I Love My Job
I LOVE MY JOB.
I am humbled every day by the work that my clients do. I am humbled by the number of opportunities that I have been given to do this work that I LOVE. I am humbled by the tireless work that is required to truly move through eating disorder recovery.
AND
I’m so delighted to say that RECOVERY IS POSSIBLE. Even if you’ve struggled for as long as you can remember. Even if your eating disorder has been a loyal companion. Even if, even if, even if.
I went to college and graduate school with the sole intention of becoming an eating disorder dietitian so that I could tell an important human in my life that recovery happens.
I’m so glad that I did.
And I’m so grateful to say that I’ve seen recovery in action. Over and over. That I have ZERO question about whether or not recovery is a thing.
Recovery is THE thing. I’ll stay here. I’ll stay in this work. With the hope that one day, I won’t be needed here.
Fight on #recoverywarriors - and stay in the fight. Just stay. You’re worth it.
#nedawareness #nedaweek #eatingdisorderrecovery #nationaleatingdisorderawarenessweek #edrecovery #edawareness #recovery #believe #heal #nourish #comeasyouare
Eating Disorders Are Functional
Eating disorders serve a purpose.
They are functional.
They are not conditions acquired intentionally.
And when someone’s eating disorder begins, perhaps there are no other strategies for them to utilize. Perhaps engaging in eating disorder behavior is a means of survival. Perhaps following eating disorder rules is the only way for someone to make sense of an otherwise nonsensical experience.
I think it’s important to validate the function of an eating disorder.
The truth is, they work at doing a job. But they’re shapeshifters. I have yet to meet a person for whom the initial job of the eating disorder remained static throughout their experience.
A few exercises that I ask my clients to consider:
1. Write a thank-you note to your eating disorder. Thank it for doing a job. If you’re ready, end the letter inviting your ED to move on.
2. Make a list of ED functions at the start of your struggle. Compare it to the function of today’s ED. Make a list of skills, tools, that you have today that you didn’t have when your ED started. Use them!
3. Write out ED self and Healthy self dialogues. If your healthy self is quiet, write this as though you were offering support to a loved one. Do this anytime an ED thought shows up.
No matter how functional your eating disorder has been, know that you CAN function without it.
And life is better on the other side.
Recovery is worth every ounce of effort.
#eatingdisorderawarenessweek2020 #nedawareness #nedawarenessweek2020 #nedaweek #eatingdisorderrecovery #recoverywarriors #edrecovery #edawareness #eatingdisorderawareness #comeasyouare
It Takes a Village
Eating disorders are biopsychosocial conditions. They’re not caused by one thing, can’t be treated by a sole practitioner in isolation, and need to be fully understood with consideration of the context in which they exist.
The expression “IT TAKES A VILLAGE,” couldn’t be any more appropriate. Recovery is hard. Recovery without thoughtful understanding of every angle of the condition is nearly unfair.
If you’re struggling, I hope you have access to a doctor, a therapist, a psychiatrist, a dietitian and whoever else makes up your village.
If you’re a practitioner, collaborate, collaborate, collaborate. Seek supervision. This is good for you and imperative for thoughtful understanding of your client.
#EatingDisorderDietitian #EatingDisorderRecovery #nedawareness #nedaweek2020 #nedawarenessweek #edawareness #edrecovery #eatingdisorderawareness #eatingdisorderawarenessweek #eatingdisordertreatment #comeasyouare
Forget Everything You Know About Eating Disorders
There really is only one prerequisite required for the development of a clinical eating disorder or disordered eating: ONE MUST BE HUMAN.
Forget everything that you have heard about eating disorders affecting only cis/het white affluent females.
You’re missing the majority of eating disorders if you stop there.
Over the last almost twelve years, I have treated clients while they have been homeless. I have treated clients with food insecurity. I have treated people across the gender spectrum. I have treated people from a range of racial and ethnic backgrounds. I have treated young clients. I have treated clients who are well into their retirement years. I have treated clients who have required weight restoration. I have treated clients who have been subject to extraordinary weight discrimination. I have treated clients in able bodies. And I have treated clients in differently able bodies.
I have treated clients who have wanted to get better in the moment. I have treated clients who have felt apathetic about recovery in the moment. I have treated clients who have recovered. And I have treated clients who were unable to win the battle against their disease.
For many, eating disorders are invisible illnesses. (This does not mean that an illness is invalid.) It is easy to focus on all of the incredible attributes of the humans who walk into my office. They are some of the bravest, wisest, funniest, and more sincere people I have ever met.
No one chooses to develop an eating disorder. No one. This is not a selfish disease. This is the utilization of resources. I am ever humbled by just how well eating disorders work. And I am more humbled by being able to be a part of the process as a client chooses to move through the world in a different way.
Forget everything you think you know about eating disorders. The only prerequisite for the development of one is the state of being human.
#nedawareness #nedawarenessweek2020 #neda #eatingdisorderrecovery #comeasyouare #recovery #edrecovery #effyourbeautystandards #effyourbodystandards #haes #healthateverysize #eatingdisorderawarenessweek2020
Smiling is Not a Treatment for Depression
Smiling is not a treatment for depression.
Dieting is not a solution for negative body image or a disharmonious relationship with food.
#throwback #antidiet #depression #mentalhealth #diet #nodiets #fatactivism #fatpositive #haes #bodypositivity #bodyautonomy #bodytrust #eatingdisorderrecovery
A Body is Not a Destination
READY OR NOT.
One minute: walking 40 yards.
Two minutes: putting on socks & shoes.
Three minutes: putting pants over my e-stim devices, balancing, and buttoning.
Four minutes: putting on and zipping a jacket, hat, and gloves.
Five minutes: putting on a bra - sitting, hooking in front, (trying to do this repeatedly, often settling for one, but not both hooks) twisting to position. Shirt on while holding something for balance.
Six minutes: getting from my car in a handicapped spot, grabbing my walker from the back seat, holding the car for balance, walking to most any place I go now. Not many, at the moment.
Ten minutes: changing my earrings. Which is why I don’t, mostly.
Twenty minutes: washing my hair. Holding onto the railings and the walls. Lathering with one hand at a time.
All of the rest of my time: getting accustomed to living more efficiently, limiting my output, nesting. Staying in. Getting good at asking for accommodation. Enjoying friends who think about space before I ask them to.
Mine is a body with more experience with multiple sclerosis than anything else.
Early on, from age 15-24 or so, I lived as though I didn’t have a chronic illness. I avoided it. Was complimented on “looking so good,” despite my diagnosis. I treated 13 flares in high school. One more in grad school. Then things got quiet. Fast forward to a change in a disease state, I can’t avoid my reality. My skin burns and tingles in patches, randomly. I can’t move the way I do in my dreams. Some days are better than others.
This body is not what I expected. But it is still in process.
This body is not a destination.
And this body gives me the gift of doing work that I love. My destination of choice. Where I sit and connect to other humans and my disease, my disability, is rarely part of a session. My brain, however demyelinated, is still great at nutrition counseling. I ask clients for physical assistance; open a bottle, a bag, a door. Because my body is not why my clients arrive, this doesn’t matter.
Two humans in a space, together.
Earth suits carrying stories.
I’ll put all of my minutes into this. ❤️
#ThisIsMS #MultipleSclerosis #ChronicIllness #Disability #spoonie #NutritionTherapy #fitness #fashion #relationship #style #human #help #nourish #BodyStories #bodyimage #TheBodyIsNotADestination
You Are Loved
You are loved.
You are loved.
You are loved.
Platonic love is just as important as romantic love.
Self-love makes all the other kinds of love better.
I love that we are here, together.
You are loved.
#valentines #happyvalentinesday #love #loveyourself #selflove #community #eatingdisorderrecovery #beloved #allbodiesaregoodbodies #selfcare
Do What You Can
Today, I ask that you arrive.
And if that’s all that you can do, know that that is enough.
And if you need to ask for support, that is allowed. And that is enough.
And if you need to consider setting limits, that is allowed. And if you set limits to preserve your mind, that is enough. And if you have goals, and want to work towards them, that is enough. And if you want to find quiet space, that is enough. And if you don’t do anything, that is enough.
DO WHAT YOU CAN. THAT IS ENOUGH.
It is my pleasure to be on this planet with you.
Happy Wednesday, everyone!
#recovery #chronicillness #eatingdisorderrecovery #mentalhealth #disability #BingeEatingRecovery #BingeEating #osfedrecovery #osfed #orthorexiarecovery #orthorexia #bulimiarecovery #bulimia #anorexiarecovery #anorexia #arfid #arfidrecovery #Antidiet
Thin Privilege
This post is in reference to multiple conversations that I’ve had over the last few weeks.
One in which the concept of thin privilege was challenged.
Another, in which a human in a larger body shared stories with me that were poignantly convincing of the fact that fat privilege is in fact, not a thing.
Thin privilege: Being able to go to the store and find clothing that fits your body. Not being worried about your body fitting into a seat. On an airplane, at a theater, at a doctor’s office. Being able to eat without concern of judgment from humans around you. Not necessarily loving your body, but not having a running social commentary that your body is a problem, a risk, or some other deleterious thing. Having the ability to go to the doctor and have your concern heard without receiving input about improving your lived experience by losing weight, first. Regularly seeing images of bodies that look somewhat like yours in the media, without mockery or unpleasantry.
Fat privilege: read above. Reverse all outcomes. This is called OPPRESSION.
Add racism that underlies the thin ideal. Add the impact of discrimination and stigma and then research > allostatic load. We’re hurting humans by not examining prejudice and by not owning our sh*t.
All humans are deserving of respect.
All humans are deserving of inclusion.
All humans are deserving of representation.
I will never understand the experience of someone who lives in a larger body.
This is why naming privilege and lack of expertise matters. And this is only the beginning of the work that is required for fat liberation. Fat liberation is good for all bodies. Thin privilege exists because normalized oppression of fat bodies does, too.
I can hold stories with compassion, but only, ONLY because I recognize and NAME that I am not the expert of that lived experience.
If the concept of thin privilege, or privilege in general, makes you uncomfortable, you are being pointed toward your work.
#thinprivilege #haes #healthateverysize #bodystories #bodyrespect #bodypositivity #bodyautonomy #antidiet #fatpositive #fatpositivedietitian #racism #ableism #fearingtheblackbody #fatactivism #fatliberation
You Are So Human
This human thing that we do, is not easy.
It comes with feeling uncomfortable and unnerved and uneasy and scared and angry and happy and sad and frustrated and joyful and all of the human things.
I’ve had a lot of conversations in the last month that have reminded me of how important it is that we remind ourselves and each other that feeling things, uncomfortable things and comfortable things, make us connected and make us human.
Doing a new thing in recovery and feeling anxious AF? Human.
Taking space from a human who isn’t good for your sense of self and feeling crappy about it? Human.
Struggling to follow through on a plan that you made in supporting your self-care because it challenges you? Human.
Feeling unable to break out of the closet of diet culture? Human.
Feeling so frustrated by the fight that you want to quit? Human.
We are a lot of things. But the prerequisite to being any of them is to be human.
How will you show up as a human today?
OR
Tag a human who needs the reminder that it’s alright to be human, too.
#humanity #human #antidiet #intuitiveeating #wellness #eatingdisorderrecovery #need #haes #dietculture #selfcare #wholelifenutrition