The other day, one of my clients and I were discussing her impulses. She vibrates at a very fast level. She’s got a lot on her mind, a lot on her plate and she does everything fast. Like really fast. This includes eating too much too fast and letting it turn into a binge, having sex with people without getting to know them, drinking too much too fast, and falling in love with people before getting to know them and
Read this amazing post by Sarah Koppelkam about how to talk to your daughter about her body. In this beautiful article she reminds all of us (even those of us who don’t have daughters or children at all) that bodies are beautiful simply for being alive and they are not to be abused, neglected, rejected or deprecated. Love it! Go Sarah.
1. Dieting is a temporary state of deprivation and therefore an ineffective way to lose weight. As soon as you return to your normal eating habits, you will regain the weight. 2. If dieting was a solution to a problem, most people would only ever have to diet one time in their lives ever. But it’s not. 3. Dieting makes you grumpy and unpleasant. 4. Dieting turns people without binge eating issues into people with binge eating issues. 5. Dieting
I have this client who is really afraid that she’s not a good enough person. But here’s the thing, she’s a really good person. But she’s always afraid that she’s not good enough. She’s almost “too good,” she does everything for everyone else, she covers other people’s shifts when she’s tired, she cooks dinner for her family every night despite having been on her feet for 12 hours (she’s an ER nurse) she takes in strays (people, pets, and projects),
This wonderful recovery story was sent in to me this week. Hi everyone, I am a community-based therapist in the Bay Area. I have struggled with binge eating since I was an adolescent. I have come a long way from the person I was at seventeen, and feel much healthier in my mind and body. I still struggle sometimes, but have created a primarily healthy adult life. The most valuable thing I’ve learned over the years is how to
A lot of women think that they can control what other people think of them by controlling what their bodies look like. They believe that if they look a certain way, people will think of them in a certain way. Sadly, the media reinforces this belief for us. A few years ago, Hillary Clinton was asked who her favorite designer was. Her reply- “Would you ask a man that question?” My sentiments exactly. I throw that example right in the
It’s been almost a month since my last post, and for that i’m sorry. I’ve been busy working on getting my book into my publisher. Yes! I’ve written a book on how to stop binge eating. I’m very excited and will tell you all more as it gets closer to release date some time this fall. This question was left in the comments section by Leila. Question: Hi! What advice do you have for when you successfully don’t
I want to extend my deepest love and support to those affected by the bombings in Boston as well as the explosion in Texas. As we all do, I feel very heavy hearted and deeply saddened by these events. My prayers and love goes out to all of you.
Joanna Poppink is an eating disorder therapist down in Southern California whose blog I’ve been following for awhile. Her book Healing Your Hungry Heart was released in late 2011 and I truly think that everyone who suffers from any kind of food issue should read it. What I love so much about this book is how relatable it is. Joanna writes as if she’s sitting there in the room with you, holding your hand and saying, “yes, I’ve been there,
“If someone called me chubby, it would no longer be something that kept me up late at night. Being called fat is not like being called stupid or unfunny, which is the worst thing you could ever say to me. Do I envy Jennifer Hudson for being able to lose all that weight and look smokin’ hot? Of course, yes. Do I sometimes look at Gisele Bundchen and wonder how awesome life would be if I never had to wear
1. Eat mostly minimally processed and whole foods. This means choosing to actually eat a piece of chicken and broccoli that you get from the store rather than picking up a chicken and broccoli Lean Cuisine and having it pass for dinner. You want your food to have as few ingredients as possible. A steak is healthier than a 100 calorie snack pack. A baked potato is healthier than a slice of low fat processed American cheese. You get what
Question: This is from Sunshine: Hi! I LOVE reading all of your posts! I still have the same problem. I am NOT motivated to lose weight and I sure would like to be. What should I do??? I don’t want to exercise or at least not very much. I don’t want to write down and track what I eat. But I DO want to lose weight. I just don’t have the desire or motivation to do it. HELP!!
After I posted about clinical trials a couple of weeks ago, I began thinking that I’m sure a lot of you would be interested in getting involved in some clinical trials for binge eating and or bulimia. What is a clinical study you ask? Researchers are trying everyday to figure out better ways to treat eating disorders. So, they form hypotheses that certain kinds of therapy or certain types of drugs or combinations of psychotherapy and pharmacological intervention can help.
The most important move to make in healing from binge eating or bulimia is to always move forward past the binge. So, next time you binge, rather than saying to yourself, “okay, no dinner.” or “now I have to go to the gym for the next 3 hours to work it off…” or “no carbohydrates for the next three days,” or “now I can’t eat for another 24 hours…” or, “okay, i’m going to binge for the rest of the
I read about this study today, but I’m afraid I don’t have any specific information about it. I’m still waiting for a call back, but when I learn more, I’ll update this post. Meanwhile, this is what I know: Pacific Research Partners in Berkeley is conducting a study on Binge Eating. If you suffer from binge episodes at least three days per week, contact them to see if you qualify for the study. Qualified participants receive study related evaluation, study
1. When you are eating alone, don’t eat in front of the TV, internet or with your iPhone. Put your food on a plate and eat with nothing but your food. It’s easy to binge when you’re not mindful of your eating. When you are sitting there looking at your food and thinking about it, there’s more of a chance that you can catch yourself before you start mindless eating. 2. Don’t eat in your bed, on the couch or
It’s been a while since I’ve posted. But see, I’ve been grieving. I lost my dear stepmother to ovarian cancer 2 weeks ago. She’s been my stepmom for the past 32 years, since I was a little girl and we were very, very, very close. So it was quite a big loss for me. My own mother passed away 10 years ago when I was in my 20’s. And in all that, I’ve begun to think a lot about grief
In a session today, a client said to me, “Every year I make all these great New Years resolutions, and every year I fail at them. What am I doing wrong? Everyone else knows how to stick to their new years resolutions, why can’t I? I feel like a loser.” Does this feel familiar? Does anyone else deal with this? First off, everyone else definitely does not know how to stick
Do you ever come home after a long day of work or school and the only thing you can think about is just relaxing in front of the television set with a bowl of chips or a pint of ice cream? Or do you look forward to your husband or wife being out so that you can sit by yourself and dig in to a big plate of pasta? Do you ever feel like food is the only thing that
I’ve been heartbroken all morning since learning about the shooting in Newtown, CT. I don’t have words. As a mental health provider, I just want to let you all know that grief, anxiety, stress, deep sadness, depression, and lots of feelings coming up as a result of this horrific tragedy are to be expected. Know that these feelings are normal. Pray hard for those who are suffering and hug your children, partners, friends, parents, and pets tightly.