Eating Is Emotional

Eating is emotional. Food is used to celebrate special occasions and to comfort us during sadness and loss. We associate specific foods with certain holidays, and smelling foods that are familiar to us from childhood can bring up special memories or feelings. As babies, we used eating as a way to soothe us when upset […]

I Found My Professional Home in Trans Health

Like most people who received graduate training in psychology, I received limited information about eating disorders. I was taught that eating disorders afflicted only white, college-educated, cisgender, straight women. My experience told a different story—I was wrestling with my own eating disorder, one in which I was preoccupied with restriction, nutrition, and exercise, but did […]

Your Voice Is Making A Difference

I am happy to learn about NEDA’s First In-District Advocacy Day taking place today. Over 400 advocates signed up to meet the district staff of their Member of Congress to raise awareness and effect policy change for eating disorders. That’s a lot of people who care about eating disorders using their voices to promote the […]

There’s No Such Thing As “Failure” In Recovery

This time last year, I’d really only just begun to accept the fact that I have an eating disorder. Not a “weird food thing,” not “disordered behaviors,” not a “strong dislike of food” — I have an eating disorder, and with it, a long road ahead to repair my relationship to food and to my […]

You Didn’t Choose This and You Didn’t Fail

I spent the majority of the last 10 years convinced that my eating disorder was a thing of the past. In a culture that reinforces and even praises disordered eating behaviors, I thought my quasi-recovered state was the best I could hope for. After all, the rest of the world is engaging in restriction, “clean […]

“Every Woman” of My Era

I teach teachers about the body image challenges children face in our culture, giving them tools to address the epidemic of body image problems kids suffer today. Many of these problems are attributed to the recent explosion of visual social media, like Instagram and Snapchat. In the seven years I’ve been researching, speaking, and writing […]

Unlearning Toxic Messages about Bodies

If someone would’ve told me ten years ago that I would no longer be in pursuit of weight loss today, I wouldn’t have believed it.

Your Story Matters. Your Story is Important.

Probably like many of you, the person I was a year ago is someone significantly different from my current self. Much of this is due to the fact that, environmentally, my life has changed drastically since this time last year. This shift has brought with it changes including access to therapy and a new community […]

In Moments of Struggle, Change Can Happen

Reflecting on my past is something I’m accustomed to, but when I would do this before, I always reflected on the negative. It’s comfortable for me to think about all the challenges I went through—not easy, but comfortable. From my eating disorder, to my body image struggles, to my depression, I was comfortable living in […]

Male Eating Disorders: What Do We Know and Where Do We Go Next?

Eating disorders (EDs) do not discriminate against age, ethnicity, sexual orientation, or even gender.  While research on male eating disorders is scarce, findings consistently illustrate unique variants and differences in presentation and symptomatology. Thus, there is a critical need to understand the nuances between genders in order to better conceptualize, prevent, and treat, eating disorders […]