Eating Disorders
Anorexia Nervosa:
characterised by restrictive eating that leads to reduction in weight and losing the ability to maintain a healthy weight. Individuals who experience Anorexia Nervosa suffer from an intense fear of gaining weight or becoming overweight, regardless of their current weight or appearance.
Bulimia Nervosa:
characterised by episodes of binge eating, followed by behaviours to compensate for this such as purging or excessive exercise. People who experience Bulimia nervosa place a lot of emphasis
Binge eating disorder:
characterised by eating large volumes of food over short time periods, with no compensatory behaviours. People who experience binge eating disorder feel a loss of control when experiencing a binging episode.
Binge eating disorder:
characterised by eating large volumes of food over short time periods, with no compensatory behaviours. People who experience binge eating disorder feel a loss of control when experiencing a binging episode.
Other Specified Feeding and eating disorder (OSFED):
A person experiencing OSFED may have various symptoms of other eating disorders, but they may not meet the full criteria for diagnosis of those eating disorders. OSFED is no less serious and with treatment, recovery is possible.
Disordered eating:
Disordered eating is a disturbed and unhealthy eating patterns. They can include restrictive dieting, compulsive eating or skipping meals. Disordered eating behaviours, and in particular dieting are the most common indicators of the development of an eating disorder. PICA: characterised when people eat things that aren’t considered food for example, chalk, soap, laundry powder etc
Disordered eating:
Disordered eating is a disturbed and unhealthy eating patterns. They can include restrictive dieting, compulsive eating or skipping meals. Disordered eating behaviours, and in particular dieting are the most common indicators of the development of an eating disorder. PICA: characterised when people eat things that aren’t considered food for example, chalk, soap, laundry powder etc.
Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder (ARFID):
This eating disorder can be known as “extreme picky eating”. Someone who is experiencing this can exhibit highly selective eating habits, disturbed feeding patterns or both.
Orthorexia:
This is not officially recognised as an eating disorder diagnosis; however, it involves the obsession with “healthy” or “clean” eating. People who experience this often obsess about the health benefits of food, food quality but not the quantity of food.
More information available at:
https://butterfly.org.au/eating-disorders/eating-disorders-explained/
What causes eating disorders?
Some of the common signs of an eating disorder can include restricting food intake, fasting, counting calories, purging, excessive/misuse of laxatives and/or excessive exercise.
How can Bites Dietitians help?
At Bites, our Dietitians offer a non-judgemental ongoing professional support for you or someone you know who is affected by an eating disorder. We understand that the road to recovery can be very difficult and that there will likely be ups and downs along the way. We are always here to provide support and guidance at every step of the journey. We are linked in with other local health professionals who also work in the eating disorder space and can recommend a good fit for you if this is something you’d like to explore also.
We communicate with your other treating health professionals if you consent us to do so which means you receive a more well rounded, team based approach to treatment.
An interesting fact about diet and eating disorders
You do not have to be severely underweight to have an eating disorder. Individuals that suffer from eating disorders may maintain their weight within the healthy weight range or their weight may fall within the overweight or obese categories.
How can Bites Exercise Physiologists help?
Exercise isn’t probably the first thing that comes to mind when treating an eating disorder, however, there is great evidence that demonstrates the benefits exercise has in conjunction with other therapies to treat an eating disorder. Participating in exercise can help to change the association of exercise with weight loss and punishment. Exercise helps to improve some of the associated symptoms of an eating disorder like improving self-efficacy and psychological state by allowing individuals to think clearer and improve their memory and concentration. Exercise also helps to:
- Reduce the symptoms of depression and anxiety (which are common in individuals presenting with an eating disorder),
- Reduce the risk of disease progression,
- Reduce relapse
- Reduce isolation, and
- Reduce food preoccupation.
At Bites, our Exercise Physiologists can help clients in recovery of an eating disorder to rebuild their understanding of exercise and help them to cultivate a healthy and sustainable relationship with physical activity. It’s important to see an Accredited Exercise Physiologist that is trained in working with eating disorders rather than an exercise professional who may not understand the nuances of an eating disorder as the line between a healthy relationship with exercise can be easily blurred.
Our private clinic gym is a safe and non-triggering space for you to begin to build a healthier relationship with movement with your practitioner.
An interesting fact about exercise and eating disorders
Decisions around when exercise should begin during recovery should be made in consultation with other treating medical professionals. Exercise will generally not begin until full weight restoration is achieved and the patient is medically stable e.g. stable electrolytes, blood pressure. Exercise Physiologists are trained to look out for signs and symptoms of contraindications to exercise and monitor patients during exercise sessions to ensure safety.
What can you expect from working with a dietitian and exercise physiologist?
As everyone’s experience with an eating disorder is different, no two treatments will be the same. However, you can expect the following:
- Ongoing support and guidance at every step of the journey
- A non-judgmental approach to help normalise eating patterns and behaviours
Helpful things to bring/remember before your first appointment
- Referral if you have one
- Medical history from your GP and/or treating specialists
- List of current medications
- Bring along your partner/carer/friend etc. if you would like
Recipe That You Might Like To Try