I’ve had a few small misconceptions about food that some good nutritional advice has helped me to correct.
For a start, fat does not convert into body fat.
Second, you get out what you put in – and no puns are intended. Invest wisely because your body is a temple.
Third, the car-petrol-food-fuel analogy isn’t as clichéd as it sounds. You can only run on empty for so long.
Nutritionists can really help to change your thoughts about food and, as I started to get my head in gear, they armed me with some great science to challenge some of the bizarre conclusions my anorexia had reached.
It wasn’t so much the meal plans and the menu suggestions that made the difference; it was some powerful ammunition against my rather destructive thought patterns that helped.
Eating disorders are great at constructing a whole belief system around food. When you’re in the middle of it all, it’s hard to see that the system is flawed – and it’s hard to argue back.
Anorexia likes to put food into good and bad boxes; to categorise it in relation to things that are safe and things that are not safe. Bulimia divides food into ‘eating food’ and ‘binge food’; those that can stay down – and those that should come right back up.
A little science can challenge the parameters.
Seeing the connection between food and body – and then soul – can make all the difference; because, while eating disorders create a whole subtext around food, nutritionists bring it right back down to the chemical reality. While the eating disorder’s trying to drive a great big wedge between the body and the soul, a nutritionist can show you the link – and begin to bridge the gap a little.
A few sessions with a good nutritionist helped me to re-educate my head and de-categorise my food. When you’ve got some hardcore facts, it’s easier to challenge an eating disorder.
When you recognise the advantages – energy up, improved sleep, better mood etc. – and start to understand and how one thing impacts on another, it’s easier to get make the much needed changes –
- because, when food stops being the enemy, you can use it far more productively.
Tags: Eating, mind and body, Treatment
