Written by Frances Molé & reviewed by Talia Cecchele
The holiday and festive season can provide a much needed opportunity to take a break from regular activities like work, school, and other commitments to spend quality time with loved ones, relaxing or getting on top of life admin. However, it can also bring about many emotions, anxiety and stress when in recovery from an eating disorder. Social events common for this time of year typically revolve around food, social eating, and coming together with friends and relatives.
This week's blog covers three common eating disorder & disordered eating presentations or behaviours:
Restrictive eating
Binge eating and overeating
Compensatory behaviours
We have collated tips and recommendations for each of these presentations to support your eating disorder recovery this holiday season. From setting expectations with your loved ones and planning for holiday events, we hope to provide you with the tools to create a holiday season that is filled with less anxiety, stress and fear.
As eating behaviours may look different to everybody, and recovery is not one-size-fits-all, please take what you need from each section and apply it to how it suits you best.
During a time where eating may look different, we hope these tips can help you manage the holiday season with less difficulty. If you would benefit from specialist support we invite you to book a free 15 minute discovery call with one of our eating disorder dietitians at the TC Nutrition Clinic to discuss how we can support you.
Challenges and tips have been adapted from resources across various eating disorder organisations including: InsideOut and the Butterfly Foundation.
Frances Molé
TCN Intern
Frances is a student dietitian at Bond University, in Australia. She is upskilling in the area of eating disorders and enjoys recipe development and food photography. Her food philosophy is to always include favourite foods, a few simple changes can have the biggest impact on your health. You can find Frances on Instagram @wellnutritionn
REFERENCES:
Elran-Barak R, Sztainer M, Goldschmidt AB, Crow SJ, Peterson CB, Hill LL, Crosby RD, Powers P, Mitchell JE, Le Grange D. Dietary Restriction Behaviors and Binge Eating in Anorexia Nervosa, Bulimia Nervosa and Binge Eating Disorder: Trans-diagnostic Examination of the Restraint Model. Eat Behav. 2015 Aug;18:192-6. doi: 10.1016/j.eatbeh.2015.05.012.
Colleen Stiles-Shields E, Labuschagne Z, Goldschmidt AB, Doyle AC, Le Grange D. The use of multiple methods of compensatory behaviors as an indicator of eating disorder severity in treatment-seeking youth. Int J Eat Disord. 2012 Jul;45(5):704-10. doi: 10.1002/eat.22004. Epub 2012 Feb 13. PMID: 22331840; PMCID: PMC3355214.
Murphy R, Straebler S, Cooper Z, Fairburn CG. Cognitive behavioral therapy for eating disorders. Psychiatr Clin North Am. 2010 Sep;33(3):611-27. doi: 10.1016/j.psc.2010.04.004
Talia Cecchele Nutrition is a team of registered dietitians that specialise in eating disorders, disordered eating, digestive issues and sports nutrition. We aim to bring balance back to nutrition, help you to break free from food rules and find food freedom. We offer virtual consultations and group programs so whether you are based in London, the United Kingdom or around the world we would love to support you. To enquire about a private consultation please fill out a contact form.
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