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Disordered eating and eating disorders are related yet separate ideas. Disordered eating refers to a variety of unhealthy habits that may not qualify as an eating disorder but can still adversely affect a person's life. These patterns include chronic dieting, skipping meals, binge eating, and mindless snacking, often used subconsciously to cope with emotional turmoil. Many people resort to disordered eating as a way to manage uncomfortable feelings or difficult life events. For some, binge eating offers a quick escape from stress, anxiety, sadness, or past traumas, especially childhood abuse. This pattern can develop into a harmful relationship with food, leading to guilt and self-loathing. Consequently, individuals may enter a cycle of self-punishment for weight gain associated with binge episodes. Participating in binge eating or extreme dieting can diminish one's capacity to enjoy life fully. Preoccupations with calorie counting or weighing oneself can overshadow more meaningful experiences. During a binge, individuals often experience a sense of disconnect from their environment, becoming absorbed in the act of eating. While occasional overeating during celebrations is normal, binge eating involves recurrent excessive eating that leads to significant distress and a feeling of losing control. 

To cultivate increased self-awareness, consider these questions: - Have you ever managed to halt a binge and walked away without eating more? - How often do thoughts about your weight and diet occupy your mind? - Have you ever found yourself at a restaurant eating a large amount of food while feeling detached from your dining companion, who waits patiently for you to finish? - Or do you avoid dining out with friends because of worries about your eating habits? At social events, can you enjoy some snacks and engage with others, or do you find yourself preoccupied with food, constantly returning to the buffet instead of fully participating in the social occasion? 

These compulsions can be addressed and minimized, allowing for a healthier relationship with food and an improved sense of self-esteem. If not addressed, disordered eating may escalate into a more severe eating disorder that poses increased risks to both physical and emotional health. 

Not only are emotional traumas hidden beneath all these perpetual cycles, but so are cognitive thoughts that drive it. Thought patterns play an essential role in this cycle. For instance, an individual may mistake a single indulgence for a failure, leading to binge eating as a misguided attempt to cope with perceived shortcomings and compensate for their inability to stick to a diet. Many individuals with disordered eating have some of these beliefs that are not fact, but they are thoughts that rob healthy emotions: 

• I am not good enough. • I am unlovable. • I am worthless. • There is something fundamentally wrong with me. • I am ugly and overweight. • I am weak and powerless. • I am a failure and inadequate.

Truhearted can walk beside individuals struggling with binge eating and chronic dieting as we do a deep dive into recognizing triggers to these thoughts, unearth the feelings that promote the idea of hiding, and ultimately deal with the root cause, which is most likely trauma-based. Learning the roots, changing the relationship with past trauma, changing emotions and thought patterns, and learning new habits can be done with support and determination on the part of the individual seeking help. Therapies employed can include cognitive behavior therapy, acceptance and commitment therapy, eye movement desensitization reprocessing, holistic somatic therapy, and walk-and-talk therapy. 

At Truhearted, we emphasize the importance of being informed about disordered eating, and we believe that partnering with a supportive team can lead to healing. Individuals should consult their physician and nutritionist as part of a multidisciplinary approach. By tackling these internal struggles with compassion and understanding, individuals can begin to shift their relationship with food and enhance their self-esteem.

Truhearted counseling is informed about disordered eating, which is a cycle of repetitive dieting and binge eating. This approach acknowledges the complexities involved and aims to help individuals overcome these harmful patterns.