Eating Disorders - fieldi

46 Recovery Through Nutritional Counseling
Sue had thought that if she were thin she would have everything
she wanted, like friends and boyfriends. But she eventually realized
that people would like her only if she learned to like herself. During
her anorexic-bulimic months, she did not like herself and did not
attract any people. That is why she listened and was open for a
change. For example, she would tell me, “Oh well, you know, I was
really bad. I had a scoop of ice cream and some cookies.” She was
frightened by her behavior. By realizing that this was normal behavior
and that she didn’t need to feel she was “bad,” she was slowly
able to practice more positive thinking.
In contrast to others, Sue did not accomplish much in individual
psychotherapy; she disliked herself too much to disclose personal
information. To avoid discussing herself, she would talk about family
issues or other matters, thus making limited use of therapy.
By changing her eating behavior, Sue started to feel better
physically. Her food obsessions and cravings decreased tremendously,
and she had more time and energy to devote to other
aspects of life. She joined a hot line to help others like herself
who were suffering from eating disorders. She found that it also
helped her to be open about her experience. Now, on a board of
directors with adults whom she doesn’t know very well, she can
speak with confidence. She has made new friends from the hot
line, people who also had problems and were able to talk with
her about them. During their many conversations, Sue learned
who they thought she was and gradually her understanding of
herself grew.
Another area where Sue needed help was with her body image—
the last distortion to be given up if one has had an eating disorder.
When she was underweight she felt fat, even though, as I’ve indicated,
she was able to count her ribs. Because she admired my body
composition, she weighed me, measured my height, and discovered
that I weighed more than two pounds per inch. When, together, we
compared this to her own measurements, which were 1.7 pounds
per inch, she again had to face reality. She felt bigger and fatter than
I but had to admit that she, in fact, was considerably thinner. When
we looked at the numbers from the nutritional assessment, they
showed that since Sue had lost all the body fat she possibly could,