Surviving an Eating Disorder by Michele Siegel

Author:Michele Siegel
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollins

Nutritional Counseling

Nutritionists, who are trained to assess imbalances in food intake and develop dietary programs, can help correct nutritional deficits and guide someone with an eating disorder to develop healthy eating habits, perhaps for the first time. Some people with eating disorders have extremely chaotic eating patterns or have not eaten a “meal” in years.

With anorexics, in particular, nutritional counseling is often a critical part of the therapy. Anorexics are terrified that anything they eat will result in rapid weight gain. A good nutritionist will be able to set up a plan not only in which weight can be gained, but in which weight is gained slowly so that the anorexic feels less out of control and is better able to cooperate with the treatment goals. When weight is gained, brain chemistry and body chemistry start to be repaired. This sets the stage for the patient to be better able to respond to other areas of treatment, such as beginning to identify the connection between thoughts, feelings, and food.

For bulimics and/or binge eaters, the work of a nutritionist is used to establish healthy eating patterns. For example, sometimes food deprivation during the day can lead to bingeing during the night. Nutritional guidance can be invaluable in helping to stabilize food intake and determining what can be eaten without the risk of gaining or losing weight.

Sometimes a nutritionist is sought to provide a diet as an answer to the problems with bingeing. However, a diet is not the answer to an eating disorder. Many eating-disordered people are experts themselves on diets and food intake. They know what is healthy. They know the caloric intake of every morsel they put in their mouths. Some are professionals in the area of nutrition. This underscores that eating disturbances are not due to lack of information about a good diet, but have to do with psychological factors that keep people from putting this information to use. Often, a nutritionist and therapist work concurrently. The nutritionist sets the stage for healthy eating, and the therapist examines what gets in the way when someone can’t keep to her food plan. The goal overall is that of allowing someone to eat when hungry, in moderation, and to understand what motivates problematic eating so that better choices can be made.

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