Treatment Notes by Sari Fine Shepphird

A Quick Media Quiz...

Do you watch any television? How about magazines, do you read them? Ever ridden the bus and noticed ad signs inside? When you drive in a car, do you notice billboards pass by? Sometimes I stroll through the mall, what about you? Do you notice ads in the display windows?

How many ads do you think the average person sees on an average day? From t-shirts that passers-by wear on their way, to ads on hats, shoes, and bumper stickers, plus all of the above sources...

Creative Ways of Expressing Feelings in Recovery

In my last post, we talked about the importance of identifying feelings for recovery from eating disorders. So, you have identified what you are feeling...now what? Expressing one's feelings is just as important as identifying them. One new resource may just be able to help...

Identifying feelings for recovery

Having trouble connecting to your feelings? Do you find it difficult to identify what you feel? Maybe you know that you are upset, but you can't say why - is it anger, fear, or anxiety?

More about Adult Eating Disorders

Did you see the article in this week's New York Times? For some time now, we have been talking about the rise of eating disorders in adults, and now the New York Times has caught on...

New Family Internet-based Early Bulimia Nervosa Study

I wanted to pass along information about a new research study...check it out, and if you are interested and eligible, please consider participating!

Eating Disorders Awareness Week Continues

“It’s Time to Talk about It” is the theme of this year's National Eating Disorders Awareness Week (NEDAW), February 20-26, 2011.

Join the nation’s largest eating disorders outreach effort by committing to do just one thing to start the conversation in your community. NEDAW provides tons of free and discounted resources, fun activity ideas and much more! Click here to learn more about how you can make a difference.

Visit http://www.nationaleatingdisorders.org at anytime of the year for a wealth of free information about eating disorders and recovery!

Or, call the NEDA Information & Referral Helpline: 800 931-2237

De-moralizing Weight Gain

I was reading a popular magazine this week, which contains an interview with a notable celebrity talking about the weight gain she experienced over the course of time, and which apparently left her 60 pounds heavier than she used to be. What struck me about her comments and her experience is that she called her weight gain "humiliating".

Humiliating. It seemed like a word steeped in shame and guilt. And to me, it sounds so undeservedly moralistic. It reminded me of all of the men and women that I have spoken with in my office over the years who feel like such "bad people" for having gained weight. In fact, I have heard countless folks describe their weight gain with moralistic words, not just with a sense of personal failure or self-regret, but of moral failure and humiliation.

Some definitions of humiliating:

1. Humiliation - the abasement of pride, which creates mortification or leads to a state of being humbled or reduced to lowliness or submission
2. broken: subdued or brought low in condition or status; "brought low"; "a broken man"; "his broken spirit"
3. state of disgrace
4. depriving one of self-esteem

Certainly there are bad decisions we make in life that justifiably cause humiliation as defined here...but gaining weight should not be one of them.

When are we, as a society and culture, going to stop moralizing weight gain? When are we going to stop seeing overweight others, and ourselves, as morally weak, or lacking strength of character, or "bad", or deserving of humiliation?

The celebrity's comments got me thinking...

What do you think? 

Body Fat Basics

How much body fat is the right amount of body fat?

Does everyone have the same amount of body fat?

What determines how much fat a person stores on their body?

It's Award Season...Will Curves Be Under Fire Again?

It's that time of year again...awards season. You know, the fashion, the dresses, the red carpet, the designers, and of course...the body watchers.

New Study Hilghlights Dangerous Diets and Eating Disorders in the Military

In a  new study reported in Army Times, soldiers are engaging in unhealthy diet behaviors and eating disordered symptoms, reportedly "dangerously starving themselves, gobbling diet pills and laxatives — even going under the knife in costly liposuction surgery — all to meet the Army’s weight standards and avoid losing their careers".