Our relationship with ourselves begins with our bodies and thus with how we eat. For many reasons, we can become overwhelmed with our daily body experience. For many of us, our bodies are targeted which can ultimately lead to us not owning our own bodies.

—For folks who identify outside of the gender binary and/or are trans & gender-nonconforming, there may be more complex layers to body acceptance. Bodies may not align with one’s internal felt sense of gender identity, or may be in medical transition.

These experiences can lead us feeling confused, frightened, hopeless, angry, just to name a few emotions. Eating problems and eating disorders are a disconnection from yourself and a disconnection from others. Eating problems and eating disorders serve a purpose despite the guilt, shame and confusion they bring.

What are eating disorders?

  • Eating disorders are abnormal patterns of eating that seriously compromise one’s physical and psychological well-being
  • Eating disorders are NOT about attention or vanity
  • Eating Disorders are NOT a choice
  • Eating disorders are NOT “just a teenage thing” or “just a phase”
  • Eating disorders are serious illnesses that indicate the person is having difficulty coping with aspects in their life at the current time
  • Eating disorders are BEST TREATED EARLY
  • Eating disorders require SPECIALIZED INTERVENTION

What are the types of eating disorders and eating problems?

Eating disorders occur on a spectrum from severe restriction to severe overeating:

  • Anorexia Nervosa (AN)
  • Bulimia Nervosa (BN)
  • Binge Eating Disorder (BED)
  • Eating Disorder-Not Otherwise Specified (ED-NOS)
  • Avoidant Restrictive Food Intake Disorder (ARFID)
  • Pica

Eating problems:

  • Chronic Dieting
  • Compulsive exercise
  • Emotional eating
  • Rigid inflexible eating

Body Image/Body Shame

  • Body image and body shame issues are when one’s daily experience of being in their body involves deep pain.
  • Body image and body shame issues are NOT about “just getting over it”
  • Body image and body shame issues NEED understanding, support and building strength to help people become connected to their bodies and take care of them. For some folks, it means respecting their current body. For folks who identify outside of the gender binary and/or are trans & gender-nonconforming, there may be more complex layers to body acceptance.

Download this article, The invisibility of marginalized folks who suffer from eating disorders, which I wrote for Gaylesta’s newsletter in Summer 2018, or you can read it directly on my blog here.