Category: Eating Disorders

advocacy Being a loser at weight loss makes you a winner – or does it?

Being a loser at weight loss makes you a winner – or does it?

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Nobody likes being told, “You’re a loser.” The word “loser” immediately conjures up feelings of inadequacy, failure, and shame. The only place I can think of where “a loser” is considered noble and revered is in diet culture and the weight loss industry, where “loss” is even in the name....

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advocacy Straddling the literature and eating disorder divide

Straddling the literature and eating disorder divide

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It’s funny when we realise that we have feet in two worlds that barely speak to each other. I have one foot in the world of eating disorder (ED) research and treatment and the other in the world of literary studies. The literary people tend to assume that books must...

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advocacy It’s time to redefine the Body Mass Index (BMI)

It’s time to redefine the Body Mass Index (BMI)

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BMI or Body Mass Index is a term used frequently when discussing the health and weight management of humans. It appears in medical charts, insurance statistics and weight loss programs. People are judged by it constantly, sight unseen. In her book, “You just need to lose weight” and 19 Other...

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advocacy Anorexia nervosa takes the fun out of exercise

Anorexia nervosa takes the fun out of exercise

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Exercise is good, but excessive or compulsive exercise can be dangerous. At age 13, Kristen embraced the outdoors and enjoyed cross-country running at school. She was not overweight, had never been a big eater, ate little junk food and was not concerned about her body image, but she did want...

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advocacy In diet culture, ‘gain’ is feared and despised

In diet culture, ‘gain’ is feared and despised

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Gain is not a four-letter word—at least not in the bad way fostered in diet culture. Diet culture taught me to fear and hate that word for decades. As I strived to achieve and maintain a smaller version of my body, I became a smaller version of myself partly because...

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advocacy An ice cream is a ‘win’ when holidaying with an eating disorder

An ice cream is a ‘win’ when holidaying with an eating disorder

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Almost a year has passed since Summer was diagnosed with her eating disorder (ED). I glimpse signs of recovery more often, but sometimes, we get thrown back into the darkness. The darkness doesn’t last as long now, though, before hope reappears. I know hope is always there despite being hard...

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advocacy Goodbye calories! Hello, energy!

Goodbye calories! Hello, energy!

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Calorie is a word laden with a myriad of connotations imposed by diet culture, a word that can be so insidious that I’ve hesitated to write about it. From the impressionable age of 11, I became aware of my body in a new, mysterious way. In tandem with entering that...

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advocacy Tragic outcome for psychiatric patient seeking help for diet pill addiction

Tragic outcome for psychiatric patient seeking help for diet pill addiction

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When the news broke, I couldn’t ignore it. The deceased young woman was reportedly at the Korean hospital for treatment of a weight loss drug addiction. News portals showed CCTV (closed circuit TV) footage of the woman, where she was forcibly restrained on a bed by hospital staff whose large...

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advocacy No room for secrets in eating disorder recovery

No room for secrets in eating disorder recovery

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“Why does eating disorder recovery have so many curve balls?” A middle-aged woman asked this today. An eating disorder trigger was tempting her, and she was bravely reaching out for support. The holiday season and long weekends, which most people love, are difficult for her. With members of her usual...

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Anorexia Outsmarting the eating disorder triggers

Outsmarting the eating disorder triggers

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Anyone who has struggled with an eating disorder (ED) is familiar with the words trigger or triggered, and I am no different. Even though I am in the space of recovery, situations that could trigger eating disorder thoughts and behaviours are everywhere. Living in this diet culture/weight-biased world, there is...

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