Disordered Eating Awareness – Reflection and insight into eating disorders

Holistic Practitioner Andrea Lines shares not only some useful insights but personal reflections on dealing with disordered eating

"I did not fully realize that I had unhealthy relationships with my food and my body until I was in my early 20s. As a child, I was the target of bullying for many years. This led to low self-esteem and viewing food in an unhealthy way. I would find it hard to eat in front of strangers in restaurants or in front of certain family members. I felt uneasy with my body no matter what shape or size it was over the years. This form of self-rejection consumed massive parts of my thoughts on a day-to-day basis. It took my own journey of healing and wellness to unravel where this started and how to overcome it. Eating disorders and body dysmorphia has played a part in some of my loved ones' lives. Open conversations and dialogue help to reduce the stigma and the distress that it can cause. We live in a world that reflects back to us constantly that we should be more than, better than, and greater than. We are shown that we should strive for a certain standard and this standard can come at a price. It can create addiction and unhealthy coping. Those who journey with eating disorders will know that it is not purely about the food or the body shape. It is a way of coping and a way of control. It is a common misconception that it is about weight, size or food. Eating disorders include anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, and binge-eating disorder. Eating disorders are serious and can be fatal illnesses. I have nearly lost loved ones to these disorders. The road back to health can be hard and some people walk with the disorders over a lifetime.

In order to stop the cycles of disordered eating and unhealthy body image it is vital that it starts with us. We have to heal and grow into loving ourselves for all that we are. Healing old wounds is also vital. When we start to make these changes, it also shows those around us that it is possible, and positive to have healthy coping strategies. This in turn can help them to seek support if they are having unhealthy coping.

I talked with a youth and young adults about this article. They have journeyed with eating disorders and body dysmorphia, and they wanted to share some comments below.

• "I have been so many different weights, and even at my smallest I was never happy, or liked the way I looked. The size of my body wasn't the actual source of anything, because if I truly loved and cared for myself, I would have been happy and wanted my body to be healthy rather than in an ED state.

• Radical self-acceptance helps so much."

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• "I had to realize that staring at myself and saying mean things, did absolutely nothing other than wreck my day. Staring at myself won’t do anything. Loving myself will. Talking to my body will. Holding myself and talking kindly to it will."

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• "It really is a version of self-harm, so finding the source as to why I felt I needed a self-harm release really helped."

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• "I swear every time I see myself I look different, it's wild to have experienced body dysmorphia most of my life. I’ll even look back at photos when in the moment of the photo I thought I was disgusting, whereas now I think how beautiful I was."

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• "I realized that none of my loved ones, friends etc were around me because of the way I looked. They are around me for who I am, so if they love who I am and I love who I am then what does my body matter?"

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• "Looking at food as a way to nourish my body. Changing my perspective on food made a difference, though that took time. Healing takes time, and that's okay.

• An eating disorder is an illness, and it can consume oneself. Stop treating it like a trend, it is serious and can change someone's health for the rest of their lives."

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• Having a parent who struggled with disorders eating made it very difficult to not fall into that very young. I think it's important for parents, and family to help themselves too, or even all heal together.

• It’s often that people assume only thin people could have disordered eating when really it comes in all shapes, sizes, genders, and ages.

Change is possible. Please reach out if you feel you, or a family member is in need of support with eating disorders or mental wellness.

You can contact me through the Centre for Integral Health to discuss options for support and healing."

Andrea Lines

Holistic Practitioner