Eating Disorders News by Marcia Herrin and Nancy Matsumoto

Yesterday I spoke about body image and eating disorders at a healthy body forum at The School at Steps dance school on Manhattan’s Upper West Side. It was refreshing to see girls of all sizes and shapes seriously pursuing dance, which I gathered has come a long way in the area of eating disorders awareness. One of my fellow speakers was Linda Hamilton, a psychologist and former dancer, under George Balanchine, at The New York City Ballet. She has spoken on the topic of eating disorders in ballet, the incidence of which is roughly twice that of the general population. Her book Advice for Dancers: Emotional Counsel and Practical Strategies touched on the subject of eating disorders, and her latest book, The Dancer’s Way, New York City Ballet Guide to Mind, Body, and Nutrition includes healthy cooking and eating tips.

 

Remember, our Food Plan calls for three meals and two to three snacks a day!

Nancy

 

Marcia Herrin and Nancy Matsumoto, co-authors, The Parent's Guide to Eating Disorders: Supporting Self-Esteem, Healthy Eating & Positive Body Image at Home

Memo to Mrs. Obama

Marcia and I couldn't agree more with this recent post by Chevese Turner, CEO of the Binge Eating Disorder Association (BEDA). Ms. Turner applauds Mrs. Obama for her efforts to increase awareness of healthy nutrition and exercise through her "Let's Move" campaign.

We, too, are all for the USDA revamping nutritional labeling, increasing the standards of school lunches, examining the role of food advertising in our kids' lives, and encouraging them to exercise more.

Let's not forget, however, that the people this campaign targets have most likely been struggling with the devastating effects of weight bias, and are at high risk for eating disorders.

It would be nice to see some acknowledgement of the stigma and psychological stresses the overweight and obese face, and the inclusion of practical tools to help build psychological resiliency. It would be sad for such a well-meaning campaign to increase the burden of anxiety, depression and shame  that the overweight and obese live with every day.

By removing the element of moral judgment from the obesity debate and injecting recognition and compassion, Mrs. Obama would vastly improve her program's chances of success.

Take care,

Nancy

Marcia Herrin and Nancy Matsumoto are the co-authors of The Parent's Guide to Eating Disorders: Supporting Self-Esteem, Healthy Eating & Positive Body Image at home. 

An Inspiring Message

 Toni (not her real name) left me this message over the weekend: “I just wanted to let you know that I have been having a really good week. I even bought a bathing suit today and it wasn’t too bad. This is real progress. I didn’t care about the size. I just went for comfort and cuteness.”

 

I have worked with Toni since this past fall. Toni is a 30 year-old librarian recently married to a college professor. Toni’s story is one that I hear often. She ate what she wanted in high school and remained thin. But at college, she began eating late at night while studying and ended up gaining 5# a year, graduating from college 20# heavier than she was when she graduated from high school. Toni remembers how bad she felt about herself and how she hated her stomach especially when she wore too tight pants. The next summer, Toni and her mom went on the South Beach diet, Toni losing 10#. As luck would have it, her grad school roommate that fall was bulimic and an overexerciser. Toni didn’t throw up, but begin to feel that it was normal to overexercise and binge because both she and her roommate did it together. By the end of her first year at grad school, Toni suffered a stress fracture due to excessive walking and running. Over her convalescence, doctors barred from exercising for 6 months while her foot healed. During this time Toni regained a significant amount of weight because she continued to overeat. Then she fell in love and went from a size 8 to a size 0 in 6 months and felt great. In hindsight, Toni says she wasn’t eating very much and was “too in love” to think about food at all. She remembers also loving the compliments her weight loss generated. Soon after the wedding, Toni’s binge eating and overexercising returned with a vengeance and slowly she gained weight. When I met Toni she was wearing size 6 and feeling disgusted with herself and depressed and worried that her mood swings were affecting her marriage. Toni was aware that her feelings of hopelessness and guilt were a set up for binge eating.

 

Now Toni is no longer bingeing, dieting, or overexercising. She has accepted her weight -- 5# up from when we first met but now stable. What Toni did to achieve such wonderful recovery is instructive. She saw me weekly for several months and then accepted my referral to a counselor who specializes in mindfulness. I also referred her to a wonderful psychiatrist who sees a lot of my patients. She now sees me once a month. Toni also read a number of books I suggested. Her favorites were Regaining Your Self: Breaking Free From the Eating Disorder Identity: A Bold New Approach by Ira M. Sacker and Sheila Buff, Reviving Ophelia: Saving the Selves of Adolescent Girls by Mary Pipher and Ruth Ross , Ophelia Speaks: Adolescent Girls Write About Their Search for Self by Sara Shandler , Life Without Ed: How One Woman Declared Independence from Her Eating Disorder and How You Can Too by Jenni Schaefer and Thom Rutledge, Goodbye Ed, Hello Me: Recover from Your Eating Disorder and Fall in Love with Life by Jenni Schaefer , and What Could He Be Thinking?: How a Man's Mind Really Works by Michael Gurian.

Take care,

Marcia

Marcia Herrin and Nancy Matsumoto, co-authors The Parent’s Guide to Eating Disorders, www.childhoodeatingdisorders.com

I Can Give Blood Now That I Have Given Bulimarexia the Boot!

“I can give blood!” This what my patient Tabby (not her real name) excitedly told me last week. I have heard lots of reasons why patients are happy to be in recovery (e.g. can play sports, can go to college, can attend high school classes, feel normal and healthy etc) but this one really touched me. Tabby is thrilled that now that she is in recovery from a very serious case of bulimarexia she can give blood. In the past she was either too thin to meet the Red Cross’s weight requirements (weighing at least 110#) or her blood values were abnormal because of purging (potassium values often are dangerously low in bulimia). Her family places a high value on giving blood. Her mom gives as often as the Red Cross will allow. Now Tabby can join in the family tradition and she is rightfully very pleased with her accomplishments.

 

Tabby has worked very hard over a number of years to recover from bulimarexia. I am very relieved that she has made progress because the future is not bright for someone with unrelenting bulimarexia. Bulimarexia is not an official eating disorder diagnosis because it is considered a variant of anorexia nervosa, i.e. anorexia nervosa, subtype bingeing and purging. Research has shown that bulimarexia is the most dangerous form of anorexia (restricting. food intake, underweight, and bingeing and purging) because of the physical stress on the body and the association of increased risk of suicide attempts.

Marcia

Marcia Herrin and Nancy Matsumoto, co-authors The Parent’s Guide to Eating Disorders, Gūrze Books, (www.childhoodeatingdisorders.com).