Archive for November, 2008

Thanksgiving with an Eating Disorder: 10 Tips to Help You Get Through the Holiday

 

For many people, Thanksgiving is a welcomed celebration, a time to be with loved ones and a chance to reflect on all that they are grateful for.  Unfortunately, the Thanksgiving holiday can also mean high levels of stress and anxiety, particularly for those who struggle with eating disorders and disordered eating.  It takes some preparation, but with a little planning and support, the holidays don’t have to be so daunting.  Here are 10 tips from eating disorder professionals to help you have an enjoyable and healthy holiday!

1. Keep Your Appointments – This is always a good rule. Around the holidays, however, it is often particularly tempting to cancel an inconvenient nutrition appointment or skip your weekly therapy session.  Try to remember that during difficult or stressful times, it is best to stock up on the amount of support you have rather than to trim away at your normal therapy routine; going without the support you are used to, could make the holiday even more stressful than it needs to be.

2. Identify a Support Person - Ask someone ahead of time to be your backup at the holiday event.  Your support person could help distract you from a triggering moment with relatives or help change the subject during an awkward dinner conversation about food or weight.  Just make sure you discuss with them ahead of time exactly what would be helpful to you in specific situations.

3.  Plan a Time-Out – Think ahead about how you will give yourself an immediate break from the hustle and bustle of a holiday gathering if you need it.  Offer to take the host’s dog outside to play when no one else is paying attention to him (mutually beneficial!) or find other creative ways to carve out some quiet time and fresh air for yourself.

4.  Don’t Leave Home Without Your Toolbox - If you’ve established coping skills that work when you’re feeling overwhelmed or having thoughts of acting on your eating disorder – be sure to pack a travel-friendly version!  If writing in your journal or listening to a special playlist on your iPod helps you, then throw them in the suitcase! This will also help to maintain some normalcy during the hectic holiday schedule.

5. Visualize the Thanksgiving You Want – Before you reach your Thanksgiving destination, or before your own guests arrive, spend some time visualizing the day in a positive way and picturing yourself handling the stress and the meals in calm, healthy ways.  It is much easier to get through the real situation if you’ve already “seen” yourself succeed at it before!

6.  Focus on Gratitude – Stay focused on what is good about the holiday and on all the things you do have, instead of what you dislike about the holiday, or what you are without. Sometimes that simply means focusing on the breath in our bodies, the ability to walk, to see, to hear, to taste, to touch, or the roof over our heads.  You might be surprised to see just how many things you are grateful for this holiday season! Try to keep those in your mind, even if things are not going so well around you.

7.  Try Not To Pack Too Much In – During the holidays there is often so much to do, so much we want to do, but too much of anything, even a GOOD thing, can have negative results both psychologically and physically. In the end, trying to do too much will leave you frazzled, and it will make everything less enjoyable.  Look over your holiday plans. Are there things you really want to do? Keep those things.  If there are things that are less important on the list or do not HAVE to get done – like the two page holiday letter you were planning to write – maybe you can leave it for next year.

8.  Set Limits - If there is a relative or two that cause you stress, it’s okay to set limits on what you are and are not willing to do. This might be the year that you do not visit with them (see item #7) or the year you finally tell them ahead of time that it is NOT ok to discuss food or weight issues around you.

9.  Set a Goal (that has nothing to do with your eating disorder!)- Anxiety about holiday meals can be all-consuming.  To make sure that Thanksgiving doesn’t pass you by while your thoughts are on your meal plan or on blocking symptoms, try setting a goal for yourself that has nothing to do with food.  Perhaps you want to make it a point to ask your grandmother about her favorite Thanksgiving memory or offer to read a bedtime story and tuck your nieces and nephews into bed.  Working to meet your positive goal for the day will help to distract from the anxiety and it can also create a positive memory you can associate with Thanksgiving for years to come.

10.  Don’t forget to breathe! - This may sound simple, but it is sound advice. Breathing affects the whole body. When you take a few seconds to breathe slowly and deeply, even in a stressful situation, you can actually produce a state of relaxation. Try the following:

• Sit as tall as possible with your feet flat on the floor, and try to take your mind off of the stressful situation or activities around you.

• Take a slow, deep breath in (your stomach should expand as it fills with air)while counting to three.

• Hold your breath for a count of three.

• Exhale slowly (your stomach should contract) while counting to three.

• Repeat this whole sequence three times.

Now check in with yourself.  Are you feeling a little better? If so, return to the activity around you.  If not, take a little more time out to repeat the process or try another one of the coping skills listed above.

Have you found your own creative ways to successfully cope with holiday stress? Share your feedback and ideas with others on the discussion board!  http://www.eatingdisorder.org/forum/index.php

Published by Kate Clemmer
November 25th, 2008 in Celebrity Topical News
0 Comments

Newsweek Highlights the Dangers of Pro-Anorexia Groups on Social Networking Sites

Facebook and other social networking sites have opened up a world where we can easily reconnect with old friends, browse through other people’s photos and share our schedules, opinions and feelings. Despite the tendency to spend long hours on these sites, it is safe to say that, for casual users, all of this time spent networking is relatively benign.  But what if all that time you spent online was also fueling a serious illness like an eating disorder?  This is the case for thousands of people on social networking sites who belong to “Pro-Ana” groups where they share techniques, tips and motivation for maintaining their eating disorders. 

Dr. Steven Crawford, The Center for Eating Disorders’ Associate Director, spoke to Newsweek about this topic during a recent interview.  The  article, “Out of the Shadows”, and Dr. Crawford’s comments about this dangerous trend were recently posted on Newsweek’s website.

Read the full article at  http://www.newsweek.com/id/170528

Published by Kate Clemmer
November 25th, 2008 in Celebrity Topical News
0 Comments

The Truth Behind “Pregorexia”


pregorexia2.jpg

 photo courtesy of http://www.maternalwisdom.org/

In recent years a handful of unofficial terms have seeped into the existing eating disorder vocabulary.  From “wannarexia” to “manorexia”, these trendy expressions have been popping up in articles and blogs across the internet.  More recently, “pregorexia” has made appearances.  This word attempts to diagnose the intersection of pregnancy and eating disorders.  The term has been unofficially coined in response to the growing awareness of pregnant women acting on ED (eating disorder) symptoms in an attempt to avoid the weight gain and body changes that take place in normal, healthy pregnancies.  Some propose that the trend is a result of the media’s increasing coverage of celebrities’ unrealistic pregnant and post-baby bodies.

The Center for Eating Disorders agrees that the media can play a role in the development and maintenance of people’s eating disorders but it does not cause eating disorders in and of itself.  It is also important to point out that most women who would be described as having “pregorexia” have had body image problems and disordered eating (if not full-fledged eating disorders) long before they were pregnant.

Eating disorders are exacerbated by stress, and pregnancy is an intense physical and emotional stressor. It is no surprise that some women experience an intensification or return of ED symptoms during pregnancy. The “pregorexia” label is concerning because it distracts from the real and very serious eating disorder and implies that the problem will go away after nine months when the label no longer applies. It can also stigmatize a population of woman who already notoriously underreport their ED symptoms to doctors due to the guilt associated with having an ED during pregnancy.

Very simply put, a pregnant woman who is simultaneously suffering from anorexia, bulimia or any other eating disorder, needs support and professional treatment to ensure her health and the health of her unborn baby.  What she doesn’t need is a fictitious label to disguise, excuse or further stigmatize the real problem.

The Center for Eating Disorders does not encourage the use of “pregorexia” or any other terms that make light of eating disorders.  It can be very dangerous to replace official diagnoses with unofficial labels that could minimize, mask or distract from the underlying illness and might reduce one’s motivation to seek treatment.  These invented terms do not exist as independent diagnoses for a reason and cannot, and should not, take the place of professional assessments and official diagnoses.


*****Eating Disorders during pregnancy can be particularly dangerous for both mother and child.  Some of the risks include miscarriage, birth defects or abnormalities, premature or low birth weight babies, and an increased risk of post-partum depression.  If you or someone you know is struggling with an eating disorder and need treatment, please contact the Center for Eating Disorders at Sheppard Pratt at (410) 938-5252 or email us at EatingDisorderInfo@sheppardpratt.org .*****

Published by CED Editor
November 18th, 2008 in Body Image, Glossary Definitions
0 Comments

Less Than a Month Left to Submit Your Poster!!


It is not often that young people are given the chance, much less encouraged, to reflect kindly or positively on their bodies.  The Center for Eating Disorders’ Love Your Tree poster campaign creates this opportunity by inviting all of Maryland’s middle school, high school, and college students to create a poster that celebrates their body and promotes a positive dialogue about the diversity of beauty.The Love Your Tree poster campaign was developed three years ago by The Center’s senior art therapist, Julia Andersen.  She adapted the concept from a play written by Eve Ensler in which she travels the world and talks with different people about how we view our bodies.  One of those people is Leah, a Masai woman in Africa who is puzzled by Ensler’s negative attitude toward her own body.  In the play, Leah says:

“Eve, look at that tree? Do you see that tree? Now, look at that tree (pointing to another one). Do you like that tree? Do you hate that tree ’cause it doesn’t look like that tree? Do you say that tree isn’t pretty cause it doesn’t look like that tree? We’re all trees. You’re a tree. I’m a tree. You’ve got to love your body, Eve. You’ve got to love your tree.” (excerpt from The Good Body, 2004 by Eve Ensler).

The ‘Call for Posters’ encourages participants to respond to the phrase “Like a tree, my body is…” by creating a 2-dimensional design that celebrates their body and conveys a positive message about body image.  Please be sure to submit a completed Registration Form and artist statement when you submit your poster design.

The 3rd annual Love Your Tree poster campaign began in September and will run through December which means students have less than one month to submit their posters!  All posters must be received by December 12th, 2008.   Maryland teachers are also invited to get involved by working with their classes and students to submit posters.  Teachers can request a free workshop to help educate students about body image and engage them in the creation of Love Your Tree posters.  All participating students and teachers will be invited to attend the Love Your Tree reception and Poster Exhibit in February 2009.  Several artists from each age group will be recognized with awards totaling $1200. One poster will be chosen for reproduction and used by the Center for Eating Disorders’ to promote positive body image throughout the year.

Please call Kate Clemmer at (410) 427-3386 for more information about submitting a poster or to request a Love Your Tree workshop for your school or organization. Details are also available on our Events page at http://www.eatingdisorder.org/events.php

Published by CED Editor
November 14th, 2008 in Celebrity Topical News
0 Comments

The Fashion Industry Struts in the Right Direction


 led-lights-for-ced.jpg

photo courtesy of www.everythingentertainment.com

The deaths of at least two runway models in 2006 from complications associated with anorexia drew heated attention to the unhealthy culture associated with modeling and with the fashion industry in general.  It may have taken two years, but a recent article on Today’s website reports that some positive changes were apparent on the runway at New York Fashion Week this year.  The article states that the body sizes of the models at Fashion Week had clearly increased from previous years.  Despite this progress, the modeling industry still supports a body size significantly smaller then the average American woman. As a result, there is still a lot of work to be done before what is put out by the media is a message that can make us all feel good about the skin we are in.

The fashion industry is being encouraged to take greater strides to protect the health of its models.  Currently, these efforts, described as “modest”, include workshops on eating disorders, age limitations for the runway, healthier snacks, and professional help for models identified as having an eating disorder.  We hope that continued efforts by the fashion industry will not only help to produce healthier models but healthier role models for the young girls and women who admire them.

To find out more about this topic, read the full article, Not-quite-so-thin is in for Fashion Week models, at http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26662601/

Published by CED Editor
November 6th, 2008 in Celebrity Topical News
0 Comments