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By Megan Samuels, MSW, LMSW, Outreach Coordinator  Reaching out for help can be scary! As a team of clinicians and administrative staff who are either personally recovered or who have helped a loved one through recovery, we get that. We work to make the intake process as easy and straight forward as possible. Our clinicians are all eating disorder and body image specialists. In addition to being able to work with anxiety, depression, obsessive compulsive disorder, and trauma, our clinicians have extensive experience and training working with people struggling with eating disorders. Check out this blog on the benefits of seeing an eating disorder specialist when you are struggling. How do I reach out for help? The first step to reaching out for help with us, is to fill out this contact form on our website. This will give us some information about you, your contact information, where you are located, and what you are looking for help with. Once that form is submitted, you will receive a bounce back that gives you more information about our center and what to expect. The next step is to reply to that bounce back email. When you reply, one of our administrative assistants will be emailing you back to coordinate who on our team may be the best fit for you. The administrative staff are happy to discuss fees and questions about each of our clinicians with you. We will also discuss if therapy or coaching is a more appropriate fit for your healing goals. Check out this blog on what recovery coaching is and the benefits of this amazing service. The administrative assistants at the center know about all of the clinicians and their specific speciality areas. They will be able to match you with a clinician who can work with your healing goals - based on age, location, goals, and therapy availability. You are also happy to check out our website and see which clinician may be a good fit for you! How do I get connected with a clinician? We will then give our clinician (therapist or coach) your contact information. They will reach out within a few business days to schedule an initial session or consultation. If you and the clinician decide to proceed with treatment, a Simple Practice account will be made for you. An email will be sent to the email that we have been using to communicate directly with you. Using this unique link, you will have to walk through some steps to create an account with our center. You will then need to fill out all of the paperwork on the portal before the initial session. Need help? Our administrative assistants are here to help this process. Feel free to email us at info@theeatingdisordercenter.com or give us a call at 301 246 6856. They will be more than happy to assist you with the process. Then, you are all set until you meet with your clinician! If it’s a virtual session, they will touch base with you on what secure platform they use for telehealth visits. We are honored that you have started your healing journey with us! Schedule a free 15 min consult for eating disorder therapy in MD, VA, NY, FL, or recovery coaching worldwide. Click here. The Eating Disorder Center is a premier outpatient eating disorder therapy center founded by Jennifer Rollin. We specialize in helping teens and adults struggling with anorexia, binge eating disorder, bulimia, OSFED, and body image issues. We provide eating disorder therapy in Rockville, MD, easily accessible to individuals in Potomac, North Potomac, Bethesda, Olney, Silver Spring, Germantown, and Washington D.C. We also provide eating disorder therapy in Arlington, Virginia and virtually throughout Virginia. Additionally, we offer eating disorder therapy virtually in New York (NYC), Florida, and California. We provide eating disorder recovery coaching via Zoom to people worldwide. Connect with us through our website at www.theeatingdisordercenter.com
By Megan Samuels, MSW, LMSW, Outreach Coordinator  Dialectical Behavior Therapy, or DBT for short, is a treatment modality that has research to support its effectiveness for the treatment of suicidality, borderline personality disorders, eating disorders, and self harm behaviors. It has four sections, also known as modules, which are mindfulness, interpersonal effectiveness, distress tolerance, and emotion regulation. All of these components are helpful to the process of recovering from an eating disorder. Below, I have listed the four modules of DBT, including a brief description about its relevance to eating disorder treatment. I have also listed some practice exercises if you are interested in engaging with any of these modules. Mindfulness
Let’s Practice:
Distress Tolerance
Let’s Practice:
Interpersonal Effectiveness
Let’s Practice:
Emotion Regulation
Let’s Practice:
Hopefully, these descriptions and exercises gave you a sneak peak at what DBT can help with. If it was difficult to do any of these exercises, please be gentle with yourself. These are skills that work best when they are reinforced and practiced regularly. Want more? The majority of the therapists at The Eating Disorder Center has extensive training and experience in using Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) as an effective treatment modality for eating disorders. Contact us for a free 15-minute consultation today! References: DBT Skills Training Handouts and Worksheets, Second Edition by Marsha M. Linehan. Copyright 2015 by Marsha M. Linehan. *Disclaimer: The information is provided for educational and informational purposes only. It is not intended to be a substitute for your independent medical decision-making nor a recommendation or endorsement for any particular treatment plan, organization, provider, professional service, or product. You assume all responsibility and risk for any use of the information. Schedule a free 15 min consult for eating disorder therapy in MD, VA, NY, FL, or recovery coaching worldwide. Click here. The Eating Disorder Center is a premier outpatient eating disorder therapy center founded by Jennifer Rollin. We specialize in helping teens and adults struggling with anorexia, binge eating disorder, bulimia, OSFED, and body image issues. We provide eating disorder therapy in Rockville, MD, easily accessible to individuals in Potomac, North Potomac, Bethesda, Olney, Silver Spring, Germantown, and Washington D.C. We also provide eating disorder therapy in Arlington, Virginia and virtually throughout Virginia. Additionally, we offer eating disorder therapy virtually in New York (NYC), Florida, and California, serving those in cities including Palo Alto, San Francisco, Newport Beach, Los Angeles, Woodland Hills, San Jose, and Beverly Hills. We provide eating disorder recovery coaching via Zoom to people worldwide. Connect with us through our website at www.theeatingdisordercenter.com
The Eating Disorder Center now has eating disorder therapists serving Boca Raton, Florida!
You don't have to continue to feel so trapped by constant thoughts about food and your body. We can help. We have a couple therapists-and one coming soon who are licensed in Florida and are providing virtual therapy to individuals throughout Florida-including Boca Raton, Ft. Lauderdale, Palm Beach, Pinecrest, Parkland, Naples, Miami Shores, Palmetto Bay. Contact us: https://www.theeatingdisordercenter.com/contact.html Eating disorder therapy in Florida, Serving Ft. Lauderdale, Boca Raton, Palm Beach, Pinecrest, Parkland, Naples, Miami Shores, Palmetto Bay. Virtual eating disorder therapy throughout Florida. Specializing in the treatment of eating disorders, including anorexia, bulimia, and binge eating disorder. Virtual eating disorder therapy in Florida.  Around the New Year we are inundated with diet-culture messages that emphasize a focus on “fixing yourself.” Each New Year many people resolve to “lose weight." There seems to be an increased focus on joining the gym, dieting, and “lifestyle changes” (aka diets in disguise). For individuals in recovery from an eating disorder, the New Year can be a particularly challenging time. With everyone around you racing to join the nearest gym and obsessing about their new “clean eating plan,” it may be difficult to maintain focus on recovery and being kind to your body. The following are three quick tips for navigating the New Year and staying on track in your eating disorder recovery. 1. Do a social media cleanse. Food related “cleanses” are a ridiculous waste of time and money. There is simply no scientific evidence to support the need for a “detox." If you’ve got a functioning liver and kidneys, they are already doing this job for you. However, there is one kind of detox that I support, which is a social media and diet-culture detox. Essentially, the first step is to go into your social media and unfollow or unfriend anyone that causes you to feel badly about yourself. Make sure that you remove any social media accounts that talk about weight loss, changing your body, dieting, “lifestyle changes,” and promote an unhealthy fixation with food and exercise. Next, you can go ahead and add in some body-positive and eating disorder recovery accounts. While you cannot effectively remove all aspects of diet-culture and anti fat bias from your life, you can work to make your social media feed pro-recovery and body-positive. 2. Set some pro-recovery, body-positive, and self-compassion related intentions. I’ll be honest in that I’m not really into the idea of New Year’s resolutions. First off, here’s simply not a lot of data to support that people actually stick to their resolutions. Additionally, I think that it’s helpful to utilize goal setting throughout the year. The New Year is a fresh start and a time to really think about your priorities and values. It can be helpful to use this time to set some intentions that support your recovery. However, rather than setting goals for the whole year, I think that it can be more useful to set them for the next month or so. This feels less overwhelming to some people and can make it easier to stick to the intentions that you have set for yourself. Some ideas for pro-recovery goals to set could include challenging yourself to certain “fear foods,” working on practicing body-appreciation, and developing a more compassionate approach to yourself through your self-talk and self-care. 3. Reach out to your support system if you start to feel activated. It’s important to practice self-compassion if you start to feel triggered around the New Year. Eating disorder recovery is tough, especially when everyone around you is racing to join the nearest gym and ranting about their new “diet” plan. However, with time and practice you can learn how to effectively manage your triggers and use healthy coping strategies. If you are starting to feel triggered to return to disordered behaviors, it’s crucial to reach out to members of your support network, which could include family, friends, your therapist etc. Eating disorders thrive on shame and secrecy, thus it is important to be open with the people in your life about what you are experiencing. No one should have to struggle alone and you deserve to have some support. The Bottom Line The New Year is an exciting fresh start and a great opportunity to refocus on your values and priorities. However, it can also be a triggering time for those in recovery from an eating disorder. Work to practice compassion for those who are still stuck in body-hatred and the diet cycle. When they say that they want to “lose weight,” often this is simply masking their true aim, which is to feel loved, accepted, and joyful. Remind yourself that your worth is not found in your weight, eating habits, or your body. Additionally, people of all shapes and sizes are worthy of love and belonging. If you must make a resolution this New Year, the following are some things that you can work to lose (instead of weight).
You are enough, just as you are. Schedule a free 15 min consult for eating disorder therapy in MD and VA or New York or recovery coaching worldwide.
Click here. The Eating Disorder Center is a premier outpatient eating disorder therapy center founded by Jennifer Rollin. We specialize in helping teens and adults struggling with anorexia, binge eating disorder, bulimia, OSFED, and body image issues. We provide eating disorder therapy in Rockville, MD, easily accessible to individuals in Potomac, North Potomac, Bethesda, Olney, Silver Spring, Germantown, and Washington D.C. We also provide eating disorder therapy in Arlington, Virginia and virtually throughout Virginia. Additionally, we offer eating disorder therapy virtually in New York (NYC), Florida, and California, serving those in cities including Palo Alto, San Francisco, Newport Beach, Los Angeles, Woodland Hills, San Jose, and Beverly Hills. We provide eating disorder recovery coaching via Zoom to people worldwide. Connect with us through our website at www.theeatingdisordercenter.com By Megan Samuels, MSW, LMSW, Outreach Coordinator  Eating disorder treatment can look different from other mental health treatments because people may benefit from different levels of care, aside from traditional once-a-week therapy. People who are struggling more with eating disorder symptoms may also benefit from a higher level of care. What’s a higher level of care? A higher level of care would be any program or treatment that is more intensive than seeing a therapist once a week. There are a few different types of higher level of care treatment programs that are pretty standard in the eating disorder community. Inpatient: Clients stay in a hospital-like setting for medical monitoring. This may include people who have some lab imbalances or EKG abnormalities that doctors will need to monitor. The average length of stay for inpatient depends on a number of factors, like insurance authorization, overall functioning, co-occuring disorders, and medical stability. There may or may not be therapy and nutrition groups at an inpatient hospital. Residential: This setting is typically for clients who are medically stable, but who may have other impacts of the eating disorder or other co-occuring disorders that can not be treated at a Partial Hospital Program (PHP) or Intensive Outpatient Program (IOP) level of care. Residential treatment can be a step down program to inpatient or a step up for someone in Partial Hospital Program (PHP) or Intensive Outpatient Program (IOP) who is not responding to treatment as expected. Usually, clients will stay overnight in a residential facility for a minimum of four weeks. However, the duration of stay can depend on insurance coverage and other factors. Partial Hospital Program (PHP): PHP is a treatment program for clients who are medically stable and do not not need to be constantly monitored but who may need a daily check-in and evaluation. Often, clients go to a treatment center five days a week for most of the day to engage in supported meals, individual therapy, nutrition therapy, psychiatry, and group therapy to treat the eating disorder and any other co-occuring disorders, if appropriate. Intensive Outpatient Program (IOP): This setting is often a step down from PHP or a step up from traditional outpatient services. IOP typically looks like group and some individual therapy or programming three days a week for a few hours each day. This setting is appropriate for clients who do not need a daily evaluation and who are medically stable. Someone may benefit from IOP services if they have been working with an individual outpatient therapist for awhile and have noticed that the eating disorder symptoms are getting worse. Outpatient: That’s us! Outpatient treatment typically includes meeting with a therapist once or twice a week to treat symptoms of the eating disorder and any other co-occurring disorders. This may also look like meeting with a recovery coach once or twice a week. Other team members could include a psychiatrist or a registered dietitian. How do I know where to start? That’s a great question; all of this can be difficult to navigate. The therapists at The Eating Disorder Center provide level of care (LOC) evaluations. What that means is a therapist will meet with you one or two times to discuss symptoms, level of functioning, and potential health complications and make a recommendation of a level of care that may be appropriate. It may also be helpful to schedule a physical with a doctor to get lab work done and an electrocardiogram (EKG) to determine if there are any medical complications from symptoms of eating disorders. This can help to determine medical stability, which is a qualification for some of the levels of care. Also, if we can’t help, we are very familiar with higher level of care treatment centers in the area who may be able to help! Please reach out to us and we would be happy to make a referral. More information on treatment centers can be found here. *Disclaimer: The information is provided for educational and informational purposes only. It is not intended to be a substitute for your independent medical decision-making nor a recommendation or endorsement for any particular treatment plan, organization, provider, professional service, or product. The information may change without notice. You assume all responsibility and risk for any use of the information. Schedule a free 15 min consult for eating disorder therapy in MD and VA or recovery coaching worldwide. Click here. The Eating Disorder Center is a premier outpatient eating disorder therapy center founded by Jennifer Rollin. We specialize in helping teens and adults struggling with anorexia, binge eating disorder, bulimia, OSFED, and body image issues. We provide eating disorder therapy in Rockville, MD, easily accessible to individuals in Potomac, North Potomac, Bethesda, Olney, Silver Spring, Germantown, and Washington D.C. We also provide eating disorder therapy in Arlington, Virginia and virtually throughout Virginia. Additionally, we offer eating disorder therapy virtually in New York (NYC), Florida, and California, serving those in cities including Palo Alto, San Francisco, Newport Beach, Los Angeles, Woodland Hills, San Jose, and Beverly Hills. We provide eating disorder recovery coaching via Zoom to people worldwide. Connect with us through our website at www.theeatingdisordercenter.com
 Rachel Steinhardt, LMHC is an eating disorder therapist in Brooklyn, New York and is accepting new clients as part of The Eating Disorder Center Team-expanding their eating disorder therapy services to Brooklyn, New York. Rachel has many years of experience working in a residential eating disorder facility and outpatient therapy setting, working with individuals struggling with anorexia, binge eating disorder, bulimia, orthorexia, and OSFED. Rachel provides therapy to clients with eating disorders virtually via video to adults ages 18+ throughout New York-including those residing in Brooklyn, Manhattan, Gramercy, Chelsea, and Lincoln Square. Contact us: https://www.theeatingdisordercenter.com/contact.html Eating disorder therapy in NYC, Serving Manhattan, Brooklyn, Gramercy, Chelsea, Lincoln Square. Virtual eating disorder therapy throughout New York. Specializing in the treatment of eating disorders, including anorexia, bulimia, binge eating disorder, as well as anxiety, depression, and trauma. Virtual eating disorder therapy in New York. By Megan Samuels, MSW, LMSW, Outreach Coordinator  The holiday season can be a stressful time for someone in recovery from an eating disorder. I have outlined three challenges that I see clients struggling with during the holiday season: change in routine, being with family, and maintaining recovery. I go into more detail below about each of these challenges and some strategies to help cope with them.
The bottom line: Holidays are tough! Especially for people in recovery from an eating disorder. You are not alone in this struggle. Rely on your treatment team and your support system to ensure that your eating disorder doesn’t take control. You got this! Schedule a free 15 min consult for eating disorder therapy in MD and VA or recovery coaching worldwide. Click here. The Eating Disorder Center is a premier outpatient eating disorder therapy center founded by Jennifer Rollin. We specialize in helping teens and adults struggling with anorexia, binge eating disorder, bulimia, OSFED, and body image issues. We provide eating disorder therapy in Rockville, MD, easily accessible to individuals in Potomac, North Potomac, Bethesda, Olney, Silver Spring, Germantown, and Washington D.C. We also provide eating disorder therapy in Arlington, Virginia and virtually throughout Virginia. Additionally, we offer eating disorder therapy virtually in New York (NYC), Florida, and California, serving those in cities including Palo Alto, San Francisco, Newport Beach, Los Angeles, Woodland Hills, San Jose, and Beverly Hills. We provide eating disorder recovery coaching via Zoom to people worldwide. Connect with us through our website at www.theeatingdisordercenter.com
By: Jennifer Rollin, MSW, LCSW-C  “I’m being bad today, so I’ll have a piece of pie.” “You look great, have you lost weight?” Diet and weight talk is unhelpful for everyone. It can be harmful for people in recovery from eating disorders, for children, and for pretty much anyone who is trying to have a healthy relationship to food and their body. It’s also just boring. As an eating disorder and body image therapist, the following are a few tips for dealing with the inevitable “diet” and “weight” talk this Thanksgiving. 1. Recognize that this says way more about the person commenting, than it does about you. If someone feels the need to comment on your body size (or other people’s bodies) or on what you are eating, it’s important to remember that this says way more about the person who is commenting and where their focus lies. Often people who are highly focused on their own bodies and eating patterns are more likely to comment on other people’s bodies and eating habits. This is typically because they are feeling insecure, unhappy, or fixated, on their own weight and body. It can be helpful to remember that their comments are really a mirror into their own insecurities or unhealthy focuses. 2. Set some boundaries. Just because someone wants to launch into a conversation about their latest diet, does not mean that you have to sit there and listen. If someone is talking about a topic that is harmful for you, it’s important to remember that you always have the option to set boundaries. Setting boundaries might entail changing the topic, asking that certain topics not be discussed, or finding an excuse to temporarily remove yourself from the room. 3. Come up with a plan in advance. It can be difficult in the heat of the moment to determine how you might cope if someone is launching into a conversation about their diet or talking about their weight. It can be helpful to come up with a coping plan in advance for who you could reach out to for support (either in person or via phone), and even some statements that you might feel comfortable saying. Tips for Shutting Down Diet Talk Here are a few ideas for things that you can say when someone is talking about dieting. · I get that you are excited to talk about your diet, but I’m working on healing my relationship to food, so I’d rather we talk about anything else. · Hearing you talk about this is upsetting to me. So can we change the topic? · So how are your kids doing? · Have you ever heard of intuitive eating? · I’m just thankful to be here and to be able to enjoy this food with people that I care about. · I think that focusing so much on food rules can actually be very unhealthy. · Instead of counting calories, I’m working on counting what I have to be thankful for. It’s making me a lot happier. Tips for Shutting Down Weight Talk · I think it’s better that we don’t talk about people’s bodies. · This house is a weight-talk free zone. · I’m just thankful that I have a body that does so much for me every day. You look great, have you lost weight? · Nope (with a smile). · Nope, I just look great. · What does looking great have anything to do with my weight? · No clue. I don’t focus on my weight. · I know you are trying to be nice, but it makes me really uncomfortable when you comment on my body. The Bottom Line Holidays can be tough enough. Having to deal with weight and body discussion can make them even harder. However, it can also feel empowering to learn how to set boundaries, shift the conversation, and even (only if you want to) educate people on how to be kinder to their bodies and themselves. If you are struggling with fixating on food and your body over the holidays, it’s important to be compassionate with yourself, and then work to shift focus to the things that are actually meaningful and important. It’s unlikely that you will look back on this holiday season in your 90s and feel regretful that you enjoyed a slice of pie, however you might regret missing out on enjoying the moment due to anxiety or guilt around food. If this is difficult for you, please consider seeking help. You deserve to have freedom around food and to feel at peace in your body. Also, it’s important to note that food and morality do not go together. You are never 'bad' for eating cake. Schedule a free 15 min consult for eating disorder therapy in MD and VA or recovery coaching worldwide. Click here. The Eating Disorder Center is a premier outpatient eating disorder therapy center founded by Jennifer Rollin. We specialize in helping teens and adults struggling with anorexia, binge eating disorder, bulimia, OSFED, and body image issues. We provide eating disorder therapy in Rockville, MD, easily accessible to individuals in Potomac, North Potomac, Bethesda, Olney, Silver Spring, Germantown, and Washington D.C. We also provide eating disorder therapy in Arlington, Virginia and virtually throughout Virginia. Additionally, we offer eating disorder therapy virtually in New York (NYC), Florida, and California, serving those in cities including Palo Alto, San Francisco, Newport Beach, Los Angeles, Woodland Hills, San Jose, and Beverly Hills. We provide eating disorder recovery coaching via Zoom to people worldwide. Connect with us through our website at www.theeatingdisordercenter.com
By Jennifer Rollin, MSW, LCSW-C  You know who can make a really un-fun travel companion? An eating disorder. At the worst of my illness-I remember crying in anticipation of a weekend away. Being able to prepare my own food and stick to my rigid exercise routine was my safety blanket-and when traveling, it felt like it was being ripped away from me. I spent a huge amount of time and energy thinking about food, weight, and exercise while traveling. It was exhausting. Now-I am so grateful to be able to actually enjoy vacations (including the food!) The following are a few tips if vacation anxiety is getting the best of you. 1. Think about what you’d want your ideal vacation to look like if you were recovered. Write out what you’d want to be focusing on if the eating disorder was not invited on your vacation. What memories and moments would you want to have? Eating disorders take you away from your true values and tend to cause you to focus on food, weight, and exercise. Work to take some ‘opposite actions’ to eating disorder urges when you are traveling that are in alignment with your vision: i.e. if your eating disorder tells you to restrict or binge at lunch-challenging yourself to nourish yourself appropriately. Example: If your eating disorder is telling you NOT to have a fruity drink-order the fruity drink. I know that taking ‘opposite actions’ is not easy but over time you will create new neural pathways in your brain and the positive behaviors will become more automatic. 2. Lean on your support system. If you are traveling with someone who you feel comfortable talking to about your eating disorder-try sharing with them what would be most helpful. Many people want to help but often they don’t know how. For example, telling your partner: “If I’m having a hard time making a decision on what to order when we’re out to eat, can you choose for me.” If you are working with a therapist, dietitian, and/or recovery coach-you can also email them for support as well. Real talk: reaching out for support when you’re struggling is so strong. 3. Plan what you can in advance. If there are any situations that you can plan to ‘cope ahead’ for in advance with your therapist, dietitian, and/or coach-that would be one idea. It can also be really helpful to pack snacks or buy some when you get there to have on hand. However, it’s good to practice flexibility i.e. saying ‘yes’ when someone asks you to grab ice cream in the afternoon-rather than solely relying on packed snacks. 4. Practice radical acceptance. Radical acceptance is a concept from dialectical behavioral therapy. It doesn’t mean that we ‘like’ a situation rather that we stop fighting against it. Work to radically accept that some things may feel ‘out of control’ on vacation (however that’s just your ED talking) and that you might have increased anxiety. 5. Use those mindfulness skills. I describe mindfulness of your thoughts like this: -Not being mindful of thoughts is like you are outside in the storm in the rain, without an umbrella and you are totally caught in the midst of this raging storm. -Mindfulness of your thinking is like you are watching the storm raging outside from indoors behind a window. The storm is still there but it’s not impacting you as much. Remember that just because you have a thought, does NOT mean that it is true. You can practice mindfulness by visualizing your thoughts being placed on leaves as they float down a stream. Practice responding to your eating disorder thoughts with some healthier statements-and consider making a list in the notes section of your phone so that this list is easily acceptable. Example: Eating Disorder Thought: You are gaining so much weight-you need to eat less. More Helpful Thought: I want to be at whatever weight enables me to travel without guilt, fear, or anxiety. Life is about so much more than my weight. My Hope for You My hope for you is that you get to have a positive experience while traveling and that someday you get to travel completely ED free. Life is far too short to be spending your vacation looking for the nearest gym, obsessing about food, or being bogged down by negative body image. You can totally get there. Just take it one ‘opposite action’ at a time. The Eating Disorder Center is a premier outpatient eating disorder therapy center founded by Jennifer Rollin. We specialize in helping teens and adults struggling with anorexia, binge eating disorder, bulimia, OSFED, and body image issues. We provide eating disorder therapy in Rockville, MD, easily accessible to individuals in Potomac, North Potomac, Bethesda, Olney, Silver Spring, Germantown, and Washington D.C. We also provide eating disorder therapy in Arlington, Virginia and virtually throughout Virginia. Additionally, we offer eating disorder therapy virtually in New York (NYC), Florida, and California, serving those in cities including Palo Alto, San Francisco, Newport Beach, Los Angeles, Woodland Hills, San Jose, and Beverly Hills. We provide eating disorder recovery coaching via Zoom to people worldwide. Connect with us through our website at www.theeatingdisordercenter.com
By Megan Samuels, MSW, LMSW, Outreach Coordinator  Struggling with staying off of the scale in eating disorder recovery can be difficult. If you find yourself struggling to stay off of the scale, these reasons are for you. 1. The number on the scale does not define your worth. When struggling with an eating disorder, you may feel like the number on the scale is really all that matters. Trying to get yourself to weigh a certain amount to achieve that goal or desire for yourself. If we think about a scale, it’s basically a piece of metal and plastic with batteries in it. How is it that we are allowing a piece of metal and plastic with batteries in it to define our worth in this world? You are worth SO much more than a number on a scale. Consider your values vs. your eating disorder values (check out this blog post on values). 2. Staying off the scale is a win for your recovery. Even if you have already stepped on the scale today, you don’t need to throw in the towel and think that recovery is ruined. Each chance that you have an urge to go on the scale is a new opportunity to decide if you want to listen to your eating disorder or if you want to listen to your recovery. Each time you have a recovery win, that part of yourself that believes in eating disorder recovery grows stronger and stronger. This strength can help you to choose recovery over your eating disorder in future situations. 3. An urge to weigh yourself typically means something else is going on. What prompted this urge? Did you get a bad grade on a test? Did you get in a fight with your partner? Understanding what event contributed to the urge to weigh yourself may help you get in touch with the emotion that you are experiencing. For example, if you get upset at a friend, you may feel angry or disappointed - and those feelings are valid!! If you are able to identify those emotions, by thinking, “I feel angry,” you can then decide what action you want to take based on that emotion. You could go weigh yourself. Or instead, you could journal about your feelings of anger and why you got upset at that friend. Here, we see that there are two actions that we can take for the same emotion. One of the actions, weighing yourself, is most likely aligning with your eating disorder values and the other action, going to journal about your feelings, is most likely aligning with your recovery values. You can also check out this blog post on coping with eating disorder urges, as journaling doesn’t have to be the only option that aligns with recovery when you have an urge to step on the scale, purge, restrict, binge, or exercise. If you are hesitant to not step on the scale, remember that so many people struggling with body image and eating disorders feel urges everyday to step on the scale. You are not alone in this and this process can be really scary! You got this! The Eating Disorder Center is a premier outpatient eating disorder therapy center founded by Jennifer Rollin. We specialize in helping teens and adults struggling with anorexia, binge eating disorder, bulimia, OSFED, and body image issues. We provide eating disorder therapy in Rockville, MD, easily accessible to individuals in Potomac, North Potomac, Bethesda, Olney, Silver Spring, Germantown, and Washington D.C. We also provide eating disorder therapy in Arlington, Virginia and virtually throughout Virginia. Additionally, we offer eating disorder therapy virtually in New York (NYC), Florida, and California, serving those in cities including Palo Alto, San Francisco, Newport Beach, Los Angeles, Woodland Hills, San Jose, and Beverly Hills. We provide eating disorder recovery coaching via Zoom to people worldwide. Connect with us through our website at www.theeatingdisordercenter.com
*Disclaimer: The information is provided for educational and informational purposes only. It is not intended to be a substitute for your independent medical decision-making nor a recommendation or endorsement for any particular treatment plan, organization, provider, professional service, or product. |
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