Do I still have an eating disorder?

Laura Burkett
12 minutes ago
3 min read

Many of the women I work with report a time in their younger years, whether in high school or college, that they struggled with restrictive eating, binge eating, compulsive exercise, purging, or some combination of these. One woman I recently worked with recalls running 5-10 miles each day, even when sick or tired. Another recalls trying to eat 1000-1200 calories a day, then falling into patterns of painful binge eating episodes. Research indicates that 10-30% of college-age women suffer from an eating disorder. On average, that means 1 in 5 women in college are (often) secretly struggling with their eating. Years later, clients see me on the "other side of the worst of it" yet still struggle with their health or eating. Comments sounds like, "I don't purge anymore, but still obsess about my eating or weight," and "I'm more health conscious now, but sometimes I wonder if I fixate on it too much." Others still run into episodes of binge eating and others are now overly focused on nutrition, body composition, and exercise.

Rather than focus on specific diagnostic criteria for an eating disorder at this stage, one must consider the psychological and energetic toll one's relationship with food currently is at. Here are some more refined points to help you determine if eating is still a challenge for you and support may be of value.

When additional eating psychology and nutrition support would be helpful:

You still run into patterns of restriction and binge eating or restriction and overeating each week
You are still scouring the internet for the newest weight loss strategies and techniques
You've yet to land on a healthy, baseline style of eating you can relax into
You feel anxious and overwhelmed about eating while on vacation, while traveling, or out socially
You feel you have NO CHOICE to count calories, or exercise, overeat, or binge eat
Life still feels narrow because a great deal of mental energy is being poured into eating
You simply don't feel confident, relaxed, and empowered about your eating

For many women later in their healing journey, traditional support for disordered eating is no longer a fit, but conventional fitness models don't support the psychological aspect of eating enough. Many women are involved with personal trainers or fitness programs that don't offer the deeper support needed, and often report feeling triggered by different trainers' nutritional biases. If this is you, I assure you there is nothing wrong with you for struggling. You simply might be in a phase of healing that sits somewhere between a being a person with a diagnosable eating disorder and a person who simply want to improve their diet.

The next level of healing

The next level of healing often involves exploring the fears and concerns of the sides of you that still feel the urge to control, restrict, fixate, binge, or overeat. These sides us of generally won't relax until they get the support they truly need. It's also helpful to discuss hidden assumptions and long-held fears about nutrition, diet, and weight. Learning more, reading more books, following new influencers, or trying new styles of eating can FEEL like progress, but rarely addresses the deeper dimensions that drive the quest to figure things out.

[Visit Laura for an initial consultation in her office in Grand Rapids, MI, or meet remotely via ZOOM or phone session. Inquire about session availability here ]