EATING DISORDERS: GUESS WHAT?…. LIFE IS NOT JUST ABOUT A BOWL OF CHERRIES.

There are some people out there who believe it or not do not have Eating Disorders, they are just naturally thin. Yes we all have friends who can consume whatever they want and not give whatever that was a second thought. Than there are the kinds of people who don’t necessarily have eating disorders they […]

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There are some people out there who believe it or not do not have Eating Disorders, they are just naturally thin. Yes we all have friends who can consume whatever they want and not give whatever that was a second thought. Than there are the kinds of people who don’t necessarily have eating disorders they just have quirky eating habits, like not wanting their mashed potatoes to touch their peas, or have to eat things in a certain order. The kind of people who when they go out to eat, order all this stuff without, in place of, on the side, and then send it back 3 times.

However there is a kind of behavior that sometimes people don’t see as an eating disorder, and that is being overly conscience about what they put in their mouth to the point of it controlling their whole day, week, and life. They don’t starve themselves, they don’t binge and purge or over exercise, or take massive amounts of laxatives, but they do limit the types of food they eat and how much of it to the letter.

They bring their special allowed foods with them wherever they go. Instead of lipstick and hairspray they have sugar free salad dressings, gluten free crackers, and protein powder mixes in their purses.

They seldom go out to eat, as they don’t trust how the food is being prepared, weighed, measured etc.

Their meals have to be eaten at exactly the same times everyday in order for them to have sufficient times for them to digest in between. 

They come up with all kinds of “mock recipes” to replace regular foods, which they talk themselves into liking, but nobody else would swallow.

I should know all about this, because there was a period of time a few years ago, I did all of that. I was coming out of my first Treatment Center, and they had convinced me that the key to recovery was weighing and measuring all of my food and limiting the amounts of sugar and white flour. After I left, I took that philosophy and ran with it, by overly obsessing about what I was consuming. I thought as did all my friends and family that this was OK, as I wasn’t starving myself anymore or eating everything in sight and making it come back up.

What they didn’t realize and what I didn’t until later was that I was still living in the same giant house of dysfunction, I had simply moved in to a cleaner room.

It was pretty much impossible, to function as a normal human being as normal as I thought I had become. I couldn’t go anywhere like a restaurant, or vacation for fear of not knowing what was going to be served, or having access to all my special foods. I about had a small cow if for some reason I couldn’t get home at the exact same time everyday to eat. I went practically insane if for some reason the grocery store was out of a certain item I wanted or had discontinued it. My family pretty much got used to me bringing my own food over when there was a special holiday or event. They kind of just looked the other way as I ate strange pumpkin soups or spaghetti squash lasagna with non dairy cheese.

Well one day all of that finally caught up with me, and I realized that I was tired of trying to meet all these insane expectations and rules I had created for myself.  I thought I had moved forward, and I instead had fallen quite far behind. There waiting for me was my Eating Disorder as if to say, “hey I missed you, Welcome Back!”

The thing with eating disorders is they can take all kind of shapes and forms. Sometimes what we think is really healthy is actually harming our bodies, and our well being.

Here are some things to keep in mind.

Restricting yourself from a whole slew of food, limits your social, academic and work life.

Putting foods in to categories such as “good and bad” usually results in you obsessing over the ones that are off limits.

You totally cut out listening to when your body is naturally hungry, when it is naturally full, and what it really wants.

You continue to ostracize yourself from normal life, as life doesn’t like to be put in a box.

You are putting yourself at a high risk for relapsing back into binge eating.

I always say I wish I knew back then what I know now, as I had to learn the hard way.

I have learned just recently actually to get back in touch with intuitive eating.

That’s kickin it back old school to like when your were a kid, and letting your stomach call the shots, not your mind.

Eating doesn’t have to be a chore or a punishment,and if somebody is giving you reason to think otherwise, I would  suggest seeking some alternative council.                                                                                                                            

We make our lives difficult by living in our Eating Disorder.

When you stop letting food control your life in any way, whether it be not eating it or weighing and measuring everything you do, you will realize that there is so much you have been missing out on, and so much you have left to do!

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