Disordered Eating
When someone engages in disordered eating habits, they may eventually find themselves in therapy to work through their habits. The body the brain and mental health overall suffer from disordered eating. Disordered eating describes patterns of restrictive eating, compulsive eating, irregular or inflexible eating patterns: fasting or binge eating falls in this category. Disordered eating is used to describe certain behaviors that may not meet the clinical diagnosis for an eating disorder. Signs of disordered eating patterns are dieting, compulsive eating, exercise and compensatory behaviors, body dissatisfaction, and food preoccupation. Disordered eating behaviors can have a negative impact on an individual’s physical health, emotional well-being and overall quality of life. Even if someone may not meet the full criteria for a specific eating disorder, it doesn’t dismiss them from needing help or needing to be taken seriously. Early intervention and support are key proponents of preventing these behaviors from escalating or evolving into more serious conditions.
When one has engaged in disordered eating for a long time it creates a disconnect between the brain and the body. The hunger fullness and emotional lines get crisscrossed. Intuitive eating is when someone has a mostly neutral relationship with food, they eat to nourish and fuel themselves. Intuitive eating does not work for everyone. As you can imagine, in order to be aware of these internal body signals one must have an adequate relationship with their body, one that lets them be in tune with what their body is feeling. When someone has engaged in disordered eating behaviors for a long time the relationship between brain and body can become disconnected. In this instance, intuitive eating is not the most advantageous approach since someone’s intuition about what their body needs has been skewed by a pattern of maladaptive eating habits or food rituals. It takes work to deconstruct potentially harmful eating habits and thought patterns that sustain disordered eating behaviors. Healthcare professionals, such as psychologists, registered dietitians, or therapists are great resources for deconstructing these thought patterns.
Regular eating is the idea of eating on a schedule. You have a set of rules to follow. Intuitive eating is based on listening to your body’s cues to tell you whether you are hungry, full, and assess for emotional triggers. At the heart of treatment is honoring your body and its signals are of the utmost importance like stopping when you’re full or eating when you’re hungry; however, creating a regular eating schedule can be a great starting point for regulating eating routines. That accountability of having a schedule can help increase compliance with daily meals.
We live in a world where you may see the list of examples of disordered eating and think those behaviors sound normal. If you do, you’re not the only one. We are heavily influenced by diet culture as a society. Honoring our bodies signals reframing the narrative from the pursuit of thinness or an ideal body size, and food free of guilt and shame. The great tenant for recovery is seeking support. If you personally identify with any of the experience described above or love someone who this article reminds you of, please contact Life Enhancement Counseling Services at 407-443-8862 to schedule an appointment with one of our experienced mental health counselors.
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