Archive for October, 2009

Saying Goodbye to Ed…

 

Individuals with eating disorders often express frustration because other people in their lives who have never had an eating disorder, just don’t seem to fully understand how difficult it is to live with this disease.  Furthermore, once you have lived with an eating disorder, its often very difficult to imagine life without it – to imagine being recovered.   

The Center for Eating Disorders’ 2009 Fall Awareness event, on Sunday, October 25th, helped to address both of the above scenarios.  Featured keynote speaker, Jenni Schaefer, visited Baltimore and spoke to a crowded auditorium about her own struggles with eating disorders and, most importantly, about her own triumphs – she is now, as her shirt said: ”Recovered.” (Emphasis on the period.)  Jenni has written two books on the subject, her most recent – Goodbye Ed, Hello Me -was the topic of her talk.

 Jenni Schaefer, author of “Goodbye Ed, Hello Me”

Jenni’s presentation resonated with those in attendance in a way that helped the parents, spouses, and friends without eating disorders begin to understand what it is like to live with “Ed”, a term she uses to personify her eating disorder and the role it played in her life.  Additionally, for the many individuals in the audience who also struggle with their own “Ed”, Jenni provided hope and proof that it is possible, even after struggling for years, to overcome an eating disorder. 

Jenni discussed various stages of her recovery, including “mediocre recovery” and how it can be very easy to get comfortable at different stages when you are still hanging on to small, yet significant, symptoms of your eating disorder.  She assured the crowd that “it gets so much better” once you make the commitment to be fully recovered.  Jenni also acknowledged the “Societal Ed” that perpetuates a focus on weight and size for everyone, even those without eating disorders; she offered helpful advice in dealing with these social pressures.        

Following her presentation, Jenni answered several questions from the audience, posed for a picture with CED staff (above), and spent a great deal of time signing books and speaking individually with many of the people who attended the event.  It was an inspiring day for those who attended and we are so grateful to Jenni Schaefer for spending the day at The Center for Eating Disorders.

To see more photos of the event, please visit our Facebook page at: http://facebook.com/eatingdisorderhelp.

The Center for Eating Disorders at Sheppard Pratt sponsors a community awareness event each year in the fall as well as other outreach events throughout the year.  If you would like to receive information  about these events via email, please request to be added to our email distribution list by sending a message to EatingDisorderInfo@sheppardpratt.org or call (410) 938-5252.

Published by Kate Clemmer
October 30th, 2009 in CED Events, Celebrity Topical News, Editor's Picks, In the News
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Application Awareness

Dr. Harry Brandt, Director at the Center for Eating Disorders, was recently quoted in a blog entry on ChicagoTribune.com.  The article discussed the negative impact that some smart phone applications can have on those individuals who are suffering from or are at-risk for developing an eating disorder. In light of this article, we’re re-posting an earlier entry we wrote on the subject in an attempt to generate awareness about this potentially dangerous trend.

     

They can navigate you safely to your destination, identify a song playing in the background, and keep you busy with endless games while riding the bus to work or school, but some Smart Phone applications are not so helpful and could become harmful to their users.  Eating disorder experts have observed that new handheld applications, designed to aid users in reaching weight loss goals, can easily perpetuate a serious eating disorder (ED) or become the catalyst for the development of an ED in those who are at-risk.  

One of these weight monitoring applications boasts in an advertisement that it is, “a tool for people who are serious about tracking their weight…you can’t control your weight unless you are aware of how it is changing.”  This ability to track minute details of nutritional intake 24 hours a day from the palm of your hand, and the desire to establish, the always elusive, ”control” over one’s eating and weight could be easily abused by anyone with disordered eating patterns.  In fact, many of the application’s features promote or even mimic actual signs and symptoms of a serious ED.  Frequent weighing, micromanaging food intake, and excessive monitoring of calories spent during exercise are all signs that someone may have an ED.  These potentially dangerous actions are encouraged by the applications which assign technical names to the disordered eating patterns such as the setting of a “daily caloric budget” and the use of a “nutritional database”.        

What may be most dangerous about these applications is the illusion they create that this level of excessive monitoring of food, weight, and exercise represents a normal, healthy lifestyle.  At the Center for Eating Disorders, we strive to help people develop healthy relationships with food and an appreciation for their bodies, regardless of weight or size.  Unfortunately, applications such as the ones described above, seem to be doing the exact opposite.

Tools like this may be benign, although time-consuming and unnecessary, in the hands of people who are not vulnerable to EDs.  However, the thoughts and behaviors they encourage could be life threatening to someone with an ED or to someone who is at-risk for developing one.  It is increasingly important that we, as a community and as individuals, are aware of the risks associated with our ever-expanding world of technology and the effects it may be having on the people in our lives. 

If you are concerned about a friend or loved one who is struggling with disordered eating or you would like more information about eating disorders, please call us at (410) 938-5252 and explore our website at www.eatingdisorder.org .

Published by Kate Clemmer
October 26th, 2009 in Celebrity Topical News, Editor's Picks, Glossary Definitions, In the News, Nutrition
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A Few Questions for “Goodbye Ed” Author, Jenni Schaefer…

On October 25th, The Center for Eating Disorders will host nationally recognized author Jenni Schaefer.  Jenni will present the keynote presentation for our 2009 community awareness event, during which she will discuss her newest book, a follow-up to her first, and extremely popular book, “Life Without Ed”.  

Jenni’s new book, “Goodbye Ed, Hello Me” was released in August and has already made quite an impact with its hopeful messages about her own recovery from an eating disorder.  In anticipation of her arrival in Baltimore in two , we had a few questions for Jenni and asked her to share some insight into the important topics she discusses in her book.  This is what she had to say…

What were the factors that played a role in you seeking treatment for your eating disorder?

My life was spinning out of control. All I could think about was food and weight. Joy in life was gone-I had hit rock bottom. I knew I needed help.

Looking back on your experience, what is the best advice you could give to those who may be considering treatment or are just beginning treatment for an eating disorder?

I highly encourage people to get professional help in order to fully recover from an eating disorder. I never could have recovered from anorexia and bulimia without a team of treatment professionals supporting me. I also needed love and support from family and friends. Most importantly, I would tell people who are struggling with an eating disorder to never give up. It does get better.

Why was it important for you to eventually refer to yourself as recovered from your eating disorder instead of being in recovery?

As long as I kept saying that I was “in recovery,” I was giving Ed (aka “eating disorder”) a place in my life. As long as I believed Ed would haunt me, he did. It was a self-fulfilling prophecy.

After doing well in recovery for many years and going through difficult times without turning to eating disordered behaviors, I began to claim fully recovered for myself. Today, I am completely free from Ed and have joy and peace in my life.

In the same way you differentiate between being “in recovery” and being “recovered”, you also make an important distinction in terms of the type of support that was helpful to receive from your family.  Can you explain why your family was better able to support you when they stopped trying to understand the eating disorder?  What could other families learn from this?

In my first book, Life Without Ed, I talk about the fact that my family never had to understand my eating disorder. (I think it is impossible for someone who has never had an eating disorder to fully understand it.) The good news is that my family never had to understand my eating disorder, but they just had to love and support me. They also needed to believe me. When I said I felt fat, they didn’t understand how I could possibly feel that way. But they believed me. It made all of the difference.

I’d encourage other families to really listen to their loved ones in regard to the eating disorder. Believe their experience. And love them.

The title of your new book is Goodbye Ed, Hello Me – how has saying goodbye to Ed opened the door to a new you?

Saying goodbye to Ed has opened the door to endless possibilities for me. I recovered from my eating disorder and recovered myself in the process. Now that I am recovered, I can do anything at all!

You will be coming to Baltimore to speak about your new book on October 25th at The Center for Eating Disorders’ annual fall outreach event – who do you think can benefit from attending this talk and what is the message you hope people will walk away with?

In our society, almost everyone knows someone who has been touched by an eating disorder, so I believe many people will benefit from the event. Also, in my presentation, I will talk some about the voice of Societal Ed (our culture’s eating disorder), which we all hear in this diet-crazed world. I want people to walk away with the hope and belief that full freedom from food and weight struggles is possible.

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Jenni Schaefer’s presentation is a FREE event sponsored by The Center for Eating Disorders at Sheppard Pratt.  It is open to the community and light refreshments will be provided.  If you are planning to attend on October 25th, visit our Events page for more details and remember to RSVP to reserve your seat – they are filling up quickly!  And don’t forget to bring your books!  Jenni Schaefer will be available for a book signing immediately following her talk.  Her books will also be available for purchase at the event.  

Published by Kate Clemmer
October 9th, 2009 in CED Events, Celebrity Topical News, In the News
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Body Diversity is Glamorous…and Healthy!

Social networking sites and blogs are buzzing with celebration after Glamour Magazine’s November issue, released yesterday, featured models who represent the sizes and shapes of the average American woman.  In addition to the photo shoot, Glamour pledged, to maintain a continued devotion to showing a diverse range of body sizes within its pages and to take a stance in support of equal opportunities for models of all sizes in the fashion industry.While still wrestling with the inaccurate and misleading term of “plus-sized model”,  Glamour’s photo spread and accompanying article seem refreshingly sincere.  We are hopeful that there will be long-term changes and appreciation for body diversity in subsequent issues, despite “a sizable minority” who object to the display of average-sized women.  Why are there objections?  Many fear that showing larger female bodies will promote poor health.  That being said, The Center for Eating Disorders believes this is an important point to address. Within the article, Glamour published the following example online of a reader’s letter of opposition:“Putting a young model who is obviously overweight and living an unhealthy lifestyle in your magazine to make some people feel better only serves to propagate that unhealthy lifestyle”.   Statements such as this, clearly illustrate widespread misinformation and societal stereotypes about weight and fat.  We want to present those people who are opposed to Glamour’s new image with a slightly altered version of the above statement that might help them to reconsider their position. Putting a young model who is obviously underweight and living an unhealthy lifestyle in your magazine to make people think that they should, or can, look that way, only serves to propagate that unhealthy lifestyle.That being said, it is a myth that one’s health can be deduced to the number on the scale and that any amount of fat automatically equals unhealthy. We were happy to see Glamour taking a stand against this myth by responding to the criticism in a way that illustrated how people can be healthy at every size.  Conversely, just because someone is thin does not automatically mean they are healthy.  In fact, many people who struggle with eating disorders and are underweight or of normal weight, are also at heightened risk for heart problems, high cholestorol, and osteoporosis.The November issue of Glamour has made a commitment to reversing the stereotypes discussed above.  We applaud this step in the right direction and hope that it continues to create opportunities such as this to provide education about the beauty of body diversity and the related issues of health at every size.photo courtesy of http://law.wm.edu

Published by Kate Clemmer
October 7th, 2009 in Celebrity Topical News
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Awareness vs. Obsession: Nutrition Information in College Dining Halls?

There has been a firestorm of discussion recently around the issue of displaying nutrition facts (i.e. calories, fat grams) on labels placed in front of food items in college dining halls.  While the issue has been hotly debated on many campuses, including Yale and Harvard, it has also become a focus of national attention.  In response to the growing controversy, Newsweek recently posted a web exclusive article titled “Rethinking the Freshman 15″.  The question posed in the article is whether posting nutrition information promotes health or promotes an unhealthy obsession with numbers and food?  While the intention to increase awareness about healthy eating and balanced food choices is a good one, the idea that balanced nutrition can be broken down into a numerical value is questionable.  As Dr. Richard Kreipe notes in the article “Nutrition is not a simple thing that can be distilled down into a label,” and, he says, “There’s a tendency for people to over-interpret what a specific number means.”   

The reality is, disordered eating is reaching incredible proportions on college campuses nationwide.  As the article points out, between 2000 and 2009, the number of college students using unhealthy measures to lose weight has increased from 28% to 38%.  Furthermore, a poll published by NEDA in 2006 suggests that about 20% of a sample of 1,002 college students admitted to having an eating disorder.  Even more concerning is that 75% of them reported that they had not pursued any type of treatment for their eating and weight concerns. 

Clearly, we have a major dilemma on our hands.  There is a responsibility to promote health and wellness both in regards to eating and exercise behavior.  However, we have an equally important duty to decrease the stigma associated with weight and to prevent the development of disordered eating, including obsessive calorie counting and number-focused eating.  In order to obtain these goals, universities and colleges must be mindful of how nutrition and exercise information is presented and be vigilant in their efforts to make sure they are not, unintentionally, promoting unhealthy ways of relating to food and physical activity.  The strategy of displaying nutrition information supports a cultural misbelief that restriction of food items automatically equals health.  The implications of this message must be considered, especially when targeted at a population that is already at a heightened risk for developing eating disorders.

Although it is true that students will have access to numerical nutrition information outside of the dining hall, it is important that colleges think critically about the messages they are sending to their students by following a cultural trend of number focused eating and by placing this information directly in front of the food as students are served.  As is pointed out in the Newsweek article, there are other ways to promote balanced eating that do not include a focus on counting calories or adding up numbers.  The goal is for all students to be able to make informed decisions and build a healthy diet and lifestyle that supports both their academic and personal goals.  Can the achievement of that goal really be reduced to just a number?

This blog was written by CED’s College Liaison and outpatient Psychologist, Kristin Grasso, Psy.D.  If you have any questions about programming or services available to college and university campuses, please contact her at kgrasso@sheppardpratt.org.

photo courtesy of berklee.edu

Published by Kate Clemmer
October 2nd, 2009 in Celebrity Topical News
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