faulker053

I'd LOVE to eat your food record, but I'm really not that hungry! “My dog ate my food record.” “Oh, I left it at work.” “I know what I eat, I don’t need to write it down.” And finally, the very honest and most insightful comment I’ve heard, “I just couldn’t bring myself to do it. Because if I don't write it down, then maybe it didn't happen." This, perhaps, sums up why, in spite of knowing that food record keeping is recommended, it is often not done. But of course you know I can't just let it go at that!  First, let me clarify. A food record, generally speaking, is a journal of what you ate including the quantity of food, and when you ate it. A valuable food record also includes some other critical information—your perceived hunger when you begin eating, your thoughts and your feelings—both physical and emotional. Noting where you ate is also quite useful, as we’ll discuss in a bit. Oh, and if food was consumed but eating disorder behaviors followed, that sho...

What bothered Stacey most was the binging. Sure, the restrictive eating made her feel lightheaded and made it difficult to function. And yes, she was tired—but that was to be expected—it was what she was used to. The preoccupation with her weight, her eating, her food rules—that was all she knew. But then the binges soon followed, along with the need to purge and as this increased in frequency, she began to panic. Which brought her to seek my help. We began with a behavior chain—a mapping of the sequence of events that Stacey experiences, the link between her thoughts, feelings and actions, which keep her stuck in her disorder. It shows how one link in the chain leads to the next, then the next, to keep the cycle going. They have no idea how she's suffering. Her pattern began, like it does for many of you, with deprivation —or simply not eating enough. She often fools herself into thinking that she is having enough—eating regularly, yet consuming insubstantial amounts or very...

I frequently describe the chat that needs to happen—between those of you struggling to normalize your eating and move away from compulsive overeating or binge eating, and your loved ones. I spend so much time talking about this in patient sessions that I decided to write it down in a letter form, so all of you in this position can use it. Why such a conversation, you ask? Because in order to start to change your relationship with food, you need to let go of the fear and the shame you’re all-too-familiar with. To do so, it helps to put it right out there to those who will be seeing you eat and may be surprised by what they see. The last thing you need is more judgment—you’re critical enough of your own eating, you don’t need anyone else’s judgment! So read on and test it out at home! Dear All-who-really-care about me, While I know you are worried about my health and my eating please realize that you are not alone. Just because I don’t talk about it with you doesn’t mean I am...