Posts
A common question in recovering from eating issues is whether to keep weighing yourself to check your progress. This could be that you are trying to lose weight (0verweight/obese), gain weight (Anorexia) or stabilise weight (Bulimia). MY question would be:
Why is a number on the scales so important?
It usually is - we aim towards (away from) a certain 'number' on the scales as a marker of our success, when maybe the focus should be on how we FEEL within our body, or how our clothes are feeling on us.
Facing your beliefs about numbers on the scale is an important first step to deciding how much to weigh yourself. Is it that you are buying into black and white thinking (see http://doctorohad.blogspot.com/2009/10/black-and-white-thinking.html), imaging that a certain number is magical or equals your ultimate dream/goal?
I was the queen of weighing at the height of my Anorexia years: up to 10-15 times a day - often moving the scales from the carpet to a desk/table and standing on the desk to weigh myself, in case the carpet was absorbing or not a true indicator of my weight. I am astounded at this behaviour now that I think about it but can see that it is a common occurrence as all my clients do similar things.
I made the decision part way into my recovery that I needed to give away the scales, grieve them, take the plunge and TRUST that I wouldn't gain an insane amount of weight overnight without them, and get on with my life scale-free. It did work. It was tough but now I have scales back in my life and I might sneak a peak once a month and have been amazed over the years that my weight has stayed the same month in, month out, despite what/when/how much I eat. It is worth a go. Hold on for the ride and breathe easy at the end.
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
Thursday, February 25, 2010
Anxiety and Eating
I hope your week has been going well! I was pondering the idea of eating issues and concerns being related to anxiety the other day and thought I would put this out there! It seems through my own experience and counselling so many clients, that perhaps eating disorders like Anorexia Nervosa are simply (rather than complex!) a way of coping with anxiety in the body.
Imagine this: you are a 15 year old and there is turmoil going on in your life somewhere (home, school, friends, work) and because you have a bunch of other personality characteristics (like being introspective, quiet, perfectionistic...), you are not sure how to handle the turmoil around you. The 'nerves' in your body or the queasy, sick feeling you carry around in your stomach feels worse when you eat and in order to control this awful feeling, it is easier to stay away from food and hide from the turmoil. The turmoil doesn't need to be something big and large in your life: it might just be that you are not doing as well as you would like at school and this is going around in your head, and your body.
Some people might argue that their eating disorder did not follow any turmoil in their life, but I would argue otherwise. It might have been months, years earlier. Research has long suggested that eating disorder sufferers have a certain set of personality characteristics and I agree. These are the things which make someone vulnerable to succumbing to eating issues. and if not knowing how to cope with anxiety or stress is part of that, it might make the vulnerability stronger.
The fact that for some people, their eating disorder goes on for years might be a continued way of coping with anxiety, or a learned response to life situations (e.g. avoiding high calorie foods because you have for years).
The concept of Anorexia being about control is true in this context: but control of one's own anxiety by controlling everything in life, rather than trying to control life to control eating and weight.
Food for thought! The answer would be to learn better ways to address ANXIETY and the response to these feelings, rather than always focusing on relearning how to eat and be comfortable with weight gain or body shape change.
Imagine this: you are a 15 year old and there is turmoil going on in your life somewhere (home, school, friends, work) and because you have a bunch of other personality characteristics (like being introspective, quiet, perfectionistic...), you are not sure how to handle the turmoil around you. The 'nerves' in your body or the queasy, sick feeling you carry around in your stomach feels worse when you eat and in order to control this awful feeling, it is easier to stay away from food and hide from the turmoil. The turmoil doesn't need to be something big and large in your life: it might just be that you are not doing as well as you would like at school and this is going around in your head, and your body.
Some people might argue that their eating disorder did not follow any turmoil in their life, but I would argue otherwise. It might have been months, years earlier. Research has long suggested that eating disorder sufferers have a certain set of personality characteristics and I agree. These are the things which make someone vulnerable to succumbing to eating issues. and if not knowing how to cope with anxiety or stress is part of that, it might make the vulnerability stronger.
The fact that for some people, their eating disorder goes on for years might be a continued way of coping with anxiety, or a learned response to life situations (e.g. avoiding high calorie foods because you have for years).
The concept of Anorexia being about control is true in this context: but control of one's own anxiety by controlling everything in life, rather than trying to control life to control eating and weight.
Food for thought! The answer would be to learn better ways to address ANXIETY and the response to these feelings, rather than always focusing on relearning how to eat and be comfortable with weight gain or body shape change.
Thursday, February 4, 2010
Moving Forward in Life
I once had a client ask me how come such awful things had happened to her in her life and how come it seemed to be taking forever to get over it. It had seemed like forever for her - her experiences had happened at least 15 years ago. And she was very concerned it would be another 15 years before she would be 'free'. We tried lots of discussion about the events and some healing techniques based on NLP (Neuro Linguistic Programming) but we didn't seem to making a huge impact on her emotional state (quite distressed).
I had a thought about where she might be 'storing' her memories about the experiences. We all 'store' things around us, in a spatial sense. We just don't pay attention to them. Just ask someone what they had for lunch a few days ago and watch where they flick their eyes or turn their head to access the memory of that lunch. We do it unconsciously. (for more information on eye movements and memory storage, see a great article by Robert Dilts at http://www.nlpu.com/Articles/artic14.htm).
I asked her to close her eyes and imagine all the distressing experiences from that time in the past together together and be in one big box. She found this ok to do. I then asked her to indicate to me (with a gesture of her hand) where that box might be in the 'space' around her. She immediately waved in front of her face/body and said it was quite large.
We talked then about how most people indicate their future to be 'ahead' of them (in that same space) and we speak about our futures in the same way ("the future looks bright"; "I am looking forward to that in the future").
In this woman's case, her past 'box' of distressing experiences was stored in the same area ahead of her and it was probably true to say that she was subconsciously 'looking' at them on a daily basis, being reminded of their pain, and reliving the experiences. I asked her to close her eyes and try to move the box to somewhere in the space behind her. Most people again refer to their past memories/events in that space ("it's all behind me"; "I have moved on"). She found this ok to do and it did not seem to be a problem so we left the box there, making the future space in front of her clear.
I received a text message later that day from this lady saying that she thought the techniques were working because she felt better. I thanked her and said we would touch base again in a week. When I next saw her, she actually looked lighted, seemed more calm, and by her description, was coping better.
Because this lady had seen me for 5 other sessions and we had engaged in other techniques, it is difficult to say which technique, or combination of them might have actually resulted in such a big shift for her, but certainly the box strategy and moving the position of it in her subconscious view probably helped. This strategy is utilised within a TimeLine approach (see Tad James' article on this technique - http://www.nlpcoaching.com/TLT_Chapter1.pdf) and there was greater description, psychoeducation and technique used with this client than is described here.
Enjoy having a read of these articles!
Peta
I had a thought about where she might be 'storing' her memories about the experiences. We all 'store' things around us, in a spatial sense. We just don't pay attention to them. Just ask someone what they had for lunch a few days ago and watch where they flick their eyes or turn their head to access the memory of that lunch. We do it unconsciously. (for more information on eye movements and memory storage, see a great article by Robert Dilts at http://www.nlpu.com/Articles/artic14.htm).
I asked her to close her eyes and imagine all the distressing experiences from that time in the past together together and be in one big box. She found this ok to do. I then asked her to indicate to me (with a gesture of her hand) where that box might be in the 'space' around her. She immediately waved in front of her face/body and said it was quite large.
We talked then about how most people indicate their future to be 'ahead' of them (in that same space) and we speak about our futures in the same way ("the future looks bright"; "I am looking forward to that in the future").
In this woman's case, her past 'box' of distressing experiences was stored in the same area ahead of her and it was probably true to say that she was subconsciously 'looking' at them on a daily basis, being reminded of their pain, and reliving the experiences. I asked her to close her eyes and try to move the box to somewhere in the space behind her. Most people again refer to their past memories/events in that space ("it's all behind me"; "I have moved on"). She found this ok to do and it did not seem to be a problem so we left the box there, making the future space in front of her clear.
I received a text message later that day from this lady saying that she thought the techniques were working because she felt better. I thanked her and said we would touch base again in a week. When I next saw her, she actually looked lighted, seemed more calm, and by her description, was coping better.
Because this lady had seen me for 5 other sessions and we had engaged in other techniques, it is difficult to say which technique, or combination of them might have actually resulted in such a big shift for her, but certainly the box strategy and moving the position of it in her subconscious view probably helped. This strategy is utilised within a TimeLine approach (see Tad James' article on this technique - http://www.nlpcoaching.com/TLT_Chapter1.pdf) and there was greater description, psychoeducation and technique used with this client than is described here.
Enjoy having a read of these articles!
Peta
Welcome!
Hi out there. I am hoping that in sharing some ideas with you on a weekly basis, I might add something to your life. The title of this blog is "Bites of Happiness" and focuses on many things. The "Bites" in the title reflects this journey with food. The "Happiness" part of all about the rest of your life.
As a teenager I suffered Anorexia Nervosa for 5 years (long years at the time!) and through a bit of counselling and mainly a lot of self reflection as a Psychologist, I would like to put it out there that I am recovered! It has been 15 years since I last engaged in ANY Anorexic behaviour and since then I have fallen pregnant naturally and had 2 daughters. So as a mum, a therapist, a university academic, an expert in eating disorders and a woman who 'gets' other women with body image issues, I would like to share some secrets with you. My recovery was accelerated through techniques that involved inner healing, which mainly targeted the subconscious.
I am a very evidence-based clinican and am classically trained in strategies such as Cognitive Behavioural Therapy and Interpersonal Therapy, and I use those strategies with every client I see. But the addition of other subconscious techniques seems to make a difference to complete recovery - at least in the area of body issues, disordered eating and just plain weight problems. So I would love anyone out there to write in with some questions (about me or otherwise) and I will have a go at answering. I will also post weekly on various topics which seem to be common issues in eating disorders and finding happiness in life.In the meantime, have a wonderful week and enjoy the sunshine wherever you are.
Peta
As a teenager I suffered Anorexia Nervosa for 5 years (long years at the time!) and through a bit of counselling and mainly a lot of self reflection as a Psychologist, I would like to put it out there that I am recovered! It has been 15 years since I last engaged in ANY Anorexic behaviour and since then I have fallen pregnant naturally and had 2 daughters. So as a mum, a therapist, a university academic, an expert in eating disorders and a woman who 'gets' other women with body image issues, I would like to share some secrets with you. My recovery was accelerated through techniques that involved inner healing, which mainly targeted the subconscious.
I am a very evidence-based clinican and am classically trained in strategies such as Cognitive Behavioural Therapy and Interpersonal Therapy, and I use those strategies with every client I see. But the addition of other subconscious techniques seems to make a difference to complete recovery - at least in the area of body issues, disordered eating and just plain weight problems. So I would love anyone out there to write in with some questions (about me or otherwise) and I will have a go at answering. I will also post weekly on various topics which seem to be common issues in eating disorders and finding happiness in life.In the meantime, have a wonderful week and enjoy the sunshine wherever you are.
Peta
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
