Do you feel a loss of control when you’re around food?
Do you eat when you are experiencing fear, sadness, anger, or frustration?
Do you feel guilty after eating specific foods?
Do you skip meals or rigidly restrict your food intake?
Are you consumed with thoughts about your body shape or your weight?
Disordered eating is a phrase used to describe a spectrum of eating behaviors. The signs and symptoms of disordered eating are similar to those of an eating disorder, although they may vary with frequency and severity. While disordered eating may not result in the symptoms seen in a diagnosable eating disorder, it has the potential to impact a person’s life.
Disordered eating symptoms might include:
- Frequent dieting or obsessive calorie counting
- Missing work, school, or events because of anxiety or discomfort around food, or because of an obsessive exercise routine
- Rigid food restriction or skipping meals
- Feeling anxiety, guilt, or shame about certain foods or food in general
- Obsessive exercising, or exercise to “punish” for overeating
- Binging and/or purging
- Self-worth or self-esteem because of your weight or body shape and weight
- Feeling out of control around food
In therapy, we can explore your current circumstances or past experiences to understand what led to these behaviors. We can also work together to establish helpful habits and practice new coping skills.
If you are struggling with disordered eating and need support, I can help you create new ways of being so that you can live a life of freedom. Contact me today to learn how I use holistic mental health practices to help.