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Feb 15, 2021

National Eating Disorders Awareness (NEDA) week is coming. While education and awareness of EDs is important, I beg (I BEG!) every writer, editor, and influencer out there to think twice before publishing an ED recovery story. A thread on why these can be VERY counterproductive.

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May 8

I often hear, “I’m scared to recover because I’ll just eat constantly” or “I can’t give up restricting because I’ll totally lose control.” Makes sense, bc people are stuck in a place of thinking about. But in the end, recovery/ending dieting means thinking about food MUCH less.

May 8

Here’s something to chew on: People with eating disorders think about food up to 5x more often (sometimes 100% if the time) than people who have a healthy relationship w food (~15-20% of the time). Dieters fall somewhere in between.

1. A breakfast sandwich: Bread, egg, cheese, avocado 2. An *actually substantial* smoothie: fruit, maybe a veg, protein powder or yogurt, nut butter, and oat or regular milk 3. Oatmeal w milk, berries, peanut butter 4. Frozen waffles, bacon, yogurt and fruit

So, eat a REAL breakfast the morning after a binge. Not a low-calorie smoothie. Not a single piece of toast. Not (*shudders*) JUST COFFEE. Something with protein, carbs, fat, and enough energy to actually keep you going through the morning. Some ideas: ➡️➡️➡️

1. Your body needs food at regular intervals to keep blood sugar stable 2. Your blood sugar is/was probably high post-binge 3. Skipping breakfast is setting you up for an epic blood sugar crash 4. A crash will just make you MORE likely to binge again after skipping breakfast

The best thing to do the morning after you binged/ate way past fullness? EAT A REGULAR BREAKFAST. Here's why: ➡️➡️➡️

If you’re stuck with intuitive eating — maybe you don’t feel hungry most of the time, then feel out of control around food sometimes — start by committing to eating 3 meals and 2+ snacks/day. Get back in touch with hunger/fullness by giving your body what it needs

The same thing applies outside of eating disorder recovery. If you’ve dieted forever, your hunger cues may not be there. This DOESN’T mean your body isn’t hungry for food at regular (every 3-4 hours) intervals. It means you’ve (maybe subconsciously) learned to tune that out.

It’s widely accepted that IE isn’t appropriate in early eating disorder recovery, because first you have to get comfortable EATING REGULARLY AND ADEQUATELY. Regular eating won’t feel intuitive when your body is so disregulated that you can’t recognize hunger cues.

If intuitive eating feels impossible for you, it could be because you’ve spent so many years restricting that you’re completely out of touch with hunger cues.

Mar 21

The fact that Gwyneth Paltrow is in the business of “wellness” but eats only bone broth and vegetables most days (per her own interview) is a real testament to what our culture considers “wellness.” Extreme under-eating is NOT wellness. It’s the opposite.

Feb 28

In 2023, I think it’s fair to say most ppl ARE AWARE that eating disorders exist, and that they’re extremely serious and life-threatening. But most ppl ARE NOT AWARE that they exist across the body size spectrum. And that causes so, so much harm.

Feb 28

It’s Eating Disorders Awareness Week, and the thing we REALLY need to raise awareness of is: Eating disorders exist in ppl IN ALL BODY SIZES. Only 6% of ppl with EDs are “underweight” (per BMI). If ED awareness only focuses on very thin people, it’s the opposite of awareness.

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Christine Byrne, MPH, RD, LDN Retweeted

rachel wilkerson miller

@the_rewm

Feb 24

And

5 Throw-Together Meals for When You’re Busy, Stressed, or Too Damn Tired

put together some amazing "recipes" (though they are so simple that that feels like too strong of a word) featuring several of our winning picks

self.com

These quick, easy, and tasty “recipes” only involve a couple steps.

Feb 23

Any body image researchers available to answer some questions about body dysmorphic disorder for me in the next few days? (For an article I'm writing.)

Feb 3

Less than 6% of ppl with eating disorders are classified as medically “underweight” but somehow they make up like 90% of eating disorder coverage. 🤔🤔🤔

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Feb 3

Usually it’s just recovery stories from ppl who fit the v narrow stereotype of what EDs look like (thin, white, female). Those experiences are valid but focusing ONLY on them (a very small % of ppl with EDs) actually means LESS awareness of what EDs really are and who they affect

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Feb 3

It’s eating disorders awareness month. I’d love for the media coverage this year to focus on the fact that telling a child or a teenager their body is too big will absolutely increase their risk of developing an eating disorder.

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Those Weight Loss Drugs May Do a Number on Your Face

Jan 26

“Dr. Tepper said he can eliminate any vestige of ‘Ozempic face’ with a deep plane face-lift, which costs $75,000.” Just yuck to all of this.

nytimes.com

People using drugs like Ozempic are discovering an unwanted side effect: facial aging.

Jan 26

This is a huge and fairly vague ask but are there any wellness influencers or *former* wellness influencers out there whose health actually deteriorated because of their wellness influencing and who would be willing to talk with me about it?

Christine Byrne, MPH, RD, LDN Retweeted

Jan 26

I can't believe the 75Hard Challenge is trending AGAIN, but for those of you who need to hear this: Exercising 2x per day without exception isn't impressive or gritty or an accomplishment...it's disordered. It's also an injury waiting to happen.

Margot Zarin-Pass MD

@MargotZarinPass

This pediatrician agrees. New recs are harmful.

Quote Tweet

The American Academy of Pediatrics released guidelines recommending weight loss interventions for children as young as age 6 (age 2 in some cases), expensive weight loss drugs as young as 12, and bariatric surgery as young as 13.

Show this thread

Parents of kids with EDs sometimes ask, “where did my kid even learn this, they’re so young?” (As in, diet behaviors and hating their body.) My answer is, “where DIDN’T they?!” These new guidelines leave almost no room for kids to accept their growing, changing, normal bodies.

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The number of adults who come to me with eating disorders that stem back to a childhood diet is…almost all adults I see who have EDs. Imagine how many more will need years of therapy and nutrition counseling if they’re told their bodies are SO wrong 5)36 need drugs and surgery.

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It’s really sad, and frankly shocking EVEN knowing how much anti-fatness and weight stigma exists in the world and in healthcare. It’s truly one of the worst things that could happen to kids’ happiness, well-being, safety, confidence, and relationship w food.

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Jan 3

In for 2023: body autonomy, eating foods because YOU want to Out for 2023: body ideals and the pressure to live up to them, dieting (or eating according to a plan that claims not to be a diet but has like a zillion food rules)

Jan 3

In for 2023: carbs Out for 2023: keto "sandwiches" made with deli meat stuffed into bell peppers

Jan 3

In for 2023: full recovery from your eating disorder regardless of your body size Out for 2023: believing that weight is the only indicator of how severe an eating disorder is, or whether or not someone is solidly in recovery.

Christine Byrne, MPH, RD, LDN Retweeted

RebeccaSubbiah RDN

@chowandchatter

Nov 21, 2022

Awesome tips on gentle nutrition from

@christinejbyrne

and @lutzandalexander_rds wellandgood.com/gentle-nutriti

instagram.com

Rebecca Subbiah RDN (UK + US) (@anchorednutritiontherapy) • Instagram photos and videos

4. (And I can't stress this enough...) If you're known as 'the one who always comments on bodies/weight,' plenty of people (even family members who love you) will literally fear seeing you, and will feel uneasy around you, maybe forever.

3. Talking about weight ― instead of connecting on something deeper ― can kind of ruin the holiday. What a waste of an opportunity to talk about something that's joyful and/or makes you feel closer to someone.

2. Many people suffer from eating disorders in silence; comments about weight and dieting can be damaging. You never know if you're reinforcing disordered behavior, making someone feel ashamed, or sending the message that you're always paying attention to changes in their body.

1. You can't tell what's going on with someone's health just by looking at their body. Lots people justify weight/body comments with "I'm just worried about your health" or "I'm just congratulating someone on getting healthy!" Except that just isn't scientifically backed.

Stop Commenting On Someone's Weight Or Eating Habits At Thanksgiving

I wrote a story for

@HuffPostLife

four years ago about why you shouldn't comment on other people's bodies at Thanksgiving. (True all the time, but v relevant during gatherings w family you don't see often.) It's all still true — here are the highlights:

huffpost.com

Remarks about a person's appearance and health can be extremely damaging — and flat out wrong.

3. Remember that you ALWAYS get to decide whether to eat something or not. It's OK to eat the thing, and it's also OK to pass if you don't want it. The belief that food controls you and that you have no agency just amplifies food stress and makes you feel poweless.

2. When you're fretting about whether or not a food is bad, know that all food is just some combination of protein, carbs, and fat. (Sure, some foods have more vitamins and minerals, but there's no such thing as an "empty" calorie.)

1. When your brain starts to view food as the enemy (by scheming ways to avoid it, control it, resist it, eat this but not that, etc), remind yourself that food is *literally* essential to life.

To everyone who's stressing about being surrounded by delicious food this holiday season, here's a reframe: Being excited about food is a GOOD thing! Some tips for shifting your thinking from "food must be controlled" to "food is part of life, I'm allowed to enjoy it."