http://www.thealternativedaily.com/
These days, air pollution is a hot topic. Ever since the industrial revolution, we’ve been sending vast clouds of noxious chemicals into the air. Even today, with our cleaning burning factories and more efficient vehicles, the airways of the cities and towns we live in are clogged with particulates and chemicals that contribute to a […]
https://www.girlsgonestrong.com/
In my early 20s, I hired my first personal trainer to lose weight. At the time, I was suffering from binge eating disorder, and had been for a period of two years. As I began to lose weight, this binge eating disorder shifted to bulimia. And that first trainer was followed by a handful of others who unknowingly supported and reinforced the behaviors that had become a crutch for my eating disorder to rely on.
Like millions of women, I knowingly hired these professionals to help me lose weight, transform my body and achieve “health.” And, just like millions of women, I thought that it was completely normal to be obsessed with my body size and the foods I was eating, as well as staying on-plan and relying on destructive behaviors to “undo” the calories I had consumed.
Disordered eating and the pursuit of thinness is so normalized in our culture that it is often dismissed and even encouraged within health and wellness fields.
As a personal trainer, you’re on the front lines of helping women to set and achieve goals in support of their physical health. And, you’re also on the front lines of dealing with pervasive, painful and oftentimes undetected deadly mental illnesses — eating disorders.
At least 30 million people in the U.S. alone suffer from a clinical eating disorder, and it’s reported that every 62 minutes at least one person dies as a direct result of an eating disorder [1]. On top of those staggering numbers, studies have shown that 75 percent of women admit to regularly engaging in disordered eating and exercise patterns [2].
As a personal trainer, you aren’t formally trained to recognize eating disorders. And I’m sure you may feel like a fish out of water thinking about how to recognize them, and even further, what to do if you suspect a client is struggling.
I want you to consider that your clients may also be painfully unaware that the behaviors they are engaging in are actually disordered. Alternatively, they may be aware, but caught in the tight grips of food and body control because of their eating disorder, and really suffering as a result.
So, how do you know when someone’s health and wellness goals are actually a product of, or feeding into, disordered eating, or an eating disorder?
First, it’s important to understand that eating disorders occur on a spectrum.
At one end is “normal” eating: when someone eats according to hunger and fullness, without depriving cravings or restricting foods to alter the way their body appears.
On the other end of the spectrum are clinically diagnosable eating disorders such as:
Anorexia Nervosa, characterized by low body weight, extremely restrictive caloric intake and intense fear of gaining fat despite low body weight.
Bulimia Nervosa, characterized by consuming a large amount of food in within a concrete amount of time, followed by behaviors to compensate for the calories consumed, including self-induced vomiting, over exercising, fasting or laxative misuse.
Binge Eating Disorder, characterized by consuming a large amount of food within a concrete amount of time without the use compensatory behaviors following the episode.
Other Specified Feeding or Eating Disorder (OSFED), characterized by symptoms of anorexia, bulimia or binge eating disorder without falling into strict diagnostic criteria.
The common theme among eating disorders is a preoccupation with body size, shame and guilt surrounding eating, food choices and harsh self judgements.
The space between “normal” eating and eating disorders, where 75 percent of women fall, can be defined as disordered eating. And while this grey area may not seem “as bad” as a clinically diagnosed eating disorder, the mental and physical anguish that accompanies these behaviors deserves to recognized, validated and treated, just like anything else.
One of the most important keys to keep in mind is that dieting, or disordered eating, is the greatest predictor of developing an eating disorder.
And when signs of disordered eating are caught early on, people have the greatest chance of not only recovering, but thriving and moving toward body and self-acceptance.
As someone who speaks with clients day in and day out about food, exercise and the way their bodys show up in the world, your personal awareness of eating disorders and the dangers of disordered eating is imperative to support women to seek treatment and end the pervasive quest for body perfection.
So, how do you recognize if someone may be struggling with disordered eating or an eating disorder? There are a handful of red flags to be aware of when working with clients who coming to you looking for weight loss or body change.
Obsession With the ScaleWomen struggling with eating disorders often look for constant validation from the scale. If you notice that your client is obsessed with a number, beats themselves up for not achieving a certain number, or creates strict food and movement guidelines because of the number on the scale, it is likely that they are beginning — or are continuing — to suffer from disordered eating.
Women struggling with eating disorders commonly severely restrict calories, utilize periods of fasting or food replacements to curb hunger signals and propel weight loss. These types of behaviors are often normalized in the media and mainstream gym culture, but ongoing reliance on intermittent fasting and liquid cleanses, as well as villainizing calorically-dense foods and obsessing about nutrient-dense, lower-calorie “health” foods (also known as orthorexia) in effort to minimize caloric consumption is dangerous and only strengthens the eating disorder mind.
The regular use of restrictive behaviors to alter body shape and size are indicators of disordered eating and many times of an eating disorder.
When doing an initial assessment, looking at dieting histories can provide a wealth of information. Is your client constantly looking for quick fix after quick fix? Have they continually tried the latest and greatest diets? Have they yo-yo dieted more than they’ve maintained a steady weight? These are red flags that disordered eating is running the show.
Obsession With Appearance and Weight ControlNever dismiss or collude with your client if they share that they hate their body, or can’t continue to tolerate the way their body appears. Instead, consider how this hatred is influencing the way they’re eating and moving. Do they share that they have to get to the gym everyday, or more days than not? Are they hyper-vigilant about calorie, macro or point counting? Do they resist rest days out of fear of weight gain? Are they pushing themselves to lose more, or do more, despite your recommendations for moderation?
Obsession with weight control through food and movement are clear signs of an eating disorder.
Amenorrhea — the abnormal absence of menstruation — is a condition that indicates that the body is under too much stress, or does not have the energy stores to function optimally. When women are struggling with eating disorders and disordered eating, their body uses the limited fuel that they’re taking in to support essential bodily functions. Because reproduction is not essential, it is often one of the first to shut down. If your client reports that their menstrual cycles are irregular or have stopped, it is imperative to encourage and help them to seek treatment from a doctor and an eating disorder specialist.
People who suffer from eating disorders are most often high functioning, successful people. They strive for perfection and see things in extremes, often falling into all or nothing, or black and white thinking. If your client shares that they are “bad” for indulging over the weekend, missing a workout, not losing more weight, or for consuming foods seen as “unhealthy” they could be suffering from an eating disorder.
Compensating for Calories Consumed or Workouts MissedOne of the most common indicators of an eating disorder is if a client compensates for calories through exercise, self-induced vomiting, laxatives or restriction. Compensation does not have to occur following the act of eating; if a client shares that they are exercising or fasting prior to an event to “make room” for calories consumed, they’re still engaging compensatory behaviors. Compensatory behaviors are dangerous, because eating disorders are their driving force.
The binge, restrict, repent and repeat cycle is one that is pervasive in and out of the fitness community. If your client shares that they feel out of control around food at any time, especially at night or on weekends, it is a sure sign that they are struggling with disordered eating. Binge eating is not something to be taken lightly — it is as emotionally and physically painful as any other eating disorder.
As women attempt to hide their struggle with their eating disorder, it’s common for them to cover up their diminishing size. If you begin to notice that your client is wearing dark and baggy clothes and that their weight and body size are dropping, it is important to re-evaluate goals and encourage them to seek support to begin to address underlying body beliefs and eating disorder thoughts and behaviors.
If your client reports trouble sleeping, memory issues, trouble focusing on things other than food and exercise, or issues fully engaging in workouts, they could be suffering from an energy balance that is unhealthy due to an eating disorder.
Being aware of the signs of eating disorders is the first step in being able to support your clients to overcome obsession with food and their bodies. As a trainer you have a unique opportunity to help your clients see and understand that physical fitness and health stretch far beyond the way their body appears.
If you recognize these red flags, it’s important to share your concerns with your client from a place of understanding and compassion. Although many of the behaviors discussed in this article are normalized within our culture, it is important to remember that they are destructive to 75 percent of women’s health. Dismissing or normalizing these behaviors only validates and fuels eating disorders and disordered eating patterns.
As a coach, your relationships with your clients are built on trust and mutual respect.
Sharing your concerns not only for their physical, but emotional health, could open the door for your client to let their guard down and put words to their struggle. And, if they are not yet ready to put words to their struggle, you have opened the door for future conversations.
Initiating these discussions provide you with an opportunity to team up with your client to adjust their programming, or to encourage them to shift their fitness and lifestyle goals to be in support of their healing — body and mind.
It is also equally important to have a network of professionals to consult with, refer to and collaborate with, if your client shares that they are struggling. To be able to support your clients in reaching out to a trusted colleague to begin treatment could actually save their life, or save them years of emotional and physical turmoil and struggle.
The post Signs Your Client May Be Suffering From an Eating Disorder appeared first on Girls Gone Strong.
http://www.thekitchn.com/feedburnermain
There’s really no better authority on baking than Mary Berry, a woman who has sold more than 5 million cookbooks, was hands-down the best judge on The Great British Bake Off, and clearly understands the value of making your own marzipan.
The always impeccable 82-year-old has been described as the “Queen of Cakes” — a title she’s earned after spending the past 60 years teaching multiple generations of Brits how to bake. (The BBC has also called her “the doyenne of baking,” and, after googling the word “doyenne,” I realized how complimentary that was).
http://www.thekitchn.com/feedburnermain
Armed with a list after planning dinner, you hit the grocery store to pick up the ingredients. Yet despite knowing the specific cut of chicken you need to grab, you’re still a little confused. Of all the packs of thighs and breasts stacked in the meat case, how do you select the best package for your dinner?
It’s a topic that crosses my mind almost every single time I buy chicken. Here are the tips that make deciding a whole lot easier.
http://www.thekitchn.com/feedburnermain
There was no shortage of well-loved meatless meals this past March. Your favorites were a mix of hearty salads and crowd-friendly casseroles, with a few pizzas thrown in for good measure. Here are the 10 most-saved vegetarians recipes from March 2018.
http://www.thekitchn.com/feedburnermain
When we ran a series of make-ahead dinner party recipes from Ina Garten, we loved this colorful appetizer of stuffed peppers. The recipe also fits Ina’s philosophy of making a dish ahead: Look for things that would be naturally made ahead and simply baked just before serving.
http://www.thekitchn.com/feedburnermain
Between making green smoothies for breakfast, puréeing soups for dinner, and making the (semi) occasional milkshake for dessert, there are a lot of ways to put a blender to good use. And although the prices can range from less than $30 to well over $500, it’s totally possible to get a great blender at every price point.
Whether you’re shopping for your very first one or you need to replace an old one, we’ve got you covered. Here are three great options — currently on sale on Amazon.
http://www.thekitchn.com/feedburnermain
It seems like there are as many slow cookers on the market as there are slow cooker recipes on the internet. How do you know which slow cooker is best to buy? There are so many to choose from! We have four different models just in our photo studio!
So how can you tell which Crock-Pot is worth your money? You could take a chance with an Amazon bestseller, or you could do what we did and crowdsource Kitchn readers. We asked you guys on Facebook to tell us what slow cookers you all have (and love!) at home. These are the ones that came up again and again.
http://www.thekitchn.com/feedburnermain
Chicken breasts are a meal-plan mainstay, because even when I pull a pack from the freezer without a plan for cooking it, I know I can pop them in the oven for a simple, satisfying supper. As for a side, anything and everything is fair game when it comes to pairing food with mild-mannered chicken breasts.
Whether you love a good salad or slaw that can be tossed together in minutes, or a roasted veggie side that can cook alongside the chicken, here are 10 easy side dish options to round out dinner.
http://www.thekitchn.com/feedburnermain
Not totally sold on the need for an Amazon Prime membership? Look, we get it. A hundred bucks is a lot to spend if you’re just looking to get free, two-day shipping on certain items. How do you feel about spending $49, though?
The bulk shopping website, Boxed, is hoping you feel good about it!
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