|
Compulsive Eating |
 People
who are compulsive
overeaters are usually
caught in a frustrating
cycle of dieting,
binge-eating and
depression. They often
turn to food as a coping
mechanism to medicate
their feelings and
stress. Binge-eaters may
forage on foods all day
or evening. Many
binge-eaters do this in
secret. The binge eating
may temporarily relieve
emotional feelings but
then they are tortured
by feelings of guilt,
shame and depression.
Compulsive overeaters
have a history of trying
diet after diet without
success. After many
other methods of weight
loss are tried
unsuccessfully, and they
become severely
overweight, some resort
to gastric bypass
(stomach stapling). This
process reduces the
amount of food they can
consume at one time.
However, many people
continue to overeat by
grazing on smaller
portions throughout the
day and evening and
thus, all the weight
they might have lost is
regained. Medical
complications from
compulsive overeating
can be serious. Some
acquire high blood
pressure, stroke,
diabetes and some
cancers.
Help: I offer
individual sessions
and/or 8 week groups to
help people overcome
eating issues.
Treatment for compulsive
eating is a process. If
you think you have a
compulsive eating
problem, you should know
that there's no magic
cure (such as a one
time, hypnosis session).
The process begins with
discovering what's
really occurring when
you have a compulsion to
eat. Are you really
hungry? If so, is your
hunger stomach or mouth
hunger? If you are not
physically (stomach
hungry) why do you want
to eat? What do you want
to eat? If you're not
eating something that
satisfies you, you will
continue to eat until
you are satisfied.
Ask yourself if your
urge to eat (when you're
not stomach hungry) came
on all of a sudden, if
so you have a clue that
there is an emotional
source. It will help if
you trace this sudden
urge back to what
happened prior to the
urge, or earlier in the
day, or previous day. If
you're in touch with
your feelings (many
compulsive eaters
aren't) you may find you
are eating to subdue or
numb your emotional
feelings. Many people
received messages when
they were young to
"stuff" emotions down.
Compulsive eating is one
way of "stuffing"
feelings of anxiety,
depression and past
trauma that lingers in
the body's and the
brain's cells. However,
the more feelings that
you "stuff" with food,
the more these feelings
intensify and negatively
program your mind and
body cells, and the more
problems they cause in
your life. Many people
don't understand that
each time you push down
an emotion it will come
back up to you again and
again, repeatedly
offering you another
opportunity to feel,
metabolize and integrate
the feeling. The reason
for this feeling
opportunity is because
the body innately knows
that "feeling" emotions
will bring you healing.
Learning how to identify
your triggers, urges,
cravings while being
with your feelings in a
safe, supportive way, is
a major step in the
recovery process that I
help people through
individually and in
groups. |
|
Bulimia Nervosa |
| People
who are Bulimic struggle
with the devastating
addictive binge-purge
cycle. People who are
Bulimic eat large
amounts of food
compulsively and then
purge through
self-inflicted vomiting,
diuretics, diet pills,
laxatives, ipecac,
fasts, chew-spitting,
regimented dieting.
Recurrent inappropriate
compensatory behavior in
order to prevent weight
gain is used. In active
state of Bulimia, these
behaviors occur at least
twice a week for at
least three months.
Binges are usually in
secret and can be
triggered in a number of
ways: numbers on a
scale, eating something
normally forbidden,
taking one bite more
than allowed, difficult
feelings, thinking about
food or a traumatic
event. Before purging
they may feel ugly,
unworthy, hopeless and
helpless before and
during the binge/purge
action. Afterward they
might feel a combination
of control, shame,
relief, disgust,
dizziness, fatigue, and
resolution. People who
are Bulimic are also
obsessively involved
with their shape and
weight. The medical
complications of this
binge-purge cycle can be
severe and terminal. |
|
Anorexia Nervosa |
| People
with Anorexia Nervosa
restrict food and refuse
to maintain a minimal
normal body weight. The
thought of weight gain
or even perceived weight
gain triggers intense
fear in people with
Anorexia. They refuse to
maintain body weight at
or above a minimally
normal weight. There is
a disturbance in the way
in which their body
weight or shape is
experienced. They also
deny the seriousness of
their current low body
weight. The areas of
body normally
representing maturity or
sexuality (buttocks,
hips, thighs and
breasts) are viewed by
people with Anorexia as
being “fat”. Some people
with Anorexia use
restrictive eating,
compulsive exercise and
laxative and diuretic
abuse. Sometimes food is
horded and special
interest is taken in
preparation of food, but
they seldom eat what is
prepared. Health
incidents may include
dizzy spells, fainting
spells, feeling cold,
when the temperature is
actually comfortable and
amenorrhea (absence of
at least 3 consecutive
menstrual cycles). |
|
Hidden Traits of People
with Eating Disorders: |
- If you have
alcoholism, heavy
drinkers or
addictions in your
family background,
it increases the
odds you’ll overeat
foods containing
sugar or refined
flour and
carbohydrates. This
may also indicate
you have an
indulgent, addictive
personality.
- If you have low
self-coping
mechanisms you may
be using food to
help you cope with
stress/anxiety,
emotional trauma,
abuse or neglect
from your past. You
may also withdraw
from friends and
family and find it
difficult to treat
yourself with
compassion to make
your needs a
priority.
- If you have low
self esteem, feel
like an imposter,
feel unprepared for
events, have
unrealistic fears of
trauma or
abandonment. Or
perhaps you think
your body image
needs to be model
thin or copy the
body image of a TV
star.
- If you have
control issues,
dislike authority
figures, have
phobias,
over-achieve or have
commitment issues.
Perhaps your
internal “rebel”
wants to feel in
control by
sabotaging your
life.
|
| |
Some
people live with eating
disorders for years and
have no awareness that
their disorder may be
related to early
childhood experiences of
historical patterns,
shame-based events, or
forgotten trauma. As
time goes by, they may
begin to believe that
they are just “bad” for
having symptoms. They
may frequently feel
controlled by an “inner
saboteur” that
overwhelms them.
Frequently, people
dissociate from
unacceptable thoughts
and feelings by
splitting them off and
placing them out of
their awareness. However
these feelings find
expression in body
distress and behavioral
actions. Once activated,
eating disorders can
provide a self-shaming
cycle of self-hate. This
cycle may lead to
patterns of self-harm to
reinforce their
shame-based sense of
self.
People who suffer from
eating disorders suffer
with life-long shame.
Lasting recovery
requires an
understanding of the
shame’s insidious
nature, and a
collaborative
exploration and healing
of its origins and its
expressions of
self-destruction.
I utilize talk therapy
and the most effective
alternative therapy to
teach people how to
build a tolerance for
feeling emotions in a
safe way while helping
them build a loving
relationship with their
body and their essence.
Step by step their inner
reality becomes more
understandable.
Eventually they learn
how to enter into loving
relationships with
themselves and others,
while creating a normal
body weight for
themselves. |
|
|
|
“As we learn to
communicate with our
body mind and spirit, we
achieve the greatest
gift of all – the
ability to heal our
Selves.”
You’re Not To Blame
I Can Help |
|
