using food to feel better.

Keep a positive attitude and invest time making authentic connections with loved ones. This is much more important than obsessing about food, weight, diet, or how you look on the outside. The results will be that you will enjoy the holiday season and not gain weight!

If you a friend or loved one that needs treatment for an eating disorder, go to rebeccashouse.org or call 1.866.931.1666.

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November 1, 2012 | 10:04 am

National Diabetes Awareness Month: Sugar isn’t such a sweet Deal!

Posted by Rebecca Cooper

As we enter November's National Diabetes Awareness Month , a closer look at Sugar and High Fructose Corn Syrup may help to explain America's rise in obesity, diabetes and the new focus on food addiction.

Ironically, when the government ordered cocaine removed from all Coca-Cola beverages no one would have guessed that an even more consequential substance would take its place. High Fructose Corn Syrup hit the markets in the 1950s as a wonder product. Cheaper than sugar cane while still packing all the intense sweetness we associate with confectionery delights, High Fructose Corn Syrup is now used to sweeten tons of candies, juices, colas, cookies, cakes, and creams and has even found its way into less palatable tempting items including bread, soups, and other pre-packaged foods.

Shadowing the same receptor pathways of other ingested addictive chemicals, including cocaine and opiates, High Fructose Corn Syrup alters the transmission of certain brain chemicals including endorphins, dopamine and serotonin, which, in turn, trigger the pleasure center of our brains, leaving us wanting more. It is important to note that with the incorporation of HFCS into food products have raised more than 1000% since 1970.

A 2007 study (Lenoir M, Serre F, Cantin L, Ahmed SH ), found that intense sweetness surpasses cocaine reward even in addicted and drug-sensitized individuals leading to increased aggression upon withdrawal and a disruption of the dopamine/acetylcholine reward balance in the brain. As the alterations on brain function brought on by HFCS produce many of these hallmarks of addiction - including intense craving, the inability to control or stop use, a pre-occupation with the substance, and withdrawal symptoms - the idea of dessert becomes elevated to a whole new level.
It's so hard today to promote the fact that sugar - and particularly high fructose corn syrup so overused in foods today - is an addictive substance, leaving one wanting more and more. Unfortunately, there are still many nutritionists, dietitians, and professionals who don't believe sugar can be addictive to SOME people. In all my years of work with eating disorder sufferers and emotional overeaters - as well as the new scientific studies - prove otherwise. It is just like alcohol. Some people have no problem having a few drinks, but others cannot stop after that first drink.

We are in the midst of an obesity crisis in this country and I'm convinced high fructose corn syrup is a major culprit. I've known this from working with disordered eating victims for decades and now with this new scientific back-up maybe we can educate the general public that for some sugar or HFCS can be the gateway drug to a life of obesity, diabetes, and/or addiction. Nothing less than the health of our nation is at stake.

If you a friend or loved one that needs treatment for an eating disorder, go to rebeccashouse.org or call 1.866.931.1666.

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October 10, 2012 | 12:58 pm

Sororities and Disordered Eating in Young Women

Posted by Rebecca Cooper

As we enter the beginning of October and many of our sons and daughters return to college campuses it made me think about the role peer pressure and being around the sorority culture plays a key role in influencing the way we think about our body image.

“A binge-purge party is a harmless way to enjoy some fattening foods without getting fat”, my patient told me. “At my sorority a few of us girls would buy all of the forbidden and fattening foods we have been denying ourselves. Then we would have a binge-purge party. It’s a way to have your cake and not get fat. Three of us meet in my room. It was like a secret society. We ate donuts, chips, pizza, ice cream, fast foods and fried foods then we purged the food.”

My patient did not know that even occasional episodes of binging and purging could lead to an eating disorder. Once in the cycle of bulimia nervosa it is hard to get out. She had come to see me because she was binging and purging between the parties. She could not get food out of her mind. She had recently she been hospitalized for dehydration.

Most first-year university students are typically away from their families and home for the first time. They have left their friends and primary support systems and are in search of finding a place to belong. One such place is to be part of a sorority. The pressure to fit in is extraordinary.

It is estimated that at least 20% of college aged-women would engage in bulimic behavior (Costin, 1996). But these numbers do not even begin to cover the multitude of individuals who do not meet diagnostic criteria, but are obsessed with poor body image, unhealthy and disordered eating habits.

There are few studies about the prevalence of eating disorders among females living in a sorority. Before we look at the results of these studies I would like to describe the factors of sorority life that would increase the likelihood of developing an eating disorder.

During rush week Jane was hoping to join a sorority. The initiation process left her with decreased self-esteem and an increase in body dissatisfaction. She explained the process. She was asked to strip down to her underwear. The other girls then examined her. They pointed out areas that needed to be improved by taking a felt tip marker and circling the areas on her body. Jane stood in front of the girls whom she did not even know in humiliation. They explained this was a way to help her be perfect.

Carissa  had dieted the whole summer before going to university. She wanted to be as skinny as she could. She was unaware of a study that was done in 1950 that showed the results that semi-starvation (dieting) caused.  In this study……………………

Brittney was the perfect student in high school. Her grades were excellent, she was president of the honor society, homecoming queen and very popular. Her perfectionism had taken her far. She soon found out that in high school she had been a big fish in a small pond. College life was a rude awakening. Here she was unknown and a very small fish in a big pond.

She longed to be popular and thought joining the sorority would make her popular. She was accepted into the sorority, but to her dismay she was not the most popular one or the prettiest.  The grades did not come as easy as they did in high school and everywhere she looked she saw perfect thin women. That would be her ticket; she would become the skinniest one in the sorority.

The research of the prevalence of eating disorders suggests an increased risk of developing an eating disorder in a sorority setting. However there are many uncertain factors.

First, what are the criteria for finding a control sample? Second, eating disorder behavior is hard to evaluate because testing is based on self –reporting; and third, the diagnostic criteria of the DSM does not include the factors of disordered eating, yo-yo dieting, food addictions or other disordered relationships with food. 

This group far out-weights the diagnosed group but causes as much internal conflict, unhappiness and unfulfilled lives as the diagnosable disorders. For this group their relationship with food, weigh, diet and body image has become an obsession and is controlling their lives.

If you a friend or loved one needs treatment for an eating disorder, go to rebeccashouse.org or call 1 (800) 711-2062

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June 26, 2012 | 2:54 pm

Male Anorexia is a Real Problem

Posted by Rebecca Cooper

When in history has a male ever been concerned about fitting into a pair of skinny jeans? Media has hyper-focused on the skinny male model. Today’s fashion is geared towards the emaciated male in a pair of skinny jeans. This male body image does not occur naturally unless someone is ill. We now have a whole culture of men trying to obtain an impossible body image.

There appears to be a rise in the number of males with eating disorders. According to NEDA, at least one million males have anorexia or bulimia in the United States. But these numbers are skewed due to the high prevalence of undiagnosed males with eating disorders.

Twenty years ago very few people even knew what an eating disorder was. Today the public awareness of eating disorders has allowed some men with anorexia to come forward. But most males will not seek treatment for eating disorders because of the shame, fewer male residential treatment centers, and the misperception that eating disorders only occurs in females or gay men.

How can you tell if someone has Anorexia Nervosa? A male with Anorexia Nervosa is less than 85% of normal body weight. He avoids eating, has poor body image, and may exercise obsessively. He is intensely concerned about losing flab or building muscle. He believes he is fat when others are telling him that he is too thin. It is important to note that he really does see himself as fat. It is caused by deficiencies in the brain brought on by starvation. Anorexia Nervosa actually takes away the ability to reason.

People with Anorexia usually also have a co-occurring disorder such as anxiety, obsessive-compulsive disorder, or/and depression.  Males and females both suffer many of the same symptoms of Anorexia such as:

• Dehydration (fainting)
• Performing food rituals
• Bursts of energy followed by fatigue
• Constantly talks about body image, weight and diets.
• Avoids eating
• Purges (Anorexia Nervosa-Purge Type)
• Isolates
• Thin hair and brittle nails
• Excessive movements even when seated to burn calories

When a male with anorexia under eats, the brain dispenses feelings of euphoria that are actually part of the dying process. In this way food restriction is used as an anti-depressant or a way to “zone out.” He uses the obsessive thoughts of weight, diet, food (not eating), and body image as a way of pushing down feelings or past traumas. This is common for all types of eating disorders.

The highest number of males with eating disorders have binge eating disorder, compulsive overeating or obesity. These boys and men often do not get treatment until they have diabetes, heart attacks or other weight related diseases.

There are many causes of eating disorders. Genetics can make a person more predisposed to acquiring an eating disorder. This usually occurs in families who have eating disorders or other addictions.

The desire for control makes a male more vulnerable to the disease. This is often the result of feeling smothered or abandoned and misunderstood by their families. Many males report that they had parents who overemphasized physical appearances. In these families the individual learned to keep his feelings, doubts, fears, anxieties and imperfections hidden. There may be family issues that he tries to avoid by focusing on his disorder and his ability to control his food intake.

Having a perfectionistic personality type can be a factor in the development of anorexia. Most males with anorexia are above average students and may have excelled at sports. Some say perfectionism is the leading cause of male anorexia. Perfectionism leads to the desire to be good, accepted, perfect and in control – all of which are prerequisites of anorexia.

Male Anorexia is lethal. When the body is not fed it will take fat from the muscles and organs to sustain life. Males generally have less fat than females so there is the added complication of losing muscle mass. The heart is an important muscle that will be affected. That and the potassium and electrolyte imbalances is the underlying cause for more heart attacks then are reported. This makes male anorexia far more dangerous than most cases of female anorexia.

With the rise in male eating disorders and associated risks it is imperative that men with eating disorders seek help! If you or a loved one needs more information Rebecca’s House Eating Disorder Treatment Programs offers free eating disorder assessments and information, call 800-711-2062.

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Rebecca Cooper is a California licensed therapist, Certified Eating Disorder Specialist, and the author of Diets Don’t Work®. www.DietsDontWork.org. She the founder of Rebecca’s House Eating Disorders Treatment Program™. www.Rebeccashouse.org. 800-711-2062.

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November 7, 2011 | 12:27 pm

The True Freedom of Eating Disorder Recovery (Part III)

Posted by Rebecca Cooper

Eating disorder recovery is not like alcohol and drug recovery. When you’re recovering from an eating disorder you usually experience more of a stair step approach or zigzag instead of a straight-line recovery. When you hit something that’s very impactful it may cause you to engage in your disorder. This is your red flag that something is wrong. It can be a great learning tool. You can discover triggers and what alternative tools you can use instead of using the eating disorder.  You can examine what was happening, what you in a thinking and feeling, and what was going on just before you engaged in the eating disorder behavior. You can determine the feeling you may need help with or discover that the feeling may stem from past core issues that you are now ready to deal with. If you are in treatment you can get help at this point and get right back into your recovery even stronger.

You may never know what the exact date that you experienced the freedom of full recovery happened. But as you look back you will see that there was a time when the obsessive thoughts of food, weight, diet and body image went away. You will experience life in a whole new way. You will be at peace in your body. You will know when you are hungry and when you are full. You will have relationships with people instead of the eating disorder. You will be connected to you! You will know what you are feeling and take care of yourself like you would will with anyone else that you loved and cherished. You will know your values and beliefs and be able to use this as your compass. You will know your meaning and purpose in life and be able to live life to the fullest. This is full recover.

This wraps up the three-part series about freedom from eating disorders. Stay tuned for a article on eating mindfully during the stressful holiday season!

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