The Eating Disorder Therapist

The Limitations of Mindful Eating and Intuitive Eating in Recovery and Going ’All-In’ versus Stepped Change, with Anne Richardson

Today, I have another returning guest and I’m talking to Anne Richardson, a Registered Nutritional Therapy Practitioner. Anne is returning for her third conversation to The Eating Disorder Therapist Podcast. She supports people in recovery from eating disorders and helps them to learn to eat again. Anne grew up in France, in a culture, where thinness was a normality. In a previous episode on this podcast, she talks about her own recovery from anorexia nervosa in her teens; her thoughts on French women and slenderness; eating disorders in men; wellness culture and the many myths around nutrition. Do check out the episode linked below. And in Anne's last conversation here, she talked about Healthy Week in schools and the problems with this, around the messages we are passing on to our children. Do check this episode too, also linked below. Today, Anne is back and is going to be talking about Mindful Eating and Intuitive Eating, and why they are not always the most helpful approach in eating disorder recovery, particularly when recovering from anorexia nervosa. Anne has a unique approach to working, using stories and metaphors in her practice to help communicate complex principles. There's lots of wisdom, tips and information packed into this episode. I hope that you enjoy it.

To find out more about Anne: -

Instagram: @crunchnutrition

Website: crunchnutrition.co.uk FB: @cruncnutritionexeter

Previous episodes featuring Anne on this podcast: - Eating Disorder Recovery and Busting Nutritional Myths https://harrietfrew.podbean.com/e/eating-disorder-recovery-and-busting-nutritional-myths-with-anne-richardson/

Is Sugar the Enemy and Healthy Week in Schools https://harrietfrew.podbean.com/e/is-sugar-the-enemy-anne-richardson-explores-healthy-week-in-schools/

 

Bulimia Recovery - How Purging Keeps you Stuck and Decision Making, with Jacqueline Davis

Today I’m talking to Jacqueline Davis, the Binge Breakers Podcast Host, Bulimia Recovery Coach, artist, and loving dog mum. After recovering from bulimia by focusing on habit and mindset change, she now helps others to do the same through her ground-breaking support programmes. Prior to having bulimia, Jacqueline struggled with disordered eating for several years and food and exercise consumed her life; this later developed into bulimia, leaving Jacqueline in a very dark and lonely place.

If you want to hear Jacqueline’s recovery story, she has been a previous guest on this podcast back in early September 2021. It is one of the most popular episodes and here is the link: - https://harrietfrew.podbean.com/e/bulimia-recovery-breaking-habits-and-healing-with-jacqueline-davis/

Today, Jacqueline is back and she is going to explore how purging in bulimia can keep you stuck; (because we know that it’s a behaviour that triggers and perpetuates disordered eating cycles but also feels scary to let go of) AND she’s going to talk all about decision making in bulimia recovery. Because doesn’t it sometimes feel that you just don’t have a choice? Jacqueline is passionate about interrupting habits and changing thoughts to create an empowering, recovery mindset. I’m excited to share this episode with you and I know that there will be be lots of powerful takeaways from this. I hope that you enjoy the conversation.

To find out more about Jacqueline:

(Binge Breakers Bulimia) Podcast: https://www.bingebreakers.com/podcast

Website: https://www.bingebreakers.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bingebreakers_bulimia/ 

   

Eating Disorder Recovery - When You’re in Two Minds about Change

Ambivalence about change in eating disorder recovery! It's a normal part of the process and in fact quite unusual, if someone doesn't have this inner conflict going on.  It can be incredibly frustrating to experience this, if you are struggling with an eating disorder and also for those around you.

So, a part of you might be absolutely fed up with the eating problem. Maybe it's preoccupying your time, leaving you exhausted, you can’t go out socially, your moods are all over the place and it’s robbing you of a fulfilling life BUT – whilst all this may be one hundred percent true, there’s another part of you that extremely apprehensive about letting the eating disorder go.

This can be for a multitude of reasons – many of these are not obvious to begin with.

Because ultimately,  disordered eating is a coping strategy. 

In this episode, I’m going to talk about the three main barriers to change in recovery and how to go about addressing these, so you move beyond the illness, towards health.

Overcoming Emotional Eating, Healing the Gut, The Seduction of Weight Loss and Self-Care, with Amber Romaniuk

Today I’m speaking to Amber Romaniuk, an Emotional Eating, Digestive and Hormone Expert who helps professional women achieve optimal health through mindful eating, self-care and overcoming self-sabotage with food. Her podcast “The No Sugarcoating Podcast” has a million downloads, over 300 episodes and is listened to, in over 88 countries. She was featured on TV Personality Whitney Port’s podcast and has also appeared on local TV 50 times in the last three years alone. Go AMBER!

Amber overcame her own emotional eating, after gaining and losing more than 1000 lbs and spending over $50,000 on binge foods and spending 5 years balancing her hormones and digestion. Now she helps others achieve Body Freedom™ so they have the confidence and health to create amazing lives.

In this episode, we are going to explore the highs and lows of Amber’s journey in fully healing her own relationship with food and overcoming emotional eating, to reaching the point where she is experiencing the food freedom she has today. Amber shares about the dietary changes she made on the healing journey, so healing the gut, balancing hormones and eliminating food cravings. We explore our different therapeutic approaches and the importance of tailoring support to each individual client. Amber discusses the seduction of the weight loss journey and the impact on wellbeing, and how getting hooked on a weight loss journey can fulfill a perfectionist obsession, where it is extremely hard to win or feel good enough. She will also reflect on the importance of self-care in the healing journey, through prioritising your own needs and setting firm boundaries in place. There’s so much valuable content here. I hope that you enjoy the conversation.

To find out more about Amber: -

Website: https://amberapproved.ca/

The No Sugarcoating Podcast: https://amberapproved.ca/podcast/

Instagram: @amberromaniuk

Finding Love After an Eating Disorder

The impetus for creating this episode came from one of my lovely listeners. She talked about only ever feeling comfortable, worthy of romantic attention or able to be intimate, whilst having an eating disorder and actively losing weight. A large motivator for the eating disorder was to feel pretty or worthy of male attention. Although my listener has made huge recovery strides in many areas, this is still an area of vulnerability, with a strong fear of being rejected based on her body. She’s looking for some thoughts on re-entering the dating scene when being in recovery, especially when this involves weight gain. In this episode, I am going to explore 5 different ways to look at this – reflecting your attachment style, early influences at home with dieting and body image;  the whole thing about external validation and how seductive this can be; then moving towards actively improving body image as you go out into the world but most importantly creating your own identity and solid sense of self-worth. I hope that you enjoy the episode.    

Understanding Why you may be in Patterns of Control, Neglect and Self-Sabotage around Eating

Your early relationships in life will impact the way you care for yourself, the way you interact with others and also your relationship with food and your body. Patterns of over-control, conditional acceptance, emotional neglect or even abuse can all have a significant impact. In this episode, I talk about Reciprocal Roles, a tool used in Cognitive Analytic Therapy, to give you greater insight into understanding this. I hope that you enjoy the episode.

6 Ways to Boost Self-Esteem in Eating Disorder Recovery

When you have an eating disorder, underneath the symptoms, your self-esteem is often shaky. You might not feel good enough at all. You may feel that you are flawed in some way and you may not treat yourself with the respect that you deserve. You might experience ‘I’m not good enough’ thoughts such as: - ‘I’m boring, I’m not intelligent, I’m unattractive. I’m too this or that; I’m not as good as X person’. You will likely be adept at noticing your perceived flaws and ignoring any positive qualities.

This inner feeling of unworthiness can permeate every area of life, through choice of relationships, work progress and social engagements. It’s like having a millstone around your neck, as you carry this heavy psychological baggage into every situation.

 In this episode, I explore common causes of low self-worth and give six tips on how to radically improve this, with some journal prompts. I hope that you enjoy the episode.

Breaking Free from Cycles of Binge Eating and Over-Exercise

In this episode, I explore the destructive cycle of experiencing out of control binge eating episodes followed by compulsive over-exercise, as compensation. When this happens the exercise is not a joyful, happy movement anymore, rather it is a relentless, punishing and punitive thing that has to be endured, even if you are weary and exhausted. It can go on for hours of the day. Some of my clients are wedded to their fitness trackers and having to walk numerous steps per day. This can involve extensive walks or pacing around the house to achieve their required target. Or even walking on the spot before getting into bed to achieve the step target for the day. Sometimes, we can forget that this is actually a problem. In a culture that continuously tells us to eat less and move more. No amount of exercise can feel wrong. You might even be outwardly praised for the amount of activity that you’re doing – with no one really understanding what’s going on behind closed doors. So how do you begin to interrupt this cycle? Do you focus on the binge eating or do you focus on the over-exercise first? It’s a bit of a chicken and egg scenario. I’m going to talk you through some steps to help you consider how YOU might break your cycle of binge eating and over-exercise. I hope that you enjoy the episode.

5 Ways I Maintain Mental Well-being and Remain Fully Recovered from an Eating Disorder

In this episode, I share five of my top tips for maintaining good mental well-being and being fully recovered from an eating disorder, after struggling for almost a decade with bulimia nervosa. Recovery is possible. Stay hopeful and continue to seek out your own truth and healing journey. I hope that you enjoy the episode.

Eating Disorder Recovery, Writing and Inspiring Resources, with Carly Newberg

Today, I’m talking to Carly Newberg from Eastern Oregon, USA.  Carly is an Author and Freelance Writer and Editor. As an adolescent, she struggled with eating disorders – anorexia, bulimia and exercise addiction which has contributed to her passion for mental health and overall wellbeing. Carly has been recovered for four years and is now on the journey to training as a Mental Health Counsellor. She recently worked in a residential treatment facility with those aiming to recover.

Carly recently published her debut book, Good Enough: Believing Beautiful through Trauma, through Life, through Disorder. In it, she shares her story through messages of faith, forgiveness, and trusting in the unknown. She believes that eating disorders are multidimensional puzzles with no one cause and that to move past them, we must trek through our past with open arms and compassion.

In this episode today, Carly shares about her ongoing recovery journey in eating disorder recovery, what helped, hindered and supported her to find the healthier and more peaceful place she is in today. She also talks about writing her book and shares a multitude of resources that inspired her along the way. I hope that you enjoy the conversation.

To find out more about Carly: -

Recent writings/published articles: medium.com/@sincerelycarly

Instagram: @_sincerelycarly

Website: www.believing-beautiful.com

Book: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Good-Enough-Believing-Beautiful-Disorder/dp/163676522X