Disordered Eating

The one thing that has had the most negative impact on my health is my disordered relationship with food. In Junior High and High School I severely restricted my eating so I could be thin, and I looked great! However, I thought I was the hugest person in the world, and I hated my body. In the middle of college, I began binge eating to deal with my emotions after a difficult break up. I gained about 100 pounds in just a few years. I continue to struggle with binge eating as a part of my mental health journey. I worked with a therapist who specialized in binge eating for about 5 years. She helped me understand the deep reasons behind my eating and realize that I had anxiety. She treated me with EMDR for PTSD, and I started taking anxiety medicine. EMDR is Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing. It was discovered by a mental health professional who went on walks during a stressful time of life and noticed her gaze moving back and forth, from side to side, as she processed her life situation.

Unfortunately binge eating may always be a part of my life, but I take the work of improving my relationship with food and my body very seriously. I worked through a workbook my friend gave me named The Emotional Eating, Chronic Dieting, Binge Eating & Body Image Workbook by Judith Matz, Amy Pershing, and Christy Harrison. The subtitle is A Trauma-informed, Weight-inclusive Approach to Make Peace with Food & Reduce Body Shame. I also have on my list to read Intuitive Eating by Evelyn Tribole and Elyse Resch. What I’m learning so far is that diets don’t work and will never work and you will always gain the weight back. Thus, we need long-term shifts in lifestyle and mindset.

Thank you for reading dear readers. Wishing you much peace and joy. Lynn

Very helpful workbook on unpacking my history and relationship with food.