binge eating
Healthy eating – it’s not just about the food
So, what IS healthy eating? This phrase is thrown around a lot, and its meaning is vague at best! Here’s what I’ve learned during my eating disorder recovery. We can argue all day about what foods are the healthiest, and even the experts can’t agree. Everybody seems to agree that fruits and veggies have lots of nutrients, but still, every body is different. When striving to “eat healthy,” consider both nutrition and what works best for your body (broccoli is generally considered healthy, but if it makes you feel ill, then it’s probably not healthy FOR YOU!). Don’t forget the importance of balance – eat a wide variety of foods, including treats*. This is basic intuitive eating. But here’s the thing … Healthy eating …
When life is just crazy
Hi all! I’m going to take a break from my usual advice-focused posts and talk a little about my personal life. As some of you know, I’ve been in recovery from BED for over a year. I followed an approach mainly based on intuitive eating self-help books, individual and group therapy (including CBT), and many of the tips I’ve discussed in this blog (getting rid of food guilt, putting weight loss on the backburner, and eating mindfully). My recovery isn’t based on willpower at all (because willpower is a limited resource), and I almost never have binge urges. Recovery isn’t always a smooth path, but it’s mostly been wonderful … Until recently. I am now pregnant with my first child. And it has completely turned …
Does counting help? Numbers and recovery
Today’s guest post is written by an amazing friend of mine, a fellow disordered eater in recovery. I’ve been seeing a lot of numbers lately. Numbers of days binge free, numbers of days trigger food free, numbers on a scale, numbers of calories consumed. Don’t get me wrong—I love numbers just as much as the next person. They can be very useful and informative in the right context. I’m just not sure what these numbers are telling you when it comes to caring for yourself or whether they are useful at all for recovery. The numbers come from the diet mindset. We are so programmed to count—everything! These numbers seem to be a trap of sorts. After a number of days of being binge …
The secret to quitting binging: #4
This is the fourth post in a series where I discuss my top tips for quitting binging. These tips – or practices – have worked for me and many others in long-term recovery. In the first three tips, I talked about how important it is to eliminate food-related guilt (click here to read the first tip), to put weight loss on the backburner (click here), and to eat with mindfulness (click here). This fourth tip discusses the essential question of figuring out why you binge. So, why do you binge? How can you find out? The answer is different for everyone, and it may be fairly simple or fairly complicated. Or maybe you (like me) will discover that the reasons are actually much more complicated …
When life is just crazy, Part II
Hi there. This blog is kind of a continuation of my post from last November, where I discussed my struggles and insights about recovery and pregnancy. I want to apologize, first of all, for going quiet on the blog. I do miss blogging, but life has just been … well, crazy, as I said. At this point, I’m 36 weeks pregnant (with all the discomforts that come along with that) and only 5 days away from moving into my first home. Yep, my husband and I bought a house! It’s pretty exciting, but it’s also been quite stressful … particularly with the pregnancy making just about everything more difficult. It is really quite terrifying to consider how I’ll handle all these changes (did I mention I’ll also be re-…
BEDA 2016 Request for Proposals Ends April 3
If you’d like to speak at the BEDA 2016 Annual Conference, please submit your proposal by April 3. This year’s conference will be held October 27-29 at the Parc 55 Hilton in San Francisco. Social justice for all BEDA is using an intersectional and social justice frame to create stronger results in our work to increase access-to-care, awareness, and a better understanding of the factors that precipitate the onset of an eating disorder. The goal of BEDA 2016 is to lift the voices of those from under-represented and marginalized communities who have not had a seat within the eating disorders treatment, research, patient/caregiver, policy, and advocacy tables. BEDA will use its influence within the community to highlight conversations around diversity and elevate the benefits of inclusion. Community-centered…
3 Major Signs of BED and Substance Abuse
By Dixie Brown, MS, ICAADC, CAP, LCAS, Executive Director of Willow Place for Women The risk factors for BED and substance abuse are very similar. Once one occurs, the other often follows. Both BED and substance abuse disorders are spurred by depression, anxiety, low self-esteem, or a combination of the three. Both involve compulsive behaviors and a clear preoccupation with seeking solace in substance. The shame associated with BED is often so overwhelming that sufferers will turn to drug or alcohol abuse a means of calming the psychological symptoms and after-effects of a binge. BED signs and symptoms While weight gain is a good indication of BED, not every afflicted individual will appear overweight or obese. Those who suffer from BED will typically experience most …
Eating Disorder, aka The Thing That Shall Not Be Named
By Adiba Nelson As an Afro-latina woman, you are not supposed to have an eating disorder. And you certainly are not supposed to talk about having one. You are not supposed to worry about things like being fat, big, or overweight, because those words are replaced with pretty, flowery words, like “phat,” “thick,” and “big boned.” Sheer delight and absurd horror As Afro-latinas, we are inadvertently taught to cherish our thick thighs, our round ass, and our full, ample bosom, while, at the same time, accepting pet names like “gordita.” These two things juxtaposed against each other is like getting hit in the face with a twinkie. You want to scream from the sheer delight and absurd horror of it all. …
Binge Eating and Binge Drinking: Same Origins
By Dixie Brown, MS, ICAADC, CAP, LCAS, Executive Director of Willow Place for Women Occasional binge eating and binge drinking is somewhat expected. American culture tends to lend itself to overindulgence. Certain national holidays even seem to revolve around the concept of overdoing it – Christmas and Thanksgiving, to name a few. Christmas is a holiday characterized by compulsive over-shopping, while it is socially acceptable (and expected) that we gorge on stuffing and pumpkin pie to the point of physical illness once a year on Turkey Day. And certainly at one point or another during our young adult years, we drank to the point of black-out on one wild and crazy night on the town. But for the millions of Americans suffering from binge eating …
BEDA 2016 Annual Conference Registration is Open
Registration for the BEDA 2016 Annual Conference is now open! We invite you to join us October 27-29 at the Parc 55 Hotel in San Francisco. This year’s agenda is based on community and inclusion, supporting knowledge sharing and skill building for professionals and patients/caregivers. We’re using an intersectional and social justice frame to empower us all to: Better understand the biological and environmental factors that lead to an eating disorder Increase access to care and providing highly specialized, evidence-based treatment Provide multidisciplinary training to treatment providers Raise awareness, educate, and advocate Learn more about BEDA 2016 Individuals and organizations may access information about the event, reserve exhibit space, and register on the BEDA 2016 web pages. View the agenda Book your hotel room Apply for a scholarship Sign up …
Alcoholism and Binge Eating Disorder
By Dixie Brown, MS, ICAADC, CAP, LCAS, Executive Director of Willow Place for Women Alcoholism and binge eating disorder (BED) frequently co-occur. BED is the most common eating disorder in the US. It affects three times as many people who suffer from anorexia and bulimia combined. Many individuals who suffer from BED also have substance abuse disorders – binge drinking disorder or alcoholism, most commonly. We still don’t know exactly why these two disorders often occur together. But simultaneous treatment is essential for recovery from both conditions. Alcoholism and binge eating disorder – two sides of the same coin Many studies have concluded that eating disorders and substance abuse disorders co-occur more frequently than not. Especially in women, and especially among patients who are already …
Mental Health & Marginalization: Why the BEDA 2016 Conference Matters
By Rachel Porter, PsyD This year’s Binge Eating Disorder Association (BEDA) conference is dedicated to lifting voices of marginalized communities. As co-chair of the conference planning committee, I have been repeatedly awed by the organization and the committee’s stringent adherence to principles of inclusivity as we plan BEDA 2016. BEDA 2016—inclusivity & community As we discuss conference programming for BEDA 2016, we repeatedly come back to the same questions: Does this represent our theme? Is this person we want to invite going to represent a marginalized community? Is this person someone who doesn’t have the privilege of a platform readily available to them? It’s an honor and a privilege to work with such a group of people. Civil rights takes a giant step back And yet, simultaneous to …