Eating Disorders

You recently accused me of wanting you to be fat. Here’s what I’ve been thinking. . . . Long after we part ways, I’ll remember the sound of your voice, the tender and emotional moments we shared, those times we burst out laughing together. I’ll have little memory of what you weighed.I have no investment in wanting you, according to your eating disorder, to be fat. What I care about is your brain, that it’s nourished sufficiently for you to think clearly and be yourself again. I’d like to see you return to the you you were before this ugly illness hijacked your anatomy and convinced you to accept this as your new normal.I want you to be healthy – yes, I know you hate this word right now – …

In honor of the one-year anniversary of the publication of Does Every Woman Have an Eating Disorder? Challenging Our Nation’s Fixation with Food and Weight, I’m hosting another book giveaway!To enter the contest, either email me privately (drstaceyny at gmail dot com) or comment below on the topic of: “What Recovery Means to Me.”The deadline for entries is 6/29/15. Two winners will be selected at random that week, and the books should arrive around Independence Day.Fine print: Please enter the contest only once. For those who submit via email, please include your mailing address to receive a book if you win. If you submit via comment, be sure to send me a follow-up email with your mailing address. By submitting an entry, you …

Dear People Magazine,I recently happened upon your exclusive video, Kendra Wilkinson on Why She Can’t Really Have a Six-Pack Right Now, and I wanted to share a few thoughts.Kendra’s six-pack, or lack thereof, isn’t news. Some may argue that all celebrity gossip lacks journalistic integrity, but this item is particularly insignificant.More, Kendra shouldn’t have to defend the fact that her abs currently lack chiseling. No excuses are necessary for her body shape or size. And suggesting that she doesn’t have a six-pack “right now” implies a promise of abdominal contouring to come. People readers don’t need a guarantee.Women’s bodies – their weight gains and losses, their cellulite, their “problem areas” – need not fill your pages. You could publish an entire year’s …

“Strong is the new skinny.””Healthy is the new skinny.””Curvy is the new skinny.”Everything is the new skinny.These slogans, presumably constructed to promote body acceptance and offer an alternative to the thin ideal, still posit a common end-goal. We’re still striving for some iteration of skinny and continuing to promote thinness as the gold standard of success.So let’s step away from skinny as the solution – and focus on strength, health, curves, or whatever else we value without a tired target diluting our intention.We don’t need another skinny.You can find Does Every Woman Have an Eating Disorder? Challenging Our Nation’s Fixation with Food and Weight on Amazon (as a paperback and Kindle) and at BarnesandNoble.com.

“My insurance is cutting out.”That dreaded sentence professionals fear most.When I first began doing this work, I was struck by the irony of hoping someone would become more symptomatic so her insurance company would authorize her to get help. . . that someone already receiving care would continue to struggle so that her insurance would keep paying for the care she so desperately needed. Even then, her insurance might cut funds for lack of sufficient progress. It’s the Catch-22 of health insurance. Do well and they cut off. Don’t do well enough and encounter the same risk. I’ve seen patients denied access to care because they aren’t sick enough. I’ve seen insurance cut out when patients most need support. And I’ve seen insurance refuse to pay when …

Here we are on the cusp of the holiday food season, and the diet/exercise talk has already intensified. On the day before Halloween, that dreaded candy-workout image reappeared on social media – you know, the one that identifies different types of Halloween candy by what types of workouts you’ll need to burn them off?Here’s why this type of thinking is dangerous: If you choose the Reece’s over the Twix only for calorie count, you’re missing out on an opportunity to eat intuitively, to find pleasure and enjoyment from food. To me, it doesn’t so much matter if you choose one or the other (or neither or both), but if you’re going on calorie count alone, you’re ignoring your preference, something that could end up backfiring …

Recently, I had the opportunity to e-meet Erin Konheim Mandras, ex-athlete/coach and mom of two, who recovered from anorexia. We decided to interview each other for different perspectives on eating disorder recovery. Below is my interview with Erin – enjoy!SR: What connection, if any, do you see between your athletic participation and the development of your eating disorder?EM: I believe that my participation in athletics and soccer significantly contributed to the development of my eating disorder. The competitive component, along with pressures to perform and succeed, are all elements that can lead to an unanticipated disorder, such as anorexia. Also, athletes want to be as physically fit as possible, and with a personality that tends to take things to the extreme, exercise can …

Recently, I found myself explaining to someone’s mother how encouraging her daughter to weigh herself was exacerbating her eating disorder symptoms (binge eating, in this case). As I did so, it occurred to me that there are four pathways to this relationship. They might seem intuitive, but it helped to spell out the matrix of consequences for this family.If someone (let’s call her Veronica) steps on the scale and sees a number that’s higher than she anticipated, she might experience distress. For many who struggle with binge eating disorder, food is the most convenient and effective coping mechanism. So, the urge to binge can increase. If she weighs herself and sees a number that’s higher than predicted, she could also have an urge to restrict her …

Remember my interview with Erin Konheim Mandras?Well, she also interviewed me! You can check out our conversation here.You can find Does Every Woman Have an Eating Disorder? Challenging Our Nation’s Fixation with Food and Weight on Amazon (as a paperback and Kindle) and at BarnesandNoble.com.

1) Have you heard about the ANGI? Here’s their latest:The Anorexia Nervosa Genetics Initiative (ANGI) will be coming to a close in the following months and we need your help! We are still recruiting individuals with a history of anorexia and individuals without a history of an eating disorder to participate. But hurry, the deadline to participate is June 30, 2016. All that is required is a brief online questionnaire and a blood sample. To make it easier for you, we’ll even send the phlebotomist to wherever you are, nationwide! Participants will receive a $25 Amazon gift card to say thanks. We can’t do this important research without you! To find out if you are eligible to participate, visit this link and fill out the survey: https://unc…