It is National Eating Disorder Awareness Week
If you are someone who is in recovery or have recovered from an eating disorder and can spread a positive message of encouragement and hope to others, I encourage you to do so. Your story and voice maybe just what they need to start their own journey of healing and recovery.
If you have a love one struggling with an eating disorder, maybe this week is about learning and gathering tips or resources for how to help, support and love unconditionally.
If you have an eating disorder and having a difficult time call the NEDA Helpline at 1-800-931-2237. Learn what support, resources and treatment options are available for yourself or a loved one.
My goal of this week's email it to change the conversation and perspective about diets, body image, eating disorders, disordered eating and the diet culture. I want to take the conversation off of our bodies, weight and dieting and share with you how dangerous dieting and eating disorders are.
Eating Disorders Defined:
According to the NEDA, "Eating disorders are recognized and categorized as a mental illness where there is an unhealthy relationship with food." Many individuals with eating disorders often struggle with body image and disrupts their normal every day activities with unusual eating habits to alter their appearance.
There are 3 main categories of eating disorders are;
1. Anorexia Nervosa (an intense fear of gaining weight or becoming fat)
2. Bulimia Nervosa (the act of binge eating then purging or vomiting)
3. Binge Eating (eating until uncomfortably full in one sitting)
Causes of Eating Disorders:
Eating disorders can have one or both causes; Genetics (the research indicates up to 72% maybe caused by genetics) and psychological (lack of coping skills, control issues, trauma, family trouble or social issues such as the thin ideal or the diet mentality).
Did You Know:
- Eating disorders have the highest mortality rate of any mental illness
- 24 million individuals in the U.S. struggle with an eating disorder
- There is a strong link between eating disorders and depression (of those 24 million, close to 1/2... 50% meet the clinical diagnosis for depression)
- Less than 10% of individuals with eating disorders receive treatment
- There is a strong relationship between dieting and developing an eating disorder (35% of normal diets will progress to pathological dieting and 20-25% of those individuals will develop an eating disorder)
The $60 Billion Dieting Industry:
- The dieting industry generated $10 billion dollars in 1980 and presently generates over $60 billion dollars in 2016 and only increasing.
- Diets have a 95% failure rate and those who lose weight gain their lost weight back and put on additional weight within 1 to 5 years
The Dieting Mentality and Thin Ideal:
- 46% of Nine to Eleven year olds are sometimes or very often on a diet
- 82% of Nine to Eleven year olds, report that their families were very often or sometimes on diets
- 91% of college woman, admit to controlling their weigh through dieting. 22% so they dieted always or often
- 68% of girls ages 10 to 18 confirm that photographs of models and celebrities in magazines inspired their desired body shape
- More than 50% of teen girls and nearly 33% of teen boys admit to using unhealthy methods to control their weights including smoking cigarettes, skipping meals, fasting, vomiting and taking laxatives
- Dieting and food restriction causes intense cravings which often leads to over-eating and over-indulgence
- Focusing on dieting and weight loss is not only distracting but also leads to slower reaction time, ability to concentrate or make decisions due to the lack of adequate nutrients
- Dieting causes leptin and other hormones that satiate people FALL (go down) and a hormone (Ghrelin.. the hunger hormone) that make us want to eat Increase (go up) Dr. Proietti
- Dieting puts multiple physiological mechanisms in place to get you to PUT the Weight BACK on
- Dieting is an external way of regulating food. Using external factors to determine what, how much and when to eat causes individuals to disconnect from our bodies and our intuition (Getting in tune with one's body and intuition is one of the most important skills that individuals who have eating disorders gain from treatment)
- The more an individual diets, the more weight you gain (chronic dieting history)
- Research shows that those who diet, gain more weight, are more obsessive over food and are at an increase of binge eating
- Research from the winners of the biggest loser competition showed that intensive dieting and exercising were no match for how hard the body fights to keep fat and weight ON.
- Dieting impacts kids, teens, adults and are the leading predictors of weight gain and increase risks of binge eating and eating disorders
Dieting Impact kids, teens and adults (from Evelyn Tribole):
- In kids ages 9-14 (8 to 12%) are at risk for binge eating versus those who never dieted
- Kids who diet, gain more weight and binge more
- For teens dieting is one of the single most predictors leading to an eating disorder
- Teens who diet, gain weight, binge eat and increase their risk for eating disorders
- Adults who diet, gain weight, have an increased risk of binge eating and eating disorders
The truth is that almost everything we think we know about obesity and weight loss is a myth.
It's only when we embrace and implement the "science of weight loss" and reject the diet mentality, the thin ideal and the diet culture and learn an integrated comprehensive approach to transforming our relationship with our food, mind, body and self can we make peace with food and our bodies once and for all,
An invitation to finally make peace with food, eating and your body and join the diet free sisterhood!
If you are still struggling with eating and your body and it feels like you have tried everything, and believe that freedom from food, eating and body struggles is not possible... Think again! There is hope and anything is possible!
I invite you to explore our website, and pic up our free YOU ARE ENOUGH! Finally, Free, Fit and Fabulous Guide...A 5 step guide to peace with food, eating, weight and body image.
You are worth it.
Sending Joy!
Founder, Shaping Perspectives... A Woman's Way to Joy!
P.S. Contact me to schedule one of my most popular signature talks "You Are Enough" Finally Free, Fit and Fabulous!
