I find that for me, surrounding myself with positive people is the key to helping me deal with my ED.
I'm fortunate that I have met some amazing friends through running and can count on them at any time when I'm feeling vulnerable. They are aware of my ED and are very supportive. They also keep me positive by inspiring me on a daily basis which I find very important.
Running has also allowed me to really think about my ED and ways that I can deal with it more pro-actively. Right now I'm on a very strict training program and that allows me to focus most if not all of my attention on my running. In addition, my diet as of late has been the "cleanest" it has been in a long time as I seem to be in a very good place mentally right now. There are things in my personal life which still get me down but for the most part I've been able to stay positive and that translates, at least for me, into feeling better about myself. As soon as I start to lose that focus or start feeling bad about my appearance/body image then I can almost guarantee a binge is right around the corner.
I've been able to improve my running speed/endurance and that is a direct result of having less stress, more sleep and better eating habits. I know that if one of these variables is disrupted it will negatively effect my running.
I also feel that my clients both at the gym and through my own business, look for me for guidance and also to be somewhat of a role model for them. This is something that I take very seriously and I want to provide them with the best example I can which helps me to stay focused as well.
I believe that it's important for all of us to have friends/family who we can confide in when we are feeling down. Most of the time we're not looking for them to provide us with any magical answer but it's simply having someone who will actively listen and for me I'm lucky to have that.
Wednesday, March 7, 2007
Sunday, March 4, 2007
Having "good and bad" days.
I used to work at a recovery house for clients suffering from an addiction to drugs, alcohol and gambling. I would often tell them that eating disorders are one of the worst addictions you can have. Many didn't understand this until I put it to them this way. I told them that while their addictions are of course VERY serious, their bodies can do without drugs and/or alcohol. However, when someone has an eating disorder they MUST eat or they will die. When I explained it to them this way you could almost see the light bulb go on. This example was not used to minimize their own issues but rather shed light on an illness that in my opinion is too easily overlooked.
Similar to a chemical dependency, we have relapses. In the case of ED it is often called "binging and purging."
In addition to this, body image can play a huge role in the determining if a binge/purge is about to happen. Having low self-esteem or confidence about how we "look" can set up a dangerous pattern of binging/purging or starving in the hopes that it will garner the results that we want. More often, though, it does the exact opposite as our bodies try to recover from either not eating or overeating and purging either through excessive exercise or vomiting.
In my own case, it's something that I manage from day to day. I try to stay as positive as I can and surround myself with positive people and influences. Running, for me has been one of the best things I have ever done. It is a truly remarkable sport where I have to rely on my own strength and determination to achieve my goals. It also has led me to finding some remarkable people who I call close friends.
Even with running, though, I have good and bad days with regards to my ED. I try to focus on the good days and not let the bad days snowball out of control.
When I was growing up there was very little information about ED especially with regards to men suffering form this disorder. Thankfully today there are literally hundreds of websites you can turn to for help.
Here are a just a few:
http://www.sheenasplace.org/
http://www.something-fishy.org/
Similar to a chemical dependency, we have relapses. In the case of ED it is often called "binging and purging."
In addition to this, body image can play a huge role in the determining if a binge/purge is about to happen. Having low self-esteem or confidence about how we "look" can set up a dangerous pattern of binging/purging or starving in the hopes that it will garner the results that we want. More often, though, it does the exact opposite as our bodies try to recover from either not eating or overeating and purging either through excessive exercise or vomiting.
In my own case, it's something that I manage from day to day. I try to stay as positive as I can and surround myself with positive people and influences. Running, for me has been one of the best things I have ever done. It is a truly remarkable sport where I have to rely on my own strength and determination to achieve my goals. It also has led me to finding some remarkable people who I call close friends.
Even with running, though, I have good and bad days with regards to my ED. I try to focus on the good days and not let the bad days snowball out of control.
When I was growing up there was very little information about ED especially with regards to men suffering form this disorder. Thankfully today there are literally hundreds of websites you can turn to for help.
Here are a just a few:
http://www.sheenasplace.org/
http://www.something-fishy.org/
Thursday, March 1, 2007
Definition of an Eating Disorder
"Eating disorder" is when a person eats, or refuses to eat, in order to satisfy a psychic need and not a physical need. The person doesn't listen to bodily signals or perhaps is not even aware of them. A normal person eats when hungry and stops eating when the body doesn't need more, when he feels the signal of satisfaction.
Eating disorders are usually classified as anorexia nervosa , bulimia nervosa or binge eating disorder in accordance with the symptoms. However, a person may have an eating disorder without belonging exactly to any of these categories.
Those who lose weight because of illness, e.g., cancer, are not considered to have an eating disorder.
People with eating disorders experience that they are not in control of their needs and impulses. Rather they feel controlled by forces outside themselves. If you look at the story of their lives, certain phenomena recur. When they were children, the surrounding people have not responded in an adequate way to the signals which expresses needs or feelings. If the surrounding environment does not understand the child's true needs and take proper action, the child is inhibited in learning to be more conscious of its needs.
Either people with eating disorders don't feel the body signals for hunger and satisfaction, or they don't listen to these signals. They eat for reasons other than physical hunger, for example, they are tired, stressed or feel melancholy. Their relation to food makes them unhappy and they are not being able to cope with food in a proper way.
People without eating disorders are in contact with their physical feelings of hunger and satisfaction, and use those feelings when they decide when and how much to eat. They generally eat for no other reasons than hunger, and need food to be satisfied. Eating is satisfying and works smoothly like breathing and sleeping.
What controls eating?
Eating is separated from its normal control by hunger, appetite and satisfaction. It can be controlled by the will, planned diet, counting of calories, feelings, appearance and food odour.
Eating is controlled by hunger, appetite and satisfaction. A person eats when in need of nutrition and stops when satisfied; is usually hungry at mealtimes.
Why a person eats:
Often for other reasons than nutritional needs: to alter the figure, to reduce pain, stress, anguish, anger, loneliness and melancholy.
There are unpleasant physical feelings after excessive eating together with regret, guilt and shame.
For nutrition, health and energy. Also for pleasure and as a part of social company. Normal eating gives a feeling of satisfaction.
When a person eats:
Eating is irregular and chaotic - often too much or too little.
Regular habits. Usually three meals a day and small snacks between them if needed.
What controls eating?
For a healthy person, eating is controlled by feelings of true hunger, appetite and satisfaction. You eat when you need nourishment and stop eating when you are satisfied.
A person with eating disorders lacks the normal connection between the nutritional need of the body and the hunger signals. Eating is determined by will, planned diet, counting calories and if you are tempted by delicious food.
Why a person eats.
A healthy person eats for nourishment, health and energy, but sometimes also for pleasure or as an part of a social event. You feel content when you eat.
For people with eating disorders, eating is governed by the will to change the appearance of the body, or to reduce pain, stress, anxiety, loneliness, monotony, etc. After completing the meal, they feel discomfort and remorse, guilt and shame.
When a person eats.
The healthy person eats regularly, for example, three main courses and snacks according to what the body craves.
A person with an eating disorder eats irregularly and chaotic - sometimes too much, sometimes too little. Sometimes you skip a meal, sometimes you fast, sometimes you overeat and sometimes you diet. It's common to either eat too much or too little.
Normal eating: You have contact with your body's physical sensations of hunger and satisfaction, and use it to decide when and how much to eat. You normally do not eat for other reasons than that you are hungry and need nourishment. You get satisfied with eating and eating works by itself like breathing and sleeping.
Disturbed eating: Either you cannot feel your body's signals for hunger and satisfaction, or you can feel them, but you disregard them. In both cases, you eat for other reasons than need of nourishment, such as stress or sadness. You are unhappy with your relation to food and cannot resolve it in a sensible way.
Eating disorders are usually classified as anorexia nervosa , bulimia nervosa or binge eating disorder in accordance with the symptoms. However, a person may have an eating disorder without belonging exactly to any of these categories.
Those who lose weight because of illness, e.g., cancer, are not considered to have an eating disorder.
People with eating disorders experience that they are not in control of their needs and impulses. Rather they feel controlled by forces outside themselves. If you look at the story of their lives, certain phenomena recur. When they were children, the surrounding people have not responded in an adequate way to the signals which expresses needs or feelings. If the surrounding environment does not understand the child's true needs and take proper action, the child is inhibited in learning to be more conscious of its needs.
Either people with eating disorders don't feel the body signals for hunger and satisfaction, or they don't listen to these signals. They eat for reasons other than physical hunger, for example, they are tired, stressed or feel melancholy. Their relation to food makes them unhappy and they are not being able to cope with food in a proper way.
People without eating disorders are in contact with their physical feelings of hunger and satisfaction, and use those feelings when they decide when and how much to eat. They generally eat for no other reasons than hunger, and need food to be satisfied. Eating is satisfying and works smoothly like breathing and sleeping.
What controls eating?
Eating is separated from its normal control by hunger, appetite and satisfaction. It can be controlled by the will, planned diet, counting of calories, feelings, appearance and food odour.
Eating is controlled by hunger, appetite and satisfaction. A person eats when in need of nutrition and stops when satisfied; is usually hungry at mealtimes.
Why a person eats:
Often for other reasons than nutritional needs: to alter the figure, to reduce pain, stress, anguish, anger, loneliness and melancholy.
There are unpleasant physical feelings after excessive eating together with regret, guilt and shame.
For nutrition, health and energy. Also for pleasure and as a part of social company. Normal eating gives a feeling of satisfaction.
When a person eats:
Eating is irregular and chaotic - often too much or too little.
Regular habits. Usually three meals a day and small snacks between them if needed.
What controls eating?
For a healthy person, eating is controlled by feelings of true hunger, appetite and satisfaction. You eat when you need nourishment and stop eating when you are satisfied.
A person with eating disorders lacks the normal connection between the nutritional need of the body and the hunger signals. Eating is determined by will, planned diet, counting calories and if you are tempted by delicious food.
Why a person eats.
A healthy person eats for nourishment, health and energy, but sometimes also for pleasure or as an part of a social event. You feel content when you eat.
For people with eating disorders, eating is governed by the will to change the appearance of the body, or to reduce pain, stress, anxiety, loneliness, monotony, etc. After completing the meal, they feel discomfort and remorse, guilt and shame.
When a person eats.
The healthy person eats regularly, for example, three main courses and snacks according to what the body craves.
A person with an eating disorder eats irregularly and chaotic - sometimes too much, sometimes too little. Sometimes you skip a meal, sometimes you fast, sometimes you overeat and sometimes you diet. It's common to either eat too much or too little.
Normal eating: You have contact with your body's physical sensations of hunger and satisfaction, and use it to decide when and how much to eat. You normally do not eat for other reasons than that you are hungry and need nourishment. You get satisfied with eating and eating works by itself like breathing and sleeping.
Disturbed eating: Either you cannot feel your body's signals for hunger and satisfaction, or you can feel them, but you disregard them. In both cases, you eat for other reasons than need of nourishment, such as stress or sadness. You are unhappy with your relation to food and cannot resolve it in a sensible way.
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