Eating Disorders Articles

What is brain plasticity? And how is it related to developing an eating disorder? Brain plasticity, or neuroplasticity, is the lifelong ability of the brain to change itself based on new experiences. When we say “the brains ability to change” we don’t mean something mystical ...

Hundreds of people have asked me why someone develops an eating disorder. Of course many issues are involved, but from my exploration of this field over the years, I have concluded that there is one outstanding theme that runs through every person with an eating disorder whom I have encountered. ...

I have always had a love-affair with flour products, the doughier the better. Especially bread, the staff of life, right? Feed me anything made from wheat, like pasta, tortillas, scones, pretzels, crackers, cookies, croutons, and even licorice, and I’m in heaven. I feel immediate bliss. Well, at least my brain does. My body, on the other hand, well, that’s a different story. My nose gets stuffy, my head starts to get foggy within twenty-four hours, I wake up with bags under my eyes and my digestion feels off. So much for bliss!

It’s the little things that you will need to notice and congratulate yourself on when beginning the recovery process from a binge eating disorder. These little things will be the stepping stones to gaining full control over yourself when food is involved. These tiny stepping stones will prove ...It’s the little things that you will need to notice and congratulate yourself on when beginning the recovery process from a binge eating disorder.

For 10 years I read about and watched compulsive eaters become free from overeating and I continued to be discouraged as I binged and obsessed about food. I would identify with people who felt, thought, and ate the way I did, and when they said they were free I believed them. I knew it must be possible for me too so why was I still struggling? I begged, prayed, and tried everything and couldn’t go more tha 3 or 4 days without bingeing. I remember one of my particularly dark

Life As a Food AddictnBy Dr. Lisa Ortigara Crego I must begin by taking you back in time. I believe my nightmare began early in my life without me even realizing. First off, I am the 6th child with two sets of twins sandwiched between my oldest sister and myself. There are only four years ...

Day 12 of the 12 Days of Healthy Eating Gifts brought to you by WiseHeart Wellness WorldWider Treating food addiction and compulsive eating Welcome-- To your 12th and last healthy eating gift. Today you are receiving a mindful eating program and a motivational powerpoint to help you break free of compulsive eating and creating the life you want.

As an absolutely uninterrupted, WI- FI connected, powerful beam of Creator light; we are only limited by ourselves and our beliefs. Our Creator power is in each “now “moment of our lives. The concept of the power contained in each “now” moment is one of the most powerful ...

Where are you depriving yourself? Take a look at places where you're being cheap, stingy, or witholding the good stuff with yourself. I find that there is a powerful connection between overeating and other ways you are keeping yourself in deprivation and lack. I see so many of my clients (and my women friends) being incredibly generous and nurturing to virtually everyone... but themselves.

In one of my overeating support groups this week, we were discussing the notion of "living in this moment." So often, when we aren't satisified with our bodies, we put our lives on hold. We tell ourselves that we're not applying for that new position, going back to school, volunteering, beginning dating, visiting the doctor or taking that new exercise class because we need to lose some weight first. The fantasy is that when we lose the weight, we will feel much better about ourselves and feel motivated to move forward.

Life is beautiful. It is complex and it has many twists and turns, but it has a quality of freedom and the opportunity for constant self-creationism that, with the right mindset, allows each of us to feel exuberant, passionate, alive and fulfilled whether we are accepting a Nobel prize, giving birth, beginning or ending a relationship, washing the dishes or stuck in rush-hour traffic. But what about someone who doesn’t have the “right” mindset?

My intern Tina and I were recently discussing the word FAT. She couldn’t imagine herself saying the word, believing it to be filled with shame, stereotypes and disgust. For me, it is merely a description, such as tall, brown hair, or big feet. (It wasn’t always this way for me and Tina is changing her view now too.) I believe it is our society that made this particular descriptive word feel bad. We learned that being fat is bad and something to avoid like the plague.

6. Challenge yourself to bite off more than you can chew, while learning how to spit. Decide that you will stop your struggle with binge eating disorder. Instead of expecting to change ove ight, remind yourself that it will take time, effort, and patience. The goal of overcoming binge eating ...6. Challenge yourself to bite off more than you can chew, while learning how to spit.

Day 7 of the 12 Days of Healthy Eating Gifts brought to you by WiseHeart Wellness WorldWider Treating food addiction and compulsive eating Welcome to your seventh Healthy Eating gift. Today is the gift of spirit from many traditions. Please take what fits for you and leave the rest. We at WiseHeart believe strongly in the development of a spiritual component to heal our relationship with body, eating and bringing food back into its' sacred context.

Recovery is a continuing process. To start eating disorder recovery is to start a journey. To be on that journey is to be on your path to health and emotional and intellectual development. Your path leads to your true self, to your inner resources of courage, creativity, self respect, strength ...

Day 1 of the 12 Days of Healthy Eating Gifts brought to you by WiseHeart Wellness WorldWider Treating food addiction and compulsive eating Welcome to your first Healthy Eating gift. Today you are receiving a couple of special renovations to your “to do” list. First, one side of your list will now become your "Choose To Do List.” Why is this an upgrade? Because when we consciously choose to do something, we create a more positive mind set and a better chemical environment in our brains and bodies. Stress and negativity diminish and performance and enjoyment increase.

If you're like most of the people that attend my seminars, workshops and classes on Emotional Eating, you've tried all kinds of diets, fasts and exercise regimens to take off the weight. Perhaps you've even tried pills, shots and surgery, all to no avail. You've lost weight many times but always seem to gain it back. You may already be suffering from health conditions, like diabetes and hypertension, related to your weight.

Here are five tips that I have received from people who are struggling with binge eating disorder. When I was bingeing I used some of these exact tips. The tricks really helped to curb a binge or two. Try them out ad let me know how they work out for you. 1. Become a vegan. I’ve heard ...Here are five tips that I have received from people who are struggling with binge eating disorder. When I was bingeing I used some of these exact tips. The tricks really helped to curb a binge or two. Try them out ad let me know how they work out for you. 1. Become a vegan.

The single thing you'll be able to count on a lot of people realizing omega-3 omega3 and digestive function is the fact using fish-oil products sometimes brings about bad burps plus propane. These problems disappear, even so, if your omega-3 fatty acids are totally free of a common killer.rnBelching along with unwanted wind usually are complications while sea food natural oils are generally afflicted through "marine beverages." The best way to illustrate maritime drinks will

I was sifting through a journal from last year and recognized that many of the goals I had for my life last year have been realized and that the others are well on their way to manifesting. It occurred to me in that moment how incredibly lucky that makes me, and then it occurred to me that it wasn’t luck at all. It was the practice of first trusting that I was deserving of and could create the life of my dreams; then came the piece of conceptualizing that dream existence; then came the process of identifying the steps I needed to take to get from point A to point B. Trust.

Day 11 of the 12 Days of Healthy Eating Gifts brought to you by WiseHeart Wellness WorldWider Treating food addiction and compulsive eating We will break the types of craving down into 4 groupings and discuss the sources and solutions for them.

Day 6 of the 12 Days of Healthy Eating Gifts brought to you by WiseHeart Wellness WorldWider Treating food addiction and compulsive eating Welcome, to your sixth Healthy Eating gift. No Eating would be complete without the gift that everyone really wants - that would be brain research! Okay maybe I am the only one with that on their wish list, but after you check this out you will be thankful for it.

There is always much debate surrounding the issue of diet and among the experts, there is still quite a bit of disagreement. Are starchy carbohydrates like potatoes and corn okay to eat or should we limit them? Should we follow high-protein or low-to-moderate protein eating plans? Is it wise to eat foods of animal origin like meat, fish and dairy products or stick to plant-based foods like beans and lentils? How much fat should we eat and what types? What’s the best source of Omega-3’s, plant or animal?

Does it feel like you’re living your life, day-to-day, with many of your needs unmet? Do you think this may have something to do with your overeating? If so, you’re not alone. Many overeaters, frustrated by years of unmet needs, find themselves regularly “using” food for emotional comfort, pleasure, soothing and distraction.

I am big on emotions. Sadness, Joy, Anger, Fear, Hurt, Happiness, and Shame are all important to recognize and express. An important part of my job is to help people learn to feel. Those who work with me know I talk about feelings a lot. Shame (aka guilt, bad) is the emotio I will address now. Shame is the inner, critical voice that judges everything you do, say, believe, and think. It keeps you withdrawn, hiding, feeling worthless and unlovable. Although some shame is healthy, most of us feel too much shame.

"I don't want to get to the end of my life and find that I have just lived the length of it. I want to have lived the width of it as well." - Diane Ackerman I know this has happened to all of us at one time in our life or another. You are face-to-face with something that you’ve always wanted ..."I don't want to get to the end of my life and find that I have just lived the length of it. I want to have lived the width of it as well." - Diane Ackerman

Emotional eating, binge eating, stress eating, trigger eating, compulsive eating all boil down to one thing. The trigger. The triggered compulsive feelings that drive an urge to splurge or binge are what leave us feeling helpless. When you are triggered into overeating, you feel the anguish, the compulsion, and the bewilderment. Thoughts of "I can't stop!" run amok like a broken record. Before you know it, your stomach is in pain, guilt begins to surface and the love/hate relationship to food leaves you in its wake... until the next time it strikes.

The glycemic index (GI) is a ranking of carbohydrates on a scale from 0 to 100 according to the extent to which they raise blood sugar levels after ingestion. Different carbohydrate-containing foods (sugars and starches) vary in their effect on blood sugar levels.

I've been working with women and their bodies and their eating stuff for a looooooong time now- 25 years to be exact. And I've had my own very real ups and downs around the same issues. Here's what I've found from all of this. Healing the shame is what changes everything else. Overall, that's pretty much where we all suffer. And shame by nature is something we squirrel away, we don't talk about it, so it never gets a good airing out. It gets all musty and crusty and becomes even more shameful and hard to look at from that hidden place.

When you feel at your lowest point, food becomes your best friend. Food makes you feel better from the hurtful comment that you heard a stranger say about your weight. Food comforts you when no one else can. Food numbs any pain that you don’t want to feel.

Day 3 of the 12 Days of Healthy Eating Gifts brought to you by WiseHeart Wellness WorldWider Treating food addiction and compulsive eating Welcome to your third Healthy Eating gift. Today you are receiving some brain chemistry basics that can make a tremendous difference in your experience and your actions. Brain chemistry is what determines how you perceive and interpret situations, what thoughts and behaviors you choose and indeed whether or not you can actually execute them. In addition how easily you get tired, or confused or depressed or frustrated.

If you have Binge Eating Disorder, you understand the feelings of loneliness. You know what it is like to live in a secret world that no one knows about. You have a big secret, but no one is allowed to see that side of you. At restaurants with friends, you order just the right amount of food ...If you have Binge Eating Disorder, you understand the feelings of loneliness. You know what it is like to live in a secret world that no one knows about. You have a big secret, but no one is allowed to see that side of you.

Day 4 of the 12 Days of Healthy Eating Gifts brought to you by WiseHeart Wellness WorldWider Treating food addiction and compulsive eating Welcome, to your fourth Healthy Eating gift. This one will be filled with drinks and desserts! Yes, really. During special events we don't want you to spend it feeling deprived or over indulging in things that make you feel bad. So what's the other choice?

I went to an all day seminar designed to help people lose weight at a very fancy hotel in the Los Angeles area today. I didn't stay long. So sad. The attendees were mostly fat, frightened women.

If you have been overweight for some time, you’ve probably tried many diets and are unclear as to how to lose the weight and keep it off without feeling hungry or deprived. There seems to always be debate and controversy surrounding the issue of diet. Which is the correct eating plan? Should you follow a high protein or low to moderate protein eating plan? Are carbohydrates okay to eat or should you restrict them? How much fat should you eat and what types? Is it okay to eat animal products, including dairy and eggs or should you cut them out and follow a vegetarian eating plan?

Chapter 3 Early Warning Signs “Every patient carries her or his own doctor inside.”rn--Albert Schweitzer Your first and ongoing challenge is to not judge yourself. Merciless self-condemnation is a symptom of an eating disorder. You may have people in place who do that for you – that’s another sign. If you can’t resist criticizing yourself, give yourself a time limit to do so, and then do your breathing exercises. A brief mindful breathing practice after a bout of self-criticism can help you realign yourself with self-kindness.

I often hear from my overeating clients that they wish they could get motivated to take better care of themselves. They ask me “why is it that I can’t motivate myself to eat better and exercise consistently? It shouldn’t be this difficult!” While the answer will vary from person to person, one thing that I notice across the board is the lack of an inner nourishing voice.

Hello to you all, my beloved brothers and sisters living in our global family of humanity. I send you my love and wishes for continuous re-occurring blessings from my spot -of Heaven on earth, in Okeechobee, Florida. I view us all this day as absolute perfection; in some of us the abilities have yere et to manifest. We all are perfection as each of us is a particle of Creator light and love.

It was with great interest that I read in the UK Telegraph about the ex deputy prime minister of the UK John Prescott and his battle with bulimia. It is good that man in such a high powered position has finally come out and said he was a sufferer of this insidious disorder. It was also with ...

The term 'Eating disorder' has become a usual term for us as many children, teens and adults around the world suffer from these disorders. Bulimia nervosa, binge eating disorder, anorexia nervosa and Eating Disorders Not Otherwise Specified (EDNOS) are the common abnormal and unhealthy eating habits that lead to severe health risks at many times. Various statistics related to eating disorders reveal that 70 million individuals around the world fall prey to these habits and 17

Surviving Abuse and The Long Term Effects of Eating Disordersr From the Prospective of a Very Grateful Survivor Indexr Chapter 1- Gratefully, I’m Still Herer Chapter 2- The Gallery of Eating Disordersr Chapter 3- Medical Delights to Comer Chapter 4- It Is Your Choicer Chapter 5- Find Peace Within Chapter 1- Gratefully, I’m Still Herer

For many emotional eaters, the holiday season’s over indulgences begin with Halloween. The sheer volume of candy and delectable treats lining supermarket and drugstore shelves and home pantries is in itself downright spooky! And to add insult to injury, candy is being handed out every where you turn.Candy manufacturers seem to be oblivious to the obesity epidemic as they dream up new ways to combine sugar, fat and salt into small, miniature packets of ecstasy.

A balanced diet plays an important role in maintaining your health. You must be wondering how your diet can help in maintaining your stomach problems. When you are suffering from incontinence and other stomach related diseases, a proper and balanced diet can help in maintaining proper balance to your digestion and well maintained diet can help reducing the symptoms of the problem. There are many things related to your diet that play their part in making your stomach disturbe

Day 8 of the 12 Days of Healthy Eating Gifts brought to you by WiseHeart Wellness WorldWider Treating food addiction and compulsive eating Welcome, to your eighth Healthy Eating gift. An i-gift of information and identification. Information about what is really happening with us as we move through the experience of compulsive, addictive is vitally important as is identification with others sharing the problem.

Researching eating disorders is a relatively new field of medicine. Scientists still don't have a lot of data on a long-term recovery process from eating disorders. But many things about who is susceptible to the disease, how it starts and how it develops is known and that is what we will look ...

n n Bulimia nervosa , mostly known as bulimia or "mia", is an eating disorder in which the subject engages in recurrent binge eating followed by feelings of guilt, depression, and self-condemnation. The sufferer will then engage in compensatory behaviors to make up for the excessive eating, which are referred to as "purging". Purging can take the form of vomiting, fasting, the use of laxatives, enemas, diuretics or other medications, or overexercising.n n Diagnosis nnThe crit

M. Scott Peck, MD, author of The Road Less Traveled,defines delaying gratification as “a process of scheduling the pain and pleasure of life in such a way as to enhance the pleasure by meeting and experiencing the pain first and getting it over with.”

Shame plays an important role in developing eating disorders because shame is a controlling device. Basically all people with anorexia or bulimia can recall being shamed or ashamed several times before their disorder began. Shame is complex. It extends from small things like parents or teachers saying to someone that she/he is a bit overweight and needs to lose weight, or to something more serious like physical or sexual assault. For a young vulnerable person even a wrong look or an inappropriate comment can be shameful and it can trigger control mechanisms in the brain.