Look at any height and weight chart and more than likely, you will find yourself outside of the “ideal” weight. It is not like a bell curve at all – there is such a tiny section of ideal weight.
A Healthy Weight is Your Ideal Weight
Many women think about their ideal weight as the lowest number they have achieved in their dieting instead of choosing a healthy weight based on reality. The trouble with this thinking is that if your weight-loss goal is too low to maintain, you are likely going to get caught in the cycle of what is known as yo-yo dieting.
The Ideal Weight: Past versus Present
Most women have a number in their minds. This number is the ideal weight they struggle to achieve and/or maintain throughout their lives. They carry it deep within themselves, and there is often longing as they describe that perfect weight.
Eating Disorder Recovery: How to Support Your Loved One
Eating disorder recovery doesn’t only affect the person with the eating disorder. If you have a friend or family member with an eating disorder, you know how hard it can be to help them through it. If your loved one is in therapy and/or working with a nutritionist and trying to make changes in their eating habits, it can be difficult not to jump in with advice or guidance. This is especially difficult when it is so easy for you to see the proper solutions for them.
Mindful Eating During the Holidays
Of all times of the year, the holiday season brings the most challenges to those trying to practice mindful eating. Temptations abound: from your favorite baked goods to cocktail parties and numerous social gatherings all centered around food as the main activity. In addition, the added stress of family visits and other obligations are often triggers to eat without thinking about how much we really want or need.
Navigating Disordered Eating During the Holidays
The holiday season can be an especially difficult time for people who struggle with various types of eating issues: binge eating; food restricting; bingeing and purging; emotional or stress eating; food addiction; chronic dieting; food fears; and more. Because most activities from Thanksgiving through New Year’s Day are food-centric, those dealing with disordered eating can be quickly overwhelmed and stressed out.
College & Eating Disorders: Know the Warning Signs
Going to college is an exciting time in an adolescent’s life! Everything is new: new freedoms, new experiences, new friends, and new life paths. It is also a major life transition that is stressful and demanding. This transition often triggers an eating disorder in those who are genetically pre-disposed or otherwise vulnerable. Early detection and intervention are critical as eating disorders can be so devastating.
Body Neutral: Helping Your Daughter Avoid Body Image Issues and Disordered Eating
The way you talk to your daughter about her body and the changes she is undergoing can greatly improve her chances of developing a healthy self esteem and body image. This goes a long way in preventing disordered eating which affects overall health. In particular, the mother in a girl’s life is especially influential in how her daughter will view herself and her body. A mother’s own personal relationship with her body, food, and herself is likely to be passed down to her daughter.
Body Image: The Struggle to Accept Myself as I Am Right Now
How often do you find yourself thinking some version of, “If I just lost a little weight, exercised more, ate a better diet, made a little more money, improved my health, had more inspiring work, lived in a nicer place, improved my relationships (or something else), then I’d be happy”?
Barbie & Body Image: An Unrealistic Ideal (Part Two)
Barbie has been a popular toy for girls age 3-12 for over 50 years and has come to represent for many the perfect, ideal woman with her long blonde hair and slim body. However, if a woman really existed who had Barbie’s proportions, she would have a hard time walking on her size 3 feet and wouldn’t have room in her body for a full liver or full intestines. Furthermore, her long slim neck wouldn’t be able to hold up her huge head.
